NIGERIA TRIBUNRE
The suspended chairman of Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State, Honourable Osaro Obazee, in this interview with BANJI ALUKO, speaks on the reasons his suspension from office by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.
HOW has investigation concerning your suspension gone?
I was suspended on September 6, 2015 by Governor Adams Oshiomhole. I belong to the third tier of government and I was popularly elected by my people. So, I was shocked when I heard that the governor had suspended me. I don’t think he has the right to suspend me. I have approached a court and the state government has been duly served. Without mincing words, my situation is a clear case of political witch hunt. The man judged me, even before my trial. As I speak with you now, the governor who said a panel would be constituted to investigate me has not set up any panel. He first suspended me for two months and extended it by one month. I have approached the court because I want to know if he has the power to suspend a council chairman the way he suspended me. We operate at different tiers of government, even as the constitution has given the State House of Assembly the power to oversee the affairs of the local governments. We also have legislative arms in the local governments, and one of their duties is to serve as check and balance. They accused me of diverting funds at a time I was unable to pay workers’ salaries for seven months. Do you divert funds that are not available? The way and manner the governor suspended me shows that he is incapable of setting up an unbiased panel. I do not have faith in any panel that is set up by a governor, who has already judged me before my trial.
Do you think you will ever return to your office, considering the fact that your tenure runs out by April 2016? Don’t you think the time is too short for you to get justice?
Whether justice is served or not, laws are not only meant for today but particularly the future. I am not doing this for myself but for those coming after me. As a matter of fact, I am willing to get to the Supreme Court on this matter so that we can for once free the local government from the control of governors.
It appears your name keeps coming up over the ticketing and revenue issues in Oredo Local council, despite the fact that you are no longer the council chairman. What is the story like?
I am no longer the council chairman and the question is best answered by the acting chairman. What I have been hearing is that the issue may not have occurred if I was in the council. I just believe that government cannot be held to ransom by a party man who has the support of highly placed persons to take over points that were not allocated to him. One person cannot think that might is right.
It appears your political ascendency was stalled by your suspension. Where do you go from here?
Justice could be delayed but cannot be denied. I thank God the governor is not a court of competent jurisdiction, otherwise I would have been convicted by now and it that would have affected my career. To me, this is a blessing in disguise because I know that I am highly accepted by the people. I didn’t become popular because I became a council chairman; even the chairmanship position separated me from some people because of their expectations. I actually overrated the office. I thought it was one that will afford me an opportunity to empower my people but I discovered lot of limitations in that office. I want to apologise to those I could not meet their expectations. I, however, was able to tar roads, build markets, electrify communities, build schools, health centers and other things that created collected benefits. I started with the remodeling of the council secretariat. The suspension has not affected my career in any way. Oshiomhole met me in the APC as I was one of those persons who received him and gave him the necessary support.
If you say your suspension was political, what were the political differences between you and the governor?
A lot of people have reported me to the governor saying that I have refused to let go of my relationship with Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. I said people could be different in terms of political affiliations and all that but that should not stop relationships that had long existed. When Pastor Ize-Iyamu celebrated his birthday, he invited me and I attended. My problem actually started that day. People started saying that there was no way to separate us and all that. I remember that when the governor had his wedding, Ize-Iyamu was there. So, they went to the governor and said that Osaro Obazee is PDP and all that. I had long told Oshiomhole that he would be the first person to know if I wanted to go to the PDP. I have been accused severally by the governor that we were compromised during the last presidential election. What they forgot was that the failure of the party was not restricted to Oredo council alone. You will recall that as at the time the election was conducted, the governor was at loggerheads with the judiciary, teachers and so many other people in some sectors. These things worked against the party (APC) and affected the election. I explained these things to him but he still exercised an illegal power.
So, you are convinced that your closeness to Pastor Ize-Iyamu was largely responsible for your suspension.
A lot of people around the governor told me that I was too close to the pastor and that the governor could not trust me.
Does that mean you are fully in support of Pastor Ize-Iyamu’s governorship ambition?
He has the right to contest. As a friend, if the APC brings an unpopular candidate I will vote for Pastor Ize-Iyamu.
Will you campaign for him?
I will not hesitate to even do that in the public.
What party are you know?
I am in APC, I am a liberal democrat.
So, how do you think local governments could get out of the control of state governments?
The real issue is not about having chairmen in the councils but making the councils autonomous. If autonomy in all ramifications is not given to local government, then that tier of government should be made like an appendage of state governments like a parastatal or ministry so that those going to that office will know that they are going for self enslavement.
Are you saying that is the position now?
That is it and I don’t have any doubt about that. This much was revealed when the bailout came. Local governments duly applied for the bailout and the state government guaranteed it. I applied for over N400 million because I also paid pensioners 100 per cent just like I paid teachers. Immediately the money arrived, the governor invited us to a meeting and asked us to submit our vouchers and account numbers of staff memberss. I told the governor that his action amounted to usurpation of the functions of the third tier of government, which is the local government. I told him that if he felt the funds could be misused, he should set up a monitoring committee. I said by so doing he would be corroborating speculation outside that he was taking part of the local governments fund. The governor did not actually take money from the accounts of the local governments save for the fact that local governments pay the salaries of teachers and pensioners 100 per cent. The teachers’ salary, on its own, was supposed to be a joint payment between the state and local governments with the local government the lesser contributor. As for the pensioners’ money, for two years and six months that I was council chairman, a total of N22.5 million was withdrawn from my account every month. It was only stopped about three months ago. The 10 per cent internally generated revenue that was constitutionally assigned to be paid to the local government was also not paid throughout the two and half years that I was council chairman. As for my revenue base, the juiciest one which is the tenement rate was taken from me.
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