Abia State Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Chief Ceekay Igara has urged Abians to be patient with the new administration of Governor Alex Otti, to be able to clear the rot and corruption-ridden system it found in government on assumption of office on May 29.

He said the party was working in synergy with the governor, assuring that their social contract with Abians was irrevocable. Excerpt:

With the way the new administration has taken off, would you say it is going down well?

Yes, I’ll say so far, so good, because of theenormity of the rot within the system. First of all, the party (LP), considering the level of the rot in the state, decided that we are going to allow the governor, sometime like say, some were saying three months, others saying six months, before going to him for anything. But now, in our own wisdom, we said two to three months, for him to have ample chance to look holistically at the enormity of the situation before adding our own problems, in terms of running the party and defending it. Generally, I think that he has not done badly, considering that the circumstances we have found ourselves, need stringent measures to put the state back on the right direction.

How does your party see the attacks on the governor while the government settles down for business?

It’s just expected of the opposition. It is very natural and normal. You know that there is nothing that is permanent like change and that every positive change must be embraced or attacked into a corresponding force. That is why, just like I mentioned earlier, we have dwelt for so long and so much in the negative side of life. So, to tilt towards embracing a positive direction, we require a change of mentality, a change of perception, change of attitude and change of activity. These are all that must be embodied in the mind of those of us, who are In the mould of leadership in these trying times. These are some of the reasons it appears as if we are not opposing certain decisions taken by the government.

What’s your take on the reaction from some quarters that Governor Otti has neither given appointments to any party members nor carried the party along?

As a matter of truth, yes, there are some decisions the governor needs to take from a personal angle, such as appointment of personal aides. He must personally take that decision. You will recall that the proclamation that was made for the State Assembly, to start functioning, was solely made by him. It is a personal decision of the governor to do so, as enshrined in the Constitution of Nigeria. So, it doesn’t seem normal when we talk about personal issues from parochial sense of it. I don’t agree that he has not given any of us appointment. My Deputy, Chief Onwuma, is the Commissioner for Transport. Dr Chima Oriaku, another party chieftain, is the Commissioner for Science and Technology. The reason is this, he (the governor) is approaching these issues from a different perspective. Normally, what usually happens, is that if a new government is going to be formed, the governor would say, “I am giving 20 per cent appointment to the party, or I am giving three per cent or five per cent. I am ceding some to the state chairman to bring.” That is not happening, but it doesn’t mean that the party people are not being carried along, or not there. So, that’s why I said that it depends on the approach, the action, the attitude and the new mentality being applied.

There have been problems in election and appointment of principal officers in the State Assembly and the opposition, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) accuses the governor of teleguiding the Speaker, Chief Emma Emeruwa, on actions he has been taking …?

I’ve spoken on this issue earlier on, but would for a benefit of hindsight, repeat myself. After the general election, and having won the governorship position and many House of Assembly positions, I had an understanding with my colleague of the Young Progressives Party (YPP). Mind you, I am not an elected member of the House. I am a party chairman. We (the Labour Party), have 10 elected members in the Assembly. PDP, has 11. YPP, has two, while All Progressives Party (APP) has one member. I had an understanding with the YPP state chairman that we were going to work together. We approached the governor, told him and asked the YPP chairman to help bring in our colleague of the APC. When that was done, we addressed a joint press conference, where we told the world that we were working together as one group. This is the practice everywhere and the press conference, was done in my office in Umuahia. Once, that was done, automatically, it became clear that we were going to work as a single group, in voting and decision making. By virtue of this, what do we call majority? PDP has 11 members and by our coming together, we have 13 – LP, 10, YPP, 2 and APC, 1. So, we have the majority in the House for now. That was what gave us the Speakership position and other principal officers in the Assembly. Now, that was the first step. Based on that marriage of convenience with our colleagues, the two political parties, we believed it was proper to have the Majority Leader position. There’s no way, a political party or coalition will produce the Speaker and allow the opposition to take the Majority Leader post. Those accusing the governor of teleguiding the Speaker, got it all wrong. I was the one that wrote Chief Emeruwa, informing him of who we recommended as Majority Leader. I, Labour Party Chairman, mentioned Hon Uchenna Okoro, representing Arochukwu Constituency, for the office, on behalf of the party. It’s just considerable that those shouting and crying foul, have never experienced opposition in their political lives. This is why they shout at every little thing done by the new administration. I was the one that called the governor and told him how we were going to handle the issue from the party angle. In response, the governor said, “Chairman, conclude the issue with the Speaker.” So, I had to engage the Speaker, who requested for a letter from the party, which we wrote explaining our position and recommended who we wanted as Majority Leader. After sending in the letter, we began hearing all sorts of comments, right, left and centre that the governor did this, did that and all that. Is the governor the chairman of the party? Letters are written by the chairman of the party and not the governor. He has a lot of problems and challenges to handle. They should stop calling the governor and call me, instead.

There seems to be problem in the State Assembly, and your party has also been accused by the PDP of meddling in the affairs of the House, including the suspension of a lawmaker…?

Now, the House of Assembly members are called honourable members, is that not true? Once you are called that, your character, your conduct, your behaviour should also become honourable, or if you think otherwise. So, based on that, I am aware that Hon. Solomon Akpulonu, has disrupted the business of the House on two or three occasions and has also stopped the programmes of the House. When I asked the Speaker, he said, “As it is now, he disrupted the programme of the House and if we allow this to continue, it would become a precedent that when things are not going his own way, he will disrupt the system. I think the essence of his suspension, was to bring sanity, bring the members back to their senses. It will also make them realize that the essence of going to the House is to make laws and in doing so, you don’t need to truncate the system. So, I am not sure that he was suspended for telling journalists the happenings in the House. The reason couldn’t have been that, since it was after the suspension that he addressed the press. He was suspended for disrupting a programmed session of the House. I had mentioned two or three times. It was after those things that he addressed the press. So, I don’t know, maybe we would have waited for him to address the press, before being suspended.

Can you sincerely say the Alex Otti-led administration is moving in the right direction for now?

We in the Labour Party gave the governor the platform to manage the affairs of the state, select those who will work with him, understanding the enormity of the rot in the system. Secondly, it is too early for us to start assessing certain decisions he has taken or will take. Under normal circumstances, we would have thought that this would come a little later, in the life of the administration. That’s why I told you it’s about perception, about attitude, character, approach and action. Now, certain things that he has done, from my understanding, are to juggle the system, to see how he can destabilise the status quo. Mind you, this has been entrenched for a very long time. A system of corruption that has lasted long so that the only thing that we must do now, is to juggle up that way the system, juggle it legally in as much as some toes may be stepped on, some heads may roll. That’s the reason for our saying that we will need to give him the opportunity to bring his experience to bear, while we still monitor what is going on in the system and approach him appropriately.

The governor has awarded contracts for the building of six roads in Aba, but people are saying the roads were not the ones needing urgent attention. Could you explain why he left out important ones like Ohanku, Obohia, Uratta, Omuma Roads?

While he was in Aba, he explained why Port Harcourt Road reconstruction has not commenced. He said rehabilitation of the road was a priority contract for his administration. You are aware that contracts for the other roads; Ohanku, Obohia, Uratta, Omuma, have already been awarded. Is he going to award them again? Government is a continuum, is that not true? So, he cannot revoke it. The only thing is to supervise the job being done to ensure it Is of good quality. He is talking about the ones he wants to bring in. As far as we are concerned, the former governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu gave out those road contracts and to a large extent, they’ve done certain degrees of work on them. It’s tax payers’ money, being used to do them. Governor Otti can’t just come and cancel them, understanding that it is still part of our overall democracy dividend.

So much attention has been given to Aba since assumption of office, and some people are are beginning to wonder if Otti is the governor of Aba. Why is it so?

One thing about governance is that too many things are going on at the same time. Government is trying to ascertain sources of our revenues, the manpower that will do government work diligently and proactively. We are also trying to ascertain a lot of property of government that have been taken away. Now, you don’t do these things in a flash, in a jiffy. It follows a process and when they are concluded, say in two, three or four months, you’ll see proper action across the state. For now, we want to ensure the real number of workers in Abia government service, genuine workforce. That could give one a cost, including local government workers. These are some of the things that we must do.

Is Governor Otti aware that Abians saw him as their ‘messiah’ and that showed in the massive support given him in the March 18 poll; and does he have the strength and zeal to fulfil these dreams of the people?

Let me correct one impression. It is only God that is our messiah. God can use anybody at different situations to do what He wants at that particular time. Secondly, in terms of competence, Dr Otti will tackle most of the problems in Abia. The problems that we are facing now, you mentioned that some people are hungry, some are facing challenges. It is not because of Abia. Subsidy removal is from the Federal Government; high exchange rate for the Naira is from the Federal Government. Non-availability of electricity supply is from the Federal Government, while lack of infrastructure is from both the federal and state governments. These are the indices that help human beings to survive. All these things are supposed to be handled by the Federal Government, but are not. So, what I think the Dr Alex Otti Labour Party-led administration is going to do as a social democratic organization, is that we are going to take the welfare of the people very seriously, paramount. It is very important. We mean the welfare of Abians, not few individuals. You heard the governor speak the other day through the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, where he said that some people were on blood tonic of milking the state on monthly basis. That’s not going to happen again, this time. What I am sure this government is going to do, is that it will take the generality of Abians into consideration. What is due to you, if you are entitled to a salary or an allowance on monthly basis, be assured that it will get to you. The Labour Party government in Abia State is going to embark on provision of social amenities, roads infrastructural development, building of hospitals, schools and all those things that help man to live a good life. I am so sure and that is part of our social contract with Abians. (Sunday Sun)