‘Campaign of calumny over late Ambrose Alli’s incarceration will not affect APC’s chances’

The March 28 for the presidential and National Assembly elections are by the corner; how prepared are you and your party?           I am very prepared and my party is also very prepared for the elections. We have done a lot of underground works. We have reached out to the people and the people are in full support of our candidacies and our people are now reaching out to other people at the grassroots, spreading the good message of the party to them. They are preaching to all eligible voters in the constituency of all the good works that APC have been doing and they know that when APC are voted into respective offices they will do the right thing and carry the people along.

Sir, you are in the senatorial district where PDP holds sway and with the dominance of the opposition in your constituency, what are those factors that you think will make you win the election?   We are very confident that we will win the election because our people have found out that PDP being in power is as good as having nobody there. So because of the ugly experience of the disappointment they suffered from PDP they are all prepared to vote for APC at this point in time. If you go around and ask questions now you would see that the train is moving and everybody is on the train ready to vote for APC come March 28 and April 11 for all the elective positions.

You are in the same Emaudo community where the late Ambrose Alli, the first governor of the defunct Bendel State came from and the main campaign point of PDP in the state is the detention of the former governor by Buhari. Don’t you think that would influence the voting pattern during the elections?   Because the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) haven’t left any good legacy to campaign with, they looked at be mischievous as the only option and the only way out for them. There is no encounter between the late Ambrose Alli, the former governor of the old Bendel State and the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari that can cost the party’s chances of winning all the elective positions in the next March 28 general elections in the state and that of the presidential election. During the military period of Muhammadu Buhari when the elected office holders, especially the governors and other top appointees were being prosecuted at that time it was the same PDP stalwarts within this environment that betrayed the late Ambrose Alli and even that has been made known by Governor Adams Oshiomhole at a recent rally held in the senatorial district. The governor and others made it clearly known that the trust that they betrayed was the cause of what happened to the late governor and not the direct issue between the late governor and the APC presidential candidate at that time. There was no personal or conflict of interests between the two personalities. So, PDP members are trying to bring those issues up because they haven’t got any tangible issues or developmental strides in its 16 years of misrule to campaign with. So, campaigning with the incarceration of the late governor by the PDP is no issue as far as the APC is concerned. The fact that I am even from the very community with the late former governor of the old Bendel State has even given me an edge because like they say ‘Like father like Son’, because he was from my immediate community I will take after him, and we are going to do as much as he did and even do more.

One of the late Ambrose Alli children, Rosemary Subaru Alli is still much aggrieved over the incarceration and the subsequent death of her father by Buhari and that probably makes her to detest your party. Have been able to get in touch with any member of his family, especially the daughter, to get them put the past behind them?   Alli’s daughter is playing politics and it is unfortunate that she decided to play politics with a great man like the late governor and bringing the name of Alli to that circle where they start to discuss issues that are not related. As far as I am concerned it is cheap propaganda, it is not going to fly and it will not prevent the people of Esanland from making the right choice.

What difference are you going to make at the National Assembly?
The truth is that the quality of representations that we have had over the years has not been up to standard. They haven’t really done anything and these are people who parade themselves as people representing the people of Esanland; they are actually there to fight for what they can get. What I am bringing is my experience, the sincerity of purpose and the fact that I am coming out to serve my people and add value to humanity.

Nigerians believe that apart from legislating it is also the duty of lawmaker to embark on capital projects and human-oriented programmes like empowerment. How do you intend to add value to the lives of the people of your constituency?I do not actually belong to the school of thought that if you construct road or hospital it is dividend of democracy. For me, these are basic requirements of any leader. If you look at some major infrastructural structures in the country such as the National Theatre, National stadium among others, they were actually built by the military regime. To me, developing your community is not dividend of democracy. Dividend of democracy for me is the freedom of speech, right to life and giving people the opportunity to do what they want to do. So, to answer your question on whether I will develop or empower my people; it is given. To me, celebrating somebody who is doing what his office deserves I think it is mediocrity. My target is to add value, ensure that the people of Esanland feel the good governance and I am going to do my best to ensure that whatever that office is meant for I am going to do 100 percent.

What is your message to the people of your constituency ahead of the general election? 

I will appeal to all the registered voters to go and collect their PVCs. The PVCs is their power and without it they cannot vote. They should also use the PVCs wisely and should not mortgage their future and that of their children by selling it for whatever amount. I also want the youth to shun any form of violence either before, during and after the election. We should all abide by the motto of APC which is change.