By ABEL KOLAWOLE

BARRISTER Abubakar Yesufu  is a former President, Students Union, University of Benin and current Chairman, League of Patriotic Lawyers. In this interview,  Yesufu, who currently heads the Resource Group of the Chris Ogiemwonyi Movement for Edo State (COME), speaks on the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

 Would you say that there is a level playing field  ahead of the governorship election in Edo for all aspirants?

Candidates must be given an opportunity to sell their ideas. The best way to win an argument is to present a better argument. No undue use of instrumentality of government to leverage any candidate. No deployment of unbridled cash to cajole or to “overpower the delegates’ volition without convincing their judgment” to use a popular legal parlance. Chris Ogiewonyi Movement for Edo State is not just a campaign office, it is a resource centre where ideas compete for attention. If you come to the resource centre a lot of conditions are simulated. For instance, we talk about Edo without Abuja monthly handout, how to reawaken the middle class and turn same to an effective engine of change, how to ignite the tourist potentials of the state, how to create an enabling environment for investors to make Edo State a preferred destination. We need a level-playing field to foster these ideas.

What informed your thinking that Ogiemwonyi is best suited to drive these ideas in order to sustain the legacies of Governor Oshiomhole?

You will realize that Chris Ogiemwonyi at every opportunity during his campaign opens by paying glowing tributes to Governor Oshiomole’s legacy. Sustaining this legacy requires a man with very vast reach and experience. It is a big job that requires education, experience and exposure. Being an economic whiz kid is important but it’s not sufficient to drive this growth. Being in government whether in legislative or in executive capacity for donkey years is not enough. You need a man with the drive and mission, a man that will open Edo State to the business and commercial world. A man with the necessary cutting edge. We need a corporate oracle to move Edo State to the next level of commerce, to enable the state become an active participant in the global village. Chris Ogiemwonyi has these sterling qualities and robust credentials.

On his capacity

A glimpse of this will surprise you. He was the Project Leader and Petroleum Engineer from 1982 to 1999. He was also at NAPIMS between 1999 and 2001 after which he became the Group General Manager of NAPIMS in 2001. After that assignment in 2003, he became the Managing Director, National Petroleum Development Company and was there till 2005. Chris also served as Managing Director, Nigerian Gas Company Limited from September 2005 to September 2007 and also worked as Group Executive Director September 2007 to April 2009. If there are any of the aspirants with a more robust credentials and exposure we are ready to switch loyalty and pressurize Chris Ogiemwonyi to step down. There exist none.

What makes you think that this boardroom experience can translate to electoral victory at the polls?

The surest way to lose an election in Edo State is to cast aspersion or deny Comrade Oshiomhole’s achievements. The man has done well. It is visible. Move round Edo State especially across the Senatorial districts. His achievements dot the landscape. That’s why we need a successor without blemish, a successor without baggage. That is why Ogiemwonyi otherwise known as “Mr. Integrity” is the talisman the APC requires in Osadebe House in September 2016.