•I’ll explore creative financing, pursue inclusive policies to drive growth, devt if elected Edo Governor

Dr. Asue Ighodalo, former Chairman of Sterling Bank is a frontline governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2024 governorship election in Edo state. In this interview, he speaks on his ambition to run for office, his plans to drive growth and development in the State; efforts to correct misalignments in Edo PDP and the need for collective drive to make the state a model for progress in Nigeria.

Excerpts:

Having been a big corporate player, why do you want to become the governor of Edo state?

Truly, I have been blessed. I have been moderately successful in all the things I have done so far, particularly in my advisory role to the Edo State Government and in other capacities. My time on the board of the Sovereign Investment Authority clearly showed me that there’s a path to help our people out of poverty, out of want, out of neglect. Previous governments have done modestly well, but I think that I can also bring to bear a lot of the experiences that I have garnered over the years from my international, local, and other connections. This is what I want to bring to Edo State. If you look all over Nigeria and with the pain on the faces of our people, you will know that truly our people are suffering, and I don’t think it’s necessary with the resources we have; the manpower we have, and I want to drill it down into my state; that’s where I can immediately offer my services. I think I can truly contribute my own quota, to help lift our economy out of where it is, lift our people from poverty, and provide the necessary infrastructure. I think we can start this journey of moving Nigeria from the third world to the first world economy. We always keep talking about a country with potential; it’s high time we started this process of realizing and harnessing that potential fully. I just want to contribute my quota by the grace of God, if the good people of Edo State give me the opportunity. So, that’s why I’m here. Nothing more, nothing less.

You are coming with a very strong track record in the business world. But you must have heard in some quarters where you have been referred to as an outsider and some people are of the opinion that you may not be able to connect with the people in the grassroots. How would you respond to this?

It is people who want to distract from what the real issues are that started talking about someone being an outsider and others as home boys. All my life, I’ve always been in Edo State. My father worked in Benin, so I spent a chunk of my holidays in Benin. I celebrated most of my Christmas and Easter in the village. So, I’m not new to life in Edo state. Moreover, in the last 16 years, I first advised the Government of Adams Oshiomhole on his Economic Team and I was in and out of Benin in those eight years of Governor Adams Oshiomhole. I was in Benin once a month because we worked really hard on the Economic Team, putting in place economic agendas, policies and guidelines for that government. After Governor Adams Oshiomhole, when Governor Obaseki came on board, he asked me to head the private sector think-tank that organizes the annual Alaghodaro Summit and also provide a checklist of recommendations to the government. So, this brought me in and out of Benin. I have a house in the village and there are things I do for the people in the village under my parent’s foundation, the Jerry and Folayegbe Foundation. Those involved include my brother, my sister, and my wife. There are so many things we do; I run a micro-finance scheme and give scholarships and we help with boreholes as well. You don’t really have to run around and make noise for you to indicate or show that you are doing things. So, I’m very conversant with the people of Edo State. Apart from that, my work in the Advisory Committee and Economic Team showed me very clearly where the pain points for our people are. And I know that working where previous governments stopped, I can build on it, I can help our people out of poverty, working with a strong team. I’m not paying any attention to those distractions. We have so many Nigerians and Edo citizens that have capacity all over the world, in the Diaspora, in Abuja, in Lagos, in Kenya, in South Africa.

We need to bring all the best hands on board and you really can’t say because you’ve lived outside the state for a while, you can’t come back into the state to contribute to the development of the State. We need to bring the best minds, the most brilliant, the most creative, the most adaptive to help us with building Edo State. It’s people that really don’t have anything to offer that want to distract. If you have something to offer, you will focus on what the issues are and that’s what we are focusing on.

From 2015 till now, Edo has taken over a hundred billion naira in debts. What will be your approach to reduce the debt as against what Mr. Obaseki has done?

There’s no problem with taking debt if you are taking debt for developmental purposes and for purposes that regenerate the economy and build on the economy and grow the economy. The issue is how we use debt. One of the things we’ve noticed in our economy is that there are so many leakages. We take the debt and it leaks. We take the debt and we use it on current expenditure and that’s the issue. From what I see, a chunk of the debt that has been taken in Edo State has gone towards capital expenditure and I don’t see a problem with that. If we use debt properly; debt is going to re-earn, debt is going to restructure the economy. It is going to create an economy that is growing at multiples. What we will do is that we will continue looking at those areas that can regenerate the economy of Edo State, where we can pull our people out of poverty, where we can remove our people from subsistence spaces, and where we can grow the economy at a rate that gives us the revenue base to pay back these debts faster. So, I’m not scared or worried about debt. What I’m going to make sure of is that by God’s grace, we won’t have those leakages that make debt a problem. So, we will use our debt positively for the benefit of the economy of our State so that the debt can earn for us. With that, the repayment of that debt will never be a problem. So, it’s not a function of taking debt; it is what you use the debt for.

What is it that Governor Obaseki has done or has not done that you want to do or improve upon?

The governor has done well, in fairness to him. In certain areas, he has done well; in other areas, he could have done better. Let’s pick education, for instance. I know this because I was on Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s Economic Team, around 2016 we weren’t doing very well with education. That has changed in the last seven years. Edo State probably is one of the top three States in education – primary and secondary. That is truly remarkable. I even know of a family where a gentleman told me that his daughter was in primary six and he had to move her back to primary three because the younger brother who was in primary two knew much more than his sister in primary six. The people have seen the effects. Teachers have been trained; our schools are using tabs. They are going into the first world and they are using technology. So, he’s done great there. In the civil service, land reform, and the palm oil programme, among others, a lot has been done. If you go to Ikpoba-Okha Local Government in Edo State, it’s becoming a major industrial belt following through the gas pipeline area. There’s work going on at the Benin Port. So, there are a lot of great things that have been done. There is EdoJobs. It’s a great programme, but it seems not to be working as effectively as it should because it’s focused more on those who are already skilled but looking for jobs. What we need to do now is to trickle it down to those who are not so skilled or semi-skilled who are looking for jobs. We have to look into the issue of skilling and upscaling skills. That’s really critical and that’s going to help in bringing in investments because if you have fit-for-purpose citizens, it will bring in investment. So, those are some of the areas where things haven’t been done well, and of course, roads. The government says things like the federal roads being bad is putting pressure on the State roads. My team and I must deal with roads. From the rural to urban areas, farmers need to be able to bring their products into town. People need to be able to travel from one place to the other. I’ve been going around the State. Sometimes, truly, the roads can cause you grief.

It is a danger to life. If I bring the experience I’ve brought to bear in the last 30 years to the State, we can attract the right investment to drive the growth and development of our State. What I think is that over time, we’ve burdened ourselves with not doing the right thing at the right time. What I am going to try to do with my team is to ensure we do the right thing at the right time.

Are you Obaseki’s third term?

I have known Governor Obaseki for a long time. I met him in university and since then, we’ve been friends. He’s an investment banker and I’m a lawyer. We worked on opposite sides or the same side of big corporate transactions, particularly in 2005 during the restructuring of the banks. We then developed a healthy respect for each other but that’s it. I respect his capabilities as an investment banker and some parts of his capabilities as a politician. He respects me as a lawyer and a very serious-minded person. So, in that regard, we are friends. I believe him and he believes me, but that is as far as it goes. I am not very sure that if Governor Obaseki is looking for a third term, it will be Asue Ighodalo he will come to, because he knows I’m fully independent-minded. I’m a different person from him. I don’t see how he can honestly dangle me at the end of any rope. Any politician in Nigeria that is still thinking of putting anybody somewhere for a third term should think again; it has never worked. For me, very clearly, I respect Governor Obaseki very well but I don’t see how anybody will say he will bring me because he wants to go on a third term. So, I laugh when I hear these things and I just shove them off because I think it is people that want to cause distraction that spread such rumours.

Are you loyal to him?

I’m loyal to the people of Edo State and will serve them if by the grace of God they elect me to be their governor.

Why are you not in APC where most of the people there are also well known to you and how well prepared are you for the screening by the National Working Committee of the PDP?

One of my closest uncles was the foundation chairman of PDP in Edo State, Chief Solomon Aguele. We have always talked about politics. He lives about three or four doors away from me in the village so I had an affinity to PDP in Edo State. Fundamentally, I think the PDP has stronger structures and the people relate better with the PDP in Edo State. Again, if you talk about party philosophies, it ranks well. Although, many people don’t see it that parties in Nigeria have philosophies. But if you look very carefully, you don’t need a microscope, their philosophical differences are slight. Sometimes, people run through parties but there’s a culture, an overarching culture. I think if we look deeply, we’ll see that the PDP is slightly right of center, and APC slightly left of center. So, for me, PDP was my first call and secondly, the structures of the party in the state are strong. If not for some misalignment in the party, the people fundamentally are PDP – it’s typically like a PDP State. So, those were the things that moved me to gravitate towards the PDP. But the most influential was Chief Aguele. Since my father died, the two Aguele brothers have been like surrogate fathers to me and Peter, one of the Aguele sons, is very close to me. Peter and I have always discussed politics and he was my introduction 101 into politics; that’s why I am in the PDP. On the issue of the screening, I think the PDP is a fairly well-run party. The days when such screening happened that people didn’t know the venue until the screening was over are long gone. The party is better organized and stronger on the organizational side. We’ve been given dates way ahead. There are guidelines for this selection process. Those guidelines are given way ahead so everybody knows where to show up and what to do at a particular time. They give enough time and we have been given notice for this screening for a while. It will be on the 29th of January at Abuja by 9am. They’ve asked us what to prepare; the documents to bring and what to do. So, I don’t see a problem. I believe from my interaction with the PDP hierarchy to this point that they truly want their best foot forward. The PDP wants to continue in office in Edo State. We will see what happens after the screening on Monday. For me, I take everything one step at a time. My key focus is to ensure that the PDP in Edo State is strong to be able to win the election. The party is well organized and I don’t think there’s any malice. I don’t think anybody plays games. So, I’m trusting in the system and I trust that until you show me that you’re not trustworthy then we will deal with it at that stage. That’s how I’ve operated my life and run my businesses. I trust in the youth; I trust in the old. I trust everybody until you show that you’re not trustworthy.

The incumbent governor invested heavily in technology. Edo State today perhaps is the first e-governance State in Nigeria. What are your plans for technology and shoring up investment in technology?

On the investment in technology, I think this started towards the end of Governor Oshiomhole’s term but Governor Obaseki has fully digitalized governance in Edo State. It is getting to the point where nobody carries paper in the civil service in the State. It’s not 100% yet; but it’s close. For me that is commendable and good for blocking leakages and for efficiency. There’s been a lot being done to bring internet and broadband into every nook and cranny of the State. I think Edo probably has the greatest coverage of broadband in sub-sovereigns in Nigeria. I know Kaduna State also did a bit of work under El-Rufai, but I think Edo State is number one now. It’s really hyped and has moved the development of the State because in every corner, every person has access to broadband in the State. So, we will continue working on that. I know MainOne came into the State as well as HIS Towers. We’re making it even easier for them to lay their cables and continue growing broadband and we will continue because of our future, even our now. Our youths form the largest portion of our population; our youths are creative, purposeful, and very hard-working. We need to work with our youths in the creative space, even in the technology space. For me, we really have to make our youths and women work for us in the State. We have to bring them fully on board, there’s no other way. We can’t leave half of our population or three-quarters of our population out of the process and think we want to develop at any appreciable rate. It is not going to work. We’re going to focus on technology. We’re going to have a technology-driven government and create a technology-driven environment. We’re going to work with our youths and women full blast. That’s the only way and that’s how I’ve always operated in the things I have done in the past, in my businesses, and in any organisation I’ve found myself.