BY GBENGA OKE

Chief Solomon Edebiri is the National Chairman of the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) and a governorship aspirant on the platform of the party in Edo State. In this interview, he speaks on factors that would shape the 2012 governorship polls in Edo State, the six-year single term proposal , the insecurity situation in the country and insists that the government has the wherewithal to tackle the menace. Excerpts:

What is your assessment of the six year single term proposal?

I am in full support of a single term but I will rather say single term should be five years. You do your five years you go and that will eliminate the idea of any incumbent using government money to campaign.

Solomon Edebiri

The problem we have with incumbents presently is that they have government funds to campaign, which is absurd and should not be encouraged. Secondly, single term will eliminate the do or die syndrome in politics because people will know they are doing a single term. It will also encourage development in states as no governor will hide under immunity for eight years because the immunity would have been cut down.

Given the poor security situation in the country what steps do you think the Jonathan administration needs to take to tackle it?

I must tell you that if today, government wants to solve the security situation, they know exactly what to do. I believe no group, whether militants or Boko Haram is bigger than any government, it is not possible, so government knows the problem and they can solve it.

What we beg of this government is to give Nigerians conducive environment to live, let them give foreigners the reason to invest in this country, they know what to do and they should do it. They must not politicize everything in this country, let us militarize what should be militarized, if the worsening security situation needs military approach, it should be applied.

I believe government knows the way out of this logjam but one way or the other, they are slow in taking decision on the way forward. We believe Mr. President is not a dunce, he knows exactly what to do, he can arrest the situation because he is the President and the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Even if you are a little baby of 12 years old and you are given the position of the president, you become tough and strong to take decisions because you are acting according to the constitution which empowers you to act. So President Jonathan knows what to do as enshrined in the constitution.

He has the responsibility to guarantee Nigerians the safety of their lives and property and failure to do that, he would be failing in the oath of office he took on the day he was sworn in because he swore to uphold the sovereignty of this country but now the sovereignty is being threatened by some groups.

What is your view on suggestions that the government should dialogue Boko Haram as it did with Niger Delta militants?

A government without direction is no government. So I expect that President Jonathan’s government should have direction, they should go and check antecedents and see what they should do in this type of situation. They should look at what other countries did in situations like this. I will not say whether it is right to dialogue or not.

But government will know certainly that if we continue to dialogue with all the groups, more groups will emerge. So we need a permanent solution.

The Niger Delta militants were after infrastructure and development of their area, they were not after people until the kidnap cases came up. The Boko Haram group are after people, they are killing innocent people with bombs, so they are a different ball game.

Are you going to run in the Edo governorship election next year?

As it is now, Edo people know they have been disappointed by the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and they are also aware they have been disappointed by the Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN). These are the two alternatives they used to have but they now have a third alternative and that is where I come in.

Now, the Edo people will not certainly vote for PDP or ACN but they will vote for another credible candidate and I know that too well. I have no doubt that once the time is up, they will support me and support my party and they will support the progressive change to bring a new life to the people of Edo State.

At least for the first time, let Edo people have an industrialist as governor, let them have a professional and for the first time, let them get somebody that will uphold the truth, for the first time, let them not have a politician as governor who lives by lie and deceit, let them have somebody who cuts across all these. If we get the people’s support, we can turn Edo State around in two years and make it the most progressive state in Nigeria.

How will you rate the present administration?

I always say let the people judge. If the people felt they have benefitted enough from this administration, the judgment lies with them and if they feel otherwise, the judgment still lies with them. What I know and I am convinced about is that Edo state is still far away from what it is supposed to be and Edo State is still in the hand of a dictator. It is up to the people to decide what they want.