Col. Paul OGBEBOR (Rtd) is a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State . A veteran of the Nigerian Civil war and second in command to Lt. Gen. Alani Akinrinade during the war, Ogbebor in this interview with GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE in Benin , he calls on former two-time governor of the defunct Mid-West and Bendel State , Dr. Samuel.O. Ogbemudia to quit politics now that the ovation is loudest. He also speaks on the planned removal of fuel subsidy and other national issues.Excerpts

How do you see the recent reconciliation within the Edo State Chapter of the PDP? What does this portend for the future of the party?

I am happy to say that people of the PDP have decided to say that enough is enough in view of the wrangling and fractionalisation that have been on the ground. So, a committee was set up about six months ago to mediate and to harmonize and everyone who is truly PDP can come back to the fold. That is why the congress of the April/May 2011 was successfully conducted and I can say we picked almost Ist or 2nd eleven of our team that is leading the executive today. So, I think the PDP has done a very good job.

Shortly after the reconciliation of the three leaders/elders of the party in the state Admiral Akhigbe came out in the press to deny the reconciliation exercise. What do you have to say?

When we saw such thing, we were surprised because reconciliation was already done. We thought maybe, President Goodluck Jonathan was not well briefed. But when Admiral Akhigbe came out to say there was nothing like that, we believed him, because the reconciliation was done, the congress was conducted and new executive officers elected to run the party. So, to say that people were reconciling, there was no need for it and that Admiral Akhigbe said such a thing, I want to thank him for his bravery.

Paul OGBEBOR (Rtd) and Dr. S O Ogbemudia

That Dr. Ogbemudia ever said such a thing; I don’t think that for his status, for his height, the way we take him as a father, I don’t think that augured well for him. Being a father, a leader and a father figure for the Edo South, this has affected his credibility and that of the people of Edo south. But I don’t think it is good.

But Ogbemudia recently solicited the support of the Binis in his new determination to move them into the mainstream politics.

I don’t know what Ogbemudia is all about. He was two-time governor. He was a Federal Minister. He was chairman of highly rated federal government boards. So, for him to say that he wants to put the Binis in the proper political pedestrian, we are very surprised what he has been doing all these days. Why is it that he has not done such a thing? So, we are confused and we are not happy that he is making such confused statements. Again, he said that the Binis could be said not to be relevant in the scheme of things in Edo State.

That is an insult. There is no party in this country that is not important because in Geometry, it is said that is a complete structure that makes a whole. If you remove any part of it, it is not complete again. If you remove the Binis from the political equation of Nigeria, Nigeria is not complete again. So, we don’t know what he meant by that statement

. And again, that he is calling for people, under what canopy, for what and towards what; who is financing it? For instance, he is summoning a meeting of ‘ENUNUEDO’; I am a founding member of ENUNEDO about three years ago. We formed it as a pressure group alone so that if there is any happening in the political divide, we can come in. This is why we made Ogbemudia and Chief John Odigie Oyegun, Co-Chairmen of the ENUNUEDO. And we are only about 11. We had a meeting about three weeks ago and we never discussed such a thing and Dr. Ogbemudia has not been in any meeting. He last attended a meeting of ENUNUEDO in 2009. So, where was such that proposal discussed and adopted? And I heard that they say a committed is working, which committee is that?

I am a member of that body. We normally have our meeting in Chief Oyegun’s house? So where was it discussed, towards what? Is it to put the Binis in proper positions? Is it now you are going to do it? Is it to mobilize the Binis towards what? In another few months, there will the election of the governor and local governments. Who are we mobilizing for, and under which auspices are we holding these meetings? Who is financing it?

Some Bini think Obgemudia should quit politics and give room to the younger generation to succeed him. Do you belong to this school of thought?

There is a saying that an actor should quit the stage when the ovation is loudest. So, from what had happened to Muburak in Egypt, what had happened to Gaddafi in Libya and in other places, people should know that sitting down in a place is not the best. This is because there is nothing you can do when age weighs down on you. It robs on your performance. So, Dr. Ogbemudia should know that he should leave the stage when the ovation is loudest. And he attempted this last year. He invited all of us for a meeting on the 5th September 2010 at the Oba Akenzua II Cultural Centre, Benin. On his, he told us that he wasn’t well, that he needed time to go and look after himself. And he told us to forgive him if he erred throughout the time of his leadership.

And he asked us to forgive ourselves; in fact, he made us take oath that day; that he would do everything to put the past behind. And he told us that we should now begin the process by which we should make a leader. We thought that it was belated, that he should have started this a long time ago to have a leader that would succeed him, to start grooming one, because they said, a success without a successor is a failure. But since he came out last year to say, groom a leader, we thought that was okay. After then he left.

For one year, he was incommunicado. We never saw him, he never spoke to any person. He never took part in any meeting. Since he has told us all those things, we put ourselves together and we started reconciling. We started harmonizing and that led to a very successful congress of the PDP where we picked a State Executive. And what we had today is about the best people of Edo South Senatorial District ever had. He had always had 5th eleven parading themselves as our representation in the party executive.

We now have our best in Lucky Imasuen who is the state Deputy Governor. We have Urhoghide who was a governorship aspirant. We have Christopher Akesotu who is a local government chairman and a former member of the State House of Assembly. There is Mrs. Lucy Omegbon, a former state commissioner. So, as far as we are concerned, those who have made these sacrifices needed those position and they have gone above, but for a purpose of repositioning Edo South; they have accepted to do it. So, Dr. Ogbemudia should not be seeing anything less. It looks as if he is departing from the message he gave to us on 5th September 2010.

We have in the process of setting a leader of leaders in Edo not going to be distracted or moved back. We want to re-position PDP in Edo South. We want to win elections. So, nothing will dwarf our attentions from the targets we set for ourselves.

So, the PDP is poised to face the challenges of the July 14, 2012 governorship election in the state?

What happened in Ondo State? Agagu was doing very well. But when they found somebody more than that, that they can trust, they shifted and put Mimiko in power. And I think it is the candidate that matters. If you can pick a good candidate, even if he is an independent candidate, he will win.

So, I don’t think the PDP has any problem at all if they can do everything to put a good candidate, bring out their first eleven that the people of Edo State can trust to work with. The money is there; it is just a question of being sincere and committed to what you are doing. Adams Oshiomhole has done very well, however, we have Governor Chibuike Amechi of Rivers State who is doing very well. We have the main, Akwa-Ibom; he is doing very well. We have the Lagos State governor doing very well. So, it is the commitment to your objectives, to your targets that matters.

As a former retired military officer, how do you see the security situation in the state and country?

The security in the state is porous because the same thing is happening all over the country today. What is the root cause? Injustice!