A former chairman of the Labour Party in Edo State, Comrade Ogbaloi Kelly, doubles as the state chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC). In this Interview with OJIEVA EHIOSUN, he spoke on the crisis in the APC, among other issues. Excerpts…
As the head of IPAC in Edo State, what is your take on the APC crisis?
I would be talking on this matter because APC is the government on ground in the state; otherwise I wouldn’t want to talk about it. To me, APC is a sensible party because they are the party in charge in the state. I will advise that APC should put their house in order because the direction they are going right now is not good for the development of the state. It is not too late for them come together and do something that will make them provide quality government for the people of Edo State.
Do you see APC retaining the governorship seat?
With what is happening right now, it is not unlikely that APC would be unable to produce the next Edo governor. I will advise that they should change their current stand of turning APC to a quarrelsome party. We expect the likes of their National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, to understand how to run the party profitably and take it out of confusion.
How would you advise APC and other parties, now that the situation is tensed?
To other political parties, my view is that they should constructively look at what is happening to the APC in Edo State and correct it to avoid a repetition of such undemocratic act. As the head of IPAC, I will advise the electorate to get themselves organised this time around. It is no longer a situation where you just remain complacent and go to vote and say whatever happens later does not matter to you. You must vote a government that would be there for you in terms of maintaining the rights and privileges of the people of Edo State. Beyond that too, the electorates should now be able to distinguish between money and good governance.
Now that Obaseki has decided to dump the party that brought him into political limelight, what do you think would be his fate?
That is not in the place of IPAC to say. The governor is an individual, he has just been disqualified from contesting under APC for a second term, and the step he wants to take is up to him. We in IPAC cannot advice him on that after his disqualification, it is expected that he must s e e k other options. Again like the defection we are talking about, is it the best for democracy? The answer is no. Defection is a contraction when we are looking at democracy.
Has APC done well in Nigeria since the party came on board?
I cannot say that APC has done well. If you look critically at the happenings in Nigeria, the herdsmen have gone haywire, Boko Haram have not been stopped, no electricity in Nigeria, corruption has not being chased, armed robbers, cultism, rape have now become the order of the day. Institutions and governments are not taking pro-active steps to curb it. So by my own rating, APC have failed us abysmally.
Your advise on the coming election?
Politicians in Edo should not turn the state into blood sucking state just because they want powers by all means. Our youths should know that most of these politicians who give them N2, 000 to go and kill don’t have their families here in Nigeria. So we must say no to political violence as we approach the election.