Barrister Kingsley Esiso is Delta State PDP Chairman. In this interview with NAIJ.com’s Austin Oyibode, Esiso speaks on the preparation of the party to wrestle power from the APC in 2019, the one sided corruption fight of President Muhammadu Buhari and why Goodluck Jonathan should be celebrated.
Excerpts:
2019 is very close. Do you think PDP is ready to take power from the APC?
Are you not aware that Nigerians are suffering? Nigerians themselves will vote out APC, we are praying for 2019 to come so that we use our ballot papers to chase them out of Aso Rock.
How prepared is PDP to do that?
Very prepared! Not just PDP, the Nigerian people are feeling the pains inflicted on them by the APC led federal government. Today as I speak to you, one dollar is now N430. As I speak to you a bag of rice has risen from N7000 to N23000, fuel has gone up from N87 to N145 and you are talking of PDP, we are talking about the Nigerian people not PDP. They are suffering, they are the ones that will chase Buhari out of Aso Rock in 2019.
Kingsley Esiso, Delta State PDP Chairman
You said Nigerians are suffering and there is crisis due to scarcity of funds, how do you think Nigeria can come out of this crisis?
There is no time in this world when you have surplus funds. There is scarcity of funds today because the government at the centre is not managing the economy well. That is the issue and Buhari knows that because his party was not prepared for government. They came and deceived Nigerians with their change mantra. And that is what we want to change in 2019.
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Now looking at Buhari’s government, what do you think he has achieved for Nigeria?
Nothing, they have only succeeded in establishing the institution of lies. Anything they say, they lie. Today the latest is now change begins with you. That is their latest propaganda. And my desire is that the change they promised us, they should deliver that one first. After they have started giving our children food, primary and secondary school every day, after they have turned one dollar to one naira, then we can now listen to their change but now let the change begin with them.
Do you think it’s possible for dollar to ever come to one naira?
Ask Buhari, he promised you, didn’t you ask him? They said they will do that, you should have asked them. They made the promise, ask them.
Now, Buhari is fighting corruption, what is your view on the corruption he is fighting?
To me, the fight against corruption ordinarily is a very good fight, because corruption anywhere in the world is bad. But Buhari is not fighting corruption, Buhari is using the fight against perceived enemies. He is using the fight against corruption to fight political opponents. That is what he is doing.
How many people has Buhari put in jail since the fight against corruption began? Nobody, no one has been convicted and jailed since the fight started. When you start asking your political opponent to come and pay back money used for election, money used for campaign, you call that fight against corruption, didn’t they spend money for their APC campaign?
Didn’t APC government spend money foe election? Now they are asking PDP leaders to return money they spend for campaign and election. Where did they get the money they spent for their campaign? Is that fight against corruption?
Looking at Nigeria, the nation is currently battling against economic recession, from your point of view, what do you think must have led to this crisis?
Mismanagement! I just told you that, mismanagement of the economy, simple and short. They lack the professionalism to manage the economy of the nation. Don’t forget before Jonathan left government, Nigeria had the largest economy in Africa. Are you not aware, today where are we?
Buhari has been pouring blame on Jonathan over the state of the nation
(Cuts in) Not only Jonathan but on the entire PDP, the last statement I heard from him was that he did not inherit anything from the PDP government of Jonathan. Who are the members of APC? Who are the people funding APC, is it not the same PDP members that ran the country for 16 years?
Kingsley Esiso, Delta State PDP Chairman
All the governors of APC today they were at one time PDP members. Nearly all the ministers of today were at one time or the other in PDP. Even the senate president was one time a member of the PDP. He was two time governor of the PDP in Kwara State. So, Buhari is a liar.
Now looking at Goodluck Jonathan, from your own perspective as a Niger Deltan, do you think he really did much for the Niger Delta states?
He did his best. He saw Nigeria as his constituency not only the Niger Delta. The man was not a tribalistic president. He did not run his government based on ethnicity. He ran his government as a Nigerian running a country. To me, he did his best for the country as a nation and not concentrating on one section like Buhari is doing today.
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Are you not aware that Buhari’s government is being run by a few cabal from his ethnic nationality? Jonathan did not do that. Jonathan was and still a democrat unlike Buhari. Today, the people running this country are either his brothers, sister’s children or nieces. Go and ask them, even members of APC are crying because they are not involved in the decisions of the country. Jonathan did not do that.
Let’s talk about the Niger Delta crisis. What is your take on the Niger Delta issue?
Well, I discuss less of Avengers because I do not know them. To me, I appeal to them to stop the bombing and destruction of oil pipelines so that the major source of finance of this country does not go down the drain. My annoyance is that most of the activities of the avengers is concentrated in Delta State and that is not helpful to the government of Delta because it has drastically reducing our source of finances. Again, their activities are not helping their environment because they are destroying the ecosystem, they cannot go to their farms, they can’t go to their rivers and fish. To that extent I’m not satisfied with what they are doing.
But they are telling you that this country should be run in a way that every citizen of this country is given equal treatment. Why should they not react when the federal government is being run as a family affair? That they are crying and agitating I’m with them, that they are angry I’m with them because they want Niger Deltans to have a say on the resources in the region. But my position is that the agitation should not be done by bombing and destruction of our national assets. That will have negative effect on our ecosystem and economy.
As a stakeholder in the Niger Delta region, do you envisage a time when permanent peace will return to the region where life will be good as expected?
It will come. By the time this country is run fairly, justly and equitably there will be peace.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State
A few days ago governor Oshiomhole of Edo State fired Okowa and Wike saying they imported militants to Edo State for election. How do you look at that allegation?
I want to say that the Comrade Governor Oshiomhole is a drowning man, he has seen defeat clearly because he is sponsoring a non-politician to become the governor of Edo State. He is sponsoring somebody that is not known to the Edo people. He has seen the reaction of the Edo people to his candidate, he has also seen the reaction of the people to the non-performance of his government.
He knows that Edo people are tired of APC, he has seen what is coming to him so he is ranting. Who is looking like a militant between Okowa and the man that called himself a Comrade? So, I don’t want to go into that area, there is no thug nor militant being imported into Edo State. And there is no reason for it at all because Edo people are tired of APC led government.
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They want to join Nigerians and join the fight to change the change. They are very prepared to change the APC government, they don’t need people from another state, so if you postpone the election 20 times APC will fail, PDP will win.
When you were elected a few months ago, you said nobody from Delta Central should contest for the position of the state governorship as it is reserved for Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in 2019. How do you intend to stop aspirants from Delta Central who may want to contest for the position?
We are not blocking anybody and I have not blocked anybody. What I said was that in Delta State, the governorship rotates among the three senatorial districts in the state. Delta Central took its turn first through James Ibori, Delta South took also its turn through Emmanuel Uduaghan, the two for 8 years each. Now, it’s time for Delta North and the zone should do its turn for 8 years also. If anybody wants to contest from Delta Central and South, it won’t be fair to do that, even though we will not block them, the person will know that he will not fly. It is as simple as that.
Looking at the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, he has been in office for about 15 months, what do you think he has achieved for Delta State?
Well, as I tell people who care to listen, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is a mere miracle worker. Like you know we have paucity of funds in the country. Today, we have what economists call recession. This is because we have a federal government that lacks vision. It lacks good economic policies and because of that, nothing is working in the nation, the country is going down. But our governor, even though there is no money, he is massively developing the state in all areas.
Roads are being constructed, schools and hospitals are being built and renovated. What are we talking about, people are asking where is he getting money from, I tell them it’s not that the money is there, it’s simply because the governor has vision, he knows what to do with the little money he gets. He is a good manager of man and resource. That’s why he is succeeding.
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