I didn’t loot Edo treasury to Anenih and PDP – Lucky Igbinedion

Former governor of Edo, Lucky Igbinedion yesterday defended his administration’s performance, declaring that he didn’t loot Edo treasury

Almost eight years after he left office, former governor of Edo State, Chief Lucky Igbinedion yesterday defended his administration’s performance, declaring that he left the state better than he met it.

“As far as performance is concerned, nobody can underrate me because I touched each and every life in Edo State positively,” he said.

He specifically ab­solved himself of any wrong­doing in the management of the state’s resources in the eight years he held sway even as he hailed the role played by the Chairman Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peo­ples Democratic Party, (PDP) Chief Tony Anenih in ensur­ing that Edo ran smoothly in critical moments of his ten­ure.

The former governor who spoke to select journalists in Abuja said he prudently man­aged the finances of the state, labeling those questioning his administration’s performance as mischief makers.

Igbinedion who turns 57 on Tuesday stressed that contrary to the perception in some circles, no governor prior to his ascension to of­fice had done what he did within the eight-year period of his administration.

He insisted that posterity would judge his performance. He said “In terms of perfor­mance, I am glad history is beginning to reveal itself. I performed credibly well. Perception and expectation are two different things. In terms of performance, I stand to be challenged that my per­formance surpasses that of every other governor before me,” Igbinedion maintained.

“But a lot of people tend to forget things. Where was the state before I came on board? This was a state that was run by the military for over 15 years. This was a state that was unable to pay its civil servants and pensioners. Parastals were condemned to self-sustenance policy. The College of Education was nowhere. The university was producing criminals. Every­thing was completely dead. People do not look back and say this was a man that paid over 24 months of arrears. In­stitutions that were dead were revived.

“They tend to forget easily because people are looking for the new day gratification. In my first hundred days in office, there were projects cit­ed in every ward in Edo state. Civil servants were becom­ing civil again rather than be­ing evil. They were not look­ing like skeletons anymore. I revived the civil service.

“The Ogbemudia Stadi­um, I revived it. Some people were even coming to me and asking me why did I not just build a new one and put my name? I told them that is not a legacy.

Igbinedion denied claims that he lost touch with Edo people at anytime, arguing that political jobbers who wanted to succeed him in office created the impression. He said the issue at stake then was not about performance, but about self interest.

His words: “I did not lose touch. The perception was for those gunning for office. The perception was for those vying for positions. I had an understanding that there must be power rotation in our state just as we believe there must be power rotation in the country. Like the power was in the South west for eight years, it is supposed to go back to a region in the north for the same period. And by the time it comes back to the south, it should have gone to the South-south or the East. That was the PDP’s arrange­ment, though it was not in Nigerian constitution. It was our own way of ensuring ev­erybody had a fair share of power in the state.

“So, what now happened was that we had the same ar­rangement in Edo state. We said after eight years of a Be­nin man, an Esan man should be the governor. I stood firmly on that ground. But some people in government unknown to me had a different idea. They started caus­ing fraternisation within the party. People will start calling names. People started calling me some unholy names. Politics is a very dirty game. That is what created the per­ception. The perception was not about performance; it was about people who were after their interest and not the ar­rangement we had. “

Reliving the role played by Anenih in his govern­ment, the former governor recalled some occasions when Anenih and his father, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion had to make some financial in­terventions to ensure that the state was not held down.

He said the successes he recorded as governor would not have been possible save for the financial support of his father and Chief Anenih.

He said “My hands were never tired. If there is any­thing godfatherism taught me and this is the first time I am saying this. I did not really believe in the word godfatherism. We are not mafias or criminals. We do not belong to any cult. But for the first time, two people that I owe a lot of gratitude to in Edo State that made my tenure successful were my father and Chief Tony An­enih. In the darkest of days when the state was broke and could not pay salaries, I would run to these two peo­ple and they would borrow me money.

“They borrowed the state money. It is documented and you have it there. When the banks could not trust us, I went to them. My father just felt you have got to do what you have got to do. There were days the pensioners would cry to him or block the road to government house. We had to run to them just to keep the government run­ning.”

Commenting on the state of affairs in the country Ig­benedion commended Presi­dent Goodluck Jonathan for reforming the power sector. He described the privatiza­tion of Power Holding Com­pany of Nigeria, (PHCN) and liberalization of the power sector as a show of courage and patriotism by the Presi­dent.

He predicted that Nigeri­ans will begin to reap its ben­efits in another five years.

According to him, Jona­than has succeeded in areas where other past leaders failed, stressing that genera­tions yet unborn will reap the benefits of his reforms.

Igbinedion said: “I have tremendous respect for him. He is piloting the affairs of the state to the best of his abilities under the circum­stances. It is tough being the leader of a country like Nigeria. It is not as easy as ABCD. I have no qualms with him at all. I have total respect and admiration for him. One thing he has done that has en­deared him to my heart is the issue of power.

“We might not see all the benefits now, but later.

Narrating his experience with former President Oluse­gun Obasanjo on the issue of power, he recalled that “back in the year 2000, Obasanjo was visiting Kogi State and I happened to be on his entou­rage. I told him that if we as PDP government, even if we do not do anything in Nigeria at all , we are able to give Nigerians light, we would have been a huge success. He said that is what we are going to do.

“In 2007, he was fighting for a third term instead of giving us power. Kudos should be given to Jonathan for doing that. Nigeria is not an easy country to govern.”