Olumide Bajulaiye
11 October 2008
interview
Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State recently had an interaction with a group of journalists in Lagos. Weekly Trust was part of the discussion where Akpabio bared his mind on numerous issues. Excerpts:
How would you describe your relationship with your predecessor in office?
Well, relationship between incumbent governors and their predecessors has always been a source of concern all over the country, not just in Akwa Ibom State. People are really concerned about it. But I don't think that should be the focus. The focus should be that new governors have come into office. How do they perform?
People expect a lot of things from governors. Their performance would not be measured on how well they relate with their predecessors. There would always be predecessors. The predecessors during their time had predecessors too and that did not stop them from carrying out their assignments as expected.
My relationship with my predecessor, Obong Victor Attah, I believe, is cordial. However, there are still a lot of people who believe that for them to remain relevant, they must continue to cause disaffection through rumour-peddling.
The fact remains that predecessors must realise that government has changed. And with such changes, policy directions must also change as well as government personnel, etc.
What is important in the whole thing is that you have to employ political maturity in relating with the predecessor. Secondly, you must not agree on all issues but efforts must be made to maintain peace and cordial relationship. For me, like I said earlier, my relationship with Obong Attah is cordial.
Despite that, I reiterate that there are certain decisions, on a daily basis, I am bound to take, which I know my predecessor might not like. For instance, when we came on board, my predecessor left behind a drawing which was meant to be the renovation of the existing government lodge that he was staying in. The place had become dilapidated. The estimate for the renovation was N1.8billion. I said that I will not renovate it, when I can build a new lodge with N2.2billion. Opposition came from left, right and centre. But I know that I have a mandate in my hand and the mandate is to take good decisions on behalf of Akwa Ibom people.
Do you have instances when you had to seek the input of the former governor in the course of taking certain decisions?
I have had private audience with him on three occasions. In those instances, I sought his views on some programmes of my administration. He obliged me some answers. But you have to understand that I was one of his commissioners. I served in three different ministries so it was easy for me to continue with some of the projects he left behind.
In the last one and a half years you have been in power, there have been several petitions written against you, almost more than administrations before you. Why do you think this kind of thing is happening and what are you doing about it?
Well, first of all, I don't think petitions against me are more than that of my predecessors. It is unfair and inaccurate to make such claims. The last administration had its own doses of petitions.
Petitions are not just starting with Godswill Akpabio and I don't think they have increased in magnitude. You have to understand that some people have constituted themselves into the opposition. Let me take you back. When Obong Victor Attah came into government in 1999, there was no primary election. They did what they called consensus and he was hand picked by a few people. In my own case, we went through terrible PDP primaries. There were about 68 aspirants. The highest in the history of this state. By the time one person emerged, the other 67 camps will not just go to sleep.
You have commenced moves to build a multi-billion naira entertainment centre. Don't you think this kind of project is elitist?
I tell you this project is not elitist. The project is one of the ways I want to realise my ambition for Akwa Ibom. My vision for the state is that it should be a model state.
We are clamouring for oil companies to move their headquarters to the state. If they do, where would their women go for shopping? Definitely, it can't be at the local market. So, having a mall where they and many others who come to the state will do their shopping is very important. Take for instance, Julius Berger has moved its regional headquarters to the state. With all these, you must cater for their social interests.
If you go to SilverBird Galleria in Lagos, you will agree with me that the business has succeeded even within two years. Several people go there everyday. So, it is not the kind of investment that you will go into and you will not recover your money.
How do you intend to raise the money for all these projects?
Before I became governor, I had been hearing the story that so much money has gone into the Niger Delta and so little was seen on the ground. I have made up my mind to change that perception.
We are not going to borrow a kobo to finance the centre. However, you know most of these things have their there procedures that should be followed in executing them. When we awarded a contract of about N120billion to construction companies for repairs and construction of roads, many people screamed ah! Where will he get the money? They forgot that road construction job is seasonal. They are not paid at the same time. It will take about two and a half years to complete the payment. We pay according to Interest Payment Certificate (IPC). So if it is N150billion, you can pay that in three years.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
