Ogiemwonyi Berates PDP Leadership … Says Party Harbors

-Corruption, Impunity, Incompetence, Arrogance

-Works Ministry Was Starved of Funds

-N400b Budgeted, But N100b Released

-Jonathan Was Dining With The Militants

-APC Will Win Edo State If Credible, Acceptable Candidate Emerges As Flagbearer

Boston – Interview by Emman Okuns

Nigeria’s former Minister of State for Works, Engr. Christopher Ogiemwonyi has lashed out at the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), saying he dumped the party due to its entrenched corruption, impunity, incompetence and arrogance.

He accused the Jonathan Administration of misappropriating public funds and being indifferent to the plights of millions of the Nigerian people.

Ogiemwonyi, one of Edo State gubernatorial aspirants under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) spoke to Alltimepost.com as a guest of Alltime personality program in an exclusive interview in September, 2015 in Los Angeles, California, United States of America where he revealed how he plotted his exit from PDP, making sure he left at the right time – the weakest point of the Jonathan administration.

According to him, he knew the presidency was going to slip away from him due to the colossal failure of the government and the clamor for a change by the people.

Ogiemwonyi said he saw a lot of things that many PDP Members, including those in government did not see because of their delusion with the power of incumbency as a panacea for the administration’s humongous socio-political and economic quagmire.

“I plotted my exit and I saw by October 2014, Mr. President was going to lose the election.

“As a strategist, my survey told me he was going to lose because the various negative things against him were just mounting; insecurity – Boko Haram was ravaging Nigeria; Power – the megawatts dropped to 3100 from 3800 when I was in NNPC for the whole nation.

“The level of unemployment was souring; kidnapping, our naira was being devalued, impunity; we knew he was going to lose the election and the people were clamoring for a change.

He cited the government’s handling of the fuel subsidy strike of 2011, a situation which according to him made several privileged people richer at the expense of the Nigerian masses as a major factor in his decision to severe relationship with the party and that his spirit left PDP as far back as 2012.

Hear him: “From 2012 to November 2014, I was not just active in PDP. My grouse with PDP Was the level of corruption that was growing in the party, especially after the fuel subsidy strike of 2011 wherein the federal government spent half of the national budget on importing Petroleum Motor Spirits (PMS) and diesel and everybody knew the level of corruption that followed that process and yet nothing punitive was done about it.

“The only thing we saw was that the number of aircrafts, private jet soured in Nigeria and systematically that endemic ailment, corruption was growing in all facets of the nation and consuming the nation.

“I have always craved for a strong leadership. My major problem leaving PDP was that I saw an ineffective leadership led by the Jonathan administration and as a strong leader with strong character I could not take that bitter pills any further, so I threw in the towel; I left them.”

Ogiemwonyi also accused Jonathan of not listening to decent voices of reason, but rather playing to the galleries of the Niger Delta Militants and dining with them.

“He was not taking any advice. If you look at the case of power, I was Managing Director of Nigerian Gas Company; we knew there was a way out.

“He was not just listening. He was dining with the militants, Tom Polo and others; some of us could not just be part of that government anymore.

“No decent man wanted to be part of that government anymore, so the time I left, November 28 2014 was the official leaving, but I left PDP around 2012.”

Continuing, he recalled that the greatest problem that confronted him as a Minister was scarcity of funds, saying out of the N400 billion budgeted, the government only released N100 billion and at the time he assumed office about N20-N60 billion worth of certificates of project completion were unpaid.

On who succeeds Oshiomhole, Ogiemwonyi had this to say: “We need somebody that has the capacity, credibility, ability and acceptability by the people; somebody that will be favored by the people; somebody they will trust.

“Having categorized all these characters I see myself among the couple of politicians vying for this office probably as one of the most credible.

“With all these qualities, I consider myself qualified and I will be a blessing, having equally left service unblemished. All my international friends see me as somebody they can trust, I don’t want to deprive my state from having me to serve them,” he said.

Ogiemwonyi further touted what he described as his impeccable record – a phenomenon he said should give him Edo State House.

His words: “I went to school. I was one of the very first fourteen to graduate from the University of Benin in 1974. Thereafter, I did my National Youth Service and Joined the Federal Public Service in 1975.

“Therein, I worked for 34 years. It is still on record today that I am one of the very few people that left the service for that length of time unblemished. I equally went to serve as a minister, again with an impeccable record.

“Today, People classify NNPC as being corrupt. It is still on record today that I am one of the very few people that Rose to the position of Group Executive Director (GED).

“I became a Minister and yet for 35 years not a single place you will find my name mentioned as being corrupt.

“We should allow the delegates to vote according to their conscience and not to be teleguided by any functionary of the party. So I believe the time has come when we allow people to choose their leader.

“I think that is something that is evolving now in Nigeria and I hope that will equally be the situation in Edo State.

“If the primary is not well conducted, don’t forget the there is a bigger one which is the main election. So we should allow the candidate that will win both elections – win primary and win the main election and not the one that will win the primary and fail the main election.”

He commended Governor Oshiomhole for his great achievements and said that he would build on the good foundation laid by the ex-labor leader.

Watch out for a detailed interview on Tuesday November 10, 2015 where Ogiemwonyi opened up on a great number of issues, including his stewardship at the Federal Ministry of Works, his short tenure and why he was not reappointed by former president Goodluck Jonathan.

The ex-minister was also asked about his botched gubernatorial ambition at the PDP where it was alleged that former party’s Board of Trustee Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih told him it was not possible for him to get the party’s ticket; his relationship with the chieftain and his grace to forgive all those he said wronged him politically.

Other areas he spoke about included his plan for the prioritization of basic amenities of life for the people, including power supply through alternative sources of energy, such as the solar system; agriculture, exploration of the state’s natural resources for economic development; foreign direct investment; employment opportunities, diversified revenue generation, etc.

Also read about his perception of Oshiomhole and Buhari and what he thinks they have in common – all in Alltimepost.com.