Barrister OlumideAkpata is the Edo State Gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party and former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). In this interview, he speaks about the forthcoming governorship election, the chances of the party, among other issues. JOY ANIGBOGU brings the excerpts:

What happened at the Oba’s Palace?

I have nothing but utmost respect and reverence for the throne of the Oba of Benin, our Royal father. On that day on Saturday, we went to visit him after we had done the flag off of our campaign which was led by a national leader, a political icon, former presidential candidate of our party, Mr. Peter Obi. So we went to the palace to pay homage to the Oba, Omo N’ Oba N’ Edo, Uku Akpolokpolo, Ewuare II. In the course of my addressing him, I inadvertently referred tomyself as a son of the palace. When what was intended was I’m a son of the soil, an indigenous name, and all of that, and my royal father and his usual candour, said, no, you’re not a son of the palace, you’re an indigenous son of the land. The correction was well taken and I was very grateful for him setting the record straight and he was totally harmless. Very enlightening for me tounderstand, you know, these things are important culture and tradition.

You know, you get it wrong. So I was corrected, that was the end of story. And it ought to have ended there if not for politics and irresponsible politicians. So, his words were taken out of context, twisted by those who have anotheragenda. You saw the headlines, screaming headlines, “you’re not a son of the palace, Oba shocks LP candidate”. These are the kind of headlines that were being twisted and churned out; of course, social media, all sorts of misconceptions. You know, attempting tomanipulate what my Oba said. And so I was forced to choose the one you have just referred to. Those my friends, and well-wishers, of course, took on at the comments of these other person’s comments and it now became a ‘gbaz – gbozs’ (verbal war). And then I was getting really worried because tempers were heightened in oneoccasion, hot exchanges and so I had to make that statement to set the record straight. It was a glorious moment for me. Firstly, because my real father confirmed to the world that I’m a true Benin son; youmay not understand why that is an issue because for me, in the course of my political career, very short political career, one issue that has characterised my entry into politics is a question as to whether I’m actually a Benin man or not, or one of those Benin men who have Yoruba names in Benin city; my Beninness has been called to question now and again. So it was a fantastic day for me because none other than the Monarch himself confirmed to the world that Olumide Akpata is an illustrious indigenous son of Benin man. So the other aspects of whether I refer to myself as a son of the palace, because what the Oba was saying to us was the sons and daughters of the palace are the princes and princesses. Definitely, I’ve never held myself as one. It was just somewhat symmetrical.

Mr. Peter Obi came and lifted your hands on Saturday but we haven’tseen the presence of the national chairman of the party. What is really going on?

Well, I had every assurance that our national chairman will be there on Saturday. But information reaching me was that he wasn’t able to make it as a result of circumstances beyond his control. Because members of his National Working Committee (NWC), all of them except, one or two were there and they’re all informed that they planned coming as a team. So, it was quite disappointing and I was really sad that he couldn’t make it but I have received assurances that for the next events, he’ll be there but having said that, I won’t play ostrich and pretend to you that there’re no issues within the Labour Party. There are issues in the Labour Partyas there’re issues in other parties. Every human organisation has little moments. We’re in onesuch moment at the Labour Party where all sorts of issues have come forward to say the tenure of the current chairman has expired. In Edo State, the national chairman has announced that he has a disbanded NWC; oneparticular young man in the state secretariat established himself as all sorts of things. It’s a normal occurrence, particularly in election season. You know, political parties have their issues. I however, believe that in the Labour Party, our internal mechanisms are robust enough to deal with whatever issues we have within.

Some members of Obidients have declared support for the governorship candidates of other parties including the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), does that bother you?

It’s a democracy. Labour Party, Peter Obi, we’ve never held ourselves out as authoritarian, or autocratic; yes we have freedom of association, freedom of expression. And I’m here to actually see them right; I’m here to maybe, we need to know where they are, who they are to see them. I hear all these things, you know, I mean, we hear that some parties now say they are PDP Obidient, APC obedient. You know, success has many fathers, failure is an orphan. So it’s very convenient now for other parties to claim that they are now wings of factions of the Obidient movement. Like I said, everybody has a right to express themselves. On September 21 when we go to the polls, we’ll see whether or not all of this is of any moment. I think it’s just normal IGG (Initial Gra-Gra). It’s nothing really toworry about. There’re a few people who want toside with other political parties and you’re free todo that. What we want here are many people fromthose parties moving to the Labour Party. So, it’s the nature of the game.

People say you were sent by the PDP or by the governor to split votes initially, then for equity, the next governor should come from Edo Central, which you’re not, given that Governor Obaseki is from Edo South, how do you convince EdoCentral voters?

So this argument has been amplified by politicians; this is what they do best, trying to drive a wedge between otherwise united people, the Benins and the Esan, like we coexist peacefully together. I have some Esan people who are members of the Labour Party, and you’ll recall in our primaries, 316 out of the available 340 plus votes, plenty Esan people voted in the primaries. That will be replicated or repeated at the pools because my message is that development and good governance really know no tribe. Zoning is okay.Zoning according topolitical parties, you know, you don’t transplant thezoning arrangement in oneparty to another party; in the labour party, we opened up the contest for the best. We put our best foot forward and that is what we’re selling to the entire people of Edo State. Good governance is not about tribe; when labour party by the grace of God emerges victorious at the poll, we can institutionalise zoning having started fromthe Edo South zone. Youcan’t use PDP arrangementor the APC arrangementand try to impose it on Labour Party. Everyone is in the game. So, that argument we put forward to the people of EdoCentral within the Labour Party and they’ve accepted it. I’ll be there next week to talk to the people and I’m quite sure about that and convinced.

Debt profile of the state by domestic N45 billion, foreign debt is about N183 billion, now he’s leaving with N123billion in terms of domestic debt and about N314billion in terms of foreign debts, though the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has grown up toabout 200%, are yougoing to fix this?

For me, first, it’s worrying that our debt profile if youaggregate them, we’re having about N600 billion; it’s worrying, not because I have a problem with debt but because of the fact that I can’t really see on ground what the money was used for.

How would you handle that?

You need to increase your earnings, spend a little bit on debt servicing. It’s unfortunate; it’s going tobe an albatross. We’re going to bear this, but any responsible government would and I’m sure with deep thinking and some inventive approaches tofinancing, we should be able to pay. But the most important thing is that in our party, we’re for Papa, Mama and Pikin. What is important is when youborrow or your allocation, your income should be used for the people and that is what we’re telling Edo people that Labour Party would use their money to better their lives.