Governor Godwin Obaseki’s former ally and ex-Board of Trustees member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Charles Idahosa, speaks to ADEYINKA ADEDIPE about how he parted ways with the governor and rejoined the All Progressives Congress, among other issues
At what point did you think it was time to part ways with Governor Godwin Obaseki having been his strong ally for years?
I was a strong ally of Governor Godwin Obaseki but left him because of his use-and-dump style. I was his strong backer when he came into politics. When he was coming into politics for the first time, I was the person that Adams Oshiomhole sent him. It was very easy to embrace him because he was my boy in secondary school. I was in Form 5 when he was admitted into Form 1. We knew each other from home.
We were from the Anglican family. His late father was a strong Anglican and my uncle that brought me up was an Anglican bishop. So, it was very easy to embrace him but like Shakespeare wrote, there is no way to find a man’s heart in the construction of his face. I never knew he had a hidden agenda. I didn’t know he was one of those people who would get to power and quickly go and start dealing with the people who made him.
What went wrong between you and Obaseki after you defected to the PDP together?
When he started having issues with Oshiomhole before the 2020 election, I told him to fight on because Oshiomhole would not tell us a few years back that he (Obaseki) was the brain box of his government and later told us that it was not him anymore. When people ask me this question, I get confused because I can’t really pinpoint what happened. After all, we didn’t have any misunderstanding. All I heard him say was that people were against him because he didn’t want to share money. Who did he want to share money to?
I asked him the other time that before he came into politics, I had my business. I had the biggest cattle ranch in the state in Ehor; I had a big poultry and the rest of them. At a time, he and other politicians bought from my ranch to distribute to people during Christmas and New Year. He told me to produce more, and he introduced me to his friend in Sterling Bank where I took a loan of N20m, which I had long paid back. By the time I started producing, he started showing me attitude. I advised him that politics was a very dangerous game. He was telling me that they (the politicians) kept coming to hang around him and he told them to take a cue from me.
So, every politician around him wanted to become a farmer. As I said, I can’t really pinpoint what happened but somewhere along the line, I just discovered that he started behaving in a way I couldn’t understand. He had also sent people to talk to me and I asked him to tell me what I did to him, which he had not been able to answer till today. I am one of the biggest exporters of Nigerian food.
Will there not be clashes of interest with the heavyweights crossing to the APC?
I can only speak for myself. I am coming back home to make amends. I am a founding member of the APC. At my age, I am not looking for any appointment or vying for any political position. I just want to play an advisory role. I am not competing with anybody, and I can’t clash with anyone. Some people are afraid that Charles is back but at 71, I am in APC to ensure I put things right.
What are the things you hope to put right?
There are a lot of wrong people in key positions in the state. The biggest problem we have in this state is sycophancy. I have been in government since the time of Prof. Ambrose Alli. I am a journalist by training and from 1979 to 1983, I was the NTA reporter attached to Alli. I toured the whole state with him, and I became interested in politics. I saw Alli fall in 1983 and how the people around him ran away. That is what Obaseki will experience very soon. He is not experienced enough. I can see running around over the palace issue.
How do you respond to one of the commissioners labelling you a bread-and-butter politician?
I was a commissioner for information and director of public affairs over 20 years ago. I will not dignify him with a reply. He is too small.
Can you give further explanation on your claim that Obaseki came to you asking to resign his position when the heat from Oshiomhole and APC was too much?
What happened was that he couldn’t fight. I was surprised to see in an interview with a national newspaper saying that he fought many battles. We fought the battles for him. I am sure he still remembers how he ran to the toilet at intervals to inform me how he was being bashed by Oshiomhole and the then chief of staff to former President Mohammad Buhari. He told me he didn’t know what to do and I would tell him what to do each time he called me. I think the one that comes to mind now was when he said he was not going to run for second term.
Eight APC governors had taken him to President Bola Tinubu (who was not the president then). Tinubu messed up Obaseki and his colleagues, telling Obaseki to go and apologise to Oshiomhole if he wanted the ticket. In that interview I mentioned, Obaseki was asked about his relationship with the President, he said he had sworn to respect the Constitution of Nigeria and the President but refused to state the hatred he had for the man. After he got to Benin from the visit to Tinubu in Lagos, he told me that as soon as they got there, Governor Babatunde Sanwo-Olu of the Lagos State prostrated, and he had to kneel down before Tinubu.
He told me that Tinubu abused him so much that he said he would rather die than run for a second term. I told him to be calm and that there was solution to the problem. I told him that it was a Benin affair. He even asked me that night why I was taking Panadol for his headache. He said he was going to resign and let Oshiomhole bring who he wanted. But I told him not to worry, and I doubled my fire and started to fight Oshiomhole. And that was how the ‘Edo no be Lagos’ slogan, which aided Obaseki re-election gained ground.
How do you hope to help bring together the factions in the APC?
Yes, I am speaking to leaders from all sections of the state. I have spoken to APC members in the National Assembly and the state House of Assembly. We are all on the same page because I led all of them before, and so they understand me. I have told them that this time, they must come together to face this election.
There were allegations that you have always been an APC member in the PDP.
They are saying all these because they don’t have anything to say. I would have expected them to provide more details. I read the reply and there was nothing in it. They said I was nominated as a Board of Trustee member of the PDP but they rejected it. I was not representing Edo State on the BoT but the South-South. All they said does not mean anything to me; I am a decorated Nigerian (OFR), which is more important than any party position or appointment. I am no longer a member of the PDP, so let’s talk about matters relating to my new party, the APC.
Did the way the governorship primary was conducted also contribute to your exit?
That was not a primary. It was an extension of Alaghodaro summit headed by the candidate of the party. Have you seen where they are doing a primary and all the delegates wore same cloth (uniform) in the same hired buses? Are they saying all the delegates came together and decided to wear same cloth in a primary election where there were supposed to be nine candidates? They just successfully fooled themselves. I am not so confident in the National Working Committee of the PDP that allowed all that to happen.
How do you intend to deal with moles in the party based on the rancour that the APC primary election generated?
We know that there are moles. Immediately after a meeting, they call the Government House to give them information for a fee. The day I defected; their moles were calling from my house. But unfortunately for them, they also do not know that whatever they are doing in the Government House; we hear it. The people I employed when I was director of public affairs and protocol are now big shots in the government, but they don’t know them. There is disagreement every day and shouting match between Obaseki and his candidate. We know every move they are making and at the right time, we shall make it public. All those who I also employed as commissioners are now well placed. Obaseki just came yesterday.
On what ground did you criticise the impeachment of former deputy governor, Philip Shaibu?
That was not an impeachment. The House of Assembly just did their master’s bidding. I really would not like to talk further about the issue.
Are you not bothered that politics is becoming highly monitised?
Politics has always been money-consuming. It also depends on the situation. But when I initially ran for an elective post, it didn’t cost money. I started from the local government as the chairman. But money came in when I ran for Senate and governorship positions. They didn’t allow primaries but instead handpicked the candidate in 2003. I have made senators; and House of Representatives members and I have fought for candidates to become governor. No one can say they gave me money. So, it depends on the individual.
What is your prediction for the governorship election?
The APC will win hands down. Can the PDP win Edo North? Edo Central is in the hands of Okpebholo. Less than one year after winning the Senate election, the people are still there to vote for him. This is the first time that Obaseki’s candidate is contesting the election. How will Obaseki’s candidate beat a candidate who just won the senatorial election? He is also very close to the late Tony Anenih. He reminded me of an encounter I had with Anenih and that was how I knew he was close to the late political leader.
