The Ebonyi South Senatorial candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ifeanyi Eleje, is a Knight of St. Christopher and President, Diocesan Council of the Knights for Afikpo Missionary Diocese, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
In this interview with CHIJIOKE AGWU in Abakaliki, the senatorial candidate said that the senate is not a retirement benefit for outgoing governors, among other issues.
There is this opinion that you’re a rookie in politics. How much of the political terrain do you know?
I have been participating in politics but not as a contestant. I have been involved in the political process. I worked for the emergence of Dr. Sam Egwu was the first civilian governor of Ebonyi State, and during his second term, I was appointed by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Chairman of the Governing Council of Federal College of Education in Pankshin, Plateau State. Since then, I have been in the political process. I was also instrumental to the emergence of Senator Emmanuel Agboti as a senator. I was a frontrunner in his campaign efforts. In 2014/2015, I worked with the Divine Mandate Campaign Council of Chief David Umahi. I was in his transition committee when he got elected.
Why did you choose to run under APGA instead of PDP which you had been supporting?
I actually joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) when we felt that the governor whom we campaigned for in PDP wasn’t keeping to what we expected. A few of us went into the APC. But, in the APC, we were treated like strange bedfellows. We were not truly accepted. So, I said, ‘Okay; I’m done with this.’ I spent time building my business. But, then, APGA came calling. The governorship candidate of APGA, Prof. Benard Odoh, came to me and shared his vision with me in Abuja. After I heard him out, I encouraged him to speak to a larger group of my people, because he struck a positive note with me. So, I called a few of our elites so to speak, and arranged for him to have a chat with them. He made the same impression on all of them. So, when consequently, he began to discuss with me the possibility of actually running an election, it took a little time for me to make a decision, and my family was not in Nigeria, and I told them, ‘Look, this isn’t something that you do lightly’. Can you let me at least go to my family? I don’t want to discuss this on the phone.’ I travelled outside the country, discussed it, and I came back. So, I joined APGA for this race.
How has your experience been all along in terms of campaign, reaching out to Ebonyi South constituents?
I think it’s been very fulfilling. It’s good to know that you can have an opportunity to impact lives. We’ve done a few things by ourselves. But, then, if you can see dejection in the faces of people, you can see hope. You know that when you send the message of hope, you can see people come alive, because they have lived like choked people all the time. There’s this hopelessness that when you speak to them about things that are possible, you see them come alive, and it gives you joy. We’ve been able to interact with a lot of our people. I can tell you, my own personal impression is that something is shifting in among the voters. You know, I can’t believe that we would have come this far as APGA, but, today, we pass people on the road, and they crow like the cock in the morning —you know, there is some acceptance. There is good acceptance, and I think I’m happy with it. What we have is work in progress.
What are you going to do differently if you become a senator?
What others are doing is basically what most politicians in the country are doing. A lot of Nigerians look at politics as a source of personal enrichment. I’m not going to do that. I wouldn’t call myself rich, but, by God’s help, I can feed myself and then I’ve done a few things for myself. I have no need to grab and appropriate. I’m going to the senate to see whether I can leverage on the opportunities there through lawmaking, oversight functions, and intervening in community concerns; whether I can leverage on those to have fair opportunities for our people. To see whether I can improve maternal and child healthcare for our people. And I will tell you why. I believe that in agrarian societies like we are, the women are the economic strength of every family. Many of our people don’t even know that there is something called the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). But, as a legislator, you can access and form a minimum premium. Get this insurance for women in your community so that the issue of going to the hospital, paying hospital bills is at least taken care of, because when the woman in the house is sick, the whole house is sick. They tend the children; they go to farm; they sell in the market. So, when you have the woman in the house sick, the economy of the household is sick. So, I’m passionate about it.
You are contesting against a seating governor, a serving senator, and then a former Member of the House of Representatives. These are strong politicians and gladiators in this game. How are you going to navigate your way?
I am selling my vision to my people. But I think that there is a clear difference about somebody aspiring to service and another person retiring to the senate. I think the governor has done what he needed to do for the people. Anything the governor has not been able to do in these eight years as a governor, he’s unlikely to do it as a senator. You know you can’t come from governing 13 local governments and then to five local governments where you don’t even have executive powers. It’s not the same thing at all. I want to be able to impact lives of my people. I want to make an impact. The governor has made an impact. He’s going into a resting place. You know, he may have other political ideas, but certainly, I think it isn’t more of trying to give service up beyond what he has given. The other contestants they would have done their best. The sitting senator has done his best, but I don’t think he’s been able to really address the needs of the people, not because he’s not up to it, but probably because his style has not let him do that. Many people are not in touch with him. He is an old boy of my school, Government College Afikpo. I’m the National President of the Old Boys Association. But I have never seen him in any of our old boys’ events. So his relationship method is probably a disadvantage. Then, Linus Okorie of the Labour Party, I don’t know him personally. But I know he served eight years in the House of Representatives, and I doubt if the whole of Ohanivo area will like to have him again. So, I see a good chance in this venture.
How is your party seeing the Obidient Movement being championed by Peter Obi and the Labour party; do you people see it as a challenge?
No. We see it as an advantage instead. Peter Obi’s emergence has taken this thing off the emphasis of the party. We need to remind people that Obi showcased himself as a governor of APGA. That is where he showcased himself. You see, the good thing about the party, like APGA, is that you don’t have the party apparatus from Abuja breathing over you. So, you are actually freer to show what you can do, and I think that was an advantage for Obi, because the so-called APC and PDP are not like that. You know you have people breathing down your neck; you know it is not your ability so to say because you’re trying to also manage the pressures from the party. So, even when you can run fast, they reduce you to just walking. The APGA gave Obi that opportunity, and we see that now Obi also has a bet in a party that is not suffocating him, and you can see the gravitas he is pulling. So, we see it as an advantage. People will look at it and say no, maybe it is better to look at the candidates, not the party. So, we see it as an advantage, because emphasis is now on candidates and not parties.
Assessing Ebonyi State, will you say that democracy is taking root and development advancing almost three decades after its creation?
I think the political atmosphere is harsh. It’s retrogressing in terms of civility; in terms of accommodation. The present governor started well, on a good note. But I think the place under him has hardened; it may not be him as a person, but, as they say, perception is everything. It may be people around him. The so-called military, I mean, civil security system like Ebubeagu, haven’t helped the perception people have of him. It was said it was well intended in the beginning, I believe so. But I’m sure you’ve heard that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. So, today, I think the thing has outlived its usefulness. Today, I was driving out of Afikpo, and I saw all those electric poles; streetlights pulled down. For God’s sake, how can that be? People are tearing down billboards. It’s just not here, because we are just destroying ourselves. You know, politics can be played without bitterness and rancour. It can be played and people will send their messages, you convince people to vote for you. It can be on the strength of ideas, not with muscle. So, that’s why I say it’s declining.
If you have an opportunity to be in the senate, which will be your areas of legislative interest?
I am passionate about diaspora voting, and I will tell you why: it’s about diaspora funds inflow into the country. My last check showed that it impacts our budget to the tune of almost 25 per cent. If people are working, and then transporting money to the place, and the money is being deployed, I think it’s only fair that they should have a voice in determining who executes projects. People have complained about diaspora voting. Let’s start it, Nigeria has embassies all over the world. People can vote through their embassies. We don’t have to mail ballots yet. But at least through the embassies their voting can be executed there.
What’s your reaction to the recent redesign of some denominations of the naira?
The naira note was long overdue for redesign. What has happened is not even a clear redesigning of the naira. It’s just a peripheral retouching of the naira. But for any economy that had over 60 per cent of the volume of money in the system outside the banks, they needed to take that step to bring the money back into the banks. Money that is not going into the banks, not moving through the banks, does not support development; because we give it to the banks, they lend it to people who have projects and deploy it into the economy. But when people keep it under their seats or their beds, no. You had to put out something that would pull it out. I think it is a good idea, it is a good move.
So, what is your advice to Eboyians and the people of Ebonyi South in particular?
They should key into the national psyche of looking at candidates and not parties. They should de-emphasise the issue of money politics. If politicians come and give you money, you’ll collect it. But know that, for the next four years, your vote is going to determine how your household will look; how your children will be taken care of, your health care, and the educational system. So, if you can throw away all that by collecting money from a politician, then you’re not patriotic, you know. So, I will say like they say: shine your eyes.