Elder statesman, Alhaji Sule Iyaji, was the deputy governor in the old Benue state and presently a Federal Commissioner at the Federal Character Commission (FCC), representing the North-Central. In this interview with ALEX EMEJE, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria trained economist, speaks on the political developments in Kogi, his home state, his view on power shift in the state, the wrong perception of Kogi state governor, Captain Idris Wada as non performer vis-à-vis his administration’s milestones, and above all pleads with Nigerians to be patient with the APC-led federal government.
Governor Idris Wada’s administration thus far
Yes, Capt Wada is three and a half years in office. Before assessing him, one has to examine the circumstances that brought him to power and the state of the state’s finance at the time too. First , you will notice that those who contested with him never gave him a free hand to settle down to work and as we talk, there are about six cases standing against him and one has even reached the Supreme Court and he has no time to rest. Some of these people I want to call antagonists, see governance as a do-or-die.
The amount of money left in the coffer for him to work with at the time he took over, is also important. The state’s resources began to go down because of the dwindling oil price at the international level. Before Wada became the governor, the state had a fortune of statutory allocation, sometimes about N7billion or N9billion per month. By the time Wada came in, it cascaded down to about N4billion which was just half of the previous allocations. Also at the same time, the state’s wage bill went up because the government before him, had agreed to pay the minimum wage.
The wage bill of Kogi state was about N2.1billion,but by the time the last government agreed to pay the minimum wage, it rose to N3billion. If N4b is what goes to the state monthly and N3billion is for salary, what can he achieve with N1billion? The former government had embarked on various projects which needed to be completed and Wada is one man that does not abandon projects started by his predecessors. He kept faith with this. As a result of the need to complete the projects he inherited, the burden of looking for money to complete those projects, (which were not credited to his administration but bore two third of the cost), rested squarely on him. Wada is somebody who plans and has a holistic approach to development. To keep the machinery of government going therefore, he had to go and borrow.
The long and short of it all is that despite this glaring handicap, the machinery of government keeps going. He keeps paying workers salary as at when due and most importantly, the state under Capt Wada entered the period of peace. You remember that there was a time when thuggery was the other of the day in Kogi state, but Wada ended this ugly aspect of life. In fact, Wada’s emergence as Kogi state governor is a blessing because he has embarked on many meaningful developmental projects, including building first class teaching hospital at Anyigba, referral centre at Lokoja , and also constructing a bye-pass to free the congested Artery road in Lokoja, the construction of embarkment to contain flood between Rivers Niger and Benue, and construction of drainages that had never taken place in the state before now.
Before now, the roads within the Lokoja metropolis, were always in bad shape because appropriate drainages were not considered by previous governments.
However, the governor’s activities were grossly under reported, thus leading to a wrong public perception that Governor Wada is not working. The governor is not one giving to blowing his own trumpet. It is on record that in the history of Kogi state, a certain governor built a village clinic which he said, cost N12million, and at the point of commissioning, he made sure all the traditional rulers were brought to witness the commissioning and half of the state functionaries were there and Radio Kogi blew the event before and after the ceremony. But today, Wada has commenced a multi-billion naira cement factory in Itobe in Kogi state, teaching hospital without making noise about them.
The perception that Wada is not working or not performing is wrong. All previous governors elected are being judged or assessed based on completion of their second term and Wada is still in his first term and so is not fair to judge him now, but at the end of his second term, he would have surpassed the performance of any other governor before him.
The eleven (11) story N2.2b Kogi House in Abuja is being built on a land that was allocated to the state over 20 years ago, but only the incumbent governor has the foresight to complete the project, which is meant to improve the fortunes of the state when completed.
Your position on power shift
On the power shift and as a political elder in the state as well as somebody close to Wada, though politics is a game of number, the Igala people believe power should rotate. I, Alhaji Sule Iyaji, Igala people and Governor Idris Wada believe in power rotation based on an agreed process. As a matter of fact, I do not believe that Kogi East where the Igala people come from, have in real terms benefited advantageously development wise, when compared with the two other senatorial districts despite the fact that their sons have ruled the state for the past 16 years.
Assessing President Muhammadu Buhari’s four months in office
President Muhammadu Buhari is a person that plans before he acts, just like Captain Idris Wada of Kogi State. When such people are given more time, they are capable of achieving greater achievements than those who rush to register cosmetic projects that do not stand the test of time. I would rather appeal to Nigerians to be patient with President Buhari if we are to achieve greater dividends in the future. Even without doing or saying so much, Buhari’s image and credentials are correcting many things in the polity.
