IZE-IYAMU AT 60: I was victim of Edo 2020 election

• Speaks on relationship with Obaseki, Lucky Igbinedion, others

Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu was the gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2020 governorship election in Edo State. In this interview to mark his 60th birthday, the pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God speaks on his journey so far in politics, especially his candidacy in two governorship elections and other issues.

Ize-Iyamu also says he is looking unto God regarding the Edo 2024 election after the tenure of Governor Godwin Obaseki.

60 years is a milestone. How has the journey been?

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I am still in shock that I will be 60. I remember vividly during my teenage and youthful years, back then, when we heard somebody was 60, we looked at the person with so much respect because we believed 60 is really down the ladder. I want to thank God for life and good health. Apart from when I had a road accident and had to do appendicitis, God has always blessed me with good health.

I have never really been sick or hospitalized but I see a lot of people spending monies on doctors and medications but God has been so good to me. Being sixty in good health, not in want and your children are doing well, is something to give God the glory. I cannot thank God enough for keeping me this far. I thank God for allowing me to know him. I think that is my major achievement.

If I have lived a hundred years without really knowing God, but what I know now and what will come after, I would have been having regrets. But the period when I did a complete U-turn, I gave my life to Christ; I am very satisfied with my relationship with God. Every day, I pray it gets better.

First, you are a lawyer and later became politician. Are there regrets along these lines of careers?

Of course, there are regrets. Sometimes, I regret I didn’t spend too much time in my legal practice. I entered politics very early in life and, somehow, I just got to the thick of it. There was no room for anything else. Even to do business became very difficult.

My involvement in politics is because I am so concerned about the environment I live in and I have always told people that you cannot be rich when all around you is poverty. So your wealth is defined by the environment you live in.

When I see poverty in my place, I am challenged. I just believe that with the right leadership, right policies and sincerity in governance, things could be a lot better. It has been a long journey that one would think that by now we would have had the Nigeria of our dreams but unfortunately, it is still a work in progress. Sometimes, I feel I should have spent more time in the legal profession. It is actually a profession I have a lot of respect for.

Whenever I go to court for some cases and I see my colleagues, how well they have gotten at the bar and their submission in court, there is a little bit of envy that I should have spent some time. But quite honestly, I am very fulfilled. I have a wonderful family, my wife is everything to me, my children are very supportive, my siblings are wonderful and I have had some good friends, even though I had a fair share of backstabbing and betrayals. Of course, the body of Christ has also been one of the very strong pillars in my life. The regrets are minimal, more of gratitude and thanks to God.

When you were in Lucky Igbinedion’s government, what were the impacts you made?

That government was a very challenging one. That was the government that came in 1999 after eight years of military rule. The last civilian governor was Chief John Oyegun, who left in 1992. They came in and by the time that government came in, the civil service was in bad shape. The only university, Ambrose Alli University, was nothing to write home about.

Basically, most of the military Administrators were not from here and they were coming from places even worse than Edo State. For them, there was no need to do anything fantastic here. They felt that Edo was better than where they came from. They did very minimally.

When the administration came in, there were lots of challenges. We had people protesting over their salaries and pensions close to 28months, 29 months, 30months. There were a lot of agitations. It took a lot of time to balance it. The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) was very poor. It will surprise you to know that then the IGR for a month was 30million.

Today, to the glory of God, I think it is over two billion. Things were a bit tight but no matter how tight, you don’t enter government to lament. You go there to make improvements and we tried to do that. My first function for four years as Chief of Staff, was basically to help the governor to stabilize. A lot of time then, I had to interface with the legislative and executive arms to ensure there was harmony and worked together.

Can you share your experience when you made the first attempt to contest in Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and your second attempt to contest in APC?

They were both different. Even though there are also very glaring similarities. For example, when I went to the PDP, I was going there like a prodigal son but you will recall we also founded the PDP in 1999, but in the end, we had some issues that led to the formation of the Grace Group. The Grace Group was actually the foundation of the Action Congress that became ACN, which today is the APC.

We helped Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to become the first governor from Edo North. But we had some misgivings at the tail end of his administration that made many of us to leave the party and we went back to PDP. Of course, many people envisaged we were going to have a hostile reception because before we formed the Grace Group, the PDP was totally in control of the politics of our state.

Just as PDP was holding sway in Delta, that was how PDP was holding sway in Edo. But somehow, God just favoured us. Those people they thought will be very hostile to me, especially our late father and leader, Chief Anthony Anenih, people thought with our slogan ‘No Man Is God’, he will use the opportunity of our coming back to practically humiliate me. But to the glory of God, he gave me the support. I became the gubernatorial candidate. We had a very good show then.

You will recall if not because Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) compromised by shifting the election on the eve of it, the story would have been different. In all the security reports, everything was clear that if the election had been done, Pastor Ize Iyamu was going to win. ]

We had sent people to the field and were just getting set to go to my village when I heard on TV. Nobody informed me, I just heard on TV that the election had been postponed for a few weeks. The reason was that the security people could not guarantee security in the state that was relatively peaceful. That was a terrible experience.

But by the time they finally rescheduled it , of course, government in power prepared themselves very well to ensure we were not able to win the election. We went to court and the moment the Supreme Court gave its verdict, right there at the Supreme Court, I sent a message of congratulations to Governor Obaseki.

APC

Honestly, when we were coming to the APC, the priority was not that I must contest. When I went to PDP, I had the mindset that I will have to run for governor but when I went to APC, to be honest, I tried to be very realistic as far as I can. To me, they had a sitting governor. I didn’t think the problem they had was insurmountable. I thought that somehow, they will be able to rectify it; maybe at the national level, maybe at the state level before the elections and if they rectify it, of course, the way it normally goes, everybody will support the governor.

I went to APC with that mindset and I tried to reach out to everybody including Comrade Oshiomhole who was then the National Chairman whom I had a very storming session before I left but of course, you know what played out during the campaigns.

It was as if it was two of us that were campaigning. But I reached out to him.

I called the governor. I briefed him. In the beginning on phone, he was quite receptive but later he must have had a second thought of my coming. It was no longer possible for me to communicate with him. But to my surprise, the day I was to declare, it became as if it was a war. Where we wanted to do it at Garrick Memorial School, Benin, government warned the owners there not to allow us to use the place.

In fact, the night before, there were attempts to burn the place. They threatened the owner that they will revoke the ownership of the land if they allowed us to use the place. I saw reasons with them, I said ok. We are not going to put you through that kind of trouble. Luckily, I have a big space in my house, so people can use my house.

I asked the party, please do you mind if you receive me in my house? They said no. We will come and receive you even if it is in your bedroom. We were here again, all kinds of troubles. In fact, I heard they were also planning to come and attack my house. I said, how can they attack my house? Because I am joining the party? Anybody can join the party.

I don’t think it will get to that. Somebody also called me that they might revoke my ownership of the land. I said that will be going too far. But if that happens, it will also be historic even though it will be on the negative side. But it was very terrible. Irrespective of the troubles that played out, I became a major contender for the ticket.

We lost that election because there was so much division in the party. It was difficult to know who was who. I think the governor was quite smart. When he was leaving, he left some people behind and took some to join the PDP. He left some people behind to give him reports of what is happening and at the same time support him during the election.

Sabotage

In any election, the thing you dread the most is internal sabotage, when people you think will be guiding your goal post are actually the ones kicking the balls in.

It is difficult to deal with and because of the fact that I have just returned to the party, I didn’t want the impression that I didn’t trust those that were to be used. I also could not change them because that would have sent a negative impression that when I am in government, I won’t use them. I have no choice but to accept and when the result came in, it was a big problem. Sometimes people see me outside, walk up to the Governor Obaseki to greet him and they often say, you greeted him?

Have you seen Governor Obaseki after the elections?

Yes! I have seen him.

What was his disposition towards you?

We greeted. The only time I thought they must have been going too far was when my farmland was revoked. I felt that was not necessary. Every time we see, especially at the airport or inside the plane, you know inside the plane, the protocol is less, so inside the plane you can greet anybody and the person will greet you. Inside the plane, I will say Mr. Governor, and he will say Hi Pastor. We greet.

What is your disposition to some governors, national officers who didn’t support you?

For me, once it was over, I reached out to as many as possible and I made them realize that I have put it behind and quite honestly, two or three of them told me in person, that Pastor, we are sorry about what happened to you. You were the victim but you were not the target. I said no problem. The future is pregnant. Tomorrow is there.

Where do you get the capacity and courage to carry on? Is it because you are a Christian or what?

When you have God on your side, you find out that you don’t worry too much about anything. I can understand why people easily get depressed. But when you have God beside you, you just find out that whatever happens, you just take it as the will of God. He said, “ In everything give thanks”.

In fact after the elections, I did a thanksgiving, some people said how can you be doing thanksgiving? You didn’t win the election. I said we shouldn’t do Thanksgiving; that I went through all these and I didn’t die? We traveled day and night all over the place nobody died.

As I was going here, my wife will be going there. In fact in one or two places, she was attacked but for the glory of God. God kept us. Forget about what happened. I should thank God. Twice I have contested elections and over two hundred thousand people voted for me in each of them. There are many states their governor won’t get that kind of numbers.

In the first election, how many votes did you get?

Two hundred and something thousand. The second, two hundred and something thousand. Consistently, over a quarter of a million in the state have said, we like you, we will support you. If I am depressed, what example am I showing to them? I have a wonderful family. My wife is a wonderful woman. The period I was campaigning, she was all over the place. She forgot all other things and focused on helping me. The moment the thing went the other way, she was also by my side. She said, darling, we have to move on. She didn’t behave like Job’s wife who said curse God and die. She just said this one is done let us move on.

(VANGUARD)