From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former governor of Edo state, Oserheimen Osunbor, has said that though he did not forget anything at the Edo State Government House, he is however not too old to govern the state and complete his unexecuted blueprint.
Osunbor, who spoke to newsmen after purchasing his expression of interest and nomination forms at the headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, announced that he has a cordial relationship with the leader of the party in the state, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
Asked how he intend to defend the age factor against his aspiration, he said that he can challenge any of the young aspirants to any physical combat and endurance exercise.
“If you see anybody asking such question tell them to come out and challenge me on a race and see if I don’t meet up, it’s about how healthy you are. This parametres keep adjusting from time to time, we use to know that eggs are bad for the aged, but recently we were told eggs are good.
“At a time they said age 70 is the beginning of old age but now they said 80,” said announced, frowning at people asking what he forgot at Edo Government House.
“This idea of people asking me whhether I forget anything at Government House is not about all that. I didn’t forget anything there, I am going back there to be able to affect the lives of my Edo people positively and prosecute the blueprint I have for them,” he noted.
He also spoke about his readiness to key into any reconciliation arrangement, stressing: “I am not adverse to reconciliation, in fact, politics is about give and take, I am a student of law and political science, you can’t have all the answers, you can’t take it all.
“As a legislator involved in budgeting you know what it takes to ensure that something goes round, everybody has a bit of it, so I accustomed to give and take and this spirit of reconciliation, also I will bring in that spirit when I am sworn in as Governor of Edo state,” he promised.
Osunbor also spoke on his relationship with Comrade Oshiomhole and who are his backers, emphasising:
“Oshiomhole is, as you said, the leader of APC in Edo state and I enjoy a very good relationship with him.”
“The question of who are my backers takes me back to 2006, 2007 when I was running, two of the other front runners then in the race where supported by the then President and the other supported by a certain leader. People asked then who is my supporter and I responded, God is my supporter.”
On zoning, Osunbor said: “For me, rotation is somewhat different from zoning, if you look at the national level, there is rotation of the presidency between North and South and its been working very well, once it is rotated other positions are zoned.
“I believe in the principle of rotation and zoning, people confuse the two but for me they are not exactly the same.
But in Edo I believe they should rotation among the three senatorial districts of the state, having rotated across senatorial districts you will then zone all other position, where the Deputy, Speaker and others will come from.
“I believe it’s a good thing, it inculcate a sense of belonging, oneness, unity and sense of inclusion and I think a country like Nigeria needs that kind of spirit in other to forge national unity. A state like Edo needs that kind of spirit in other that no component of the state feels left behind.
“People will say it is not constitutional, it is constitutional, go and read section 14 of the constitution, where it said offices should not be concentrated in one part of the country, or in one religious group or the other in order to ensure fair distribution, let every part feel the sense of belonging and have opportunity to occupy those offices rather than concentrating it and keeping it perpetually within one specific geographical area,” he said.