We went looking for Chief Anthony Obuh in Asaba, the Delta State capital on Thursday November 27th in the afternoon. We caught up with him at his house situated behind NTA. Decked in a light green guinea brocade sewed into buba and sokoto and a black sandals to match. He walked into the meeting room accompanied by some of his aides. He wore glasses. The leading PDP governorship aspirant in Delta State cuts the picture of a simple, humble and honest man that wants to serve his people for little or nothing. He spoke to EJIRO ROMAN ADIGBO candidly about his ambition to serve Delta people. Read on…
Tell us about yourself?
My name is Tony Obuh, one time civil servant but now full time politician. I had spent a long time in civil service, the whole of 32-years. I have spent a good time of my life working for the government and the good people of my state. But then, I left not because, I got tired of working for the good people of Delta State, not because something compelled me to leave the service, not because I didn’t know what I ought to do with my life or with my career but because I believe I can add greater value to my people. So, I left voluntarily after 32-years of service, I left because I want to serve my people on a higher platform as the governor of Delta State.
People have asked me why I want to and what makes me think I can be the governor of Delta State, am I prepared to become the governor of Delta State? For me, it is simple. 32-years of my life committed and devoted to doing one thing; working for government and the people. At this stage of my life, what I want to do is to continue on that platform and on a higher pedestal, I have seen policies being formulated and implemented, now I want to be on the position that we can say this is our policy. I also want to be in the position where I can use the instrumentality of government; the civil service, which is the machine through which service is delivered to implement the policy. I think, I enjoy the advantages over so many other persons who have indicated interest. So, this is to tell you that this is Tony Obuh, that I am very well prepared and ready to serve the good people of Delta State as a governor.
There was a rumour that you are not actually a card carrying member of the PDP, is it true?
Incidentally, last Saturday I participated in the screening exercise conducted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the panel that was constituted by the National Working Committee, they screened me and gave me a certificate of clearance to participate in the forthcoming election under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party.
Is it true that other aspirants are not enjoying the same level playing field like you?
There has not been anything that has happened to suggest that anybody is being discriminated as against the quest for political power in Delta State. I am not aware of anybody being endorsed by anyone but as at today I have received endorsements from across the state. All segments; employed and unemployed, both those in the civil service, and public service at large; the political class and the business class, the professionals and everybody, I have received the endorsement. I don’t see anything that is wrong about it, but none of those things have suggested that the state machinery is being used for my endorsement or that I am spending public funds to pursue my ambition.
What gives you the confidence to say you are the best person for the job?
If I have been trained for 32-years doing one job, which of the other aspirants have had that experience or privilege? And beyond that, I think I have been exposed to the people of Delta State for all that period that had the opportunity to assess me, they had the opportunity to meet me and know my antecedent and even my background and where I am coming from. I think that I can stand head and shoulder over many of those people who are contesting with me.
So far so good, there is nothing that has happened that will suggest that I am unfit in that arena, I think I have been doing very well. Beyond that, I have had the experience of relating with the political class. Atleast, since 1999 when I was a director in the office of the SSG; so, there is nothing to suggest that I am not fit to be there. Even before now, I have had cause to support the political class, I have had cause to support political movements at different level.
As a retired civil servant do you have the money for politics?
I am as rich as a civil servant who worked diligently, faithfully and honestly. But beyond that, election is not the business of one person, if you want to run an election as an individual then you will be crushed, I am not depending on my resources to run the election. So far, I think that the public have really given me more than 90-percent of what I have spent so far. If you walk the streets of Delta State, you will see billboards that have been produced on my behalf by people I have never met. That is why almost all the billboards carry different images; different wordings, different letters, different messages because people go to the internet, get my pictures and produce whatever they feel like producing on my behalf. Same thing for posters, even those who do not have money to print and distribute have come to me that they want to paste for me for free, that is how I have been surviving.
Again, there are people who have come to me, who believe in what I am offering and have offered to support me; individuals. So, I am not relying on my personal resources to run for the election, it is not possible for me to do that.
What makes you different from other aspirants?
It is the same old stories. Those other contestants have been there, in the political class participating in governance one way or the other. The new thing is that, within that political class holding political offices or seeking appointments through election in Delta State, I have never done that. I am coming with my experience in the civil service, I am coming with a reputation that I have built over the years serving the people of Delta State, I am coming with a higher level of integrity because I believe in what I am going to do and the service that I want to render is the service that I believe people will be proud of after a couple of years.
Has Gov. Uduaghan been supporting you?
What I will say is that I retired as a Permanent Secretary from the Directorate of Government House and Protocol, my immediate boss is the present governor of Delta State. When I met him to tell him I wanted to retire, he didn’t discourage me from retiring, that alone shows that he has been supporting what I am doing. So far, he has not said anything to discourage me or to create any obstacle on my way in the cause of prosecuting my aspiration; I will say that is the support I have received from him so far.
Are you contesting because you are from Delta North?
The truth is that I am from Agbor, Ika South Local Government; both of my parents are from that area which happens to be in the Delta North Senatorial District of Delta State, but I am not the candidate of Delta North, I am the candidate of the entire people of Delta State.
As a civil servant, how do you describe the political arena of Nigeria?
Well, for me, Nigeria like we all know has a lot of opportunities and at the same time lots of challenges. We just need people who will be committed in pursuing anything that they believe will help us to build this country. It is true that the number of persons in the political arena may not have represented the political class very well. That, however, does not mean that we do not have sincere and genuine people who want to serve this country and serve the country patriotically. For me, politics represents the machine through which you can render service to the people if the environment is right and we have quality people to utilize the opportunity to serve our people, it can help us develop faster than we can imagine. Like they use to say, the best military dictatorship, is not better than the worse political administration. For me, politics is right; it is good for us and help us to grow if so far, we encouraged people who are there to do what they ought to do and they remain transparent and open in administering the resources of this country. For me, in Delta State, because I have worked for so many years without blemishes, it will be too late for my life and career to now start to swallow my fingers while serving the people of Delta State.
Government can never end. There is no government that can end its administration. So, government continues to improve the lives of people of the state, it cannot come to an end, so there are so many things today. Infact, we can look at it and say this administration has opened so many windows of opportunities and also thrown up a lot of challenges. So, the challenge will continue to grow and we need people to explore all the opportunities to ensure that there is no break in our development.