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No electoral reform, no 2011 polls –Akande
By WILLY EYABy Olusola Balogun
Sunday, November 29, 2009
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•Adebisi
Akande
•Photo: Sun News Publishing |
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Chief Adebisi Akande, the National Chairman of Action Congress
(AC) is not a man known to prevaricate. He shoots from the hips.
The former governor of Osun State was in his elements when Sunday
Sun interviewed him recently at his modest home in Ibadan. He dismissed
the move to deregulate the downstream oil sector of the nation’s
economy describing it as a fraud that would bring more hardship
to the lives of the people. Among a wide range of issues, he also
prescribes a thorough de-briefing for any retired military man seeking
to participate in partisan politics.
Excerpts…
How do you react to allegations that some members of your party
demanded N5bn from President Umaru Yar’Adua to support his
re-election in 2011?
The people of the country have seen nothing good in Yar’Adua
and my party, as the watchdog of the people, cannot now say we want
to support his re-election. It is a blatant lie and nobody in AC
wants to assist Yar’Adua.
Yar’Adua prefers to be in the PDP, the worst party anyone
can deal with anywhere in life. PDP is not ready to serve but wants
the people of this country to serve her. As a result, we in the
AC cannot have anything to do with him no matter how much he wants
to pay to get our support. I want to say we never discussed with
him and we don’t intend to do that. We in the AC don’t
expect to have a deal with Yar’Adua over 2011.
You said the PDP is a bad party but it keeps winning in every election.
Is that not a measure of the acceptability of the party?
The PDP is not winning, it is capturing everywhere because it has
money to hire thugs and it is in control of Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) and the police. They use a combination
of the police and INEC and the thugs to impose their wish on the
people of Nigeria. That was exactly what they did in 2003. Since
then, Yar’Adua as incapable as he is, proposed that the electoral
system should be reformed but those who captured Yar’Adua
before they captured Nigeria will never allow a reform in the electoral
process, maybe there will be no 2011 in Nigeria.
I don’t understand that; do you mean there won’t be
2011 polls?
What happened in 2003, which was repeated in 2007, can never be
allowed in 2011 and we’ll still have Nigeria as a country.
If they call it a threat, yes it is a threat. If there is no electoral
reform, there won’t be any election in 2011.
Many people believe the problem with our election is not essentially
with the law, but with the operators but you are insisting on electoral
reform.
The reform will go beyond casting ballot papers and voting. It will
include the role of the police, who will appoint the INEC leaders,
financing of INEC. All these things are in the recommendations of
the Justice Mohammed Uwais committee. That committee was made up
of credible Nigerians and they did an honest patriotic job.
It was Yar’Adua that created the committee, but because Yar’Adua
belongs to a party that despises the people and they will never
work for the people, it becomes very difficult for the President
to implement it. Reformation of the electoral system goes beyond
the law. It includes the appointment of INEC, funding, role of the
police and the State Security Services.
Some of the things you touched will need to be corrected from the
constitution but the National Assembly seems to be foot dragging
on the amendment of the constitution.
Justice Uwais recommended an amendment in the relevant areas of
the constitution. It is not me saying it, it was the Uwais committee
raised by Yar’Adua that first said it and I agree with the
recommendation. It was the PDP government that created the Uwais
committees; it was the PDP government that is reneging on the recommendations.
If the electoral system is not reformed, there would not be election
in 2011 and there would be no PDP.
Professor Wole Soyinka called for a boycott of the 2011 election
if the electoral system is not reformed; do you think boycott is
a nice idea?
We, as people of Nigeria, will do more than boycott; we will make
Nigeria ungovernable for anyone that is not elected but that is
trying to occupy office in Nigeria.
The PDP is gradually pushing Nigeria towards a one party state;
do you think that move would be stopped?
PDP is not going to exist in this country after 2011. PDP is working
to destabilise this country but before they succeed in doing that,
the people of this country would have destabilised them. There may
be no election in 2011 or there may be no 2011 for Nigeria.
How can the people destabilise the PDP?
You will wait and see. This country has seen troubles before and
that won’t be the end of trouble. PDP will ask for trouble
and they will be soaked in trouble before Nigeria will get into
trouble.
There is a discordant tune among opposition politicians on how
to get PDP out of power; many say a mega party would be the way
out while some subscribe to alliance. Which do you think would be
the best option?
We are not against sending the PDP out. We in AC say we are a mega
party. Our party resides in the minds and the souls of every Nigerian.
Nigerians see the AC as the only party that can fix this mess created
in the country. We have seen the performance of the governor of
Lagos, who is an AC man and they are also seeing the way Edo state
governor is settling down to serious and meaningful governance.
Everybody knows that it is only the AC that can give salvation to
this country. AC is a mega party, if that is what they want to call
a big party; the AC is a mega party. What we are saying is that
we will not dissolve the AC no matter what the name they want to
call any political arrangement to get the PDP out. We will be prepared
to join hands with other faithful politicians and political parties.
Are you talking of alliance then?
It could be by way of strategic alliance or coalition, but the Action
Congress (AC) will not dissolve itself into any political party.
But some people say that a mega party will be better than a loose
coalition that might be ineffective.
Those who say that are not politicians. If you want such a mega
political party, you won’t start a year to election, you would
have started three or four years ahead, but when you are doing such
a thing in a year to election, before you know it, the election
is here and nothing is achieved. Those who are saying that are being
pushed to behave and act the way they are doing to heat up the foundation
of the parties. We in AC won’t allow our foundation to be
uprooted under any guise, but we will be willing to work with honest
and faithful politicians and political parties.
We will be ready to fight in 2011 alone if there is no party to
help in entrenching democracy in Nigeria. We are open to work with
any party that is willing, but to dissolve ourselves a year to election;
those who are thinking like that should forget it. We in AC have
decided we won’t.
Your Presidential candidate in 2007 polls, Atiku Abubakar, is part
of the mega party setup; does that not suggest a crack in AC?
If the presidential candidate had won election in 2007, he will
be in office now and won’t be looking to set up a new party.
The Presidential candidate is not an officer of the party, he was
merely a candidate of the AC, and he is not an officer of the AC.
It is the committee of the officers, which we call the National
Working Committee (NWC), and other ex-officio members that make
up the National Executive Committee (NEC). The NEC is the highest
decision making body of the party; the NEC said that it won’t
allow the party to be dissolved into any party a year to election.
That position is irrespective of the position our candidate might
have taken. When the candidate decides to come back, we will be
asking him all those questions of his involvement in this.
What effort are you making to reposition and strengthen the AC
to make it more national?
If in spite of all odds, within the last three months we won an
election in Adamawa and we won an election in Kogi and we were very
strong in most elections, but we were rigged out, yet people still
say that we are not national in outlook, then those saying that
are not politicians and are surely not a friend of the AC. We know
what we want. Our major focus is the electoral reform; after that
then we will look at other things.
The AC was formed as a party in December 2006 and we shook this
country before the April 2007 election. If we can do that, then
you should know we could do more in 2011. That is one reason why
we won’t allow ourselves to be dissolved into any political
party, no matter what brand name they gave it. We will however be
ready to work with a sincere and faithful political party to face
the PDP in 2011.We expect that any reasonable politician in Nigeria
today should be talking more of reforming the electoral laws because
that is key to the survival of our democracy.
Does that mean you are contented with the position of AC in Nigeria
today?
I am happy because we are in the minds of the people of Nigeria;
forget about what the PDP INEC and PDP police gave out as election
results.
You seem to place a lot on the review of the electoral laws, but
there are fears that the National Assembly might not meet the expectations
of Nigerians in this regard; do you think we will have a good election
in 2011 especially with threats that Lagos will be captured by the
PDP this time?
Why do you bother yourself on what the PDP arrogates to itself?
There is this Yoruba proverb that when the god of mud is ready to
be disgraced, it will ask that it want to play in the rain. (‘Bi
sigidi be fe sere ete a ni ki won gbe oun lo s’odo lo we’)PDP
is like that god of the mud and they will get dissolved easily.
All they are saying is they plan to use thugs and the police to
have their way, but I can tell you that they will fail. We in the
AC will checkmate them; I can assure you they won’t come close
to Lagos.
They think Nigerians are fools but they should know that Nigerians
are tired of being treated like slaves. The people want a party
that will serve, not the one they will serve like the PDP. The people
are hungry and poor and they want to escape this oppression of the
PDP so they will fight the PDP.
You talk of the people fighting but it seems Nigerians are apathetic
and tired of the whole thing. Do you think they would be ready to
fight?
That is how warriors behave before they strike. They are in retreat
and by the time they strike, the PDP won’t be able to stand
them. That is the way Nigerians use to do, the situation we found
ourselves today is similar to what happened in 1965 which led to
the destabilisation of January 1966;this time, we won’t welcome
the military, it is the people themselves that will face the PDP
who are behaving like an army of occupation in Nigeria. The people’s
will, shall prevail over the PDP.
Many argue that even after the reform, the PDP would still dominate
the nation’s political turf because it is a more popular party.
Do you agree?
I will want members of the media to answer that because you the
media see everything and feel the pulse of Nigeria than the politicians.
If the media allows itself to be deceived, then the media is in
trouble. The people of Nigeria know that the PDP is not popular
and they know that the PDP forces itself on Nigerians and they are
ready to send the PDP out.
The government recently said there is no going back on deregulation,
but some people say that deregulation will further pauperise Nigerians;
are you in support of deregulation?
Is the economy of Nigeria regulated before? When the economy is
not regulated, what are they deregulating? I don’t think this
PDP government knows what it is saying and I will not want the people
to be deceived by these slogans. I won’t want the media to
join the PDP in this deceit. The government does not have a clue
of what to do and they are just beating about the bush. I know the
slogans won’t save them from the people’s wrath.
Do you support deregulation?
I don’t know what it is so called, because the economy was
never regulated in the first instance. I hear the press say it but
the Nigerian economy has never been regulated. It is all deceit.
Government says it wants to remove the subsidy on the price of petrol
and that it will now be sold for N105 per liter.
If the arithmetic of the petroleum economy is properly worked out,
they will discover that what they call subsidy is fraud. What they
call subsidy is what they steal from government purse. If they stop
the stealing today, they won’t be talking of subsidy again.
Subsidy is all about corruption. I am sure if they remove the fraud,
petrol will sell for less than N30 per liter.
Is the anti-graft war well prosecuted by this regime?
We should not wait for a foreigner to tell us that the Nigerian
system is corrupt; we can see that by ourselves. Corruption is no
more hidden in Nigeria. If a political party, or an individual is
saying he wants to contest election with N1 billion, what does he
want to do with the money and how does he hope to recover it? Is
it not to use the money to recruit thugs and buy INEC and the Police?
How will he recover the money if it is not through corruption? Remove
fraud from Nigerian leadership and you will have peace and development
in Nigeria. There is too much fraud and that is why development
is stunted in Nigeria. Nigerians know all these things.
Are you happy with the rate of development of our democracy 10
years after military rule?
I don’t know if the military has gone because when we were
fighting against the continuance of military regime, we never thought
it were the military contractors and their apologists that would
take over government. They did not only make a retired military
man to become the President but a retired military man was the President
of the Senate. It was arranged by the retreating military regime.
I think we are not yet in democracy but in transition.
Do you regret fighting the military to go?
We fought to ask civilians to rule this country but we did not fight
for military agents to take over through fronts but unfortunately
that is what we have.
Some Nigerians are saying that their lives were better under the
military than civilians because of widespread poverty in the land.
How do you react to that?
Only a military apologist will say that. No true democrat will say
that. Those who were killed by the military during protests will
never say that, they will never dream that the military will ever
come to rule this country again. The military knew when they were
going that Nigerians are tired of them. That was why they left vestiges
of the era behind. That was why they left their fronts behind to
protect them. That is why those that are in power behave like their
patrons.
Do you think retired military men should stay off politics then?
They need to be de-briefed before getting involved. Those that operate
in Nigeria were not de-briefed and that is why we have a lot of
problems. I started politics as a councilor and I rose to become
Secretary to the state government and then Deputy governor and then
governor. I came from the private sector and I was well de-briefed.
But what we find today is the reverse where a retired military governor
will go straight and become a civilian state governor or president
or leader of the Senate. They won’t behave like a civilian;
they need debriefing, and they need to start from the grassroots
before they can be real civilians in power.
Could that be the reason why our democracy is seemingly militarised?
Military mentality brought the do or die politics to Nigeria. All
those former military men in the house of assembly, in the senate,
in the house of representatives, as governor is what is causing
the problem, and the violence we are having in our democracy. They
are the ones that are importing the military mentality into our
democracy and choking it. That is why it is not growing.
Are you still having plans to reclaim the South West in 2011? Do
you still think it is feasible?
We are waiting for the judiciary to resolve so many of our cases
against the PDP in the South West. I know that we still have cases
in Ondo, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo and Ogun. So. as soon as the judiciary
finishes, we will show how we will take over the South West.
Are you happy that not many projects have been added more than
six years after you left Osun government?
I am a leader of a national political party and I have no time to
look into Osun. I won’t want to say much, but I know that
nowhere in Nigeria that the PDP is habitable. I am just from Benin
City and the new governor there is just trying to straighten things
out. No road leads to that place from Ore, Auchi and Akure. All
the roads are impassable.
Edo is not the only one in that problem, even here in Ibadan all
the roads are full of potholes and are death traps. You can’t
go to Oyo town on a smooth road despite the billions they have spent
on the roads. You can’t go to Lagos on a good road. You have
to be praying and this is a product of the people in government.
Anywhere you have the PDP, the people suffer. A PDP man is a bad
ruler anywhere he is. Put them anywhere and the people groan. I
am sorry for the people of Nigeria.
There are complaints that the comrade governor in Edo is not pulling
his weight. How is he doing?
I was in Edo and I saw that he has embarked on rehabilitating at
least 30 roads. Some of them have been completed and he is remodeling
the education of that state that had been bastardized. He is starting
from primary to secondary level. There are so many schools in the
state without teachers, and so many schools without classrooms.
They are doing that. He is rebuilding dilapidated hospitals. I will
say if within one year, which is supposed to be a period of preparation,
he has done that much, I am sure the next year will be a very good
one. Oshiomhole will replicate the Lagos magic in Edo, you just
wait.
Are you saying Edo state will witness the Lagos type of transformation?
Wherever we rule, we are going to put the people first and we will
work for the people. We earned the mandate of the people, we did
not steal it, and so we must justify it in our performance. In AC
we have respect for the people and we work for the people and we
don’t ask that the people should serve us; we serve the people
when we are in office. The performance of the Lagos governor is
all about service and respect for the electorate. AC stands for
good governance.
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