•Says Buhari is cleaning Nigeria’s Augean stable
By Chucks Onuoha
ENGR.Nwabueze Onwuneme is the Director-General Buhari South-East Youth Movement ( BSEYM ). In this interview , he examined some issues dominating the polity. He particularly flayed the conduct of Abia North senatorial re-run accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of colluding with members of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) to deny voters of their preference.
What do you make of the brand of politics being played in Nigeria? Would you say the right people are scared away from participating in politics ?
Quoting Plato*the penalty for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up been governed by your inferiors*.It is obvious the damage that has been done to our nation Nigeria by inept and corrupt leadership over the years especially by the PDP.That is why our group the Buhari South- East Youth Movement(BSEYM) is advocating for increased participation of both the youths and women of the South-East geo-political zone in politics most especially in promoting the good works,plans and vision of the President Buhari led federal government and also the APC as a party.
Is your group, Buhari South- East Youth Movement making the desired inroad in the zone?
Most importantly is the fact that our foundation is built on God and you know what happens when God leads you. Also, the personality,programmes and anti-corruption nature of President Buhari have been our main selling point . I am not leaving out the the dynamic and resourceful nature of my colleagues, state co-ordinators and the teeming youths and women of the south-east whom despite the threats and challenges have now really keyed into the vision of the movement. People now truly identify those who have retarded our socio-economic growth as a zone in the past.
But the zone is still predominately PDP ?
That is not true. The APC is daily making inroads in the zone. You can see lots of people declaring everyday for the APC. When I say people I mean the grassroots who truly are the custodians of political power. The APC being a party of the commoners derives more joy in welcoming such people because in them lies our strength and ego. Also, the good works been done by Gov.Rochas Okorocha, the lone APC Governor in the zone speaks volume of an imminent takeover of the other south-east states by 2019. It is one of the cardinal objectives of the Buhari South-East Youth Movement.
Your claims seem controvertible in view of that PDP has won all the rerun elections held in the zone. On what premise are you anchoring your claims?
The elections you are talking about are fraught with irregularities. PDP didn’t win convincingly. Now that we have a President who you and I know believes so much in seperation of powers and would not like to interfer in the workings of INEC,the judiciary or any other arm of government.At least Gov.Nyeso Wike of Rivers state just the other day testified to the fact that President Buhari did not interfere in the Rivers re-run elections.There’s no disputing the fact that INEC has made trendemous improvements but when you have card carrying members of the PDP as INEC state commissioners they will,as usual, do the bidding of their party.Tell me who in Anambra state is more popular than Senator Chris Ngige in Anambra politics but you can see how he was rigged out in the last election. Also, former governor of Abia State ,Dr Orji Uzor-Kalu ,though not a member of the APC but a two-term Governor of his state,a benefactor to almost all known politicians in the state today,a man so loved by his people most especially the people of his senatorial zone was rigged out . Can such a person lose a senatorial election in his domain ? All this and more pose a great danger to our democracy . Since these INEC officials who are appointees of the PDP and most especially of the last administration cannot toe the line of honour to resign their positions we call on President Buhari to excise his presidential powers and remove them . They are ready to do anything possible to frustrate the President’s change agenda because they do not believe in it .
What is your reaction to claims by some that the President is not doing much to address the hardship in the country especially the rising inflation which is at 11.2%, lingering fuel crisis and killings by herdsmen ?
Sinecerely speaking if not that God brought President Buhari at this time I cannot imagine what our economy would have been by now.We all are seeing how our foreign reserves were plundered just to ensure that someone wins an election. Our soldeirs were left to die by fighting with obsolete military equipments.All of us are witnesses to the dwindling price of crude oil in the world which has dropped all time low of $30 per barrel . We all know that is our economy main stay.
President Buhari did not promise magic but change which he is pursuing with all vigour and sincerity and thank God his recent trips outside the country in consultations with OPEC are already seeing the decline in production in other to boost prices. His policies on the deviation of the economy on reliance on oil is yielding results most especially in agriculture and solid minerals exploration. So,I call on Nigerians to be patient during this rebuilding session . Sooner than later the dividends will all be there for everybody to enjoy.
On the fuel scarcity being experienced presently,I know the President and the Minister of state for Petroleum are working round the clock to address it and at the same time sanitise the NNPC. Remember it was his time under former President Obasanjo that two refineries were built and Nigeria then was even exporting refined products. At least we no longer operate in the era of fictitious subsidy claims.
We suggest to the President to set up an economic team and also appoint a chief economic adviser to drive the economic policies of the government.
On the issue of security of lives and property I must commend President Buhari and the gallant men of the armed forces for really degrading the Boko Haram sect and winning the war on insurgency. Prior to President Buharis emergence it was almost a daily occurrence bombing and maiming of hapless Nigerians.
The President has condemmed the activities of herdsmen and directed the security agencies to deal decisively with anyone involved while issues of graving reserves is on the front burner to elimitate future occurences.
Do you think President Buhari is winning the war on corruption?
Yes the political will is there , no doubt about that. But it is to an extent the laws of the country can permit. We also have the case of some unscrupulous members of the judiciary are trying so hard to rubbish it.We are hereby calling on the executive and legislature to review some of our anti-corruption laws and make it more stringent so that the least corruption penalty will carry a minium of 20 years in jail . Fraudsters are jailed for up to 40 years not to talk of someone that has impoverished Nigerian people getting very light sentence that’s if even convicted at all.Also the Chief Justice of Nigeria and National judicial council should as a matter of public importance punish judges who grant frivolous injunctions with the intent to drag corruption cases as the saying goes justice delayed is justice denied.