From Okwe Obi, Abuja
National Chairman of Action Democratic Party (ADP), Yabaji Sani, has called for the resignation of state governors who cannot protect their people from bandits. In this interactive session, he said that contrary to speculations that the Federal Government alone controls the security forces, the state governors also wield enough power to address the snag if they can judiciously utilise security votes to protect their people and create jobs in order to discourage the youth from venturing into crime.
Are you satisfied with the passage of the PIA giving the fact that you have been lamenting about the alleged rot in NNPC?
What people do not know is that the idea of PIA is wonderful and it is needed. But what was packaged and presented to Mr President is the worst case of swindling you can ever think of. The whole objective of PIA is how to entrench the culture of transparency, accountability and good governance. Hitherto, that sector of the economy is run in a way that you can say is opaque. Nigerians do not know what is happening in that sector. They make it look like something that is a rocket science. And for you to wake up and to discover that they say that the issue of accountability is now removed. Even in the civil service where transactions are concerned, no agency of government can start a transaction or a business from the beginning to the end without another agency coming into it. The essence is to introduce transparency. Now the PIA you have today is saying that everything you have in the petroleum industry must be given to one agency of government. There was an agency like the federal ministry of trade and investment that was issuing export permit, checking their metres to ensure that the quantity of what they are exporting is correct. But NNPC now say that they are the ones who are going to check the metres and determine the quantity of exported crude oil and everything else. What have they done to the country? Is that not the worst case of swindling? The number one objective of that bill to open up the sector and introduce accountability and transparency; and you wake up and say nobody should come into this place again. Yes, we need a piece of legislation to govern the sector, but not what was presented to Mr President because it is inimical to the interest of the country.
Our judicial system is faced with legal limbo as a result of contradictory judgements. How can we sanitise it?
We need to salvage the temple of justice from this political pornography that is happening now. We need to ask the government of the day how we got here. They created a scenario that you can just procure judgement by the highest bidder. They know what to do. They should punish or reward judicial officers. It is supposed to be the last bastion of the common man. It is not so anymore. Aside from the fact that to even get justice anywhere in the world is not cheap, here it has been commercialised more than what you pay to lawyers and for logistics. Now you need to budget something for the judge. So, they are the ones to sanitise the system. They know what to do.
Insecurity appears to have overwhelmed most state governments that they now call for self defense. Are you in support?
If the governors will resign, then I will be in support of it. The constitution says that there are two basic requirements for you to glean qualification to hold power: you must provide security and welfare for the people. So, if you cannot, what rights have you to remain in that position constitutionally? The citizens have given you their allegiance, handed over their resources to you. They are expecting in return that you will secure them by giving them security and provide welfare as a government. And you came out to say that you cannot give them security or welfare anymore. So, where is the government if constitutionally you are supposed to do those things that you cannot do? It means it is a failed state.
Will state police deliver the country from the grip of bandits?
The system we are operating is what suits this country for now which is a centralised system of policing. And the reasons are clear if only you look at what is happening in the South East, Imo State in particular. In Plateau State and even what is happening with people like Igboho and Kanu, it is just that those ones are aggressive. Otherwise, you have people who have certain tendencies and they are elected government officials who are entrusted to keep the country one. If you give Nigerians the chance to arm themselves, it can create problems. Yes, there is a need to take a critical look at how the system of policing we have today because nothing remains the same. Change is the only permanent thing in life. So, we should be able to change it so as to meet the demand in the time we are in now. But I don’t think it is because the governors are not appointing or have state police, that is why they cannot address the issue of banditry. What I believe is that it goes beyond that. Even if the governors have state police and they are not giving people their due; they steal people’s money, refuse to fund education, build roads, health facilities and create employment; you can say you have state police. If the governors can come to Abuja and collect allocation and share it and would not do what they are supposed to do with people’s money because nobody will ask them question, then, you can have local government police; it would still not work because when people are hungry, they are angry. The idle mind is the devil’s workshop. People are not gainfully employed which even bred the insecurity you are talking about. So, the problem is not that of state police but the economy and corruption. If you cannot address the issue of corruption, forget about state police. You can create police if you want but the same state police will become another liability for you.
Are you still against rotational presidency, because political pundits want the next president to come from the South East?
What has rotational presidency done for Nigerians in terms of good governance and progress? Is it the size of the population or the economy? And somebody will tell me that if you give the economy to a Yoruba man or Hausa man, he will do better. How does that fit into the factor that gives good leadership? We have to wake up from our slumber and treat people as human beings and be serious with ourselves. It does not really matter whether you are an Hausa man, a Christian or Muslim. If you have what it takes to solve the problem for us and give this country the kind of leadership that it deserves, so be it. If you sit down and look at the factors that will give you good governance, where does ethnicity or religion come in or equate with good leadership? It has no relevance. Competence should play out so that we can join our peers as a nation and even surpass them because we have what it takes to surpass. Political parties should identify competent, credible and dynamic figures that can run the economy of this country. We play big in the global economy. The only thing that is in between us is leadership. In ADP, we do not believe in zoning but competence.
Your party celebrated its 4th anniversary. How has the journey been?
It has been very eventful in the sense that we came on board when the political landscape was almost at the precipice and we gave Nigerians hope that democracy is not going to crumble. We also have a good account of ourselves in the 2019 Presidential election. And within that period, we were able to secure some seats in the national assembly and also state house of assembly. And since then, the party has been waxing stronger. People are joining the party everyday because people have seen the futility of continuing with this failed two political parties; the PDP and APC. They have failed to meet the aspirations of Nigerians. PDP swindled Nigerians for 16 years before they were pushed out of power. APC came and it is even worse. Not only are they stealing people’s money, they are also killing the people. Poverty is at its highest level. Unemployment is the order of the day. The economy has no direction. So, I believe our coming on board is to give this country the governance that it deserves. We are also largely people that are professionals in our own individual rights. We do not have politics as our only address. We have second address of that of our officers and that will guarantee you the skills required to run a 21st century economy like Nigeria. Time is not on our side as a country because the next industrial revolution is going to be propelled by information technology. They say you make hay while the sun shines. We are blessed fabulously by oil and gas which we believe can be used as a platform for moving the country forward at a very fast rate than ever anticipated. You cannot be doing the same thing and expect different results. So, time has come for us to change. If political parties and institutions that are constitutionally empowered to provide good leadership for the country and nothing is done, then we have to interrogate the political parties that we have today. How much have they really given to the nation? Everybody knows that they have failed and failed woefully. This is why the country is in a total confusion as regards economic progress and unity and peace. Our coming was timely. What Nigerians need now is to look the way of ADP because we possess all those things required to lead this nation to prosperity.
Will you contest 2023 presidential poll?
The issue is not whether I will contest or not. You need to look at the dynamics of the situation. As a political party, we are looking for people who can deliver. And once we can find that person, we will push the person forward. I am a Nigerian. I am qualified. Our determinant is competence. If I can deliver, of course; if I tell you that I am not going to contest, I will be lying to you.