By Olakunle Olafioye
A security expert and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Jackson Lekan-Ojo, has described the current offensive against terrorists in parts of the country as a panic reaction to the threat by members of the National Assembly to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari over the deteriorating security situation in the country.
In this interview, Lekan-Ojo also weighed in on the report that some suspected terrorists in detention were released to secure the freedom of the last batch of the Kaduna-Abuja train kidnapped victims, as well as on other burning political developments in the country. Excerpt:
The campaign for who replaces President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 has begun. What would you want Nigerians to look for in deciding who leads them from next years among those projecting themselves for the coveted position?
All the 18 candidates presented by the political parties are qualified both mentally and academically for the position. But then the most important thing is for Nigerians to listen to their campaign patterns and read their body language very well. More importantly, we need to consider their experience. We need to look at their antecedents both in and outside of government. We also need to give candidates with issue-based campaigns priority attention. Nigerians should look out for a candidate that has what it takes to address the multi-dimensional challenges bedeviling the country. We do not want to hear what you can do, but we also want to hear how you intend to do it. These are things Nigerians should be looking for from the candidates. We should do away with campaign of mudslinging and campaign of calumny; it won’t give us the desired result.
Three of the 18 candidates on parade – Atiku, Obi and Tinubu have dominated the campaign stage so far. How would rate the chances of each these candidates?
I am a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and by tribe, I am Yoruba man. It is then safe to say the whole world should know who I should support if I want to play politics based on ethnicity and political affiliation. Peter Obi was the governor of Anambra for almost eight years. He did all he could do. But his best then was not what the people of the state were looking for. After that he became honorary economic adviser to President Jonathan and suddenly he became vice presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar. Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the governor Lagos State. He turned the revenue of the state from about N600 million to almost N60 to N70 billion monthly. But at the end of the day what happened? He helped Lagosians and also helped himself. Besides, Tinubu is a good party man. Atiku Abubakar rose to the top echelon of the Nigeria Customs Service, the second highest revenue earning agency in this country and he rose to become the deputy controller-general before he retired. Later, he joined politics. He owns a little of multinational companies and he is doing well with them. He contested and won Adamawa State governorship election and because of political sagacity and astuteness, Obasanjo considered him as his vice president. Nigerians should not forget that Atiku’s choice as Obasanjo’s vice was purely on merit. Again, Nigerians should not forget how Atiku superintendented over the economic team of the administration and how Nigerian economy was revolutionized under his watch. He brought technocrats like Okonjo-Iweala, el-Rufai and a host of others. Going by this analysis, I think Atiku is the most qualified among all the candidates.
But the odds appear stacked against Atiku. For example, the PDP launched its campaign on Monday and the division within the party was so apparent as five governors elected on the platform of the party boycotted the event. Isn’t this major source of worry for Atiku and the party?
Among these five governors, it is going to remain just only a governor out in the cold. The four other governors are just playing along with Wike for now. These four governors are going to betray Wike at the end of the day. Governor Makinde is still planning to come back, but if he trades off the party in the presidential election, PDP will trade him off in Oyo State. Enugu State governor wants to come back as a senator, if he trades PDP off, they will trade his senatorial ambition off. The same thing is applicable to Ortom and Ikpeazu. Among these five, it is only Wike that is not coming back to power any time soon. When at the airport, if the people associating with you are not flying, you should be very careful so that you don’t miss your flight. Wike is not flying, but the other four governors are flying. The solidarity being shown to Wike now is cosmetic. All these four governors are with Atiku. They are only playing along for now. When the chips are down, it will become clear to Governor Wike that he is alone. During the launch of the PDP presidential campaign, the governor of Bayelsa State said they are all together and that they are still going to work on Wike. He did not say the party is going to work on Ortom, Makinde, Ikpeazu or the other governor because he knows their status. PDP knows that the remaining four governors are still with Atiku except Wike. In 1998, the entire governors in the Southwest did not support Obasanjo yet he won. In 2015 and 2019 none of the governors in the entire South-south and Southeast supported Buhari, but he won. If only one state wants to go against PDP I don’t think it will affect Atiku’s chances. But my advice to Wike is to reconsider his position on this matter. If his only condition for peace is that Ayu should resign, which I also support, I feel it’s better he waits until after Atiku’s victory has been achieved. But if Wike insists, Ayu should also make the sacrifice and vacate the position. He can be compensated after Atiku’s victory. I want to blame Wike for allowing the matter to fester up till now. He should know that if he allows the party he built to crumble, there will be no political party that will be so disposed to having him in its fold in future.
Some Nigerians believe Nigeria’s next president should come from the South in the spirit of fairness and equity. What is your take on this?
Obasanjo was a Yoruba man and governed this country for eight years. A Fulani man succeeded him, but died in office and a South-south person took over. Now, the Vice President is a Yoruba man. So when you look at this political calculation Yoruba would have been in the presidency for a cumulative period of 16 years as President and Vice President, so no Yoruba man is even qualified, if you are looking at equity, to be president of Nigeria now. Again still talking about equity, no Yoruba man from the South-south is even qualified. A South-south man was vice president for two years and president for six, making eight years consecutively. If we are to look at it from geo-political arrangement, North-central has not done, Northeast has not done it and the Southeast, so nobody from Southwest, South-south and Northwest is qualified for the position. That is equity nationally. But when you look at the party, it is the rotation in the PDP which is between the South and the North and when you look at it, Obasanjo did it for eight years. Jonathan did it for eight years both as vice president and president. So, now it is the turn of the North. That was the problem Jonathan faced when they said it was the turn of the North. But I have to say this: I am not in support of this rotational arrangement. I believe merit should be the major consideration in deciding who rules the country.
The Buhari administration has suddenly yielded to the calls to go offensive against bandits and insurgents. Are you not surprised that it is coming so late?
I am not surprised. I want to commend the members of the National Assembly who threatened to impeach the president if the security challenge was not addressed. It was the threat that brought about the sudden offensive against the insurgents and the bandits. Until then the National Assembly was a rubber stamp until things began to get out of hands.it was the fear of the impeachment that aroused Buhari into taking the action we are seeing now. So, I want to laud the lawmakers for taking such bold step. But for that impeachment threat, there wouldn’t have been any improvement in the security situation in the country.
There was a report at the beginning of this week that some Boko Haram members in detention were secretly released in what was believed to be a swap deal for the release of some kidnapped victims. What is your take on this?
If the report was true that will go a long way to show the weakness of this government. And it may boomerang because insurgents are pathologically wicked. Once they have been indoctrinated, it is very difficult to re-orientate them because they have been wired to believe in their own ideology. Even if the government was going to concede to the idea of swapping, security experts like us should have been consulted because before they are released there are things that needed to be done so that they don’t become threat to the society they are returning into.