Omoniyi Salaudeen
Reactions have continued to trail the decision of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, to challenge the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari in the February 23 presidential and National Assembly elections in court.
In this interview, a notable opinion leader in the North, Dr Junaid Muhammed, criticised the former vice president for rejecting the result declared by the INEC, saying he lacks credibility to complain. Excerpts:
What is your assessment of the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, which the candidate of the PDP, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is challenging in court?
The conduct of the election was preceded by confusion over logistics challenges, which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) used as excuse to postpone the election. Based on that, we cannot give them (INEC) a complete pass mark. However, one area you can give them credit is the peaceful conduct of the election. By and large, in my own experience in politics, spanning over 40 years, I haven’t seen any election that is as peaceful and credible as these presidential and National Assembly elections. But let us keep our fingers crossed until we see the outcome of the second leg of the election. So far, the process is reasonably fair and credible.
How do you relate this position to the PDP’s stand ofcquestioning the credibility of the election?
First and foremost, PDP has never accepted any election unless they win. If they win, it is well and good. But any time they lose an election, or they lose in an area they expected to win, they come up with all sorts of stories. They have forgotten the disgraceful spectacle in Rivers State during Peter Odili’s time where everybody who registered were said to be alive and all voted in the governorship election. There were no sick persons, nobody travelled, everybody voted 100 per cent from voters’ register. It was such a bad spectacle that Olusegun Obasanjo himself, who was then the president on the platform of the PDP, had to ask Odili how he recorded 100 per cent voters’ turnout for the election. That was responsible for the massive violence in Rivers State. So, for them to now start complaining that the election has been rigged is just sheer shamelessness. For you to complain that something has gone wrong, you have to show a weight of evidence that you can use in court. You have to show a clear proof of what happened where. They haven’t done that. Rather, they have made up their minds. If they win, it is okay. If they don’t win, there must be reasons they didn’t win and, therefore, the election must have been rigged. They are so crude. Now, look at another shameful spectacle that happened during their last presidential primary in Port Harcourt. Dollars, Euros and pound sterling were used openly to buy delegates. How can they now come and talk about the credibility of the election? They don’t know what credibility is all about. If there was credible election, Atiku would not have emerged in the first instance. With the kind of characters around him, he used money to buy delegates.
Then, what do you make of the voting pattern in this election where the ruling party lost out in its controlled states like Oyo, Ondo, Plateau states, while also claiming victory in the areas hitherto regarded as stronghold of the opposition such as Kwara State?
I don’t find it surprising. It is an indication of the level of dissatisfaction with those in power, as well as lack of acceptance of the opposition. For instance, the Governor of Gombe has lost his aspiration to go to the senate. I don’t know what the people of Adamawa did. But if Atiku won in Adamawa, it must have been with a very narrow margin. The fact remains that the voting pattern reflects the way these characters have served the people. In the South-South, where Amaechi is claiming to be the leader of the APC, he has handled the situation there very badly. And that is what affected the volume of votes the APC recorded in that region. For the Southeast region, which is shouting of 2023, they have already soiled their hands in this election. They want to get the presidency in their own terms. Unfortunately, they do not have the critical mass to impose their wish on anybody. They put all their votes in one basket. But when you look at the reality on ground, how many votes do they have? Kano alone will deliver more than half of the total votes from the five states of the Southeast. So also Kaduna State. Democracy is simply a game of number. Put all eleven states in the South-South and Southeast together, three or four states in the North – Kano, Kaduna, Katsina and Sokoto or Maiduguri – will beat their votes. By and large, those who lost the election actually deserved to lose except in the Southeast and South-South where election was characterized by violence and intimidation. In the case of Ondo, which you mentioned, it has to do with personal quarrel between the governor and the so-called godfather, Tinubu. In Oyo State, I am not sure Governor Abiola Ajimobi can claim to have performed to the satisfaction of the people. When an election is free and fair, the pattern of voting is usually a reflection of individual’s acceptance by the electorate. For example, a candidate of the PRP won a seat in Bauchi State. How can someone in his widest imagination expect Balarabe Musa’s party, which did not win a single seat in Kaduna State to win in a state like Bauchi? It shows you there is something fundamental going on. In most cases, the candidates won the election on their own merit. In the case of Southeast, I think the Igbo governors decided together to vote in a way they want to go in 2023. And in doing so, they have already soiled their hands.
With this pattern of voting, do you see the possibility of the Igbo having alliance with the North for the 2023?
In 1959, there was NPC and NCNC alliance, which was essentially an alliance between the North and the Igbo. Then, in 1964, there was an election, where the Igbo were trying to play smart by half by calling on Nnamdi Azikwe who was then head of state on the platform of NCNC to come and form a government. The British High Commissioner then warned him that he should not do it. He nearly did it, but Zik, being a smart coward, withdrew and called Abubakar Tafawa Balewa to form the government. What I am trying to say is that there was history of Northern and Igbo alliance. But the moment they created a vacuum, the Yoruba moved in. And here we are today. If the Igbo want to come back to mainstream politics, they can do so. But it is not going to be in their own terms. All this noise about restructuring or South-South agitation for complete control of resources will not happen as long as Nigeria remains a country.
Which of these two ethnic nationalities will the North feel comfortable to have an alliance with?
From the way I see it; both can live harmonously in a government. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe in this Northern arrangement. There are Igbo and Yoruba who like to add weight to the pattern of policy of government at the centre. And, of course, Yoruba and the North have some things in common. Religiously, we are virtually the same because more than half of Yoruba are Muslims. As far as I am concerned, Northerners can work with Yoruba and Igbo in government. But apparently, Igbo have their own demands. For example, they say they want certain positions in government. On the other side, without mentioning specific positions, Yoruba took the most important positions in this government. Fashola alone is holding on to three ministries. You can look at other ministries, which they are holding. They did not have to demand them or blackmail the government of Buhari for them to get it. But Igbo will come and tell you this is the ministry they want. You do have to play politics by saying this is what I want. In the end, you lose.
So, you are saying Igbo aspiration for 2023 is not achievable?
It is dead on arrival. In fact, it died before it arrived. I am sorry to say this. If you don’t know, my first daughter, who is now 41 year, is Igbo. Her mother came from Enugu. I am not against Igbo. But I don’t see how it can happen with this pattern of voting.