By Daniel Kanu
Hon. Fidel Ayogu is a former Federal House of Representatives member (Igboeze North and South, Enugu State) and a former Ambassador to Uganda, Ethiopia, as well as the Southeast Coordinator, Buhari-Osinbajo re-election bid in 2019.
He is a strong political voice that has now shifted his political base to support the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi.
In this exclusive interview, Ayogu opened up for the first time, why he left the APC, why Peter Obi stands out from the pack of presidential candidates, INEC and the challenge of 2023 elections and the burden Governor Chukwuma Soludo has brought to himself with his hate article on Peter Obi, other crucial issues. Excerpts:
What is your take on the ongoing political campaigns, the issues, the propaganda?
Actually, one would have said that all the issue-based expectation on conversation is not yet there, but a few of them have laid the issues on the line. For instance, a person like Mr Peter Obi is hitting on all the critical issues, he is discussing the issues, letting the people know the real problems, giving alternative solutions to the problems, the crises that we are having in the country as regards security, economy, good governance, name it, he is touching on all the issues. His talk is issue-based and not just rehashing like some others, what we already know. Some of them are just listing the problems to us which Nigerians already know, but what we want is how it can be solved. And you can see Peter Obi, convincingly, marshalling out, showing us the way to go, practical ways to go not theories. And, of course, he equally has the political will to transform his ideas to reality. Some people are saying that it is their turn to be president, and I don’t know how this turn by turn, even when you don’t have what it takes to deliver, can help us. I can’t key into this particular project very well as to know when it is the turn of a particular region to be president. But even when you are talking about the turn of a region, you don’t need a ghost to know the region that it should be their turn in the South. But beyond turn is the competence that Peter Obi will be bringing to the table. Some are equally trying to hinge their campaign on ethnic and religious attachment, sentiment, some are saying that the North should produce another president, the next president, these are some of the issues that are not giving encouragement, issues that are not uniting the people, these are not issues that are bringing the people together, rather they are issues that cause or create more division. Some of them are simply recycling what has been said many years ago, not minding the digital change we have undergone. There has been change in climate, I mean climate change, change even in the way you do business, economic changes, change in the way you address insecurity, but some of them, sadly, are still parroting old ideas that have changed with present day reality. They are still telling us what they have told us, 20, 30 years ago. Some of them are just out of tune with the present day truth.
The way you are talking it seems Peter Obi is the candidate that appeals to you, but you are in the All Progressives Congress (APC) or you have left?
I think I have to say without mincing words that Peter Obi has actually appealed to me, not necessarily that he is from the Southeast, but he has something to offer, what others obviously, do not have and what you don’t have, you cannot offer. I can tell you that Obi is on a divine mission to salvage Nigeria and you can see the massive, unprecedented acceptance across board. I am yet to remember any election personality that generated the type of movement Peter Obi has generated and is still generating, the passion on followership, the trust people have on him. I think his time has come and Nigerians may not want to play with this unique opportunity. Nigeria is at crossroads, Nigeria needs a solution provider as a leader in 2023 not a trial and error manager. We should be careful not to kill this country with propaganda by those who have nothing to offer.
What is your take on the state of insecurity in the country and with election coming nearer?
(Cuts in) I am extremely worried and when you also think of the election that is fast approaching. I am one of the Nigerians that is troubled about the insecurity in the land. I am sure you are aware of the Eha-Amufu killings, in my state (Enugu) on Monday, and all these developments are worrisome. Look, I can hardly go home now, because what is happening now has never happened before, the dimension of insecurity, the brutal killings that we are witnessing in recent times, it is disturbing. I can tell you that people are not going to return home this coming festive, Christmas period as they used to. People are afraid and what they are hearing and witnessing is scary and discouraging for anybody to want to come home. On the side of the state that I come from, people will not be enthusiastic returning home during this forthcoming Christmas celebration because of the state of insecurity. Enugu has become a flashpoint. But I still believe that what is happening in the country could be managed if the president will be neutral, if they play neutrality and allow the winner to emerge, allowing people’s vote to count, there will be peace before and after the election. If they muzzle the election and with the charged atmosphere we have already, it will need little ignition to spark-off violence, which can be out of control. So, if you ask me, it still rests on the government in power to be careful in its management of the election, they should not be partial or seen to be partial. They must be neutral and ensure that the votes count. It is only when you do this that they can, in a way, guarantee peoples’ confidence and it will calm already aggrieved minds. So, in sum, the government needs to be extra-careful in its management or involvement in the forthcoming elections. BVAS must be allowed to take frontal position in voting, and all that electronic transfer of results must be allowed to work, Nigerians must be assured, guaranteed a free and fair election, they want better governance. If Nigerians are assured and promised that their tomorrow will be better and that their vote will count, you will be surprised that the insecurity will fizzle out. You cannot eradicate insecurity, but you will find out that it will not escalate to a level where the election will not hold. The challenge before the government in power is to rise up to the challenge and ensure unbiased management of the election.
Are you confident that INEC as an electoral body will deliver in this coming 2023 elections?
If INEC plays by the rules they have the answer, the panacea because there is no way people\thugs will be carrying the ballot boxes again as before or unnecessary paper manipulations as before because of the use of BVAS. When the election result is declared at the polling booth and transmitted it will make it difficult to rig. The only time we may have problem is after accreditation and then voting. If INEC plays clean and clear, if accreditation is done in a polling booth and the number of voters who are supposed to be accredited are known and the voting is manual and not electronic anything could happen during that time. That is the only critical period in this election, after accreditation and voting, announcing the right result and transmitting the right result. That is all, unlike before where you may not even declare result at the polling unit and you go from one collation centre to the other and in-between those movements anything could happen, results are tampered with. But it is no longer so with the BVAS, now, it is at the polling units, when it is transmitted at the polling units whatever you are doing after that you are wasting your time. So, there is hope that INEC will deliver if they play and insist on the rules of the game.
There are reports that politicians are cloning the voters’ cards?
I have heard about it, but I do not want to believe that if anybody clones your voters’ card that you will not be able to vote again. I say this because the BVAS has already captured your data, finger print, face, etc. If they take it to the BVAS it won’t work, but it is good for this information, so that our INEC IT experts will be aware of this information, so as to know what to do. I think those politicians, if anything, can only use such to reduce votes in somebody’s catchment area, where they know that their opponent has good strength. They can’t use it again for massive gain in terms of voting. But no matter what, the situation it will no longer be as it used to be where some people have already determined those that will win the election. I think that era is gone if INEC will make the best use of BVAS.
What is your reaction on the article by Anambra state governor, Chukwuma Soludo on the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi?
I think it was a comment borne out of hate, envy and even mischief. And you can see the reaction against his article; you can see the uproar, the condemnation not just from the Southeast, but across the nation. Soludo did that in bad faith. Soludo thinks that he is the best material to be president from Igbo extraction, and that is what is charging up his over-bloated arrogance. And he doesn’t know that, that is not how it works, it is not how destiny works, anything that is meant for somebody will definitely come. Soludo should allow Igbo to be president not thinking that Ndigbo will wait for him, he is not indispensable. He was thinking that by being a governor, after his second term, they will say Soludo is another Okadigbo and that he should prepare for the presidency. He does not know where he is putting himself from the way he is going. Let us see how his leadership will look like in Anambra State with this false start. I am absolutely disappointed on Soludo as a person. He has to watch his steps going forward, and purge himself of this his all-knowing, infallible disposition mentality to life. You can see that the little popularity he has is fast fading. When the people’s spirit is against you, you are doomed and need to retrace your steps fast. Soludo simply destroyed his political future with this attack on Obi. They are from the same state, you cannot be against your brother who is doing well, who is being celebrated by others. As things are today, Nigeria needs a president who is familiar on how to move this country from consumption to production. A person that will use the minimum resources available to turn Nigeria around, one that will come and create opportunities for Nigerians, I am not saying job. If there is an atmosphere that gives Nigerians opportunity to become a professional in your own endeavour and you start churning out whatever you can do to the public you create opportunity, and that will lead to production. When the enabling environment is not there opportunities are stifled and people will not showcase adequately their capacity. When you create opportunity it will generate employment in itself in the country. If the people are engaged properly, you will not see all these crises that we are witnessing. We are self-oriented in this country, just create the right environment and Nigerians will explode in their innovations. We need a leader that has the competence, the experience, capacity, political will, character, proven records and one that can be trusted and that will be accountable to the people. If we are allowed to do what we can do as Nigerians, nobody is going to go hungry. All that we need is the right leadership, simple. If you have listened to Peter Obi, without being biased, you will know that he has solution. Some are saying it is their turn, some are saying it is the turn of their region, and most of them are already old, even older than me, some cannot even handle their handset well or even do a WhatsApp chat, or go on Internet etc. Most of them need to go and rest as they don’t have both the mental and physical energy needed to tackle the very serious challenges ahead.
You have been making case for Peter Obi. Are you not worried that your party APC may see this as anti-party?
Don’t go further. I am not in APC right now, I decided to leave APC when they want this country to be something else, they are destroying the country and at my age I should know when to disembark in a journey. I didn’t like how, the way and manner APC is approaching the issues of nationality and not realizing that other people are existing. I think it is a divine intervention that I left APC and I will like to lead my people where they will see tomorrow. As we speak, I am the Director-General, Enugu State Campaign Council of the Labour Party. Nigeria is on a precipice and no longer need trial and error leadership, but one with real solution.