Few weeks to the 2019 presidential elections, our military are being attacked by insurgents who seem to have reenergised. Aas the spokesperson of the ruling party, are you not worried by this development?
Every reasonable person will be worried. President Muhammadu Buhari is particularly worried but I don’t think it is correct to say that the insurgents have reenergised. We all know that fighting insurgency is one of the most difficult challenges that the world is currently facing. Even the most sophisticated security agencies in modern countries like the United States of America and the UK are not finding it easy. But we are
happy that there has been progress. It is quite unfortunate that we have this kind of setback like we had in Metele. Our hearts go to the families of the victims. We deeply appreciate what the Nigerian Army is doing in that area. But by and large, compared to other advanced nations, Nigeria has done very well especially since this administration came. That is why the Metele attack looked so worrisome because we thought we had gone beyond that stage. Otherwise, this looked like a normal circumstances in some countries. We know what has been going on in Yemen, Afghanistan for some times. We are not comparing negative for negative here. The APC is not a party that will make negative examples but at the same time for you to understand how far you have gone, you need to know where you are coming from. Also, you need to see examples of what you are doing well and the progress made. I think we have done well in the area of tackling insurgency. Insurgency is one hydra-headed monster that as you are chopping off one’s head, another is rearing its head. What this means is that we need to step up our game and operations and hopefully, this will be the last time that we will have this attack.
The PDP said you should apologise to Nigerians for deceiving them with fake promises in 2015; that you promised to secure the country, but you have failed to do that. Will you heed that advice?
This morning I saw a letter that was written in 2015 by the PDP government where the security agencies wrote to many organisations that Boko Haram will strike in many churches and mosques around Abuja. Now, attacks in Abuja are a thing of the past. We thank God and this administration for that. I was in Maiduguri two months ago. In Maiduguri now, people are moving around doing their businesses just like any other major cities in Nigeria. Whatever attack that is going on now is happening in remote places in the North- East. Even in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital that was completely unsafe under the PDP and other places like Mubi, Yola, and people are now moving about doing their businesses. Nigerians don’t take PDP serious because we all know that what they are doing now is a very shameful thing. You wonder why they do not have any gumption at all, no sense of shame. Under the PDP government, insurgency was allowed to fester that even attacks were carried out at the nation’s capital. If they had taken the right steps and nip this in the bud, we will not be where we are today. Just imagine a government that did virtually nothing and brought so much destruction to this country and such individuals are still now going about talking negatively about a government that is working tirelessly to clear the mess they left. It is so shameful. They have learnt no lessons and they are not remorseful. Perhaps, we may conclude that PDP leaders are worse than we think they are. This country will not witness the PDP era again. Not now, not in the future.
President Buhari got fewer votes in the South East in 2015. Do you think he will spring a surprise this time around?
Absolutely! The South East governors recently visited the President. They said they want to thank him for what he has done in the region and they are asking for more. We have a president that is not discriminatory when it comes to delivery of the gains of democracy to Nigerians. The South- East people can see roads, housing scheme and other infrastructures. Go to the capital of all the South- East states, you will see the massive projects that are going on there. So, the governors of the region came to thank the President. You also could see that because of his deep feelings for the ordinary Nigerians, the President came out with bail-out funds. Bail-out funds have criteria with which it can be assessed. Being an APC governor is not one of the criteria. Number of votes you gave to President Buhari in 2015 is not one of the criteria. The criteria are only that you are part of Nigeria and the common people in your street deserve attention. Many South- East traders today are benefiting from the Tradermoni scheme. This money was realised from Abacha loot. This is not the first time Abacha loot will be recovered. The ones that were recovered in the past under PDP governments were used to buy private jets. But under this government, the money is going into the pockets of the ordinary man. So, the difference between the PDP and this government is that President Buhari is focusing on the ordinary Nigerian and doing things that will greatly impact on their lives. But PDP government during their era focused on the few elites and they were measuring success and economic developments by the numbers of private jets they purchased. Now under the APC government, we are measuring success and economic developments by the number of common people the Social Investment Programme are touching. We are measuring it by the number of school pupils who are being fed daily in our schools. The South- East is benefiting from all these and as such I am confident that they will give their votes to President Buhari in 2019. Not just the South- East now, but I believe that appreciative Nigerians will support this government so that this trend continues.
You talked about continuity for President Buhari. Don’t you see Atiku Abubakar as a threat to his reelection especially now that we have two Northern candidates?
Atiku is no threat. By picking Atiku, I don’t know how PDP got itself into this mess but I also see the hand of God in it. When you don’t mean well, you won’t end well. PDP itself was completely damaged. It is a political party that a marketing or communication person would have recommended that it should take four critical steps to recover its damaged reputation. The first step is to admit their errors and mistakes. The second step is to seek for forgiveness.
But don’t you think that has already been done by the party?
When you seek forgiveness by mere echoing it, that is different from when you are remorseful. The PDP apologise to Nigerians but that apology was not followed by remorse. So, the PDP should repeat their apology to Nigerians and back it up with remorsefulness. Then, the third thing is restitution, which means justice. The fact that you pleaded for forgiveness doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be justice. By justice, we mean that if they have stolen money during their reign, they should be humble enough to return it. Don’t wait for government to start running after you or for someone to blow the whistle. The last step is that they will now come back as a born again.
PDP has done none of this and blood is dripping on their hands. With all the atrocities they have committed throughout their reign, they are pretending to be the saviour Nigeria needs. So, if you have a party that is badly damaged, you now presented your presidential ticket to a man like former Vice- President Atiku Abubakar , a man that has been thoroughly described by people who should know as someone that lacks credibility, then I have nothing more to add. When former President Olusegun Obasanjo made those allegations in his book ‘ My Watch’, Atiku didn’t go to court to clear his name. Probably he was afraid to go to court because if he had done that, Obasanjo will reveal more things about him. To be sure, even during his reconciliation meeting with Obasanjo, the former President said I have forgiven you Atiku, but make sure you go and sort yourself out. Are there things that Obasanjo knows about Atiku that he is hiding from us that he is asking him to go and clear his name? We all have seen the US investigation report that indicted Atiku, yet he has not gone to court to tell the US government that the report is tarnishing his image and he may seek redress if his name is not removed. He has not done that and he is afraid of traveling to the US. So, how did PDP that is badly damaged now end up with a presidential candidate that is already completely damaged? We now have two damaged products promising to better the lots of Nigerians. How can two damaged products be a threat to President Buhari and APC? I think PDP through its actions has disqualified itself from this race and it is sad. Even though APC as a party, we know we have to guard jealously all the good things that we are doing to ensure that it is not truncated and we have enough time to improve the economy, develop infrastructures, fight corruption and insurgency, we still don’t want a one-party state but unfortunately, that is what the PDP is trying to create by playing itself out of the game. But honestly, I don’t know why they are doing that. You can’t take off from bad to worse and still pretend that all is well with you. So, rather than being a threat to us, we are aware that PDP is completely playing itself out of the game and as a result is trying to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.
Do you think President Buhari still enjoys the same goodwill with which he came to power four years ago?
The only way to confirm that is for you to wear a mask that makes you look like President Buhari and step into Kano , Adamawa, Borno, Bauchi and other states. From the feelers you will get, you will know whether he still enjoys the goodwill or not. Just try that and give us the feedback. That is the only answer I can give.
The campaign has started are you worried that the crisis in your party will affect the chances of President Buhari because there are reports that the people of Ogun and Imo said they are not going to support him?
I am not aware that the people of Ogun said they will not vote for President Buhari. If anything, they are so happy with the step that APC has taken. Because what APC has done is to say ‘enough is enough with impunity’. The APC said power should go back to the people and they should be the ones to decide their representatives. So, is it the people that we empowered and gave back power to that will now be moving against the party? People of Imo are happy with what the APC leadership has done. It got to a stage that they were telling us that even if you bring a cow, as long as it is not by impunity, we will support it’. Good enough, we are not putting forward a cow as there are many credible candidates who can fly the party’s flag. Even Okorocha has said he remains in APC. His son-in-law is another person entirely. The son-in-law cannot on the day of election vote with Okorocha’s PVC. People are free to take decisions. But the question to ask is the decision you are taking , is it driven by public interest, the best interest of your people or driven by greed and selfishness?
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