2019: Why Niger Delta will vote Buhari —Ojougboh

Dr Cairo Ojougboh was a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Vice Chairman, South-South. He was also the deputy national chairman of the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the party during its leadership tussle. He has since defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with TAIWO AMODU, he expresses the conviction that South-South will soon embrace the APC and campaign vigorously for a second term ticket for President Muhammadu Buhari.

 

WHY did you leave the PDP for the APC in spite of the assurance by the leadership of the party led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi to extend hands of fellowship to those of you who worked with Senator Ali Modu Sheriff during the leadership crisis that rocked the party?

You see, by their fruits you shall know them. Every man has his character and he has what he believes and then for every man, there is a way of life. If I am not comfortable with your way of life and I keep pretending to be with you, I will be deceiving myself and once you see me, you will see it on my face. I have always said consistently and I always believe in Senator Sheriff till tomorrow. I call him my chairman for life! It is because there are certain character traits I see in him, which are what have kept the man where he is. And when the time came to make him the chairman of the party, we all keyed into it and I saw the way he was running the party and I knew that was the best for the PDP, because governors could no longer take control of their states as they wished. He said no to impunity; he gave back the party to the grass roots who are original and the genuine owners of the party.

The moment the Supreme Court crowned impunity, of course, impunity developed tentacles. It now expanded and it became an octopus. Take for instance, the issue of the way the candidate emerged in Anambra State, that’s not something Sheriff would have condoned. Take for instance, the way 10 states that were solidly loyal to Sheriff were dissolved. Take for instance, what has been going on in Ogun and Osun states. Of course, you know that isn’t something that I as a person will encourage. If I am happy with you, when you see my face, you will know it. Those who don’t like me don’t like me, because 300 years ago, Plato said it. He said that no man is derided as he who speaks the truth. I tell them the truth and that’s what they don’t like. And that’s why I am a free man today. That’s why I am a very happy man. I don’t know how to say things diplomatically; I say it how I feel it, because I have a date with my God. At the end of the day, He will ask you, did you say it the way I asked you to say it? God will vindicate me.

 

The Makarfi leadership actually promised hands of fellowship, but you still insisted on leaving. Why?

Yes of course, because I do know from the way they started by dissolving our structures that they had asked us to go. That’s the simple implication.

 

But there is the insinuation that your movement to APC was too sudden, which in a way tends to give credence to the allegation that the ruling party actually used some of you to cause crisis in PDP. How do you react to this?

That is, of course, what detractors would say? Of course, I have never had any relationship with APC before but I have always spoken the truth: that I have admiration for President Buhari and that admiration I have never hidden throughout my stay in PDP. I have always emphasised. What I have always said is that look, the development of Nigeria hinges on only one factor: to fight corruption. If you don’t fight corruption, the provisions, the budget, the allocations meant for education, meant for health, meant for housing, for works and infrastructure, for social services will all be siphoned away and taken overseas and Nigerians will remain where we are.

I went to secondary school in my village in Agbor I was born in the General Hospital, Agbor where, unfortunately, today, doctors are still performing operations with candle light, which I have been speaking against. My secondary school in Agbor and I am a refined product that went through the school system.

But today, it is hardly possible. We have taken some 10 steps backward and we need to take the steps forward again to get to where we were 40 years ago. Now, it is becoming more difficult because the population is increasing and Nigerians are correctly hungry for education. Nigeria is about the only country where the entire populace is aware and they know the significance of acquiring public education and we hunger for it. It is a passion that should be encouraged, should be eulogised, should be celebrated. And this makes us special as a people.

Therefore, the fight against corruption must be total, must be won and once that is done, this country will move forward. That’s what Buhari stands for. The only mandate Buhari has is to fight corruption to a standstill. Even if we are starving, once Buhari is able to fight corruption, we shall all be willing and Nigerians will be willing to support him.

Look at the budget yesterday; (Tuesday) that was exemplary. Now the other thing the president has to deliver on, which he is doing very well, is security. Once the crisis in the North-East started, you cannot end it with military force overnight. It takes a long time to end it; it must take a determined leadership, which is what Buhari today is doing.

 

Nigerians will concede to the government its success story in the fight against insurgency, but they have reservations about its anti-corruption crusade: that there is half-hearted commitment to it and it is also selective—targeted at members of the main opposition party. What is your take on this?

Look, let me tell you this. We know that corruption must fight back. You do know that our anti-corruption index has improved remarkably and seriously.

International communities are beginning to realise that we are capable of delivering on anti-corruption war and this is what will encourage foreign investment. Once you kill corruption, electricity and power generation and distribution will become possible. Service delivery will become possible, education, health, infrastructure and all aspect of infrastructural development will become achievable. And that’s why we must encourage this government and that’s why as soon as the Supreme Court gave that judgment and I heard the statement of the Makarfi group, I knew that it was over.

 

But those ills you squealed against in PDP: impunity, imposition of candidates, are you sure they are alien to APC, considering its internal wrangling?  This is a ruling party that has no Board of Trustees, (BoT) in place despite the provision for it in its constitution? It only managed last week to conduct its National Executive Committee meeting and it has been silent on when it will convene its national convention. Do you think there are remarkable differences in the two platforms in terms of adherence to democratic tenets?

You see, the important thing in a party, what runs a party is the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party. They held a fantastic meeting last week. That’s all. As long as the NEC is working and working very well, it stands in place for BoT, for national convention. You saw that there was no argument; there was no rancour. You can see that love was free-flowing and these are the things true democrats admire. And of course, this country is now taking proper shape politically. The APC belongs to the progressives, the PDP belongs to the rabidly corrupt conservatives. So, when you are in this country and you are a progressive, your tendency is to go to APC. If you are a conservative, of course, your tendency is to join your fellow people who spoiled this country.

 

The APC is not known to have a strong footing in your zone, the South-south. How do you intend to market a strange party to your people?

Of course, in Delta state for instance, we are playing opposition politics and we have done very well there, relatively within a very short period and we aren’t relenting. Of course, I can assure that in the next election, APC, will win Delta, Rivers and Cross River states; in fact, the whole of the Niger Delta. You know that we are mainstream politicians; we are going back to the mainstream, which is the APC. It is the fastest growing political party in the entire world.  Look at how the president delivered the budget yesterday. He even went as far as detailing aspects of the budget, which the PDP government in Delta couldn’t do in two years. The president was able to tell Nigerians that out of almost N500 billion allocated to Works, Housing and Power, a sizeable percentage is going to Niger Delta, East-West road. That’s exemplary; that’s the sort of thing we asked PDP government in Delta State to do, which they haven’t been able to do. The people know that the government in Delta is a fraud and so they are on their way out. You know Delta is part of the South-South.

 

You speak with so much confidence about the South-South embracing APC. But do you think leaders in the zone will want to embrace Buhari, considering the allegation of marginalisation against this government?

Of course, you are aware that Buhari is the first president to give N1 billion to start the cleaning up the Niger Delta. For that step alone, won’t I join Buhari and work for him?  Who has ever thought about our well-being?

You want me to start enumerating?  For the first time, the East-West road was mentioned in a budget. It has never happened before. For the first time, the Second Niger Bridge was mentioned in a national budget and allocation made; for the first time, very huge appointments are coming for the south-south. The Minister of State for Petroleum is from the South-South, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is from the South-South, the Minister of Niger Delta is from the South-South and so on. In fact, the president himself has received PANDEF led by Edwin Clark several times and he is in discussion with them. What else do you want from the president?

 

How do you reconcile this with the position of the Niger Delta Avengers, who insist that the zone is facing serious neglect?

Of course, they are our children and our brothers and sisters. We are educating them, they will see reason to work with this government.