APC ’ll overcome its problems —Olusi, Lagos APC chieftain, Lagos

Prince Tajudeen Olusi, a former commissioner in Lagos State, is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview by BOLA BADMUS, he speaks on issues affecting the country and the problems besotting the party.

 

People in some quarters are saying the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration was not prepared for governance and thus, they have not felt the impact of the government since it came into office, almost two years ago. How will you react to this?

When people say they have not felt the impact of government, the fact is that people are entitled to their opinion and, under democracy, people are at liberty to speak, either in the electronic media or in the print media without giving us any scientific proof of what they are saying. For example, people talk of unemployment, whereas for the past 10 years, there has been unemployment in the country. No one has been able to tell us the steps taken by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration to reduce unemployment. Nobody has been able to tell us the number of people that were employed, I mean the number of jobs that were created.

But the present government came out with a number of assistance to people. They have been able to make some money available to a number of Nigerians, however little. And a number of empowerment and job creation activities are going on all over the country. So, therefore, as far as I am concerned, I am satisfied with the rate at which things are going on. I would have wished that the rate is much more higher, but we all know the factors.

The issue of economic recession is worldwide. Today, in the United States of America (USA), President  Donald Trump is asking immigrants, that is, non-Americans, to leave the country. And one of his arguments is that he has to take care of American citizens and the truth is that the economy of America is not as buoyant as it used to be. When you have less income, you are compelled to re-adjust your expenditure; you are compelled to curtail your expenses. So, it is all over the world. Therefore, governance has been steady in our country; adequate security is very painstaking. Therefore, I am satisfied, as a citizen of Nigeria and as a beneficiary of governance, that the APC government is on course.

 

But the people are raising eye-brow that the APC government has not fulfilled most of its campaign promises, almost two years into the life of the administration…

All these are mere criticisms, propelled particularly by the opposition; propelled by the people who are aggrieved because they have lost power. The criticisms are propelled by the people who are aggrieved because their misdeeds are being exposed. For instance, billions of naira meant for army procurement were siphoned by public office holders and so a substantial part of Nigerians are angry with the past government.

The APC government promised in respect of security and also promised in respect of education. The universities are functioning; the ministries are running; salaries of government workers, particularly civil servants, are being paid. The present Federal Government went out of its way to make money available to the states. That was bailout fund in order to ensure that civil servants are paid throughout this country. So, the promises made by APC are to ensure peace and to ensure steady economy and so we are taking care of all these. Like I said, the opposition and the aggrieved are at the liberty to say whatever they like.

 

But in spite of the bailout fund, some states still owe their workers arrears of salaries…

The issue of owing is part of the system; it’s part of the economic problem. A number of people owe the banks and the banks are publishing what they called bad debts. You know, going into business is a risk and we cannot complain otherwise, I would have asked, what is bad debt? What has happened with the money loaned out? Therefore, if a little number of civil servants are owed, we would pardon the government. But don’t forget the mismanagement of the economy by the immediate past government. Today, I heard of somebody, a civil servant, who is collecting salaries from two ends and he has been doing that for 10 years. I think the man is being charged for the offence. Imagine, that is just an isolated case and such practice is rampant in our system.

You also have this system of ghost workers. The Federal Ministry of Finance detected a number of ghost workers, a number of names that were injected into the payment system as a means of siphoning public money. So, when you talk of some workers not being paid, we have to make allowance for what I am saying they are doing to the system.

 

Can you sincerely say all is well with APC across the country?; Is it on a strong footing?

Look, the party is on a strong footing and the structures of the political organisation are spread all over the country. There is no breakdown in the machinery of the party. Take for example, the issue of the APC governorship nomination in Ondo State. It was an issue of contest; an issue that always brings arguments and acrimony among human beings. And even in some places, they would fight themselves because of the temperament. But today, peace has returned and the election had been held and the governor had been inaugurated. I was at the inauguration with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; I was part of his delegation and the national chairman of the party was there and they were all seated on the same row and with Chief Bisi Akande. The Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, was also there. So the officers of the party are running the party and they are moving it forward. It is usual in the arena of politics when there are arguments, when there are rumours from the other side, people say a lot of things that cannot be verified.

 

How will you react to the accusation that APC is behind the crisis rocking the PDP?

I have been involved in public affairs and politics in the country for up to 50 years. I was a member of the defunct Action Group (AG), led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. In 1962, I had my first election as a councillor to the Lagos Town Council. From that day up till today, it is traditional when you have problem in the then NCNC, they would say it was Chief Awolowo. It is the same thing people say whenever there is problem in AG, they would say that problem is being sponsored by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. That has been the pattern from ages. It is just part of our immaturity in the arena of politics.

But, let me ask you, what would happen if you declare yourself as my enemy and if you are at war with me and you want to push me out of power and then you have problem? If I am in my right senses, I think it is okay if I use your problem to get you out of existence before you put me out of power. Like I have said earlier, as we are developing and advancing, we will create a level that is desirable that would ensure that we operate within the law.  And we would allow each group to pursue the law and to vie for elective offices, but we still need more time to get to that level.

 

Recently, six members of the Lagos State House of Assembly defected to your party, APC. What do you think their move portends for democracy?

I think it is good for democracy. The incident of PDP winning eight seats in Lagos State is good for democracy because that showed maturity that we have conducted an acceptable election in which the opposition within the state was able to secure eight out of 40 seats. It is a lesson or precedence that all of us should note that it is possible for the opposition to win seats and the dominant party should be tolerant for the opposition to exist.

So as they won in Lagos, they were welcomed, they were not molested by the legislators or the citizens. They operated for some time unhindered but now, there is a development, they now moved to the ruling party. You see, in life, there is room for people to rethink. I am a Muslim, there is a cardinal point in Islam that there is no compulsion in religion. Ditto, we cannot compel people to stay put in one party.

I have mentioned earlier that it is good for stability. In advanced countries, people stay in one party for 20, 30 years, but the situation in America and Britain is different. What I am saying now is that maybe the people may have realised their mistakes and maybe in the community where they live, they see themselves in a form of isolation and they now say, ‘what is the purpose?  We cannot make much impact and we cannot yet get the goodies needed for our constituencies. Is it not better for us to join the majority?’. That is one way of looking at it.

But there is one thing that the press has not highlighted, which is the problem of the PDP that is breaking into so many underground parts which has made most of the members of the party to be moving out of the platform. I can tell you that, only last week precisely, I led an important member of the PDP to pay respect to Senator Tinubu. The purpose of the visit is to present the individual as having left the PDP to join the APC in Lagos State. I’ll be visiting Asiwaju Tinubu with a former member of the Lagos State House of Assembly who was in the PDP. He had publicly declared for APC, but I have not been able to formally hint Asiwaju.

So, the point I am making is that because of the level of our development in politics, all these issues have been part of us and I make bold to say they are all good for democracy. We are running a system where you can come in and you can move out without any let or hindrance, all of which I think would make democracy healthy.

But it also shows that there are all sorts of character in politics. For example, I have never defected from my political career. I have never defected from the progressives line. We are from the AG, I moved from AG to the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), from UPN to the Alliance for Democracy (AD), to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) up to APC. But some people have succeeded in criss- crossing the parties to get what they want. Therefore, what I am seeing in the country is part of democracy.

 

Despite your analysis, some may see the defection as a prelude to having a House of Assembly that is a rubber stamp of the executive. Don’t you think so?

Like I said, people are at liberty to see things from their perception, but the executive has its responsibilities under the law. The House of Assembly or the parliament has its own history. Parliament is the representatives of the people and those who are going there, if they know their onions, are to go there and advocate for their constituents. That is the responsibility of the parliament and that has to do with individual’s objectives, training and perception of reality; it has nothing to do with whether the executive has a free hand. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, the fact that the parliament is dominated by one political party does not mean the executive has an advantage. You see, it is happening all over the country as commissioners and ministers are being summoned to appear before the legislature to defend their budgets and even their stewardship.

 

It is being perceived that Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who you are very close to, is being sidelined in national politics and his name has been mentioned several times in connection with forming a mega party that would contest the 2019 elections against APC.  What is your take on this?

I want to debunk all the claims in your question. Asiwaju has severally said that he is a national leader of the APC and that he would remain so and that he would fight for the advancement of the party. He made a public declaration in respect of that and, only recently, he reinforced the declaration by reinforcing his support for the president of the country and even went further to say that, if President Buhari aspires to run for the second term, he would not stand in his way. He had made these public declarations and, therefore, all these other projections are unnecessary. These are the handiwork of the opposition in the sense that Buhari and Tinubu are the pillars and are like the taproots for APC and the opposition wants the taproots to be uprooted. I am sure God would not allow that to come to pass.

 

So you don’t believe Tinubu was sidelined?

The issue of sidelining is even more the idea of our detractors. Let me ask you, can you cite any statement at any time where Tinubu had made a statement that he is being sidelined? Nobody can cite any, either written or verbal and so, if there is no complaint, then Tinubu is not being sidelined.

The other issue is that the APC is a gathering of human beings and in a gathering of human beings, there can be some issues that may not be pleasant or acceptable to some people, but that does not mean that because of this, heavens will fall. I want to say categorically that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is our national leader and that he stands by Buhari, he stands by the APC. And, like I said earlier, he was there at the last major event of the party, the inauguration of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu where you have some differences of opinions during party primaries. The issues had been resolved. Tinubu was there, Akeredolu embraced him. Akeredolu even did one thing typical of a Yorubaman by removing his cap when he wanted to greet Asiwaju because I was personally present. I was impressed and I commended the governor for showing that traditional respect for an elder. So, let us put aside this issue of politics and I believe by the grace of God, we shall overcome all our problems so as to fulfill all our promises to Nigerians.