Convention: What will happen to those wishing APC run into problem —Nakande

Hon. Ibrahim Dasuki Salihu Nakande is a former Minister of State for Information and now the chairman of the National Biosafety Management Agency Board. In this interview with ISAAC SHOBAYO, he speaks on the state of the All Progressives Congress (APC), especially the forthcoming National Convention of the party, the contending forces within the party and other issues. Excerpts:

 

APC is currently experiencing internal problems, could this be attributed to the manner of the party’s formation?

Attempts were made that time to form a solid block, but the time was too short for proper planning and organisation; so, sufficient time was not on the side of the APC. The three political parties that came together then were more interested in wrestling power from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) without considering the future of the party, everything was done in a rush, and management later became a serious problem. The fusion included CPC, ACN, the new PDP which also came at that time, though many of the stalwarts of PDP who joined the party later chickened out. Obviously, there are discontent here and there but like all associations and organisations that have human beings, there is no way you can have 100 per cent stability or for everybody to be on the same page, there must be divergent opinions; more so that those who came together had different political orientations and political backgrounds.

 

From all indications, there are different contending forces scheming to position their henchmen as executive of the party at various levels, especially at the national level, don’t you think this might snowball into crisis if not properly handled now that the national convention of the party is around the corner?

Usually in all political parties, there are different kinds of grouping; they call themselves all kind of names just like you have various NGOs to protect various interests in the country. The most important is the legality of such group within a political party; if it is within a political party, it must come under the umbrella of a political party but the fact that they remain in the party, they must abide by the rules and regulations of the political party. I have seen a picture of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) with the vice-president on the social media, so you cannot deny the fact that they are old students of Igbobi College in Lagos, so if you see them talking together, it does not mean that they did not recognise the legality of the party they belong to. So this is allowed, there is nothing bad in having a pressure group within a political party but it must not be to the detriment of such political party. I can assure you that the national convention of the APC will be hitch-free without any rancour, forget what you are reading in the media. Those wishing that the party runs into problem will be surprised at the end of the convention.

 

What is your assessment of the leadership style of the outgoing National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, who has come under heavy criticisms from some quarters?

To a large extent I would say he has not done well, because since the 2015 election the party has not taken the initiative of bringing people together, there were congresses that ushered in the new executive of the party across the country. Committees were not form at any level to bring back people who might have been aggrieved as a result of the primaries whether for party or for the proper election. Nobody went round to do any consultation. Even when the president took the initiative of calling on Senator Bola Tinubu to carry out reconciliation, at some level, there were accusations and allegations that the national chairman saw Tinubu more as a threat than an asset in trying to bring people together. The national chairman saw it as his own job being given to another person.

 

Are you satisfied with the state of the party in Plateau State?

If you have a situation whereby the head, especially at the national level, is not flowing in line with the ideals of the ruling political party, obviously it would cascade down to the state level. I would give a pass mark to the leadership in Plateau State; but that is not to say that they have done the needful in terms of sufficient consultation, in terms of reaching out to various interest groups. I can talk for myself; I was the interim Secretary of APC in Plateau State when it was formed, I was a member of the legacy party and I was made a minister out of the principle of the government of national unity under the PDP. After that, I moved into the APC. I can say that there are still a lot of grudges, so many members of the mega party felt that they were pushed out. In the North, the new PDP that moved into the APC actually had a field day, because if you take analogy of the 19 states in the North, if you remove Taraba and Gombe and take away Borno, Yobe and Zamfara, all these states had been in ANPP from 1999, all the remaining 13 governors are from the new PDP, so obviously, immediately they emerged as governors, they brought in their own people from outside. So, those that had been killing themselves either in the CPC or in the ANPP felt abandoned and they are still complaining to date.

 

Quite a lot of those who voted for the APC in 2015 and many Nigerians are complaining that the party has not fulfilled its electoral promises to the country three years after, do you agree with this?

APC has done tremendously well as a party. The campaign promises that were made had a caveat like we say in economics, other things being equal, if you go in and other things are not equal, it will be difficult for you to say you have fulfilled your electoral promises. The cardinal points of President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign were the issues of security, fighting corruption, addressing poverty, so can we say to very large extent that he has not done the best he could under these circumstances in the area of security? On security, the government has done well and created an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive either at a micro or macro level. Can we say in all sense of sincerity that APC government has not succeeded in this area? Mark you, these promises were made for the whole tenure, it is not like saying come tomorrow I will give you money, it is like saying over four years I am going to address these issues. But you cannot record 100 per cent in all these areas, more so that the administration is just three years. I remember that the Federal Government through the Minister of Works approved so many works and a lot of money was given to the contractors who were carrying out road constructions that were awarded by the previous administration, that is to say that APC government recognised the fact that government is a continuum. Instead of looking towards another direction, they are saying since this has started to this level, why award another contract since it was initially awarded for the generality of Nigerians? Some of the projects are long-term.

 

With the 2019 general election around the corner, most of those who supported President Buhari in 2015 such as General Ibrahim Babangida and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, among others, are no longer on the same page with him in his bid for a second term. Don’t you see this as a minus?

I think the president has a right and he has taken the decision that he is going to contest. Obasanjo and Babangida have had their time. Former President Obasanjo served as a military Head of State; he handed over to a civilian government, he entered into trouble with his letter under Abacha regime and was brought out of prison by Abdulsalami Abubakar. But the military consensus group decided to give power to one of their own and Obasanjo ended up serving for another eight years. He wanted to continue but it didn’t happen. So, who is he under this circumstance to dictate for anybody for that matter, even if that person is on hospital bed what to do and what not to do? Let the people of Nigeria take that decision; everybody has the power to decide who governs this country. People had won and lost elections before and nothing has happened; the country still remained one. I think for the first time, Obasanjo took on the wrong person and I can tell you this with all sense of sincerity, Buhari is from a majority tribe, he is not from the minority tribe; he is not Jonathan. The total number of polling units in Bayelsa is the same number of polling units you have in Jos North Local Government, it is unfortunate that Bayelsa is producing three senators, same number with Lagos that has millions of people.

So, Obasanjo has taken on the wrong person and they gave him what he deserved by ignoring whatever he said. I think that angered him the more. The president, during his visit to United States was received by no other person than Donald Trump; this also angered former President Obasanjo. Buhari was brought up by the people, up till this moment that I am talking, the people that would vote are not people like you and me who usually base our opinion on what we watch or read in the media, those who will continue to be on the social media will continue to be there.

 

But would you say the common man has fared better under the present administration?

I think they have. If you take the security situation for example, though it is not yet Uhuru as they say, there is still room for improvement, the common man is at the bottom of the ladder, what they want now is additional infrastructure and these infrastructures are being put in place. They are not the kind of things that you can pick from the shelf. Take the Manbilla Power Project contract that has been awarded, I strong believe that in the next four years, we will be close to 4,000 megawatt and that is a huge infrastructure for the country in terms of power. Take the railway that is still ongoing, it is a long term project, I must also say that former President Jonathan also played a key role in pushing the railway project but the present government has keyed into the project and it is pushing it towards completion. There are lots of things that are going on in the agricultural sector.

 

Apart from the activities of the Third Force, there are other pressure groups in the country presently pushing against the second term bid of the president. Is the APC not afraid that the activities of these groups could truncate the bid of your party to win the 2019 presidential election? 

All these groups, especially the so-called Third Force, are dead on arrival. That Third Force, where are they now? Where is their political party, no matter what they say, they have to form or join a political party to be relevant. I want you to know that there are two types of Third Force; there is the one by Olisa Agbakoba and the other one by Obasanjo, they have already been factionalised, that is why I said they are dead on arrival. They are just in the media; be it Third Force or any political grouping against APC, they are dead on arrival. Most of the political parties in the country today have faulty foundations, how can you form a political party today and say you want to field a presidential candidate. In America, they have over 50 political parties, there are some that nobody can win their local government and that is their strategy and some have two congressmen and they are satisfied. I want to tell you that we have not imbibed the culture of political ideology; people are not known with a particular political party for a long period of time. In America, if you are a Republican and your party loses an election you will not because of that defect or change party but here it has become a tradition to always align with the party in government and that is why we are not growing. Take the case of Benue, I mean Governor Samuel Ortom, the man lost primary in the PDP at that time and the next day he became the governorship candidate of the APC and he became the governor. As at that time I don’t think he knew the names of the party executive at the state level; that was one of the shortcomings of the APC. Quite a lot of things were not put into consideration and that is probably the reason we have problems today.

 

But do you think the APC can win the 2019 election, especially at the presidential level convincingly?

We would win the election; there is no doubt about it. But it will not be as easy as it was in 2015, there are some of the aggrieved members of the APC that might not be too keen to work for the party. But APC will certainly win the election.