Full implementation of Uwais panel report critical to improving our electoral process —Opadokun

Ayo Opadokun is the General Secretary of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). He speaks with WALE AKINSELURE on the historical events, personalities behind the June 12 struggle, the involvement of President Bola Tinubu and how to improve the nation’s democratic and electoral process.

 

You were part of the June 12 struggle, what is really the big deal about it that it should not be erased from the history books of Nigeria?

Almost 65 percent of Nigerians are youths and may know little about what happened then. So, it is fundamental that our young people be kept abreast. The Nigerian Army staged insurrection against the government of Alhaji Tafawa Balewa on January 15, 1966 and it turned out that there was a revenge coup on July 29, 1966 that brought in General Yakubu Gowon and that one, because of the infighting among the top echelon, particularly between Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwu and Gowon who were course mates. They couldn’t agree among themselves so there was civil war because Ojukwu declared an Independent State of Biafra. So, the military was in power between 1966 and 1979. As a result of the agitation of the civil society, professionals, student union bodies, women, and the likes, they were forced to go back to the barracks and they handed over power to one of the people that they sent packing, Alhaji Shehu Shagari. He was minister in the Tafawa Balewa government. It was to him the military handed power in 1979. So, four years thereafter, General Muhammadu Buhari staged another military insurrection against the civilian regime of Alhaji Shehu Shagari and toppled him. From that January 31,1983, the military again was in power until 1999 when Abdusalami Abubakar handed over power. You remember that a palace coup was staged by Ibrahim Babangida in 1985 and he was there for over eight years and then, because of the pressure of the civil society, he said he was stepping aside. He organised a shameful transition, which he called an Interim Government led by Chief Ernest Shonekan and Chief Shonekan because he had no constituency, it was not difficult for the googled General, Sani Abacha to shove him aside and capture power. As a result of all the mischief, the violation of our democratic right by the military dictators, particularly the most violent of them, Abacha did, the clamour for the military to return to the barracks for Nigeria to recapture itself was so much. During the period of Babangida, he experimented with Nigeria; he experimented his attempt to remain in power so much that without our knowledge, as he was setting up political bureau. So, after doing so many experiment, banning and unbanning many candidates, eventually, he was caught in his own web and because of the pressure of civil society, he was forced to go back to the barracks. It was as a result of that, Abacha took over and dismantled all the little thing that we thought we able to force on Babangida. Babangida wanted to be ruling as a military dictator but there will be a so-called civilian parliament. Abacha dissolved that body. As a result of that, we recognise that  the June 12 election which Babangida conducted was a smokescreen. He was given two intelligence reports. One report said Abiola would not be able to win more than two states, so he thought that if he allowed the election to hold, and Abiola lost, he will be much more loyal to him because he was one of his closest friends. That was why he allowed that election to hold. Otherwise, his own colleagues did not want the election to hold. But that election held and Abiola won. So, rather than allow Abiola to govern, he set up what he called Interim National Government. Because they didn’t want the election to hold, they did not build a single polling unit. God was kind to Nigeria, there was no rain and the election held, that was Option A4 so that nobody could dispute the election that Abiola won. And they were so contemptuous of the will of the people that Abiola won, so they annulled it. That was what led respected Nigerians from across the length and breadth of the country, including those that have served as governors, ministers, professionals, civil societies, women, youths, student union bodies to gather to establish National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). The two major objectives that we set for ourselves were: to de-annul the election, to restore the mandate that was illegally annulled. The second is that there must be a Sovereign National Conference, where the national question which bothers on injustice, inequity, unfair play, discrimination as to gender, tribe, religion can be addressed so that we can restructure the country, that the current structure remains lopsided, skewed, perverted and nobody can do anything significantly successful with this kind of system. That was why we stood up and established NADECO. June 12 was an election that was approved by local and international observer groups and regarded as free, fair and credible. Since then, except the last election, there is a measure of credibility you can attach to the last election except the error of not uploading the result of the presidential election to their database as they announced to the world, that was an election that even the man who won the presidential election lost in Lagos, his home state. Buhari lost in Katsina, Ganduje lost in Kano, many governors lost their bids to go to the Senate. So, many things happened that showed that there was a semblance of credibility with the last election.

 

You said NADECO had two objectives. One may argue that the coalistion was not successful in those two objectives.

Well, if not for NADECO, you won’t have what you have today. It was the campaign for credible, painstakingly organised, endurance and faithfulness of our people that forced what happened to happen within the military. Abacha did not just die the way he died, something happened. It was the success of our campaign that saw both local and power brokers in the world to organise what they did. They were there and knew how to do what they did best. That is the reality we must tell. Anyone who believes we did not achieve our objectives must perish the thought. You must accept the fact that some people fought for the semblance and hybrid of so-called democracy  that we have. We laid down our lives for it; some lost their sweat; some lost their blood; some lost their possessions; some were exiled; some went into several detention and some martyred in order for the military to be sent back to the barracks.

 

Has NADECO forgiven former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida for annulling the election of MKO Abiola?

No, because he has not come clean. He and his gangs were so contemptuous of Nigerians. They experimented with so many things. They organized an endless transition, wasted all our resources on the so-called experiment whereas he did not want to leave power. IBB did not want to leave power, that is why when he was forced to resign on 26th August, 1993, he said he was stepping aside. Stepping aside was not resignation. It sounded that he was stepping aside to come back.

 

The immediate past president tried to immortalize MKO Abiola. Is the NADECO gratified with what Buhari did?

He has tried at least. The only criticism that I have for him is the fact that he lumped Chief MKO Abiola with Ambassador Babagana Kingibe while he was giving the national honour. Kingibe was just the running mate to Chief MKO Abiola; he abandoned Abiola and he was virtually part of the eggheads and became minister for Foreign Affairs and for Internal Affairs. So, a man who jumped sail, who abandoned his position as vice president to take over as minister under a full blown military did not deserve such honour.

 

What must be done for Nigeria to have an election like the 1993 poll that will be generally accepted by Nigerians as free, fair and credible?

We took over the battle to get Nigeria to be able to run a credible election in 2008 when we set up  the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODA). This was because when Obasanjo organised a most fraudulent election to bring in Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua into office, that man recognized and said the election that brought him into office was fraudulent. So, he set up the Justice Muhammadu Uwais Electoral Reform Panel to look at the gamut of election in Nigeria and bring up a well-considered position. That committee had both financial and logistics support from development partners abroad and Nigerian government to have a good outing. And, they made fantastic, positively directed recommendations to government about how to go about getting a better election management body and election in Nigeria. But, most of the key recommendations of that body have not been considered at all. The only thing considered was that they agreed that funding of electoral management body should be on the first charge. That committee recommended that the electoral management body should not be appointed by government; that the sitting government should not be the one to appoint the electoral management body, that it is a participant. They made fantastic recommendations but because most of the political players are beneficiaries of the devious system, they found very terrible, unreasonable excuses to say that recommendation was unacceptable that judicial commission itself was not free. But, something could have been done to the National Judicial Council so that it will be able to perform that duty. And then, the composition that Uwais recommended was going to include Labour, Nigeria Bar Association, Women and others so that the electoral management body will be independent of the sitting government. The body will not be answerable to the sitting ruler, one way or the other. If the electoral management body was really established along the Uwais recommendation, it will be free and not answerable to anybody in power, it will be able to do a credible thing that will be accepted by all. Another recommendation they made was that you see a lot of wicked, criminal acts during election, nobody has been punished and prosecuted. The Uwais panel recommended that there must be a body set up to take charge of dealing with such electoral offences and they should have prosecuting powers. They should be the one to prosecute offenders. If such a body had been established, a lot of wickedness that has been going on, snatching ballot boxes will have been reduced to the barest minimum. We, CODA, were the ones that campaigned vigorously for the digitization of the voters register and that BVAS has become veritable. But, a lot of things still need to be done. The fact that INEC is still the one in charge of monitoring political parties, we don’t believe that you should have such a body sitting in Abuja directing everything. In America, every state organizes its election; that is what makes for a federation. And in any case, we believe strongly that the military has surcharged Nigeria, ruined our chances of taking the position that God has destined us to take in the affairs of the world. We constitute the biggest black nation of the world and the world is looking for our leadership. But, when we remain a giant with a feet of clay, we have not been able to respond to our manifest destiny and it is a pity.

 

President Bola Tinubu was one of the figures in the NADECO struggle, what was his involvement? Was he on the forefront of the struggle?

When the steering committee of NADECO met for a second time presided over by Papa Adekunle Ajasin and deputized by Chief Anthony Enahoro, we took a decision that senators and House of representatives’ members, two per zone, should be brought into the steering committee of NADECO. We found that the then Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu along with Senator Ameh Ebute who was then the acting Senate President, Senator Abu Ibrahim, Senator Okoroafor and others, after they were dissolved by General Abacha, they announced that they were reconvening the Senate and the intelligence unleashed on them to get them arrested. They got some of them arrested and they were kept in buildings between Obalende and Alagbon. As a result of the campaign and clamour we were waging against their detention along with Chief Anthony Enahoro and others, they took them to court and bail was sought for. Eventually, they gave them bail. Due to the pressure that was unleashed on them, Senator Bola Tinubu found his way out of Nigeria but I must confess that he played a pivotal role abroad both in London and in America. He spent his money in the running of NADECO abroad on several instances. His home was like a homebase for many activists exiled, 24/7 his house was always full of people who are there for one consultation or another, one meeting or the other and they were being fed. He played that role throughout both in London and America. When I was released after 24 months and I went to Europe and America, I witnessed that his house was a haven for democracy activists. Even those in the Caribbean will travel to be in his place. He was a fantastic leader of the democratic struggle. When he became governor of Lagos State, he acted very much to bolster his image by his liberal attitude to some of the leaders of the democratic struggle. For example, the day Chief Anthony Enahoro returned, we organized a befitting welcome for him. When Enahoro died, it was under his authority that we secured all the funding with which we were able to give a befitting burial to Enahoro, Abraham Adesanya. If you hear anything about PRONACO, that is pro-democracy conference, it was for intents and purposes significantly sponsored and facilitated by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. I believe no ruler gets to office except approved by God. This is without prejudice of those who are in court to challenge Tinubu’s victory. Look at the trajectory of Tinubu’s emergence as president. The government he financed to put in office was against him. The man he assisted to become president of Nigeria after failing three times rather than support him, supported Ahmad Lawan. He was the most vilified, most abused, most insulted, most disgraced, most humiliated, most discriminated against, yet he was the one declared elected by the election management body. Nobody has been able to give us credible reason why we should not salute God’s grace bestowed upon him to become president of Nigeria.

 

What were the saddest moments of your time in prison?

I was in Kano Central Prison when KudiratAbiola was assassinated. If I had a low esteem of myself, there were two events in my life when I was in Kano Central Prison. It had happened about two weeks that KudiratAbiola was assassinated before I knew; equally, it was almost a month before somebody came to speak with me using sign language to reveal to me that papa Alfred Rewane had been assassinated. Those were two lives I lost when I was in prison for 24 calendar months.

With Tinubu, a NADECO person, as president, how best should his government mark June 12?

He has just got into office; he has not even established the apparatus of government. I am not sure about what he can do within the few days. He is still grappling with putting structures of government in place. He will need time. But, Tinubu is streetwise. We will get to him later; we want him to settle because governance of this suffocating system called Nigeria can be daunting. This system is unsustainable; this system needs to be totally reversed.

 

What is fundamentally wrong with our system that needs to be reversed?

The military, when they staged insurrection, on January 15, 1966, eliminated our democratically elected leaders. They replaced, abrogated, suspended our negotiated federal constitutional governance upon which Nigeria secured its independence with their various decrees  and those decrees have unitarised governance in Nigeria. Virtually over 66 percent of the power and influence that normally belongs to regions, in the concurrent list, were added up to the exclusive list so that the federal government is in charge of virtually everything in Nigeria. This is a system that is unsustainable. The British recognized that this is anheterogenous country with over 400 kinds of people with different languages, religions, traditions, artifacts, folklores, mores, morals. But, a federal constitutional arrangement allows these differences to thrive at their various areas undisturbed but to meet at the centre. That is the only thing that can liberate Nigeria from this situation we are in where Nigeria at 63 will remain the country of opposites. We export what we don’t have (democracy), we import what we have (petroleum). How can a country of this nature, which was for many years the 6th largest exporter of crude oil, base its domestic consumption of fuel on importation so much that our people are being subjected to pay for gross manipulation, corruption, perversion and inefficiency of operators of the Nigerian system. The multinationals see Nigeria as the cheap cow which they have milked up till today. What they could not do in other parts of the world, they have done with Nigeria and continue to do. The cost of prospective one barrel of oil in Nigeria is the highest in the world. Most of those things they call subsidies are fraudulent. You ask them, what is this thing they call subsidy? I asked them over 20 years ago. When Obasanjo was in power, they changed price of oil for more than five times and we asked them how much is the subsidy. Abacha changed his own, Buhari changed his own. It is just that Nigeria is a different kettle of fish. Our people are difficult to understand. There is a saying that when you push a goat to the wall, they will bounce back. In the Nigeria setting, our people when pushed to the wall, will never bounce back; rather they will be looking for a way to dig hole in the wall so that they can escape to the other side. When there is long queue at the filling station, they know it is those usurpers in government who are making life difficult for them. Instead of turning towards them, they will be fighting against themselves, and can kill themselves at the filling station.

 

Apart from federal constitutional governance that you have clamoured for over the years, what should be the priorities of the Tinubu government?

There is nothing much more significant, more needed now than for Mr President to urgently take steps, consult with the necessary people to see how we can revert to federal constitutional governance. Fortunately, his own party set up the MalamNasir El-Rufai committee and that committee recommended that in accordance with the promise they made in their manifesto, before elected in 2015, to return Nigeria to federal constitutional governance, that they should take step to do so. That is the most important. Whatever socioeconomic policy that he could take now will not be enduring. The enduring thing is for us to be able to govern ourselves and for people to have a sense of belonging, justice, equity, fair play, protection of the citizens and consolidation of the rule of law. Those are the things that make for the arrival of democracy. Today, what you have is an hybrid. Since the military took over, they have been in charge since January 15, 1966. They have been in power up till today. When we forced them to go back to the barracks in 1999, they rallied round, they appointed almost everybody including the electoral umpire and brought their own son, OlusegunObasanjo to be the head of state.

 

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