Chief Ayiri Emami,one of the South-South leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in South-South, in this interview with TAIWO AMODU, speaks on the single faith ticket of the ruling party and the chances of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, in the 2023 elections.
How sellable is the Tinubu candidacy in the South South, where you come from?
Well, to some of us, he is good to go. When a product is good, you don’t need a lot of advertisements to sell it. Tinubu is a very good product in Delta State and I don’t see any difference in other parts of Nigeria. It is easier for us to sell Tinubu than some other persons that you will struggle to sell in the South-South. Tinubu is a household name in the region. He is part of my state. I will tell you that Tinubu is from Delta State because in Itsekiri, they will tell you that the in-law is the third family member. So, after my father, mother, brother, the other person is in-law. Itsekiri or people from Delta don’t disenfranchise their in-law. Tinubu equally has the same right as I do to partake in anything. I can boldly tell you Tinubu is from Delta State. Being that he is from Delta, Tinubu is from South-South.
You paint a picture that Tinubu will win the South-South. But, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who is the running mate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is from Delta State and by extension the South-South. Do you think the people of Delta will support Tinubu against their own, that is Okowa?
I don’t know what you mean by our son I have told you that Tinubu too is from the region by any means you see it. Okowa is vying for the vice president while Tinubu is going for president. So, you can compare. If slot both go in for a fair election, Tinubu will win.
At the unveiling of Shettima as the vice-presidential candidate of APC, some key members from the South-South and South-East were not at the venue. Is that not a sign of a crack in the party?
For example, I wasn’t there because Shettima had been unveiled before now by Tinubu himself. I was sleeping at home that day, when I was called. So, why do I need to go there? I don’t see any political undertone in that. We have been told that it is Shettima and we have been talking. Everybody has congratulated him and working towards Shettima. The unveiling was just ceremonial. I assumed other leaders not in attendance were very tired and couldn’t attend. So, it is not an issue for me.
There was a lot of hues and cries about your party’s choice of a Muslim-Muslim ticket. Do you think this will fly in the South-South?
Some of us even supported the candidacy of Shettima. We advised Tinubu to look for a good person whom we will support, whether Muslim or a person of another religion. Religion has not brought anything to our table. For example, Niger Delta Development Commission is an agency that is supposed to be taking care of the Niger Delta and so much money has come into the NDDC but the people monitoring those affairs are all Christians, no Muslim. Go and see whether you will see any development. Governors running the region are all Christians. So, if Tinubu has a partner that will make him succeed, will give us protection, good roads, good schools, I don’t care because not everybody is a Christian. How many people are even Christians in the South-South? Is it Christianity when someone does not even love his or her neighbor and goes up to the pulpit to preach? I know a lot of them who don’t have the fear of God because things they do are not what is written in the Bible. For example, you arranged us to rig an election and then go for thanksgiving, I won’t come to church that day because it means you don’t have the fear of God. So, what we need at this time is whatever can work for us and Shettima is going to be a very good pair with Tinubu. I know some people who are Christians, who will donate huge money in the church, build schools but members of that church cannot attend the schools. In my house, my wife is a deaconess. I used to tell her that if Asiwaju picks a Muslim, that is who we are voting for. I have very little and I am very grateful to God. I share the little with people but those that are preaching are not doing so. When it comes to politics, they are complaining of a Muslim-Muslim ticket. To some of us, a lot of people that are going to vote do not understand what they are saying about a Muslim-Muslim ticket. What we are saying at the moment is Tinubu for transformation. We are not seeing the religion aspect of it because, to some of us, the vice president is a Christian under President Muhammadu Buhari, what is the difference? Some Christians, because of politics, will go to the North to turban. If you know you forbid something so much, don’t even go to their palace to turban. Why are you going there for? Don’t you know it is a different faith?
I really wonder how you will sell the APC in the South-South which is largely known to be a PDP stronghold. What will you be telling your people?
I will not hide my feeling about the current government. As much as people have different feeling or perception about Buhari, some of could get very good votes for Buhari our states. Though the reward system of the APC is very poor, some of us know the pedigree of Tinubu. He is a good product to sell. Even when we had a difficult product, we still sold him and people bought him. The same way people are defecting from APC is the same way people are moving massively into APC. In Nigerian politics, a lot of them move due to their stomachs. I call them stomach infrastructure politicians. I have been in opposition in my state for almost eight years, I don’t care, I don’t go close to the government house. But, you will see some people tell you they are APC at the federal level and PDP in Delta State. I don’t think that with the Tinubu government, such thing will happen. No matter how difficult it is, I don’t pray APC loses national election; I will just quit the game and face my business. I believe in anything I am doing; I look at the justification before taking any action. I am well known from home on that character. It is very difficult to see people like that. When you see people with no character transiting from one end to another, it is not an issue. Everybody have their reasons for defecting.
One of the problems in Delta is to ensure that the ports in Warri are working. Some of us thought that Buhari was going to fix it but we understand that the shore in our place is actually being affected by the ocean. Former President Goodluck Jonathan laid the foundation for the gas project and some of us thought that Buhari will complete it. Our belief was that Buhari will fix the Warri refinery. Sadly, a lot of money has been budgeted for these projects. I don’t want to give Buhari 100 percent of the blame but knowing Tinubu’s antecedents in Lagos, we know things will work. We believe that Tinubu will create investments for money to come into Nigeria. He will want to attract more investors because he is a business-like person and a politician. Most of the problems we have are caused by politicians, not religion. I know if Tinubu assumes office and promises to fix all the ports, the roads, schools, he will do it. If the ports are working, you can see what they will generate around those areas. There are a lot of lands along the coast from Warri to Escravos where you can have various fabrications. I know with Tinubu, more investments will be attracted to Nigeria. I have looked at his profile; I have a good relationship with him for a very long time. He is not just somebody you can lie to. He will ask somebody to verify if it’s true. He is somebody who understands in and out of Nigeria as it is today. So, what we want is somebody that will transform Nigeria.
Your party has not been able to effectively tackle the security challenges facing the country. What major role do you think the traditional institutions can play to mitigate this, or address it frontally?
First, you take the traditional institutions out of politics. You must take our institutions out of politics because it is very dangerous to the institution to play politics because they are under government, most of them are being paid by the government. If you look at the laws of the States, they are under the state government. And when you involve them and they speak their mind and that person you are supporting now lost, you know the repercussion. Sometimes, when we are speaking and people are saying Ayiri is this, it is Chief Ayiri talking, you cannot tie it to the institution. I am speaking as a politician, leader of my people who want better government for my people, so I can be held responsible. So, sometimes, you down play the institutions when it comes to national politics like this. As a royal father, you can pray for anybody, if you choose to go and cast your vote, you know who you cast it for. The issue of insurgent, I might not be in the army but I may be able to tell the army this is what I want. I have the boldness to take my own decision. Asiwaju is that man that has the courage of taking a very difficult decision.
That is another reason I am with him because some of us are only courageous to take decision that normally if you take, the whole world will come down but to me, I will tell you this is the way to go and if Asiwaju is the president of this country and he has the proper study of Borno, Yobe, the North East, he will be able to deal with the situation. Don’t compare, everybody has their style in terms of leadership. This is the first time in this country where a minister is doing almost about eight years in office; we have seen government every two years, they change their ministers. In this government, the president believes if I give you responsibility, you should be able to do things yourself but that does not mean Buhari does not have courage, I am not saying that but I think Tinubu will take some decisions that will hurt a lot of people. They can even say this Military General will come and kill you and he will have justification for it; knowing where Buhari is coming from and Nigerians are good with blackmail, war against Indiscipline, his antecedents, people were even complaining that once he became President, he was not going to stick to the constitution, rule of law and all that. It is the same thing that some Nigerians are trying to do with this Muslim-Muslim ticket so that when a pastor misbehaves tomorrow and Asiwaju takes a decision, they will say he wants to come and Islamize Nigeria. Nigerians have a way of doing things. If they know this man is going to do something, they already prepared things that will not make him work. If you want to take your decision and if you are not careful, you are going to be looking at those things they have said about you. They have said a lot of things about Buhari that he is going to finish all of us, he is going to kill a lot of people, he was going to do this and that. Asiwaju style might be different and I assure you he is going to be different. Yar’Adua style was different from Jonathan.
If I get you well sir, you are calling on traditional institutions to be out of politics?
I am not calling them to be out but I am just telling you the danger in it. I am part of the traditional institution, I can take my risk but I I don’t know about the other person. The danger in it, I just told you.
Don’t you think there is the need for a constitutional amendment to ensure the independence of the institution, just like the judiciary?
To me, I have said something about it; they can be included in the constitution so that they can have a role to play; so that their voice can be heard. What you said is their involvement in politics, so I told you the danger in it. We can advocate the way it used to be in the First Republic when we had the House of Chiefs.
You are the Ologbotsere of Warri and we are aware that there is a cold war between you and the Olu of Warri, can we have an update on the relationship?
It is not specifically cold war, my belief is the ability to take a certain decision makes you a man when you are at helms of affairs. A leader that cannot take a decision whether right or wrong is not a leader, so I took a decision as it was written and if he chose to do the other way, it is like Pontius Pilate and Jesus Christ but I shouldn’t be hurt, nobody should bring that problem to me. I have taken a decision based on law as it is written. How will you claim you are a Christian if you know that those things written and as it is written was not written by you. So, whatever the difference, nature will naturally take its course and the good people of Itsekiri who know that I acted based on as it was written felt that we don’t need this because it is not going to take us to anywhere. We are looking for a way to see that we go to a round table so that we don’t destroy our house because we are one people. To me, I take a decision no matter whether you are my best of friends but one must stick to the rules. I shouldn’t be hurt or killed by our own rule. I will defend myself. If I take a decision base on our rules, I shouldn’t be hurt or killed based on the rule. If I have to be killed I have to defend myself. I think I can be treated like Pilate.
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The PDP spokesman recalled how the opposition party had on various occasions alerted that the APC government had ceded sovereignty over a large portion of our country to terrorists, “many of whom were imported into our country by the APC.”
He further stated: “From the video, in a brazen manner, terrorists as non-state actors boldly showed their faces, boasting, admitting and confirming their participation in the Kuje Prison break, some of whom were former prison inmates who were either jailed or awaiting trial for their previous terrorism act against our country.
“Nigerians can equally recall the confession by the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai that the APC government knows the plans and whereabouts of the terrorists but failed to act.
According to Ologunagba, about 18,000 Nigerians have been killed by terrorists between 2020 and 2022 “as the criminals continue to be emboldened by the failures and obvious complicity of the APC and to which the PDP had always drawn attention.”
“This is not politics; this is about humanity and leadership, which leadership sadly and unfortunately is missing in our country at this time,” he said.
The PDP added that it is appalled by “the lame response by the apparently helpless, clueless and deflated Buhari Presidency, wherein it told an agonizing nation that President Buhari “has done all and even more than what was expected of him as Commander in Chief by way of morale, material and equipment support to the military…”
“This is a direct admission of incapacity and failure by the Buhari Presidency and the APC. At such a time, in other climes, the President directly leads the charge and takes drastic measures to rescue and protect his citizens.
“In time of adversity, the President transmutes into Consoler-in-Chief to give hope and succour to the citizens. Painfully, Nigeria does not have a President who cares and can stand as Consoler-in-Chief to the citizens.
“It has now become very imperative for Nigerians to take note and realize that the only solution to this unfortunate situation is to hold the APC government accountable. We must come together as a people, irrespective of our political, ethnic and religious affiliations to resist the fascist-leaning tendencies of the APC administration.
Ologunagba called for an urgent meeting of the National Council of State to advise on the way to go over the nation’s worsening insecurity.
“Our nation must not fall. The resilient Nigerian spirit and ‘can-do- attitude’ must be rekindled by all to prevail on the President to immediately and without further delay, accede to the demand by the PDP and other well-meaning Nigerians to convene a special session of the National Council of State to find a lasting solution since the President has, in his own admission, come to his wit’s end,” the PDP spokesman declared.
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