Follow Us on Google
By Omoniyi Salaudeen
Senator Anthony Adeniyi is a member of Tinubu Presidential Campaign Council.
In this interview, he expressed confidence that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will win at the first ballot clean and square.
The incessant attacks on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices and facilities have become a clear and present danger. What do you think the perpetrators of these acts intend to achieve with this?
I may not really be in a position to say exactly the aims of the people perpetrating the attacks because whatever I say will be based on speculation. But my observation is that the attacks are mostly taking place in areas where Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of our party – the All Progressives Congress (APC), is on ground especially the serial attacks in Osun, Ogun, and Imo states. Maybe they think these are his catchment areas where he has his support. If that is their calculation, then they have already admitted defeat.
In terms of overall implication, a lot of people are worried that it could result in voters’ apathy on the day of the election. Isn’t it possible?
Since it is not direct violence on the voters, I don’t think it will create voters’ apathy. Besides, APC has been working tirelessly doing house-to-house campaigns so as not to create a situation where people will not be deterred or discouraged. We can anticipate what will happen, but until it happens, nobody is in a position to know there will be violence on the day of the election.
You are isolating only three cases here, but we have had several other attacks in the past?
I am not isolating the three cases. Except you know of other cases, I don’t know of any other attack in recent times. But happily enough, the security agencies are taking their time to know the people behind the attacks.
For the first time, the Southeast has an opportunity to present a candidate whose acceptance is gaining momentum across the country. Is this suggesting at all that there is a convergence in the aspiration of the region for a president of Igbo extraction?
That’s left for them. Let them do whatever pleases them. Doing such a thing is giving Tinubu a chance to win the election. We have heard from their spokesperson that doing such a thing is brightening the chances of Tinubu. It is frustrating their chances and brightening the chances of Tinubu.
The new regulation of the Central Bank of Nigeria limiting the amount of money individuals and corporate bodies can withdraw at a time is another major concern to the political class. How is your party going to cope with your campaign activities without any encumbrance?
It is not going to affect our chances. As it happens in America, we have people who are ready to support us with whatever little they have. We have a very strong support base that can support us with naira and kobo as allowed by the Electoral Act. So, it won’t affect our chances. It is the people who want to bring money from Dubai that it will affect. It won’t affect us adversely.
Is the timing of the policy auspicious or is it a deliberate attempt to regulate electioneering funding as it is being speculated in some quarters?
It is Godwin Emefiele that can answer that question. He knows his reasons, I won’t conjecture any reason to him. But I want to assure you, as far as APC is concerned, it will not affect us adversely. Our money has been coming from our support base.
But do you see the policy as a healthy initiative for the economy?
My view is that it won’t augur well for the economy because there are people who are gainfully employed through the POS. Sometimes, when I am away from the bank, I use POS if I run out of cash and I pay them a commission. In Nigeria today, POS has created millions of jobs for people. It will adversely affect them.
The military command recently sent a shocker to the public raising an alarm about the pressure coming from certain quarters to rig the coming election. What do you make of such a comment coming at this time?
I think the context in which the Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, raised the alarm was a warning to the security forces not to allow themselves to be influenced by politicians. It is not that anybody is influencing them now, but they are susceptible to being influenced. So, he was only warning them not to be influenced.
Nigeria has been running an unbroken democracy for 23 years. Would you say that military submission to civil authority is sure enough to dismiss such an alarm especially given the recent experience of coups in some African countries?
The military is a creation of law, operating under the law. So, the military command should subject itself to democratic authorities.
In recent times, much attention has been on your candidate -Tinubu. A lot of people have put him on the spot for different reasons. Why he is attracting so much attention?
I watched Arise Television when Reuben Abati and other people are talking about him. I think pressmen should be honest in what they are doing. If Abati had admitted that he had a background in PDP, they should be very careful. Politics, when it is not properly played, can splash mold on anybody. So, Abati and Oseni Rufai should be ready for it. They should stop crying over Tinunu’s refusal to attend their Town Hall meeting because many people don’t bother listening to television in the first place. He has not committed any offence by not attending their Town Hall meeting. If Peter Obi decides to attend, let him go. If Atiku decides to go for it, let him go. They don’t have the right to force Tinubu; after all, they are not the moral custodian of Nigeria. They should keep quiet. He has the right to make his own choice of any platform he wants to use to address the people. Dasuki Sambo at a time went to the Chatham House to address the world on why the election was postponed in Nigeria. So, nobody has the right to prosecute him for choosing how and where to address the people. It should not be their headache that he went to Chatham House. They should just keep quiet.
What is your expectation of this election having been on campaign field for quite a while now?
By the special grace of God, we will win this election. Tinubu is already in the hearts of the people in places we have gone to campaign. Let the opposition parties also go on their campaign. Atiku was in Akure sometimes ago, he saw the response of the people. We saw the PDP rally in Lagos when Atiku came to campaign. I belong to Southwest parliamentarians for Tinubu support group and we have been going about campaigning. Let other parties go out there to do their campaign. It is when I am afraid of you that I will be criticizing you on how you go about your life. APC is doing its campaign by its own design. From all the places we went, we have discovered that Tinubu is in the hearts of the people. When we went to Imo State, we know how many millions they contributed for his campaign. People have donated two private jets and things like that. Let everybody do his preparation.
If you have such level of acceptance, how would you then react to a video trending on social media where the National Chairman of your party, Abdullahi Adamu, was stripped in Nassarawa State by a mob?
We don’t get ourselves worried about that. As I am talking to you, there are places I will visit and they won’t welcome me. Even in the days of our Lord Jesus Christ, he told his disciples, “go and spread the gospel. Wherever they didn’t welcome you, shake your feet and let the dust go there and proceed.” It is not everywhere that people will hail you.
The curiosity here is that it is coming from an APC-controlled state?
It doesn’t matter. They will not see the place where he was coming and people lined the road for him. They have PDP there; they can organize to boo him. You don’t look at the noise in the market, you look at what you are selling.
On the whole, do you think Tinubu has a chance of winning this election?
I am confident that he will win this election. I expressed the same optimism when we were conducting the presidential primary. My candidate will win.
At first or second ballot?
We are winning at the first ballot handsomely. No second ballot, we are winning.
You are dismissing the INEC preparation for a second ballot. Aren’t you?
They have to prepare for a second ballot. If they prepare and it doesn’t come, all well and good. In any presidential or governorship election, INEC has to prepare for a rerun. If the winner doesn’t meet the constitutional requirement, definitely, there will be a rerun. In our own case, I am assuring you, there won’t be a second ballot. We are winning on the first ballot, right away.
