A former Chairman of the Conference of All Progressives Congress (APC) States Chairmen, and ex-chairman, APC, Lagos State, Chief Henry Ajomale has described the coming together of former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and some other politicians to form a coalition to unseat President Bola Tinubu from office in 2027 as a gathering of disgruntled, bitter and unpatriotic elements who are desperate to take over power to serve their interests.
In an interview with the Tunde Thomas, Ajomale said Atiku, El-Rufai, and most of the other politicians involved in the coalition talks are not as patriots as they are portraying themselves. He also spoke on other national issues.
What’s your reaction to the recent endorsement of President Bola Tinubu by the APC leaders, governors and other stakeholders as the party’s sole candidate for the 2027 presidential elections?
It is a welcome development. The endorsement is an approval of party members’ confidence in the president’s good work. I was part of the meeting where the party’s NWC and other stakeholders decided that Tinubu should be given the go-ahead to continue the good work his administration has been doing since assuming office in 2023.
The various reforms that his administration has been carrying out, including the removal of fuel subsidies, are geared towards taking Nigeria’s economy to greater heights and all these have been yielding positive results. Prices of food and other commodities are crashing, fuel prices have been coming down, and not only that, unlike before when fuel shortages and scarcity were a common feature of our national life, today this has become a thing of the past.
But these reforms have been causing hardship and pain to millions of Nigerians…
Reform in any part of the world usually comes with initial pains, but later, relief will follow, and this is what has been happening in Nigeria’s case under Tinubu. Initially, things were tough but today things are being stabilised and prices of food and other essential commodities are decreasing. Removal of fuel subsidies was a necessity that had to be carried out if Nigeria’s economy was not to be grounded. Even some of these hypocrites complaining that Nigerians are experiencing pain as a result of subsidy removal also promised to remove it if they were elected into office. But just because they lost to Tinubu, they are now purveying falsehoods all over the place. But thank God, the visible gains of fuel subsidy removal are manifesting, and they are clear for all eyes to see. Tinubu is a leader with a human face. He is a compassionate leader who means very well for Nigeria. Nigerians should exercise patience. These reforms being undertaken by the Tinubu’s administration will take Nigeria to the promised land.
Nigerians are also complaining about the rising insecurity across the country, with the Boko Haram insurgency festering, killer herdsmen on the prowl, and new armed groups emerging, terrorising and making life difficult for Nigerians. What’s your reaction to this?
We should be bold and honest in admitting that the insecurity confronting the country today predated Tinubu’s government. Boko haram has been there since Obasanjo, Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan time. It even became worse during the eight-year administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Tinubu’s administration has not been aloof to the nation’s insecurity challenges. Security agencies are being mobilised to neutralise killer herdsmen, and bandits making life difficult for Nigerians.
The National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Riband declared a few days ago that Nigeria is much safer now under Tinubu’s government. He also revealed that over 15,000 terrorists have been eliminated in the last few months. The federal government is doing its best, and our security agencies are also working hard to tackle the insecurity challenge.
The federal government should procure more arms and ammunition including, sophisticated military hardware that will enhance the work of our security agencies. I believe that Nigeria will soon become a nation free from the menace of these dangerous elements with concrete actions being taken by the government and our security agencies. Whatever name they call themselves, whether Boko Haram, killer herdsmen, or Lakurawa, their days are numbered. Their days of reckoning are fast approaching.
To tackle the security challenge, what do you think is the way out?
The federal government should sustain the on-going onslaught against the terrorists. They should be pursued and neutralised. Nigerians deserve peace and security wherever they live. They need to be protected. They must be safe and secure. It is good that some state governments are taking the idea of community policing seriously by establishing some security outfits like Amotekun in the South-West, and other similar security outfits across the country. Community policing is a good idea but we can also set up state police to complement the work being done by the existing security agencies. The federal government also recently talked about the establishment of forest guards. All these are good ideas that when fully implemented will bring the desired succour to Nigerians. Nigeria was not like this before but I sincerely believe that the good old days will soon come back.
Some prominent politicians across the country including former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai are spearheading the formation of a coalition to remove APC and President Bola Tinubu from power in 2027. What’s your take on that?
Most of these people behind coalition talks are failed and aggrieved politicians who are just desperate to get political power, not out of genuine concern to serve Nigerians but just to serve their interests. Look at somebody like Atiku; he is desperate to become President. He is a serial presidential contestant. Since he started the journey in 1993, he has been failing. He started his Presidential ambition journey in 1993 and since then he has been moving from one political party to another out of desperation to become President. He has become a serial Presidential contestant.
He claims to be a PDP member, but in the last 25 years, he has decamped to other political parties, including the Action Congress of Nigeria, and whenever he fails in his new parties, he would run back to PDP. Atiku doesn’t have any political ideology. You will see him in SDP in the morning, by afternoon you will find him in PDP. Later you will be informed that he had joined the ACN, but before you open your eyes again, you will be informed that he has returned to PDP. He is not a politician Nigerians can trust. Atiku is also not a patriot. He stays more in Dubai than in Nigeria. It is when elections are fast approaching that he will remember that he is a Nigerian and rush back home. Dubai has become his first home while Nigeria is his secondary home. How can Nigerians entrust their destiny in the hands of such a fellow? After 32 years of failure at becoming President, Atiku should realise that the game is up for him. He should not allow his desperate ambition to become President turn into a do-or-die affair.
On El-Rufai, this is an inconsistent politician who is bitter because he was not made a minister. In fairness to Tinubu, he wanted to appoint El-Rufai as a minister in his cabinet but El-Rufai failed security clearance, and without scaling that hurdle, nobody can be made a Minister. It wasn’t Tinubu’s fault that he failed to be made a minster but El-Rufai didn’t see it that way. This is a man who was singing Tinubu’s praises to the high heavens, following Tinubu throughout the 2023 election campaign, and even at a point describing Tinubu as the long-awaited messiah that will take Nigerians to the promised land. But just because he failed security clearance that led to his not being appointed a minister, he became a bitter and vocal critic of Tinubu’s administration and this is why he has joined hands with Atiku to spearhead this coalition that is doomed to fail. Millions of Nigerians from the North to the South are supporting Tinubu, and they are urging him to run again in 2027 to consolidate the current reforms his people-oriented administration has been carrying out.
Many prominent Nigerians across the country, including highly respected elder statesman, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai have been commending the good work of Tinubu’s administration. Even Alhaji Buba Galadima, a prominent Northern leader and a key chieftain of the New Nigerian Peoples Party, NNPP has commended the yeoman’s work Tinubu has been doing. Senator Ali Ndume has also commended Tinubu over the appointments of Northerners into key positions in his cabinet.
From the South, there has been commendation galore from not only APC members, but also from opposition parties, serving and former state governors, all commending Tinubu’s work. If the President has not been performing, why would a serving state governor with all members of his cabinet decamp to APC?
Forget all these coalition talks. The so-called coalition and its promoters are not going anywhere. They are doomed to fail. Nigerians can’t be deceived by their selfish political motives. They will soon scatter like a pack of cards. Who will take somebody like Babachir Lawal, the disgraced former Secretary to the Federal government in Buhari’s administration seriously? This was somebody who was ignominiously sacked by Buhari over the infamous grass-cutting fraud running into millions of naira. If it were to be in a country like China, he would have been a dead man because, in China, people involved in corruption are usually executed. APC and its leaders, including President Tinubu, are genuine patriots who are determined to transform Nigeria into a great nation, and that is why you see all these politicians from other political parties, including PDP, Labour Party, NNPP, SDP, ADC, defecting to APC. They all want to join a winning team.
Nigerians are expressing fear that this wave of mass defections to APC may lead to Nigeria being turned into a one-party state. What’s your view on this?
Defections are normal in a democratic setting. Those that are rushing to join APC are not being forced or coerced. These are mature, experienced and seasoned politicians. They are making decisions based on their convictions. Must we then turn them back? No. The more, the merrier. They are all welcome to our great party to help the President realize his transformation agenda for Nigeria. Nigeria can’t be turned into a one-party state as there are still over 18 political parties with members across the country.
The formation of a shadow government by Prof Pat Utomi has been generating mixed reactions across the country, with some Nigerians describing the move as a good omen for the nation’s democracy, saying the shadow government would serve as a kind of watchdog or alternate government. But others like the Department of State Services (DSS), have described Utomi’s action as unconstitutional and illegal. What’s your take on that?
APC as a party is not losing any sleep over Utomi’s action. It is another project that will not work. What does Utomi know about economy, politics, and governance? It is the media that is creating all this hype about Utomi. Has Nigerians forgotten, or has Utomi himself forgotten that he failed woefully when he was appointed as Special Adviser on Economy to late President Shehu Shagari during the Fourth Republic? What did he achieve as a Special Adviser to that government? The economy was so badly managed that it led to a precarious situation that resulted in a 1983 military coup that toppled Shagari’s government. Yet this is somebody that some Nigerians are describing as a gifted economist. Again, Utomi didn’t deliver when he was appointed the Managing Director of Volkswagen Nigeria. Utomi and those floating this shadow government are just attention seekers. APC and President Tinubu will not be distracted by their action.
The so-called shadow government being formed by Utomi is a distraction. I implored President Tinubu and members of his cabinet to continue the good work they are doing. They should not allow themselves to be distracted by Utomi and his co-travellers in the boat of deceit called shadow government. Utomi is just chasing shadows.
As 2027 is fast approaching, the issue of rotation has been coming up, with some Nigerians saying the principle of rotation or zoning should be respected while others are saying that merit should determine who becomes the President. What’s your position on this?
Tinubu is doing a good job. He should be allowed to consolidate what he is presently doing in 2027. He deserves a second term based on what he has been doing so far. More so, I believe the principle of rotation should be respected. It is the turn of the South and Tinubu who is from the South is already there. He should be allowed to continue in 2027. The North had its turn with Former President Buhari. He served two terms of eight years. Now that it is the turn of the South, nothing should alter that arrangement. The South should also have its own eight years. Tinubu has lived up to expectations, and this is why APC unanimously endorsed him to run for a second term in 2027. He should be allowed to consolidate on the foundations that he has been laying during this first term.
How would you react to assertions by some groups and individuals that the Senate and the House of Representatives have become more or less rubber stamps for the executive?
I don’t agree with those making those assertions. Those making such claims are not patriots. Are they expecting the National Assembly members to be confrontational in their relationship with the executive? Having a harmonious working relationship with the executive doesn’t mean that the lawmakers have become subservient. Things are working in the country because both the executive and the legislature have a good working relationship and this is the way it is supposed to be. Both the executive and the legislature are independent arms of government and they are supposed to work together for the common good of Nigerians. When the relationship between the two arms of government is not cordial, then the citizens will suffer.