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•Says ADC still undergoing construction
By Dickson Okafor
Chief Johnny Ucheaga, former National Administrative Secretary of the defunct National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN) and legal practitioner, has said President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s performance would determine if Nigerians will vote for him or not.
According to him, with the gale of defections of key members of the opposition parties and the governors to the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) that it is left for Nigerians to either re-elect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu or reject him at the poll in 2027. He spoke on other issues of interest.
Excerpts:
The United States airstrike on December 25, 2025 on terrorists’ camps in Sokoto and also recently the Government of the United States, delivered critical military supplies to the Federal Government through the United States Africa Command to completement FG’S terrorism fight. With foreign collaboration, what would you say is the reason why most youths have not adhered to the directive given by President Tinubu for a massive military and police recruitments?
The security situation in Nigeria calls for foreign assistance and all hands must be on deck to end killing of Nigerian Christians in the North. The United States intervention to help Nigeria eliminate terrorists who are killing innocent citizens is a welcome development. So, the United States airstrike on the eve of December 25, 2025 on terrorist’s hideout in Sokoto State is in the interest of Nigeria. Also, in a bid to strengthen the security of the country, the government of the United States, few days ago delivered critical military supplies to the Federal Government through the United States Africa Command, otherwise known as AFRICOM. Nigeria is part of world community especially developing countries with primordial divisions such as tribe, religion and other affiliations which are very important to developing countries which may lead to civil war if not properly handled. Look at how many years we have been talking about the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), but it didn’t lead to another civil war. Also, look at how many years we have been talking about Oduduwa republic, Arewa republic and insurgency, but they didn’t lead to war. So, people have gotten more mature in terms of their attitude. Because they have seen it before and that is reason why the United States airstrike did not cause any confrontation among the people. Whatever President Donald Trump of the United States says or threatened to do is to help Nigeria in the fight against terrorism. If President Trump decides to bring military to Nigeria, it has to be in concurrence with Nigeria. He cannot engage in military action in the country without concurrence with Nigeria.
On the declaration of a nationwide security emergency and massive military and Police recruitment by President Tinubu, it is a welcome development so that all hands must be on deck to flush out terrorists, bandits and Boko Haram in the northern part of Nigeria. But whether the youths and Nigerians responded or not that I cannot say. However, the declaration of emergency in security is long overdue.
IPOB has been designated a terrorist’s group, but they allowed violence to fester in some states in the North without any arrest being made, what is your take?
Nobody or group of persons that cannot be arrested by the Federal Government. The Nigeria military has been arresting and killing members of the terrorist groups in the North. The difference is that the sensitivity given to the dead here in the Southern part of the country is different from the North. Someone dies we organised for funeral and you must kill cow or goat, you must invite relatives, friends and well-wishers. But in the North, if a person dies, they just find somewhere and bury, him that is all. The source of concern to me is that I have never heard IPOB said they are a peaceful group because they never said so. Have they said so? No. Notwithstanding, there are other peaceful groups. If IPOB is a peaceful, why are they been exempted from peaceful discussions. So, IPOB is a militant group. They don’t regard themselves as a peaceful group and that is why the attention of security agencies are on them.
Many will disagree with you because South-East agitation started with being marginalised and graduated to the proscribed IPOB agitation for Biafra being championed by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who was recently convicted for terrorism. What would you say is the reason FG has refused to dialogue with the agitators for self-secession?
Sometimes you may be saying something which people will listen to, but you may be saying it in the wrong forum. I have told you that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu comes from a very good family from my place and I worked with his father who was a traditional ruler when we are given time to put South- South, South-West and South-East together. Namdi Kanu’s father was a respectable traditional ruler. Nnamdi Kanu is old enough to contest election and go to the parliament and do his agitation because there are people in parliament that are agitating. So, when you know the law and you break it you must be punished. Law is made to hear individuals and people’s opinion in general. If the law says this and that is an offence, and you break it, it doesn’t matter your tribe, status in the society or how good your composition or presentation is, but the question is, are you doing it lawfully? According to the law, if you don’t like law, then you have to join the parliament to change the law. For example, American President charged a man called Geoge Cumi and a lady who is a big person in the legal circle in the United States. A court said no to the charge by President Trump and the case was cancelled. Our founding fathers struggled for us to become a democratic nation through a constitution and we have democracy and that constitution is for everybody. I was not there when the constitution was done, I was a kid, but that does not mean I can say the constitution does not concern me. So, if you want to champion a change outside the law, you better carry out a revolution that will overthrow the constitution. If you succeed in your revolution, then, your revolution is legal. Because you will now amend the constitution and that is what military people do. When they plot a coup the first thing they do is to suspend the constitution and then amend it. That coup which was illegal, now becomes a legit work, but if you are unable to succeed, they try you for treason and execute you publicly.
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Still on Mazi Kanu, with Peter Obi’s defection to ADC, including some lawmakers from the South-East, do you see the judgment being upturned either in Appeal or Supreme Courts?
What is President Tinubu’s concern in the case? Did he give evidence against Nnamdi Kanu? Is he a member of IPOB or is he a lawyer? Or he is a judge? So, every case that is in court or judgment by the court is it the president, governor or Chairmen of the Local Government that is responsible? Nnamdi Kanu’s conviction won’t affect Tinubu’s re-election in 2027. The recent defection of the presidential candidate of Labour Party in 2023, Peter Obi and some South-East Senators is the beauty of democracy. Whether it will affect the chances of President Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 depends on Nigerians and the electorate.
In terms of economic reform, has this government done well to improve the living standard of the people?
I am not the spokesman for President Tinubu- led government, I am just a Public Affairs Analyst. Let me make it clear, what are the indices that you are using to make your judgment that the economic reform policy of the Tinubu- led administration has made positive or negative impact on Nigerians? There are people who are better off today than they were few years ago and there are people who were better few years ago than they are today. For example, workers earn more salary now than they earned during the last administration. But the salary may have diminished due to high prices of goods and food stuff in the market.
Recently, Dangote Refinery while assuring Nigerians of price stability boasted that fuel scarcity is gone with subsidy, but life has not been the same to ordinary Nigerians since fuel subsidy was removed, what is your reaction?
If you knew where Nigeria’s economy was going, we were hanging on a thread with that fuel subsidy and governments were printing money. Yes, governments were printing money. They were taking loans for the people without their consent. So, which one is better for you? Somebody says, I will not mislead you and somebody who gives alcohol to drink so that you will not know yourself and somebody who gave food to eat, who has done you better? Is it the person that gave you food or somebody who gave you alcohol? That is what has happened. The economy is stabilised now with the economic reform policy of the government and the policy is yielding result. That money that was being printed left, right and centre is no more going on. You saw how much looted funds that was returned to Nigeria, but as long as money is being printed without recourse, we were hanging on a thread. So, this is elementary economics. Now our economy is trying to recover as our foreign debt before now was booming. Did public infrastructure not stop when this government came in? Didn’t decay set in? How was Lagos/Ibadan Expressway before this government came in? For the first time now, infrastructures are being put in place including Lagos/Calabar Highway that has been in the drawing board since 1962. And Lagos/Badagry/Sokoto road that has also been on the drawing board since 1962. Infrastructure development is going on and that is what we need more than cheap fuel. Now, Nigerians know that if they don’t have important place to go, you need not be on the road.
What is your take on the opposition parties, and what would you say is the reason there is no strong opposition parties to confront APC?
Is it what they are doing now that will make a political party to put up a strong opposition? They have formed a new party- the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to confront the government. And which people and politicians who believed in that new brand party are joining it? And there are other political parties that are saying that they will join ADC and some will join the ruling party as they are already doing. It is a free entry and free exit because none of them have said that they were forced out of their parties instead they organise ceremonies and invite musicians when they are defecting to another party. A million flies cannot be wrong, anywhere you see that flies are gathered, there is something out there that will thrill them. So, the faction in PDP is fighting for their interest.
So, what are the chances of PDP and ADC in 2027 with the crisis rocking the opposition parties?
It is still a long time in Nigeria. ADC as a political party is still under construction. The aggrieved members of PDP or other political parties may decide to join ADC as their next plan. And PDP can sit down and resolve their issue because they are human being and put away what sets them apart. Because what is the meaning of politics, it is association of national and social cohesion in the society. It is for people to come together and decide a way to guide their country with themselves included, because you cannot ask me to do what you say, but I should not do what I should do. You cannot put a fire and stay back and ask the fire not to burn because the fire does not hear English Language.
