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…Says hate speeches dividing country
By Daniel Kanu
Hon. Fidel Ayogu, former Federal House of Representatives member (Igboeze North and South, Enugu State), and former Ambassador to Uganda and Ethiopia, is also the Director General of Labour Party, LP, campaign team in Enugu State.
Ayogu, a political heavyweight that cannot be ignored in Enugu politics in this exclusive chat with Sunday Sun, speaks on the just concluded 2023 elections, the Peter Obi magic; hate speeches, and the challenge before the judiciary, among other national issues. Excerpt:
Let’s know your candid evaluation of the just concluded elections in the country?
The elections so far, generally, I would say INEC by planning and by design would have gone for a pass mark, but after doing or initiating the entire technology they now came in with the human side of it and they spoilt the good work that they would have done which would have given them great commendations, locally and internationally. In fact, Nigerians would have been very happy with them because BVAS are the tools to do accreditation and uploading, it’s a good development. INEC said that if there is over voting that particular area in question will be cancelled, but the same INEC goes ahead again to allocate votes to people even where BVAS was not used for accreditation. It is uncalled for. If INEC did not interfere, stayed away and allowed BVAS to prevail, use BVAS to do accreditation and make sure that people who voted are the people who were accredited in that particular polling unit and declare result, it would have been perfect, nobody would have complained. But INEC introduced BVAS and on the other hand used it to rob people to kind of insult the intelligence of Nigerians who came out sincerely to vote because they thought that votes would count. Nigerian voters were disappointed only for them to see that their votes were twisted, manipulated for the person that did not merit their votes. A clear example was in Enugu State where the Labour Party, LP, at the first ballot on the 25th of February, had seven House of Representatives members out of the eight, remaining only one for the PDP, two Senators out of the three, even the third one is going to be declared in favour of LP because there was over-voting in that area. On the second ballot, which was on the 18th of March, for the governorship and Assembly elections, LP had 14 members of the State Assembly out of the 24 and the other 10 that is left for the PDP, a good number of them, about eight of them were rigged and LP, I am sure is going to reclaim them. And on the governorship it was a landslide victory for the Labour Party, but they went ahead to manipulate it. INEC in Abuja called them, suspended election in Enugu State and asked them to, out of over 30,000 votes that were called in Nkanu, without using BVAS, INEC slashed it, asked them to remove 14,000 and they used 16,000 to declare the winner. The criteria they used to do it is not known to any technology or any electoral process. They just did the allocation in Abuja and the returning officer said that he is working under authority, under order from above. He declared a non-existing result and awarded the victory to PDP when it was certain and quite clear to all that LP candidate won the election. If INEC did not interfere and had allowed strictly the guidelines of the electoral process to be followed, LP would have cleared almost all the seats in the state. LP would have had, at least, not less than 20 to 22 House of Assembly members out of the 24, but for the manipulations. There was no other party that really existed before the election aside the LP. So, it is now left for the judiciary to strengthen events, to put things right, to correct the issues because this one is not a question of any ambiguity. Nothing is ambiguous, it is either you use BVAS to do the accreditation or election there is null and void. Also, the number two issue is that, whatever you have where BVAS was used and it did not tally with the number of people accredited, even if it is more by one vote, that particular election is null and void. So, these things are very clear, but we had results, manufactured results that did not tally or related with what is in the BVAS, so I expect the judiciary to see all this abnormalities and ensure the right pronouncements are made. If the judiciary does their homework well concerning this election, Nigerians will not regret this last election and they will have faith in subsequent elections.
But the information that was circulated during the election was that the LP asked their members to vote for the PDP governorship candidate…?
(Cut’s in) There was no such information circulated, it is absolutely false and there was no reason for the LP to ask their members to vote for the PDP in the gubernatorial election. I can’t see how such a thing could ever happen because the candidate of the LP is 100 per cent better than the candidate of the PDP. It is obvious, everywhere, especially in the Southeast, and in Enugu State in particular, that people are tired of the PDP. The governor of Enugu State who led the state in the past eight years did very badly in the state to the extent that he lost his own polling booth in all the elections.
You said if the judiciary will do a good work concerning the outcome of the election that Nigerians will not regret the 2023 elections. Sadly, most Nigerians have lost confidence in the judiciary. Do you have confidence in the institution?
I think I will have confidence in the judiciary this time around because the cases are straight forward ones that do not require technicalities. Even a carpenter lawyer, a baby lawyer can do the job. It is a straight forward issue, the BVAS that was used for accreditation, so in other words, where the BVAS was not used, the election there is null and void. These are legal, constitutionally laid down rules. The technology is there, the BVAS is there, it cannot be changed. The uploading of result in most cases does not affect in anyway the accreditation; it is the accreditation that is primary and fundamental. So if, for instance, you have 1000 votes from a polling unit and the real accreditation in that polling unit is 200, then that polling unit is cancelled because it means that you padded the result with additional 800. The INEC has all the number of voters in a polling unit, as well as the number of accredited voters, so if you place it before the judiciary and it is obvious that there was over-voting how or why will the judiciary not attend to such issue and deliver good and straight forward justice in such a situation. That is why I am saying that if the judiciary will do their home work well there is nothing to fear as the truth will prevail and I have confidence in the judiciary because it’s the last hope of the common man. So, I should have hope in the judiciary because the evidence is untwistable, it is there in black and white. It is when there is ambiguity that you go for technical interpretation, but these ones are simple, straight forward cases that should not give the judiciary any problem to adjudicate on.
Some people are calling for Interim government. What is your take on it?
I want to let you know that there is no or nothing like interim government in our constitution and calling for interim government is something that is very absurd, illegal, unconstitutional and my opinion is that such a thing should not even be mentioned. Why calling for interim government? I think this is a set up, it is being stage managed. This election would have been the best if we had keyed to the guidelines, but INEC messed it up and could not obey even the guidelines set by them.
The ruling party, All Progressives Congress, APC, is accusing your party, LP, as behind the call for Interim government. How will you react to this?
It is false accusation. It is not the LP that is initiating the call for interim government because LP is sure of where they are going. LP is saying: let the judiciary look at the entire issue. It is them (APC) that are afraid that the case is clear and could not be manipulated in the judiciary, so they are worried and they are the ones doing what they are accusing the LP of. How can somebody who is sure of victory be calling for interim government? They are afraid they cannot manipulate this election in the judiciary because the truth, the facts are known to all, they are afraid they will be kicked out so they are using every deception, employing all tactics but it is obvious that the evidence of the election cannot be manipulated. They are jittery. In Enugu State, for instance, even the person declared as winner is shaking, he is jittery because he knows he cannot survive it. APC is just throwing tantrums here and there because they know they are sinking. They just cook up unfounded allegations and bandy it around, but that will not save them. The verdict of the judiciary is waiting for them. What is new that they will offer Nigerians? LP at the national know what they are presenting, APC know that the game will soon start, so they are afraid, they are jittery of the doom that awaits them. Nigerians are dissatisfied with them because they have destroyed our country, and they do not have any solution on how to fix Nigeria. LP has the magic and Nigerians, those that voted expressed that when they voted. They said if you are aggrieved go to court, now LP is in court and they are doing everything within their power to divert attention, using propaganda and blackmail, but Nigerians are wiser today and Nigerians are watching. For us in Enugu State, for LP in Enugu State, the game will soon start and we will make sure we reclaim our mandate. APC knows that they lost the presidential election and the whole card will soon play out on the table of the judiciary and the whole world will know. If you have BVAS and what you uploaded does not correspond with the BVAS what you uploaded is null and void. LP presidential candidate has gone to court to seek redress; you can see the fear that has gripped those that said they won the election. If you know you truly won the election why are you afraid? Why use cheap blackmail, propaganda on a man all Nigerians know and the international community know is integrity personified? He is a subject in humility, competence and capacity to deliver. Any effort at running him down amounts to increased electrification of his love in the heart of the people. And the people are watching keenly.
What do you see as the unfolding scenario given what is on the ground now?
I don’t foresee or want to foresee anything now because even when this election was building up many people were afraid, saying that the world will collapse. The election has come and is gradually going, the world has not collapsed, nothing has happened contrary to what many thought. I believe that some people will go for cheaper options, but when the real election is declared for the person who won the election everybody will pipe down. I am not an alarmist that will be saying that the whole world will collapse. If you are sure you won an election then relax, be not afraid. If the process favours you that you clearly won an election nobody will quarrel with you. If the BVAS is supporting all the claims, we in the LP have no problem, the winner will take it, but if BVAS were bypassed or there is a shoddy deal in the system because it is like mathematics…if you manipulate it then you will be creating a problem. The number of votes should not be higher than the number of those accredited, if this happens and you uphold results in such areas, you will be creating a problem. The challenge is before the judiciary and I pray that God will guide them to make the right pronouncement.
LP is raising alarm on the doctoring of a conversation between your presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi, and Bishop David Oyedepo, of the Winners Chapel Worldwide…?
(Cut’s in) You know that a drowning man uses anything to see if he can survive. Those things are cheap blackmail, and propaganda, unfounded allegations, baseless, distorted facts. Everybody knows that our candidate never ran the election using religion or ethnic sentiment. It is the narration of the APC. But as I said, our candidate is better focused, with verifiable antecedents, impeccable character, standing tall on competence, name it. No negative narration at this point can reduce his stature. You don’t need a ghost or a prophet to tell you that he is the people’s choice. They are intimidated by his rise and rise.
The reason given by most Nigerians that the election was credible is that if it was not, those candidates that lost like some governors would not have experienced defeat…?
(Cut’s in) That is part of what I have said that manipulation happens to be an afterthought; that the real election proper is credible, but that it is not the result of this election that we are having. Where the BVAS was used the way it was meant to be used you can see that there were upsets in most places because the votes counted there. They were overwhelmed by their non-performance and the people did not vote for them. You can imagine a case where a governor is having two votes in his polling unit? People were out to slug it out with them. So, what I am saying is that the BVAS technology is good if all the guidelines are adhered to, but when you manipulate it then you subvert the peoples will. Those governors lost because people ensured that BVAS worked in those areas. If the people had slacked and allowed the BVAS to be manipulated, those governors would have had their ways. But because they have failed the people the people were determined to shame them, so they ensured that the BVAS worked, they ensured the BVAS was not manipulated. They followed up the election to the last point and those governors could not influence it. Accreditation should be the primary evidence and the people ensured they frustrated any effort by those governors to unduly influence the election to their side.
Are you worried about some of the hate speeches we are getting in recent times?
I think we should try as much as possible to avoid it, we are one Nigeria. It is an ill-wind that blows no one no good. It is out of short sightedness or ignorance that some engage in it. Some others when they discover that they are about to be uprooted from where they have been “eating” for years, it is like a tsunami for them because they feel there is no life again after that. If you come to Enugu State, for instance, the PDP guys have been there for over 20 years and you now sweep them off, so for them they are saying: it is either life or death. They are worried that now that they have been swept off completely where will they go? The question they ask themselves is: where am I going to start again from? It is the same in most other places. People are promoting hate speeches because they are benefiting from the system so when you dislodge them, they want to create or instigate crisis. For such people it is better for Nigeria to end than for you to remove them from where they have been milking the people. Hate speeches is dangerously dividing the country and we must be careful of its consequences. We don’t need all these hate speeches and those promoting it should be made to face the wrath of the law.
