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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
National Chairman of Young Progressive Party (YPP), Bishop Emmanuel Amakiri, in this interview speaks on a wide range of issues particularly on this month’s presidential election. He specifically warned the Nigerian electorate not to waste their votes on the candidates of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC) and Labour Party (LP), describing them as old brigade politicians.
The election is around the corner, what are the chances of your party in the election?
YPP, from its establishment, has a clear objective of going into the process of Nigeria politics. It is not just to be a political party, but to also see how we can come into the dynamism of Nigeria politics, to create an environment and a platform for the younger generation, persons with disability, men and women of impeccable character, morals and mobility with the capacity to drive leadership and governance.
We have done that. In the first experience we had in 2019, we scored a goal, we didn’t come out from that election empty-handed. We got a senatorial ticket in the person of Ifeanyi Ubah, representing the good people of Anambra South senatorial district.
What that means is that a lot can still be achieved also in this 2023 general election. But one thing I want to make clear is that we are not political parties that just want to be on the ballot paper. We are a political party with a clear ambition, a clear goal of wanting to win elections to have political power for ensuring that we provide the real leadership that our people desire. And that is just the essence of what we are doing in the YPP.
As for whether we have a chance in the 2023 general election, I will say yes and I can tell you that we have lots of chances. The good thing is that if you take retrospect, the 2023 election is not the same as other previous elections. It is a transition election where the incumbent President will not re-contest and many governors in the state are not also going for a second tenure.
The doors of opportunities are wide open for anybody who actually has a solution to the problems facing the country to take advantage and get elected into political offices. So, we have chances in states, even at the presidential level.
Initial faulting is not an impediment to success or to victory. That we are not involved in the conventional campaign like these other parties like the PDP, APC, and LP among others does not mean that our eyes are not on the ball.
We know we have very credible candidates in this election. And we have our strategy, and at the appropriate time, Nigerians will see. Our strategy can be a last-minute approach that will give us results. It doesn’t matter.
You can play badly and win at the end of the day. What is important is the victory after the contest. I can assure Nigerians that God’s willing; there is going to be a shocker of the century in this 2023 election.
Talking about shocker, in clear terms, what is the target you set for your party in this 2023 election?
Our target is to win political powers. And we have this candidate in some states for example in Akwa-Ibom, pulling mammoth crowd. I have seen the unprecedented reception given to the YPP candidates across board not just only the governorship candidate, but every other candidate, including those for National and State House of Assemblies.
What that means is that we have a new breed of politicians and leaders coming to champion the cause of leadership and governance to their people. We might not be everywhere across the board, but I am telling you that we are concentrating on our areas of strength. And these are the places to mention, for example, in Abia, Kwara, Plateau, Benue, Rivers, Kogi States and of course in Anambra as well.
We have a crop of them because there is no governorship election in Anambra, but I can tell you that all other candidates from the Senate, House of Assembly and House of Representatives, I tell you that YPP is the party to beat across the board.
You exude so much confidence, but what are your fears for the poll?
My fear is whether the security agencies are going to up their game and beam their searchlights on the two conventional parties, or twin brothers, causing havoc in our political system. We know the two political parties, the PDP and APC cannot be exempted in the balkanization of our political growth.
I think that security agencies should give priority to these two parties. You cannot assess a student without engaging them in an examination. You can’t come to YPP and accuse us of vote buying or vote trading. We know the people that have the financial muscle and strength to engage in all those things and the security agencies should go after them.
They are the ones controlling the state resources, and controlling the taxpayers’ money. We don’t have the money to buy votes in YPP. It is even difficult to convey our political activities, by way of mobilization of our party members to venues to carry out political sensitisation.
It is even a problem for us to mobilise funds for logistics like transport fare and all these things. That one alone is a burden, let alone wanting to provide other logistics like souvenirs or free money to give to people to take home or to buy votes.
What will be the major decider of the 2023 election?
The major decider will be the people, the electorate. I said that it is the people who know the pains they are going through. The 2023 general election is the one I will call ‘let my people go, let my people go’. And if the people are ready to be politically liberated, they know what to do.
They should resist or say no to vote buying and say yes to competence. They know the people who have the competence to drive the process. The electorate, who are the major critical stakeholders, the citizens who want to be politically liberated must stand up to be counted because the political injury we are going through now does not spare anybody.
My compassionate appeal is first to the electorate and second to the security agencies. If the electorate will stand firm on their feet, to say, we say no to N10,000 to N5000 or whatever inducement, and say yes to the new breed of leaders that have at heart the people coming for social change, social reform, and infrastructural development for our people.
I think that is the kind of mantra that I want to be hearing, the chanting I want to be hearing from our electorate. But if we continue to say that we are hungry, and because of that reason, we have to take our own first, which has always been the language, ‘what did you bring for us’, ‘is it grammar or provision of infrastructure we will use to feed our family; we are heading to nowhere.
I have been involved in political campaigns and I hear what people say. If this remains, then I am very sorry that there will not be any change that we desire. We will continue to wallow in hunger and poverty and the people, the ordinary citizens, the downtrodden, are those to pay the supreme price.
We have been categorized into three classes. We have the upper, middle, and lower classes. Those who bear the brunt, are actually the lower class, even the middle class can still manoeuvre their way out of this quagmire.
But I tell you, the ones who bear the brunt mostly are the lower class; the upper class has already introduced the strategy to continue to impoverish the people and they remain in abject poverty. They are very happy doing that because it is their strategy to go away with the victory to them.
But, one good thing that I know is a lesson to take from this election is our election reforms that have been made electronically. I must commend INEC in that aspect. They have done immensely so well in ensuring that they bring reforms into the election process and I think that this is also an additional value to the 2023 general election.
How much can incumbency factor influence the outcome of the election?
The power of incumbency is a bit minimal now. You can be sure that incumbency can still be a factor because they will still display the fiat of governance. But, the electorate are the major critical stakeholders that can decide who wins and who doesn’t. If the will of the people decides, there is no power of the minority that can subvert the will of the people.
Apart from your candidate, which one among the three other candidates do you feel can win?
I cannot put my candidate aside. I am an incurable optimist. The candidate of the YPP will win the forthcoming presidential election. I already told you that we are putting a strategy in place. How will you tell me to put my country aside and begin to talk about one Asiwaju or Atiku, Obi or Kwankwaso or whoever you are talking about?
If you conduct a DNA test today, it will read YPP and I will remain optimistic that my party will indeed shock the whole world during the election. My candidate is a sellable one. He is a young, vibrant, innovative Nigerian that has solutions to the problems bedevilling the country.
We are bringing solutions to our problems. Nigeria should witness the experience of another new breed of leaders and it is on that part I stand. That is the reason I said you should not ask me any question about the old brigades, the gerontocratic generation, and those who have been given the opportunity to serve their country before but have abysmally failed.
I cannot begin to mention those names or I cannot begin to give a second thought to those old breeds. I am looking at a new breed of leaders, a new breed of politicians without greed that has offered themselves to the people of this country to lead them.
It now behoves the nation, and country people to look at this. It is surprising that out of the 18 political parties, we are still so fixated on just one or two or three. Are we saying that there are no materials among the 18 political parties that fielded candidates that can solve the problem?
My candidate, Malika Ado-Ibrahim, is the most qualified person, he has the capacity and competence to retire the candidates of other political parties. He has a solution to our problems and is running under a political party that has a clear vision for Nigeria and for the people of Nigeria.
If you go into our mission and vision statements, we made it clear that we want to build an egalitarian society anchored on Nigerian citizens as the prime resource to champion the cause of leadership and governance.
Which voting population will decide the winner of the presidential election?
With the kind of political awareness now in the minds of young Nigerians that are the majority in voting strength, men and women and young Nigerians, that is a political wind, tsunami, blowing for a paradigm shift, something new, something bold, something innovative, that people are preparing for.
And because of these peculiarities, these realities, the people have resolved to wait for them on that day of the ballot to make their decisions. It is not about membership of political parties or about those who have given the money, but about those who have their PVCs that will go to the ballot and cast their vote.
What will be the most disappointing thing to you after the election?
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What will be my most disappointing thing will be if Nigerians again choose to continue to wallow in hunger, and again, choose the old brigade politicians to lead them in the future. By doing so it means that nobody should cast aspersions any longer.
Nobody should blame anybody any longer. The blame must not begin from those that cast votes for the old brigade because they have been given an opportunity to do another thing, something new, something different but decided to wish it away.
Do you think that Buhari will stand by his promise to ensure a free and fair election?
He knows that posterity will judge him. From my orientation in life and my upbringing, I learnt how to believe elders when they tell me something. Put politics aside, Buhari is like a father or even a grandfather to me, so I will not sit down here and cast aspersions or wherever. I go with reality. I don’t prognosticate. I am a pragmatist.
We have heard from the man leading this country that he is going to ensure a free and fair election. I don’t want to pre-empt that, I will rather wait till when that time comes. And if there is nothing like that we will allow posterity to judge him.
