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By Ndidiamaka Ede
A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Modestus Umenzekwe, in this interview, took a critical look at the Appeal Court Judgement that affirmed the electoral victory of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the composition of the new ministers and the N50 billion palliatives to the state governments among other national issues.
The consequences of subsidy removal are still very much with us, government promises are met in breach to some extent, labour continues to threaten strike; why is the government slow in giving out palliatives as it promised?
But, he has given out to the states. I don’t know whether they have collected their N5 billion or whatever. Then labour’s threat is normal because that would make the government to be on their toes. Those that were given assignments by the president should be on their toes to produce results, and when a committee is set up, you must give them a chance to look at issues. The cabinet has just been formed. Some of them were never in government or part of the government before, they were just nominated and confirmed and assigned ministerial positions. So, this is not a 100 meter race where you start and stop just like that. No, you have to look at files, and offices, and collect reports before you couple them, and that is what the various committees handling these palliatives are doing and labour cannot keep quiet; if they keep quiet, people may relax; workers may relax. So, that is part of democracy. However, we must know the difference between limitations and excesses. By now, labour must have known that the government is working. If you had listened to Chief Ajuri Ngelale, the Media Adviser to the President, he has touched on these issues, the government is working to meet up with her promises, the various committees are working, and they are still interfacing with labour.
Many people believe that N5 billion is just compensation to the governors instead of palliative for the people. What do you make of that allegation?
That allegation is unfounded; it has not been substantiated. Do you want the president to throw the N5 billion on the streets? He must channel it through a proper channel. So, you want to tell me that if something is coming to Anambra for the first time from the president, the governor would not be aware of it? Is that what you are telling me? Otherwise why is he there? All these allegations are premature, because governors have not denied receiving such money. It might come in tranches,but the thing is that they are ready to accept it and do the work. When they receive the money, if they don’t do the work, then we will talk. The president cannot throw the money on the street and scramble for it. Some people must coordinate it, and the governors are in a good position to do that.
While other ministers are still looking at the records in their ministries, Nyesom Nwike, the FCT minister is already working. What are your thoughts?
All the ministers are working, not just Wike. You can see my brother, Umahi, travelling to all parts of the country, and assessing all the roads. Umahi has already hit the ground running, going to places to make sure that all is well. For instance, he has assured us that the South Eastern roads would receive a boost from where the former minister stopped.
Nigerians have continued to suffer as a result of high cost of food stuff; a direct consequence of the subsidy removal on petrol and hike in transport. Government continues to assure us that Nigerian farmers have the capacity to feed Nigerians. Rice being the major staple in Nigeria, why is it difficult to open Seme Border, even if for one year so that food can come in for people to buy and not starve to death. Why is government dilly dallying on it?
You see, in this country, if you do A, as a government, you will be criticized. If you do B, you will be criticized. So, people are insatiable. You want to tell me that the Federal Executive Council, the National Economic Council, all the Nigerian stakeholders, and the National Assembly are all wrong. Let us give them a chance to do proper analysis; after all, they are equally suffering. No matter how big each and every one of them may be, they are suffering. The president admitted that Nigerians are suffering, he has not denied it. So, let us give them a chance to do a proper job. That is why we have them there. The Seme Border is not the main thing Nigeria is facing. I think they would act on that when it is necessary, otherwise, there is no need having them there.
In spite of all the pressures on President Tinubu, the former Lagos State Governor and Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, could not make his cabinet. Nigerians saw his good works and clamoured for him, but that didn’t happen. There is this wave of sit-tightism by African leaders; are you seeing Fashola’s decision not to be part of the current cabinet as a sign of renewed hope for Nigeria, because while he was at the Lagos State University, he talked about a new generation of leaders. Do you think his decision to step aside and offer service from the sideline should be emulated?
I don’t know Fashola as somebody that makes dangerous mistakes. He is a perfect gentleman, a trail blazer, a noiseless achiever, a true democrat and his ingenuity and experiences, as I said at the beginning of this interview, are flowing like a river in every part of governance as far as this country is concerned. Don’t forget that he served at a stretch for 24 years and the marks are very good, excellent and indelible. So, the question about him opting out is what I can’t confirm. When you see him, ask him that question, but all I know is that Fashola is a nation builder, and he has not relented in nation building, taking into consideration his outings since he left office. As he said, we need generational change in government. I know he believes in building talents and building people, and in bringing people up in governance. I was not there, but whatever happened; whatever decision he took, I think he took it for the betterment of this country and for the future generation? And I must continue to congratulate him for being a role model.
Are you saying that African leaders should emulate Fashola in leaving office when the ovation is loudest?
I have told you that Fashola is a role model; I can’t go further than that.
As minister of Works and Housing, Fashola left indelible marks. Looking at all the projects, he left a big shoe for his successor. So what is your advice for those coming in the sphere that he operated?
My advice to them is to keep the tempo high and improve on what Fashola did. If he was able to do, say 1,000 roads, and 200,000 housing units, let them double it; that is the essence of government. And I know that my brother Umahi, taking into consideration what he did in Ebonyi State, would improve on that, so I am not expecting anything less. Let them improve on Fashola’s excellent performance. That is my advice to them.
How did you take the Appeal Court’s Judgement that upheld the victory of President Tinubu?
Well, first of all, I must congratulate Nigerians for coming out en masse to vote. I must congratulate Nigerians for assimilating voter education. People now understand the importance of democracy; their participation was quite encouraging. I also congratulate our contestants. As I said before, the outing of our leader and President was wonderful, starting the Primary, all through the elections. Again, the Turaki of Adamawa, and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar did well; but I am very proud of my brother from Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, for making all of us to be on our toes. There were a lot of emotions that followed that election, because this is the first time our own son and brother participated in such a fiercely contested election. The Nigerian environment was charged, I congratulate him, and I would say let him keep on trying.
Having said that; I told you before the election that from all indications, Asiwaju would win, considering his contributions to nation building, and deepening democracy. He has paid his dues, not because I am a member of APC, but because that is the way I see it. This is a man that put his life on the line when we were trying to bring back democracy. He fought tooth and nail and he participated in bringing to an end the military regime. As a result of that dangerous exercise, he went into exile. You know what it is for a man to leave his home unprepared. He spent several years outside the shores of Nigeria, and as God would have it, he came back alive and still continued the struggle.
The 1993 presidential election that was cancelled, gave us a lot of wounds politically, and he himself fought tooth and nail to make sure that we averted that ugly exercise but all to no avail. At that time, most people were not at the war front but he succeeded with his group. Democracy now returned. He went to the Senate, and from the Senate, he contested the governorship of Lagos State, and won, using the platform of an opposition party. He remained one man standing. He redesigned and reinvented Lagos. From there, he started building his political empire and people started cuing in, using his resources to do that. From there, he gathered the whole of Southwest. Apart from doing that, the man started building people across the six geopolitical zones. He was detribalized and so generous to the extent that he accommodated other tribes in Lagos in one position or the other, and these things cannot be wished away. From there, APC was formed. His party went into election in 2015 and won. He kept quiet, waiting for an appointed time to come out. When Buhari finished his tenure, the northerners as championed by the former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai, saw the need for power to be shifted to the South. I congratulated the northern governors for taking that decision.
They rallied round to make sure that APC, as a very great party, brought a candidate from the South, and as God would have it, Asiwaju clinched the presidential ticket. That was the day I concluded he would win the election. If you look at the number of people stepping down for him, you would understand that he was going to win. After buying the nomination forms of N100m, they abandoned it and stepped down for him. Then he went into the election, and all those people he built brought in their own arsenals and blocs to make sure that he won the election. Remember I said then that no blackmail would stop Asiwaju from winning the election. I said it and it has come to pass. But, one thing that I am telling him is that, he has won the election and he has equally won at the tribunal. Let him not use the feelings or the attacking statements from Nigerians against them, because it is not easy to lose an election. Let him accommodate everybody in sharing government appointments and all that. Of course, he has done that from the appointments he has made so far, and he is still going to do more. But as far as party faithful are concerned, there are party faithful that have not been touched; so, let him do, at least, a random sampling, and touch some of them.
I think this explanation may snowball into your question about the Appeal Court judgement. I must congratulate the five Appeal Court justices for their thorough job, because I took time to listen very well. They took time to analyze whatever every person submitted during the trial period, including the witnesses, and I don’t see anywhere, though I am not a lawyer, where they erred. Personally I welcome the judgement, but I am not the petitioner. It is left to the petitioners to know what to do, but one thing good about it is that it has helped in redesigning our democracy. It has raised a lot of consciousness within the political space in Nigerians. It exposed a lot of things. So, when we are coming up with accusations and petitions, we should know the areas to touch. And that is why I must congratulate the petitioners because if they had not gone to court, certain things would not have been in the public domain. The only thing I am begging them now is to sheath their swords because we have fought enough, though not physical, but legal battle. Let us all pipe down, as I said before, and join the president to rebuild whatever that has gone wrong. And I feel from the look of things, the president is going to do well, and that is why I must keep talking about the erstwhile Governor of Lagos State and Immediate past Minister of Works, Fashola. If you listen to his speech at the Lagos State University, he assured that the government of Asiwaju would usher in a generational change in governance, build new leaders, and usher in the rebirth of a new Nigeria because some people that might not have been known as future leaders are already in government. That is what Fashola was trying to say and that is why each time I talk, I talk about him. Fortunately or unfortunately, he is not in government now. We are missing his wealth of ingenuity and experience, but then I know him, he is ready to proffer solutions whenever contacted.
Still on the Appeal Court judgement, I know two of us are not lawyers, but on the issue of 25 percent of the votes cast in the FCT, Abuja, I personally don’t see the clause as being enough to qualify a candidate from being president and it has not been amended. Even in the cases between Buhari and Ya’Adua, and Buhari versus Obasanjo, the Supreme Court held that 25 percent is mandatory for anyone to be president; this is judicial precedent. So, how come the appeal court now overrode the decision of the Supreme Court? Can the Appeal Court set aside the judicial precedent set by the Supreme Court?
If you listened to me, I said the tribunal brought a lot of reformation or new ideas. I don’t see the tribunal’s judgement as being cast on stone, so to say. When you go to court, new ideas will come up. Our laws are developing. You referred to the issue of Buhari, and Ya’Adua, it has taken a lot of time and since then, we have had a lot of reforms and changes; that is why I said the tribunal has brought a lot of ideas, new ideas into our political journey and democracy. So, I don’t think the five justices would make the same mistake if it is a mistake, because I don’t see it as a mistake.
What is your advice to the petitioners, especially the PDP, the Labour and their candidates?
I think I have touched this, but as I said, I congratulate them because without them going to ventilate their agitation, many people would not be satisfied. But how long are we going to continue like this? I still advise, as I advised before, during the pendency of the matters at the petition court, I said that people should pipe low because the future is waiting. Remember what former President Goodluck Jonathan said: “If you contest today and lose, you contest tomorrow.” And we have a role model in that sphere, former President Muhammadu Buhari, even Turaki Adamawa, Atiku have exhibited such. So, even in America, or the Western world, people have contested so many times, lost and kept on contesting. So, let us allow the present government to concentrate. All this money we are spending on the election tribunal, is a total waste of resources, time and energy. Let everybody rally round Tinubu to move Nigeria forward.
Tinubu’s Administration is probing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other Government Businesses and Entities (BGEs) headed by a special investigator. It was alleged that he has traced about N8 trillion of funds looted from the vault of the apex bank to bank accounts of individuals and organizations, and I ask, is Tinubu’s anti-corruption war bearing fruits?
You are just informing me that N8 trillion has allegedly been traced to various accounts, and you are now asking me whether Tinubu’s anti-corruption war is succeeding. From what you told me, don’t you agree that it is already succeeding? It is working now; whether what you told me is right or wrong, it is working. They are still investigating and N8 trillion is already traced, so how else do you want him to perform to know that he is working? I think he is working; he needs to be encouraged, simple.
Now President Tinubu has just formed his cabinet, do you think the cabinet is made up of Nigeria’s first eleven, our best?
Let me ask you, how do you know the best eleven in a cabinet formation?
I asked you this question because you are a politician and a Chieftain of the APC, you know your people and you know those who should ordinarily be there…
Asiwaju has never been a failure, and I don’ think his administration will be a failure. He knows how and when to cut his onions and he has consulted wildly. Let us give him a chance.
