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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Hon. Godfrey Gaiya, the immediate past Senior Special Assistant on Political Matters to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, was in the Sixth and Seventh Assembly as the chairman of the House Committee on Youth and Sports.
Speaking in Abuja, Hon. Gaiya delved into several controversial political issues, particularly the bleak future of Nigeria under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), noting that, with contractors unpaid, the economy in coma, ministries not funded and a deficit budget, there is no hope for Nigeria under the APC.
He lamented that Nigeria is sliding into autocracy and dictatorship, with the presidency killing the judiciary and legislature, adding that no miracle will bring back the APC in a free, fair, and credible election next year.
Are you not jumping from frying pan into the fire, moving from the PDP to the APC and now to the ADC?
Well, in life, there are always moments when hard decisions must be made. The general political environment we find ourselves in Nigeria hardly gives us any choice. You cannot leave based on ideology. You cannot join based on any particular concept that is unique.
You join or move simply because you think where you are going will give you a better opportunity to actualise your ambition, you can do well for your people, and do well for the country. When we left PDP, it was because we saw it was gradually sliding into anarchy, where people were fighting within and destroying all known norms to get the party to operate within the rule of law.
Then the party in power happens to be the APC. Those of us from afar thought that they had the magic wand to take Nigeria, like they said, to the next level. I joined, spent three good years in the APC, but I look back with nostalgia to the days of PDP.
The reason is simply that PDP, at one point, was organised. Forget that some people came in and tried to have it their own way. Of course, the terrorism snapped at the hems and we needed to just move. But in APC, we discovered a completely exclusive system. You hear nothing, you see nothing.
You only see action somewhere, but it is difficult to know the formulators, where it was said to agree. Anybody does what he wants when they have acquired power. And certainly, I am not the kind of person who will sit down in a system that does not allow democracy to thrive.
Even if I don’t have it, I should have a say. Let me air my view on a certain matter, but if the doors to even the talking are closed, it is a very serious matter. I thought democracy was all about dialogue, give and take, and involving so many people.
They are the distinguishing features of democracy. As they said, democracy is the government of the people, for the people, by the people. But when the people don’t matter in terms of executing policies, in terms of formulating the policies, it is really no longer a democracy. It takes my mind off.
Again, when I saw that there is an ADC now, where I see people who have similar thoughts or the same mind as I have, I want to believe giving it a shot may take us into a formidable platform that like minds can sit down and look at what is best for Nigeria. Our motto and our philosophy are Nigeria arise and let us shine. It is both spiritual to me and captivating. I believe, if there is a thing we must do now, it is really that clarion call to rise and shine.
Will you still rise and shine with the decision of INEC against the leadership of the ADC?
Well, we were told to respect the rule of law and respect the court. If the court has ruled that we must return to the status quo ante as of September 2025, it simply means we will await the outcome of that court ruling, which put everything in abeyance.
This matter is time-bound; the luxury of doing it the way you want it, or postponing it or adjourning it the way you want it will not come here, because it is a matter that is time-bound. We already have an early timetable, and any political party that wants to participate must do certain things before that timetable. They cannot shift it. That is one, two is limited by the Electoral Act. You can’t add a day. So, I believe that it will be expeditiously listened to.
I can assure you that those who were set to hold on until the determination of the High Court ruling will still come back because we were even told that the man who even threw the matter there, legally, unlawfully, resigned his membership of the party.
If that is the truth, thank God they didn’t jump at telling the man to become the active national chairman. That would have been a disaster. Thank God, they said, let’s go back to what it was before the September ruling. I believe the man has no power. He is no longer a member of the ADC and, therefore, cannot hold the ADC to ransom.
In retrospect, what was that scary moment you had while you were with the APC?
My scariest moment was that total exclusion. Despite what you have been and what the law of the party says about being accorded respect, nobody ever looked for me for the three years I was in that party. There was never any information that trickled down to me to be a party to any decision taken by the party, either at the state, local government or federal level.
I was just there as a number. I was just there because I had no choice to be elsewhere. I was treated like nobody, not welcomed, and somebody who should be careful where he is, and for no other reason, and the fact that he wanted to join us, and he had joined us, and so what.
It took me years to fathom that one can be so humiliated, having decided to join a political association where I thought like minds will thrive and do well to make Nigeria a better place.
But as I talk to you now, that characteristic of the APC has sealed the matter on the ground. And that is why, in my state, many more are decamping. There is so much secrecy in the APC that if I don’t know anything, they don’t tell me anything.
You undertook a journey that most people may not have been happy with – working with the Speaker of the House of Representatives. How will you describe that experience?
Working for Mr. Speaker was also working for Nigeria. I was in PDP when he invited me to work in the office as a Political Adviser for the North-West. He mounted no pressure on me at all to leave my party. Of course, he appointed me at the time I was still a member of the PDP, which he was so sure of and aware of.
But being his SA on politics and coming from the North- West, I looked at the scenario myself. If out of seven states in the North – West, only one was in PDP, it means that my relevance in the office may likely be more to only one state out of the seven.
There were serious pressures on him to drop me, first because of my party affiliation, and other sundry reasons, but he stuck to his guns based on his resolve to determine who works with him. He said that if Gaiya is the most qualified among those who can do the work in the North-West, why not, irrespective of party affiliation and other considerations.
I applied myself to my job, and I thank God that the Speaker also appreciated me. And for the three years, we didn’t have any reason to disagree. He remains somebody I respect, and my relationship with him is brotherly.
I didn’t look at it as if I was working for Tajudeen Abbas but for the office of the Speaker of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If a number four citizen wants you to work with him for the benefit of Nigeria, there will be nothing like undermining the place.
Looking at it as too little, or looking at it as what to do to maximise the influence of the principal to make it. I didn’t see the office available for having such a calibre of persons around him, and that is why I felt I should just take it.
What are your fears for the 2027 general election?
My fear is that there would be reactions, if they don’t allow the democratic process to function fully. The truth is, Nigerians are not very happy. Nigerians are also hungry, and in my place, they say a hungry man can also be an angry man.
When people believe, yearn for something different, and apply themselves to say that there is a difference, so that hopefully their lives can be better, and for whatever reason that is scuttled even when they have done their own bit as responsible citizens, repercussions can come.
People will think that in this situation, in this kind of life, I shouldn’t live than to go through another gamut of years with this situation. So far, we have not seen an immediate magic wand that can give us relief in where we find ourselves now.
That is why people are yearning for a shift to a different platform, maybe with people who have a better fear of God, who may do what is better so that Nigerians, for once, can have a square meal, a good meal on the table per day.
People are going through stress. I have gone round and hardly do I spend the weekend in Abuja. I return to my people, and I see what they go through. I hear what they say. I listen to their cries; I attend virtually every funeral, because in my place, when you want to hear the gospel truth, it is where people are mourning.
They speak their minds, and they talk to God, because at that moment, pretences are at their lowest ebb. They speak their mind about what we are going through, it is not palatable. I foresee the system being threatened, if truth, if the right things are not done, that is my fear.
So you don’t see a bright future for Nigeria with the APC?
It is going to be very, very tough. The future of Nigeria with the APC is very bleak. People who love Nigeria should stand up and look out for a better, viable alternative to give Nigeria the desired hope for tomorrow. Otherwise, as it is today, I don’t seem to see any hope.
Contractors have not been paid, the economy is in a comatose state, and there are no project seriously going on. Most ministries are not funded, and the releases are not there. The budgets are running concurrently for three years, and none has been said to be executed completely.
The debt profile is on the increase by the day, and who pays eventually? Are we mortgaging the entire future of a generation? So, these are the fears that I have, and if the system continues this way, then there will be a real, real alarm.
Why are you contesting for the Senate?
God has helped me to be in the House of Representatives for eight good years. I have learnt a lot by being in that chamber. I have also learnt a lot by working in Mr. Speaker’s office, particularly in the political department, the political arm of the office.
I believe that I have learnt enough and I am more mature, having spent close to 12 years since my last membership of the House of Representatives, I have been able to see and interact with many Nigerians deeper now, and I believe that if I must return to the National Assembly, it should possibly be a chamber that is more nationalistic, less of the exuberance of our days in the House, and more of nationhood.
It is going to be less emotional, less ethnic, and less religious, but as a nation, as a Nigerian. Looking at the graduation and members likely to be in the senate, they are members of my generation and people we worked together with at the House of Representatives.
It will be easier to bridge the gaps, build the bridges, work with familiar people, and it will not be a strange terrain to adapt, or you don’t need one year to learn the job, two years to work, and the fourth year to campaign. I will hit the ground running because of my previous experience. The senate ideally should be the graduation politically for me.
It doesn’t matter where you serve if you find yourself serving. But if you have to choose, you have to look at where you were to a level higher than where you were. In that case, the senate, even though we said we are of the same, one is higher than the other. I believe it is a natural route for me to aspire to.
What are your chances, and who is backing you?
To every game, especially in politics, it is about losing or winning, and a 50:50 percent chance. We have contested previously, won some, and lost some too. As we make the next attempt, my mind is open that I am in the race to win, depending on the circumstances we can find.
But as a person going into a race, I always believe I am going to win. As for my chances, I will tell you, it is 80 percent assuming all things work out as planned, enshrined in our Constitution, in our Electoral Act, in our way of doing things, and there are no people out there to think and doctor the outcomes of the election.
If it is truly, truly, and strictly the expression of the people at home, I don’t have any problem. I should be able to win without too much stress. As for who is backing, I don’t have anyone. I am not a money bag. I have never been one. I have nobody yet who has promised to back me all the way. I don’t have any godfather either.
How are you going to meet up with a financial adventure like contesting for the senate without financial muscle?
I must frankly admit that it is a financially involving venture. It involves a lot of money. But again, we cannot keep holding on till we all have the money we need for the adventure.
Once you are in it with the little you have to at least fuel your car to go home and sit down with people, news will go around that this man we are speaking with is not rich in terms of naira and kobo, but very, very rich in terms of reaching out to the people.
Don’t forget that we need each other. The man aspiring for the governorship in my state, the House of Representatives, House of Assembly in my constituency in my party, should all be tactical partners where, if need be, we support each other to be able to meet up with the minimal demand of the people.
I have urged my people not to look at this as a money-driven kind of campaign if we want to get ourselves out of the dark forest. We also need to be transparent with the electorate in telling them that if a money bag gives you money, and you vote for him because of that, and he becomes the senator representing you, what right do you have to call him to order?
You can’t because he has paid you in advance. I want to go there and say I owe you for putting me there because I didn’t spend to get there. Even if I don’t want to give, I should pay my debt, and that is the angle we want our people to see it, but if, along the line, support and help come, if a destiny helper comes, I should be able to give the delegates something to transport them.
How much endorsement and support did you secure from your principal?
Beyond just being my principal, we are more like brothers. We have spoken, but, of course, you don’t expect him to say, don’t worry, I will be the one to do this or that.
I believe that when the time comes, in his usual magnanimous manner, he will do something. The day we came to beat the resignation deadline, we were seven, we made an appeal, and we hope it will translate to something.
Do you ever nurse the fears that Nigeria is becoming a one-party state?
That is what scares me, because becoming a one-party state in a country of close to over 200 million people does not portend good omen. With such a large number of Nigerians joining one party, we must be worried about implosion from within.
If you force Nigeria to one party state, I don’t see what anybody wants to gain from that. It is better for us as a nation to allow people to express their sentiments, their goals on different platforms. That is why the Act setting up INEC gave it the power to register as many political associations as meet the minimum requirements.
I don’t know why, having gotten to that level of having a multi-party system, one ruling party wants to force everybody to abandon their parties and join this party. It is not healthy. It is not helping democracy. We will not grow with this because it is not like Nigerians, whether it is in marriage, we are polygamous, or in politics. The best for us is to open up and allow other parties to thrive.
Remember that even during the military era, some stipends were given to political parties to sustain their operations so that they don’t die for lack of not having money bags. The purpose then was to give accommodation and help them to actualise their ambitions.
Having attained that for the past 27 years, we should deepen it and not see to have muddled it up. What the APC is doing is to scuttle it. I don’t see where you go looking for governors to buy, leaving their parties to join your own party.
There is so much frustration; a humongous amount of money was said to have been offered to state governors to become members of the APC. I always ask myself this question: why should a governor who attained that pinnacle of leadership still be persuaded to leave the party that catered for him for eight years to another party simply because it is the party in power, or wanting to continue in power? There must be something definitely wrong.
Are there skeletons that they want to hide so that if they don’t go there, they have questions to answer? It does appear that there is something deeper that they don’t want us to know. That actually frightens me because people are being stampeded.
The worrisome thing is that nothing is trickling down to the man with the voter’s card, and the more they try to buy all the big people, the more the man with a card who is prepared to stand under the rain is prepared to tighten up. If they will allow the masses willing to vote under the rain to express their desires, there is no miracle that will bring back the APC.
What is your take on the number of heavyweight politicians jostling for the presidential ticket in your party, ADC?
It is a sign of a good thing. ADC is like a beautiful lady with many good suitors. But the good thing is that the suitors in this matter know what is at stake and that what is at stake is bigger than a personal interest and ambition. Thank God they agreed at that level that the task to rescue Nigeria from the situation we found ourselves in should be seen as a priority.They are elder statesmen who can sit down within 10 minutes to decide who leads, who deputises, and who becomes what. For us who are at the lower rung of the ladder, we can go home, rest assured that it is done. That is the fear of the ruling party and why they are trying to cause confusion in their ranks and do all they can to ruffle feathers so that they don’t come to terms, as they are busy fighting legal battles in court. We have seen through the gimmicks, and thank God they are not dealing with boys but with men who really know what it takes.We have also been in this business for countless years as long as most of them in the ruling party will want to boast. I just believe we can get there and decide through consensus.
Can you stick out your neck that the clash of interests will not cause an implosion in the party?
I can assure you that there will not be an implosion in the ADC over who gets what. Nigeria is a very big country, and presently, we have one of the most bogus governance structures. We want to be careful the way we struggle for things before we allow the ruling party to remain in power. My fear is whether we can withstand this government for another four years?
What is your impression about the kind of politics Wike is playing, putting one leg in the APC and another in the PDP?
They got it too late when they brought the Electoral Bill to make it criminal to belong to two political parties at the same time, and fixed two years imprisonment or N10 million fines. Before that Bill, there are very many in the APC already with the cards of other parties in their pockets.
That of Wike cannot be an exception from other people. But even in the Presidential Villa, there are people shouting APC who hold meetings with the agents of the ADC in their villages. What Wike is doing is a bolder version of what many others are doing, even in the ruling party.
Wike is bold and thank God he has a man who sees him more like the campaign DG than a PDP member. As long as he remains in PDP and does the bidding of the APC, Mr. President is happy. Wike is succeeding because he has the support of Mr. President.
Why did the National Assembly members allow the obnoxious Electoral Act to scale through?
The 10th Assembly cannot be compared to the Assembly when the Assembly was Assembly. Without casting any aspersion on my colleagues, what we have today means that the independence of the Assembly is gone. We have a situation where the Speaker or Senate President will tell Mr. President that we are loyal. We now see a situation where the National Assembly will sing standing on the mandate when the President comes to the floor.
I don’t know where this mandate comes from, yet they sing that kind of song, and then people clap. When people say that Tinubu made a mistake when he was laying the 2025 Budget before the National Assembly and said, I am laying before the 11th Assembly, it was not a mistake. He was flying the cat of continuity. He wants them to continue the way they are going with the legislation. He wants to nurture the 11th Assembly, which will be even worse than the 10th Assembly. Bills will be written inside the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, and brought to the chambers just to fulfil righteousness.
We must as a nation, come to an understanding that the independence of the arms of government should not be cosmetic. They must be in a position to check the recklessness of the Executive arm as their duty. As we talk now, the judiciary is almost dead, and the legislature is also almost dead.Then are we not talking about going back to the days of autocracy and dictatorship? That is where we are heading because it is obvious that the two arms cannot be independent to discharge their own responsibilities.
For the first time, an Amendment Act was brought and assented to the same day by the president before he went to bed. We should not continue like this. That is why we are hoping that the next dispensation will have broad-minded people and committed Nigerians who can look at the president and say, even though we are from the same party, what you are doing is wrong.
Then in the sixth and seventh Assemblies, the hash criticism of Goodluck Jonathan were from the PDP. It was not hatred, but just an urge to him to sit up and do what is right. Today, you dare not speak a word against the Villa even when you are protected and under the immunity of the Green, or Red Chambers. People who dare are either shouted down by the presiding officer or their report taken to the Villa, only to be summoned the following day or at night.
