From Idu Jude, Abuja
Preparatory to the 2027 general elections, the National Coordinator of Obidient Movement, Dr Tanko Yunusa, has accused the Independent Electoral Commission INEC, of aiding election malpractices owing to its lack of political will to prosecute election offenders using relevant laws.
Yunusa, in this interview,wrote off the possibility of a one-party system in a democracy, just as he reaffirmed his commitment to mobilising
additional 60 million members to vote for Mr Peter Obi in the 2027 general election. Excerpts:
Between new electoral reforms and proper implementation of extant ones, what exactly do you think Nigeria needs?
As far as I am concerned, this era needs the implementation of an electoral act and, at the same time, an upgrade of the existing one because what was discovered in the last elections indicated that there were options in the Electoral Act that were not followed during the elections and such created confusion. For example, in the case of collation of results, there is a subject matter that says that INEC ‘may,’ and what this means is that there are many options to choose which one suits you. So, there is no affirmative on that. So, INEC needs to collate elections manually and can also do so electronically. So, in upgrading the act, there must be a definite position so that the kind of things that happened during the 2023 general elections cannot happen again. The Electoral Act should be specific on what system of results collation. We, as a people, must have a definite system of election results collation, and it becomes law. For example, when we talk about relinquishing seats in case anyone defects to another party. The Electoral Act should be able to make provisions that a decamped politician should be able to get himself back to the seat through new votes, not to retain the seat he previously occupied when he has decamped since he has decamped to another party. And again, on whether a political party should have an internal crisis or not before such arises, we all are aware that politicians can create crises to enable them to decamp. It is morally wrong for politicians to succeed through another party’s mandate and join another while maintaining the same seat. A practical example is when a man divorces a woman and at the same still sleeps with her. So, there is a need to change the Electoral Act, especially in the enforcement area.
Is INEC the major problem or the political actors?
I suggest that the INEC should be able to enforce its own rules, we know that politicians have been giving them problems, yes, and that is because they have not been so decisive in their own rules. We have a situation where someone is being arrested for electoral malpractice and was never prosecuted, maybe because he belongs to the ruling party. INEC should prosecute such a person as quickly as possible, and that is why I have been suggesting that the INEC needs to be broken into three organs, just like Justice Mohammed Uwais postulated. For example, one is that the electoral commission should solely deal with elections, the electoral enforcement agency, which will have to do with election malfeasants and anyone found wanting should be arrested and dealt with accordingly, and three, the delineation commission, will have to do with the creation of polling units where more poling units need to be created due to increase in population. So, as long as INEC can prosecute and enforce its matters, the political gladiators will queue in respect of that. So, the INEC will find a way of working with the Army, the Civil Defense, and all the security agencies to see that everyone comes under the law.
Do you hold the opinion that democracy in Nigeria does not mean the same in other nations concerning agitation for reforms?
It is obvious that democracy in Nigeria has been put in danger by this government; it is no longer what democracy portends, and there is no expression of one’s life. It is an absolute condition to be part of them. It is obvious that other democratised nations make a mockery of nowadays; honestly, what APC tries to do is intimidate, annihilate, siphon, and use stick and carrot approach and kind of force people to do their bidding, whether yes or no. And those are the kinds of things that have hampered the development of democracy in Nigeria, and unfortunately, there is an enabler in the Electoral Act. So they use it as a way of manipulating the system, killing the multi-party democratic system in Nigeria. You can see that everyone is now running helter skelter, and it is not as if they are leaving the party; it is because they are being coaxed, intimidated, and forced to join that particular party, and that is why we say that the INEC needs a decisive reform to make democracy work better than it is.
Do you hold the opinion that the appointment of the INEC chairman by the president is an error?
Looking at the appointment of the INEC chairman, I stand by Justice Uwais’s report; that report was presented during the last committee report they gave. It was stated clearly that if Nigeria should appoint an INEC chairman it should be publicly advertised and as such people of impeccable character and consistency, should apply; when they do, the Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC), should select three out of them and unknown to the president, it will present them to him to give assent and that way we will have an independent person and the funding of the INEC must be in such a way that the presidency or any person in power will not use it to the interest of the incumbent, that way we can have a possible independent Electoral Commission Chairman.
With the present situation you have described, is democracy still the best for Nigeria?
Oh yes, I strongly believe in democracy. In a democracy, you have the right to ventilate your position as I am doing now and you have the opportunity to have different individuals in positions of power, starting from the wards, the local government, state assembly, federal House of Representatives, the Senate, governors and to the president, so you should have a vast position of leadership. But again what democracy entails is the rule of law. It will guide it to be able to function well, but what we see here is that people in positions of power misuse the rule of law to do the bidding of individuals rather than the collective interests of the masses. So, we must find a way to see that the rule of law reigns supreme irrespective of who is in power. We have seen in other developed democracies, like the USA, Great Britain, Israel, and France, where leaders or incumbents are being arrested for misuse of power and for mismanaging what is meant to the people. Just recently, when US President Donald Trump made some tax reforms that were not palatable to the people, some people went to court and the court ruled against the president, and that is really what democracy entails. You don’t allow people like I allegedly said, there is this case of the son of Mr. President beating people to stupor because they did not pay allegiance to him. Till today, no one has investigated the matter. In a well practiced democracy, such a case is enough to arrest the son of Mr. President or make his father resign.
The state governors are kicking against LG’s autonomy; in a democracy, what is your view?
With all due respect, I do not see any reason these particular persons should kick against local government autonomy. If they are sincere, they should know that something has been missing in governance. We all know that it is the local government that brings development closer to the people and we must make sure that it works. , So I would advise that the local government rules and regulations should be debated at the National Assembly and agreed upon so that resources can be mobilised for quicker development closer to the people. Believe me, the neglect of the local authorities has contributed hugely to the insecurity menace in Nigeria today and it continues without end until we find solutions or everyone at the localities would beam searchlights at Abuja, which portends danger.
Do you agree that the ongoing tax reform in Nigeria is the right way to go?
Tax is good when an administration uses such monies to build infrastructure to better the lives of the people. At this time, this particular government is not productive to the people, so it is like squeezing the people to gain an undue advantage over them. It is completely wrong because the leaders have not provided any social amenities to the people. So, it is wrong for you to be taxing them, bringing them down, punishing them, and strangulating them. Punishing the poor to enrich the already rich, is exactly what this particular APC government is bringing to the table. Otherwise, how do you explain to me that a large majority of people jostling to bring telecommunication networks that will eventually work for everyone in the communication companies now are rather hit by the increase in communication tariff? Yes, you may say it is a commercial business, but remember that the economic indices that make the commercial business have been hampered in terms of manpower, facility, or structure are affecting those businesses, and in a way, increasing the tariff is now strangulating the people. But remember that there are products people use daily in Nigeria, such as petroleum products, which have their prices increased and also affecting the prices of food items in the market. The bottom line is that insensitive tax reform strangulates the people.
Looking at the Electoral Act 2022, do you think the political actors would subscribe to the reforms or choose to frustrate it to win elections at all costs?
Well, it is either they do it, or we force them to do it because it is inevitable whether they like it or not. Let me tell you that we are not after what they like but what strengthens the Electoral Act. It is so long overdue, considering the lacuna therein. What I mean by force is that this is the citizens’ demand. It is left for them to do it and if they fail, then they would face the wrath of the people. We know that leaving it out remains the only smartest way politicians adopt to rig elections, but this time, they may have no choice. And when I mean the wrath of the people, it means that the people already know their game, their antics, and that they are anti-democratic and not interested in any democratic processes.
Moving away from electoral reforms, may we know some of the preparations for this movement towards 2027?
Sincerely speaking, the Obidient Movement is doing things more than what we did before the 2023 elections. I believe that more lessons have been learned, and with more preparations, people shall see a different system of political mobilisation. I can tell you this because work is ongoing with the creation of different units with specific works and operations. This is done both locally and internationally. We hope to inject over 60 million members, and our online registration is ongoing too. The Obidient Movement as we all know, is not affiliated with any political party, as people have rumoured. Our major concern is focusing on our principal, Mr Peter Obi’s presidential ambition. And come 2027, a very different mobilisation pattern will be felt irrespective of APC’s coaxing method of endorsement. I can tell you that we have people everywhere both in politics and outside politics. People with the same idea, even in APC and PDP. We have them among market women and students, lecturers, and businessmen.
Peter Obi just affirmed his commitment to run the 2027 presidential election under LP, which is in troubled waters. Do you think he will still have this chance?
I told you, those who believe in Peter Obi are not just in the Labour Party. They spring across the parties, yes, and I can tell you that the presidential election of 2027 will be different based on the record of the ruling APC’s death policy. You see, I don’t want to go discussing the charade of APC and their anthem of doing well. We have all seen what they are doing; after two years of poor leadership, the business has changed from renewed hope to hopelessness, from coaxing to intimidation of the people. They even call it a massive endorsement of Tinubu for the 2027 presidential election. We don’t believe in that. We believe in our capacity to mobilise Nigerians and to fulfill our promises. So, what am I trying to say? It is a fact that this idea of coalition does not even arise because our principal cannot run under the control of a party that does not believe in his ideology. Peter Obi is a man of principle; whenever a discussion goes contrary to what he represents, he pulls out. They have discussed it, but the bottom line is that he remains who he is, and that is what the people should look out for.
Can you highlight the perception that 2027 may be a one-party election?
I don’t believe that 2027 could only feature one party for general elections irrespective of APC masqueraded endorsement out there in the marketplace. Neither do I believe that, subsequently, the nation can degenerate into a one-party system. Here we are talking about 220 million population with diverse ethnic and different political ideologies. I think Nigeria should be a role model in Africa in terms of what democracy represents. Maybe they have political scientists from another planet who can still make democracy feature only one party in an election. So the question is, has Nigeria changed its system of government? This question goes to political clowns who go about hijacking people so that all politicians belong to one political party. This shows their level of understanding of democracy. This means that APC and all their leaders have no plan for the generality of the Nigerian masses. Their plan is simply an endorsement of Tinubu for 2027.