Renewed Hope: Tinubu has incorporated parts of MKO Abiola’s social roadmap

By Dickson Okafor

Twenty-eight years after he died in detention for his steadfast stand against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election which he won, Chief Moshood K. Abiola’s socio-economic development programme has seemingly come into reckoning. This is the belief of Chief Johnny Ucheaga, a legal practitioner and former National Administrative Secretary of the defunct National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN).

In this interview with Sunday Sun, he talks about insecurity, persistent hunger and hardship as well as the efforts of the Federal Government in addressing them through the ongoing Renewed Hope Agenda policy reforms.

The Osun State gubernatorial election is the second off-cycle governorship election scheduled for this year. Are there justifications for the allegations made against the handling of the Ekiti State election won by Governor Biodun Oyebanji of APC?

Politics is a contest, but in Nigeria’s context, losers always shift the blame on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as was the case in the Ekiti governorship election. It is unfortunate that all the political parties that contested directly or indirectly engaged in vote-buying. But when one outsmarts the rest and is declared winner by INEC others will start to accuse the winner of electoral malpractices. Meanwhile, if the other candidates are sure that the election was manipulated they can go to court to retrieve their mandate.

For over 27 years no governor had won a second term in office in Ekiti State, but Governor Biodun Oyebanji broke the jinx. My advice to INEC is to conduct credible and transparent elections in the forthcoming Osun State governorship election. It is a litmus test for INEC to regain credibility and independence as we head towards 2027 general elections. I urge INEC to improve on its election management processes.

  A United States lawmaker has pushed for a bill to deny Nigeria American aid because of terror attacks. How do you feel about this?

There is no doubt that the Nigerian government has been addressing the terrorist attacks and banditry since 2014 till date. The fight against terrorism cannot be overcome overnight. It took the United States years to terminate terrorist attacks in that country. Under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria is doing everything possible to address terrorist attacks in the country. The decision of the United States House of Representatives to withhold assistance to Nigeria until terror attacks are addressed will not hinder the fight against insecurity and terrorist attacks.

Do you have any fears that state governors will abuse the State Police Act if passed into law and becomes operational?

The general brief is that the State Police Bill if signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will drastically reduce insecurity in the country. State governors won’t turn it into their private Police because it will be guided by the Constitution. It would be permitted to commence operational policing until each House of Assembly enacts the necessary legislation establishing a State Police Service and such service is certified as meeting prescribed national standards. Don’t forget that the bill also creates the State Police Service Commission (SPSC) that would oversee recruitment, promotion, discipline and oversight of state police personnel, while a constituted National Police Council would coordinate national policing policy and cooperation between federal and state policing institutions. Also, State Commissioners of Police unlike the present arrangement where the Inspector General deploys them will be appointed by the governor of a state after recommendation by the National Police Council and removal requires legislative approval by the State House of Assembly. It would complement the efforts of the Nigeria Police Force to fight insecurity and crime in the rural areas.

What do you think is responsible for the non-implementation of full financial autonomy of local governments, two years after the Supreme Court verdict?

Full financial autonomy for 774 local government areas granted by the Supreme Court of Nigeria is a welcome judgment which should have been implemented as a measure that would ensure consistency and transparency in the third tier of government. Unfortunately, it is being delayed for two years. There is fear among some governors who control council chairmen that once genuinely autonomous and financially independent, the governors will lose political control over them. But I believe that this anomaly will be addressed in the course of the ongoing constitutional review.

   It has been suggested that with the establishment of State Police and financial autonomy of local governments Nigeria is heading towards true federalism. Do you share this belief? 

Nigeria’s democracy is evolving because there is no perfect democracy anywhere in the world. But Nigerians have been able to remain united in spite of ethnic and cultural diversity. So, just like late Chief M.K. O Abiola, President Tinubu has exhibited uncommon heroism not only during our democratic struggle, but has implemented some of the contents in Abiola’s manifesto within three years through the Renewed Hope Agenda notwithstanding the challenges. Indeed, Nigerian politicians have learned lessons from the June 12 saga and that is why democracy has been sustained for 27 years. I won’t say the establishment of the State Police and Financial Autonomy of local government councils is a move towards true federalism, but they are moves towards good governance. Therefore, the greatest challenge before Nigerian politicians is how to make democracy thrive between the people and their leaders. But it is interesting to note that the present state of democracy in Nigeria has proved that the masses have an immense capacity for collective action when they genuinely believe in the integrity of the system. Yes, our politics is facing challenges ranging from vote buying and other electoral vices which the Electoral Act 2026 has so far taken care of. So, there is more to be done and lessons for Nigerian politicians to learn. They should emulate the exemplary leadership of our founding fathers and allow the votes of the people to count in the forthcoming elections and in 2027 general elections.

Many Nigerians in all walks of life have asserted that the situation of the country got much worse under President Tinubu. What is your reaction to such assertions?

Challenges facing the administration in the past three were all there before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over office. These include kidnapping of school children, terrorism, banditry and corruption, but they are being tackled. Who are the people kidnapping school children? They are people who want to make political points. Some people brought foreigners into the country to terrorise us into submission for their political gains. In 2022, foreigners were brought into the country to cause confusion and the question is:  have those people gone? They have not gone. Did those who brought them take them back? No. Abubakar Kawu Baraje, a key figure in the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in an interview in 2021 linked Nigeria’s persistent insecurity to the importation of foreign Fulani terrorists from neighbouring countries for the 2015 general elections. He spoke about this issue during the activities marking his 70th birthday anniversary in Ilorin, Kwara State in a national interview. So, they are still the ones kidnapping innocent Nigerians and school children across the country. And because they were paid ransom, they invited people from their villages telling them that there is business here in Nigeria. Suddenly, nobody left his country, came to Nigeria only to go back with huge sums of money and started building mansions and making other developmental strides. People within the country invited these terrorists and told them what to do. It is the rat in the house that goes to call the rats in the bush or outside that there is a fish in Madam’s kitchen. Tackling insecurity should be a combined effort of Nigerians and foreigners alike.