Follow Us on Google
By Chukwudi Nweje
Martin Onovo, the 2015 presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) says Nigerians owe it a duty to sack the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2023. He insists the major opposition will pay for denying the South the 2023 presidential ticket and also speaks on other national issues.
Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has been elected the 2023 presidential candidate of the PDP, thus dashing the agitation for a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction. What are the implications?
The PDP is finished. With its National Chairman and its presidential candidate both from the North, the PDP has violated the Federal Character requirement of the Nigerian Constitution. The PDP has also violated its own constitution which requires power rotation. The PDP has exposed itself as a corrupt, norm-less and undemocratic party that is insensitive to the expectations of Nigerians. Media reports confirm that the presidential ticket was sold in foreign currency to the highest bidder. Tactlessly for the PDP, the highest bidder in this case also represents some things that the overwhelming majority of Nigerians have publicly rejected. Please note that the majority of Nigerians do not want any candidate that represents the failed and recycled politicians that are responsible for our present predicament. The majority of Nigerians want a candidate with shining integrity. The majority of Nigerians want a younger and stronger candidate. The majority of Nigerians want a candidate with world-class education and experience. The majority want a candidate from the South in line with the power rotation requirement which is a matter of justice and right. It is a democratic imperative that power must rotate to the South East. Otherwise, the South East will be unfairly excluded from the presidency which will institutionalize injustice and fracture the foundation of Nigeria. We all want a big and strong Nigeria that is founded on justice as is clearly stated in our constitution. We do not want a country that promotes injustice. Again, power must rotate to the South East. Alternatively, Nigeria must be restructured now or we get a government of national unity to develop a new constitution that will be agreed to by all regions. Otherwise, be warned, Nigeria is heading towards even more serious national crisis that may lead to the end of Nigeria.
The South East mounted very intense agitation and campaign for power shift before the primary, and even had aspirants in the race for the PDP presidential ticket. Why do you think the agitation failed and the aspirants of Igbo origin performed poorly?
The agitation did not fail. The PDP tactlessly deviated at their peril. According to the Southern Governor’s Forum, any party with a northern candidate will lose the presidential election. The Southern governors are right. Labour Party has given its presidential ticket to a Southerner. Many parties have not conducted their primaries yet and many will give their presidential tickets to a Southerner. PDP will most definitely lose the presidential election and also lose their position as the minority party. PDP represents the disgusting past. Nigeria is moving to a new and bright future.
The National Consultative Front (NCFront) has adopted Labour Party as a third force alternative to the APC and the PDP; Labour Party has also offered its presidential ticket to Peter Obi, a Southerner. But, do you really think Labour Party has the political muscle to dislodge the APC and PDP?
Of course, I do. The PDP is finished. The APC will implode. Another party will win the 2023 presidential elections. Like slavery, colonialism and Apartheid all of which were defeated, the APC will be defeated. This is the best time to defeat them. Minimum political organisation is required to dislodge those unpatriotic parties. The two parties, that is, the APC and the PDP are two sides of the same fake coin. One of our objectives for the 2023 elections is to ensure that another political party wins the presidential election. Fortunately, many Nigerians agree with us on this. Vote buying and electoral fraud will be challenged. Nigerian citizens will enthrone a democracy to replace this ‘criminocracy’ in 2023. An overwhelming majority of Nigerians are now tired of this ‘criminocracy’.
How do you think the resignation of Mr Peter Obi from PDP will impact on the party particularly in the South East, where it enjoys massive support?
The exit of Peter Obi from the PDP most definitely will very negatively impact the PDP. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo left the PDP, former President Goodluck Jonathan left the PDP and Peter Obi has also left the PDP. The PDP is now a trash can, exposed for what it truly is, an unpatriotic, corrupt and norm-less political party. The resignation of Mr. Peter Obi from the party is a master stroke. He should not have ever joined the PDP. The PDP has become very lawless and corrupt and has lost its foundational objectives. A former National Secretary of the PDP, Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo publicly stated that zoning is the tradition of the party and that it is in the constitution of the party. The decision of the PDP National Executive Committee not to zone the presidency to the South East in line with their tradition, their constitution and the national democratic imperative is a terminal blow to the foundation of the party, and an evidence of their weak leadership. It goes against wise political calculations and deep seated national political expectations. It is also offensive to the overwhelming majority of Nigerians because zoning and power rotation are very fundamental national political norms in Nigeria. Federal Character is in the Nigerian constitution. Power rotation was even included in the draft constitution of Gen. Sani Abacha. Zoning and power rotation are practiced throughout Nigeria from the ward level to the national level. Zoning prevents domination and promotes inclusiveness, cohesion and national development. The PDP has with that decision displayed naivety and destroyed its political base and at the same time, slighted the overwhelming majority of Nigerians. The PDP is finished.
The PDP denied the South East the presidential ticket and indications are that the zone will also lose the ticket of the APC, what do you think is the place of the Igbo in Nigerian politics as things are turning out?
I am not a member of the ruling party. The majority of their members are slavish to Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and will support whoever he chooses as their consensus candidate. That is the Kabiyesi theory of their party. Only few will disagree with their consensus candidate. With Gen. Buhari’s desperation for Islamisation and Fulanisation, he may choose a northern Muslim to work with their northern Muslim National Chairman to attempt to continue his policy of northern Muslim domination and the genocide against Nigerian Christians. The Igbo in Nigeria is a majority ethnic group that is presently extremely marginalised in politics due to the Islamisation and Fulanisation policy of the Gen. Buhari regime. This is another major adversity after the war but adversities are normal in the lives of individuals and societies. The Igbo are individually strong republicans that will be much stronger if they can unite but unity is naturally difficult for republicans. The South East region thanks to God, has the next highest standard of living after the South West region in Nigeria. All Nigerians including the Igbo are in peril. Prof. Ango Abdulahi, the leader of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) son was reportedly kidnapped in the Kaduna train incident. It was previously reported that Gen. Buhari’s village head was kidnapped in Daura. Deborah Yakubu is from Niger State, she was killed unlawfully in Sokoto. Many of the girls kidnapped from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in 2014 are still in the bondage of terrorists. So many people have been killed by Fulani terrorist herdsmen in the Southern Kaduna genocide and also in the attacks in Benue State. The Buhari regime as we accurately predicted has ruined Nigeria.
What do you make of the growing insecurity in the South East and how can it be resolved?
The information we have from the kidnap and release of the Methodist Prelate, His Eminence, Samuel Kanu-Uche, who was abducted by hoodlums in Abia State alongside two of his clergy men, and many other cases, have confirmed our claim that the unknown gunmen are terrorist Fulani invaders. Definitely, there are local criminals in every country and every region. But, the local criminals and some murderous politicians in the South East have taken advantage of the ambience of insecurity in the South East created by terrorist Fulani herdsmen to conduct their own criminal operations and complicate the situation.
The insecurity in the South East can be very easily resolved if we simply develop an appropriate ‘Security Management System’. This system will include comprehensively prevention, deterrence, detection and response systems. Security personnel must be adequately trained, equipped, disciplined and motivated to implement the ‘Security Management System’. We will need to get the right persons to take political leadership so that we can do these simple things with sincerity of purpose.
