Former presidential candidate and National Chairman of National Action Council, NAC, Olapade Agoro has called on Nigerians to demand proofs of lodgements of money returned to Nigeria as Abacha loots.
He maintained that the nation deserves to know the truth about the sources of the money. He also faulted the anti-corruption fight of the current administration just as he urged the judiciary to rise to the challenge of defending itself against what he described as an attempt by politicians to destroy the nation’s judicial system. He spoke more on other issues of national significance in this interview.
Aggrieved parties are rushing back to the Supreme Court for the review of cases delivered against them. What does this trend suggest to you?
Naturally, the Supreme Court is the last juncture on issue of judicial decisions. Therefore, the Supreme Court has no further role to play again in these situations because it is the last bastion of judgment. Now that people are asking the Supreme Court to review its own decisions, then we are in trouble. Those clamouring for judicial review need to go for psychiatric evaluation. If the judiciary allows things like this to happen it means litigations will no longer have end in Nigeria. I will like to suggest that the Chief Justice of the Federation should apply the brakes and lead the nation back to the path of rectitude. In situations where lawyers believe there should be something else after Supreme Court, then something is wrong. This is a grand plot to destroy the judicial system but we must not allow them to succeed. We should stand by the principles of justice. Nigeria blessed with brilliant lawyers that are respected all over the world. This is why the Nigerian Bar Association must rise to defend our judicial system. Why do politicians want to start rubbishing these brilliant people? The judges must rise up and say ‘no’ to this nonsense.
Since the Supreme Court has accepted to review these cases is that not an indication that there are probably one or two things that needed to be looked at again?
There must be an end to litigations unless we plan to establish a super superior Supreme Court. As far as we are concerned, there is only one Supreme Court in Nigeria and the decisions of that court should be respected. Anybody who is not satisfied with Supreme Court judgments has only one option left – he should go and commit suicide. Ihedioha is still a young man, so he should go and prepare for another election. Why are politicians bent to destroy the judicial system because of their selfish interest? It is very wrong. So, the judiciary must do everything within its powers to stop these people before they destroy the judiciary.
The Independent National Electoral Commission announced de-registration of some political parties in the country. What does this portend?
The first person that deserves to be deregistered is the INEC chairman. If it were to be in saner climes, the INEC chairman would have ceased to head the commission. He registered those political parties. He even registered some few days to the election. If you registered these parties because you believed they met the requirements of political parties, why would you turn round and deregister them again. What this means is that he has no standard of measuring his own decisions. The parties should be allowed to exist. There is a court decision that says INEC cannot deregister political parties. This court decision has not been annulled. We should allow the rule of law to dictate our activities. We are making a mess of the judiciary by flouting court orders. A nation that moves to run down judiciary is a nation that will run itself into jeopardy. Once a court makes a pronouncement it becomes a law until another judge vacates that decision. If you feel compelled to reduce the number of the political parties then we should be ready to amend the constitution. Look at America, there are so many political parties in the country.
But the argument has been that most of the political parties only exist in names, you cannot even trace them as some of them don’t even have offices…
Why did they register them in the first place? Who registered them, why were they registered in the first place? The INEC chairman should deregister him. He should be sacked. It is only when that is done that we can confer credibility on our electoral system.
There has been an upsurge in the activities of Boko Haram and other criminal elements in Nigeria in recent months. What do you think the country is getting wrong in the fight against insurgency and other criminal activities in the country?
We are really in trouble. Criminality has continued to thrive in Nigeria because Buhari is not in-charge. Criminalities of diverse kinds, shade and proportion have taken over the country, it is not only Boko Haram. Even our policemen are just killing the people at will. What Buhari needs to now is to call himself to order by taking charge. The system is currently contending with all manners of issues and challenges. Our roads are bad yet Fashola has the effrontery to tell us that Buhari has no qualms about the state of the roads. Tell me, what is working in Nigeria? Is it our roads? As we are talking now there is no electricity. No job. Nothing is really working all because Buhari has lost grip of governance. I love Buhari and I want him to succeed, but he is not in charge. If I were in his shoes, I would just throw in the towel because things are no longer in their normal state in Nigeria. Look at what is happening in the All Progressives Congress between Obaseki and Oshiomhole. Buhari has not spoken about it. The party is about losing Edo State, yet the president has refused to say anything. This is the right time for the PDP in the state to give them a good fight. Oshiomhole is the party chairman, but his state is on fire. Even the president’s kitchen cabinet is disorganized; his house is on fire.
What would you suggest as the way out of these crises?
All we are witnessing happened because Buhari left the driver’s seat to many other people. To be the leader of a nation, you must have your head on your shoulders, but the president’s head is not on his shoulders. His wife, Aisha, has relentlessly voiced out her concerns about the way things are going in the country. It is not an issue of winning an election alone. Buhari needs advice from good people who can tell him the truth. Fielding two Fulani together at the last election was a big mistake on the part of Nigerians. Allowing Buhari to contest with Atiku was the greatest mistake we made in the country.
But Buhari and Atiku were not just the only contestants during the election; we had other Nigerians from other tribes and nationalities. Besides, we had had a situation when two Yoruba- Falae and Obasanjo, contested?
Obasanjo and Falae were allowed to contest as a way of appeasing the Yoruba. But allowing Atiku and Buhari to contest was a mistake. In the first place Atiku had no party. He was just junketing from one party to another. He practically purchased the PDP ticket and people should have stood their ground to say ‘no’. If I had my way I would have gone to court to challenge it. Our political decisions should be on issues, not on money. Two doubtful characters contested the election and one of them wone That is why we find ourselves in this mess.
How can we correct the mistakes in 2023?
We must correct 2019 mistakes before we start talking about 2023. We need a good leader that can set things right. Definitely, it is not Buhari and definitely it is not Atiku. We need a leader that will be truthful and that can help to fight corruption. America said it is returning another $308 million Abacha loot. Who told them it was Abacha that stole that money? Let them tell us when Abacha left Nigeria for America to deposit that money. Abacha never left Nigeria for good five years that he was in power. So, how could somebody that never travelled to America deposit money in that country. Abacha has become a whipping boy, every money seized from corrupt Nigerian leaders is now classified as Abacha loot. Nigerians should challenge America to give us the proofs that these monies are truly Abacha’s loot. In the developed economies you can’t just go there and dump stolen money. There must be proofs. So, let us know those who lodged the money in Abacha’s name. No issue as this was raised when Abacha was alive; they are just telling lies against the dead. So, America and the western world should give us the details about when, who and how the monies were lodged with proofs. I know Abacha has a bad name, no doubt about that. But not every evil credited to him was perpetrated by him.