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Lawmakers planning to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari have been described as anarchists and “confusionists” who want to create unnecessary tension and confusion in the country.
Making the declaration in an interview with TUNDE THOMAS, former Chairman, Conference of All Progressives Congress States Chairmen, Chief Henry Ajomale said the lawmakers’ action was not only unpatriotic but uncalled for.
What’s your reaction to the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as APC presidential candidate?
It is a good omen for the nation’s democracy. It is a welcome development that I believe will usher in a new era of socio-economic development for the nation if he eventually wins next year’s presidential polls. Tinubu is not only qualified to deliver the goods but of all the candidates that are in the race, he is the one that I believe has the experience and the ability to deliver the dividends of democracy that Nigerians are yearning for.
Nigeria is a blessed country richly endowed with the natural resources that should have made the nation one of the most developed countries in the world but sadly this country has been unlucky to have the right leadership that would have harnessed these resources for the common good of all. Our problem over the years is that of not being blessed with good leadership, especially from the period when the military truncated democracy in 1966 up till now. I believe that if Tinubu emerges as the nation’s next leader, Nigeria will witness a refreshing new order. Talking about his chances of clinching the Presidency, I believe his chances are very bright. It is his opponents that should be getting worried. I’m also glad about his choice of running mate, that’s talking of former Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state. It is the right choice.
But the Muslim-Muslim ticket has been generating controversy
To me, there should be no controversy over that. We should be very careful over this issue of religion. People should stop bringing religious sentiment into this matter. The issue of religion is one of those things dragging us backward as a nation. I believe that we should be more concerned about competence. We should be talking about who can deliver. Religion will not take us anywhere. We are talking about who will be able to solve myriads of challenges facing Nigeria, and some people are talking about religion. Is it religion we should be talking about or how to find solutions to the insecurity, and other socio-economic challenges facing the nation? Nigeria is in serious crisis, especially insecurity, and this is not a time to put those who are not tested in the art of governance in charge of power because of religious considerations.
Religion has never been a factor whenever we are talking about having those to be entrusted with political power. Nigerians have always been talking about those who can deliver. It is now that some selfish politicians and some religious leaders are now bringing the issue of religion up. What should be uppermost in our mind is competence, otherwise, if you put somebody there in office just because of religious consideration, and not because of his competence, then you are not a patriot because, at the end of the day, it is the nation that will end up being the worst for it if such an individual can’t perform.
Then if some people are talking that having a Muslim-Muslim ticket is an aberration, then what will they say about having Atiku Abubakar, a Fulani man succeeding Buhari, another Fulani as the new President in 2023?
If Atiku wins the election but which I believe he won’t, will that not result in having another Fulani man succeeding Buhari, also a Fulani man? Is that not even worse than having a Muslim-Muslim ticket? Having another Fulani man like Buhari taking over power in 2023 is not the best for the country. That will mean Fulani being in power for another 16 years, and this certainly will create some forms of discontent in the land. It means that power will remain in the North again contrary to the principle of power rotation between the North and the South. This will be more insensitive than a Muslim-Muslim ticket and will be unacceptable to the majority of Nigerians. These are the things some Nigerians are not thinking about. Transferring power from Buhari, a Fulani man to Atiku another Fulani is worse than a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
They should not use religion to confuse us. I’m a Christian, and I don’t care about all this noise about Muslim-Muslim ticket. What is paramount on my mind is competence, and the ability to deliver. These two important attributes I strongly believe Tinubu and Shettima possess in abundance.
Even the British who introduced the Christian religion to us are not so crazy about religion. How many people are even attending church again in Britain? In Britain, the United States and other developed countries, and even developing countries, the emphasis is on competence, and not on religion.
The suffering in Nigeria today is so much, and what Nigerians want is urgent relief from the socio-economic woes they are passing through, and to achieve that you don’t go and put a novice, or an incompetent person in power all in the name of religion. To do that will be a big disservice to the nation.
Besides Tinubu and Atiku, there is also Kwankwaso and Peter Obi. What do you think of their presidential ambition?
So far, and from the look of things I don’t see any of the two or any other presidential candidate measuring up to Tinubu or Atiku in terms of visibility and structure. It is only APC and PDP that have been tested by Nigerians. Labour Party and NNPP have not been tested. Then talking about structure, both Labour Party and NNPP are not yet there. I don’t see both parties going anywhere in 2023. Obi and Kwankwaso don’t have the structure to win the elections. I don’t see Obi in the picture at all in 2023, and neither Kwankwaso. If the two have formed an alliance, I will say that they may be able to make an impact and that something great is about to happen in the country. But since they have not come together and have been working along separate lines, there is no way either of them can spring any surprise in 2023. If Obi and Kwankwaso have combined together, then they would have been able to give PDP and APC a run for their money. Without having strong structures, it will be impossible for Labour Party and NNPP to defeat either APC or PDP. There is no harm in trying, but I don’t see Obi or Kwankwaso creating an upset next year. So far, the only person I have been seeing in Labour Party is Obi but a tree doesn’t make a forest. The same also applies to Kwankwaso. Take him out of NNPP, then there is no NNPP again. Politics is not a one-man show.
What’s your reaction to the many crises rocking state chapters of the APC?
I believe that before the general elections next year that all these crises will go down. There is no party in the country that doesn’t have one internal squabble or the other. It is all part of politics. APC will get over the crises. This is not the first time that such a thing will happen. It happened in the past, and we were able to resolve all the issues threatening to cause harm to the party. We are going to do the same this time around, and even already the process of reconciliation is underway. We will put our house in order before the elections so as to enable us to present a formidable team that will win the elections across all the levels in the country. A house divided against itself can never have any good showing in any election. Anywhere you have a crisis it will have boomerang effects as it will have negative consequences on the party.
Is this one of the reasons why APC lost the recent gubernatorial elections in Osun State?
There are so many factors responsible for the loss. We have identified some of these and we are going to address them before next year’s general elections. Overconfidence was one of the major reasons for that shocking loss in Osun State. We believed that our party APC was not only a people-oriented party but that we were executing people-oriented programmes for Osun people, not knowing that we are overrating ourselves. We underrated PDP but now we’ve learnt our lessons. Certainly APC will bounce back in Osun State. I give PDP a few months or just one year in office before people will know the difference between the two parties because there is no way PDP can match APC in terms of performance not only in Osun State but throughout the entire country. Comparing PDP with APC is like comparing light with darkness. APC is light while PDP is darkness.
Even with the insecurity and socio-economic crisis currently plaguing the nation?
APC should not be blamed for all these. PDP laid the foundation for these crises. PDP’s years in power were years of the locust. The party created a lot of mess, and APC is trying its best to clear this mess. If APC had not come into power in 2015 Nigeria would have been in a serious and bigger mess. It got so bad to the extent that the President in office then was being referred to as being clueless. It is unfortunate that some Nigerians have a short memory; otherwise, they would have remembered that the situation got so bad under PDP that people started clamouring for change and this was how PDP was voted out of office.
Some members of the National Assembly are planning to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari over insecurity and some other challenges facing the nation. What’s your take?
To me, these people are jokers. They wanted to create unnecessary tension. Why talk about impeachment when the President is winding down from office? He has a few months to go. Why this move now? To me, it doesn’t make any sense but of course I believe that it is going to be an exercise in futility. It is going to be a case of the minority having their say but the majority will have their way. Their unpatriotic move will not go through at the National Assembly. There is no common sense in what they want to do. The man has been there for seven years, and they didn’t make any attempt within that period. So, why now? Why should these lawmakers try to create a problem where there should be none? These lawmakers are just attention-seekers. They are anarchists. They want to create tension and confusion in the country. We have so many issues that are already causing tension in the country, so why this impeachment threat? They should just allow Buhari to complete his term which is just remaining a few months and then allow him to retire quietly to his hometown in Daura, Katsina State.
What’s your view on fears being harboured by some that next year’s elections might not hold?
I don’t think so because I believe that insecurity can’t be worse in 2023 than what we are experiencing now. My hope is that the situation will get better before then. Nigerians should be vigilant. They should co-operate with relevant security agencies in ensuring that we all work together to secure the nation. Although the present security situation is a source of concern I believe that the situation is not insurmountable. The President has given marching orders to security agencies once again to put the situation under control, and I believe this time around, those in charge of the nation’s security will be able to achieve concrete results. But my advice to them is that they should learn to be proactive instead of waiting for the terrorists to strike before they launch counter-attacks. Preparations for the elections should go on, and I believe that in spite of all these challenges we are going to have a successful poll.
