The consensus option may not be ruled out in choosing All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates for 2015 general elections. This, the party’s National Secretary, MALA GONI, tells Special Correspondent, COLINS OSIGBEME, in this interview. He also speaks on other activities of the party ahead of the polls.
Various parties coming together to form APC
When you look at the history of political parties in Nigeria, you will discover that it has always been winner-takes-all, and this has always militated against the coming together of people to serve the country. If you are not in the party of the government of the day, then you cannot go anywhere close to power or contribute your idea towards anything. So, the coming together of political parties (to form APC) is as a result of the problems militating against the development of the country.
If you look at the country carefully, you will discover that instead of moving forward, the country is always sliding. Those who have the interest of the country at heart knew how the country was and how it is now. There was no way ANPP (All Nigeria Peoples Party), CPC (Congress for Progressive Change), ACN (Action Congress of Nigeria) or APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance) as a party would go it alone and form a government. That was the bane of the opposition and what the PDP had been exploiting to rule this country and remain in power all these years. They kept using divide-and-rule tactic, sometimes interfering in the affairs of some smaller parties, so that they would not be strong enough to challenge them.
The coming together of the opposition was what Nigerians had been yearning for because after every general election, people kept complaining and asking questions as to why the opposition parties were not coming together to form a formidable force that could challenge the PDP. There were series of attempts in the past by these leaders to come together, but that never yielded any result due to one reason or another. This time, it has materialised and people have realised that the PDP is on its toes. For the first time in its history, it (PDP) is on the defensive because it has seen the hand writing clearly. They have now seen that the various political parties have come together and are ready to take over the country in 2015.
APC platform for some to actualise presidential ambition
Let me tell you that those who consistently want to remain in power are regarded by people as Any Government In Power (AGIP). You can be AGIP to remain in the corridors of power, but that is not enough. If you are in politics for your selfish interest, you can join the PDP and continue to remain in the system. But this one is out of patriotism. Looking at how the country is; the present situation is pathetic because when you look at the development in this country, you will agree with me that the coming together of these gentlemen, the commitment and the sacrifices involved, justify the fact that it is not for their selfish interest. If it were in their own interest, somebody like Bisi Akande had been the Chairman of the AC and then the ACN and was the Interim Chairman of the APC; Tony Momoh was the Chairman of the CPC; while Ogbonnaya Onu was the Chairman of the ANPP. They cannot just sacrifice their offices as chairmen of their various parties for other reasons apart from patriotism and making sacrifice for the country. It takes a lot of courage, patriotism and sacrifice.
APC’s unique selling point ahead 2015 general elections
We have our manifesto. We are not just saying anything that we cannot do. We want to have on record, things that this party intends to do. We are also going to translate it to all major tribes of the country, so that anybody who can read in such languages can read and understand what this party stands for and what we will do in the event that this party wins election.
Challenge of office
This is a political party where you have divergent views, opinions and ideas which you must bring to bear. The fact that I am the national secretary does not mean that I am the most knowledgeable person in the party or the most competent person in the party. This is a political party where you are dealing with divergent views which you must galvanise to do the right thing. You have to be strictly guided by rules and regulations of the party, so as not to derail.
Party already going for a constitution amendment, less than one year of formation.
Even Nigeria’s constitution is being debated every day and some portion of it is being amended. As long as people live together, there will always be clamour for change. The constitution is made by people, and whenever an impediment is discovered, you have to come together and take another look at it. That is why you don’t just amend your constitution at the National Working Committee (NWC) or at National Executive Council (NEC); you have to go to the convention where everybody will be involved. That is why the constitution is the statute book that guides the operations of the party. That is why anything that will be done that is not within the expectations of that party has to give way to the expectations of the people. This is because what is supreme always in politics is the wish of the people. You have to carry along the thinking of the people as part of your operational strategies. That is what governs the party, and anything that stands between the running of the party and the wishes of the people has to be looked into at any point in time. That necessitates constitution review.
Role of APC governors in 2015
The APC as a party respects the governors, being the leaders of the party in their respective states. When you look at the Nigerian constitution very carefully, you will know what it takes to be a governor and you will know the strength of the office of a governor. That is why, in all our organs, the governors are members. They are members of the caucus, the BoT (Board of Trustees) and the NEC. So, you can see how important their position is to the party.
Reaping from defection of five governors from PDP
To my mind, the major milestone in our politics is the merger, which is unprecedented. Right from the First Republic, there was never a time political parties merged. There used to be alliances which often collapsed. But for political parties to merge and form one single formidable opposition party has never happened until the merger that gave birth to APC. So, when you look at it carefully, you will not be surprised about the defection of the governor from the PDP to the APC. This is also the first time in the history of this country that sitting governors from the ruling party would defect to opposition party. That goes to tell you how the country is suffering. If things are going well, how can sitting governors defect to opposition party to fight the ruling party to form government? If the merger was for selfish interest, a sitting governor in the PDP, which is the ruling party at the centre, for whatever selfish interest, will not contemplate defecting from the PDP because it is not all of them that can be president. They were already comfortable in the PDP as the government in power and didn’t need to join the opposition to try and form government.
APC winning or losing from the defections
The APC has tremendously gained from the defections. The APC has made history because it is now on record that sitting governors from the PDP, which is the ruling party, defected to the APC. What has happened has satisfied even the thinking of a layman. The layman now knows that the PDP is not a party to belong to. If a sitting governor can defect to the opposition to fight the PDP, that goes to show that the PDP is a sinking ship.
Funding the APC outside government patronage
Are we in charge of the central government? When you are talking about funding, I don’t know what you mean. Do you mean governors giving us money as a party? Don’t you know that we sell forms to run the party? We are also doing a lot of activities to generate funds. We are not relying on the governors for funds.
Choosing APC presidential candidate
All the options are open, but it is not a crime if a candidate emerges through consensus at any level. Don’t restrict it to the presidential contest. Even if any candidate emerges through consensus, we will still have to go ahead to fulfil the constitutional provision of electing the person. There is no restriction as to how the candidate will emerge. If, for whatever reason, any candidate emerges by consensus – as a senator, House of Representatives member, governor or president – it will be a welcome development.
Northern aspirants in quest for APC presidential ticket
It is not about producing a Northern or Southern president. We want to produce a Nigerian president. We want to produce a president who will work for the country, sacrifice himself for the country and be selfless in discharging his responsibilities to the country; one who will be acceptable to every Nigerian as an upright person who can fight corruption and bring development to the country. That is what we want and not about South or North.
The level of poverty, degradation and impoverishment in this country has no boundary of South or North, Christian or Muslim. We are all suffering and nobody is left out. Everybody is desirous of change and that is why the APC is poised to produce the best president for this country. We want to have somebody who will fight corruption because it is the major factor that is under-developing the country. We want somebody who can fight the insecurity and restore peace, harmony and tranquility in all communities. This is our hope, and I don’t think we will now restrict this to either South or North. These are political boundaries.
However, I think this question should have been directed at the PDP; why they have it in their constitution that positions should be zoned. This is not existing in the APC for now. APC is poised to give the best president who will be ready to address the problem militating against the development of Nigeria. This is our common problem. So, it is not about where the person comes from.
Successes of APC reconciliation efforts
Politics brings about agreements and disagreements often. That is the reason you have the reconciliation committee in place. Wherever you have disagreement, the committee will swing into action to reconcile the various groups. We have reconciled many groups and people. This party has achieved a lot in its reconciliatory efforts and, by the grace of God, this party has come to stay because we have crossed so many hurdles. Some predicted that the merger would not hold; but today, they are ashamed that the merger is a success. Again, they predicted that the convention would be the end of the party. We held it and produced leaders for the party. These are things that we are conscious of and we are very sure that the party has come to stay because the party is the only vehicle that can be used to deliver the goods to the people. The APC is ready for that and will ensure a level-playing field for all our aspirants to showcase their potential for Nigerians to see their quality and vote them into power at different levels. I have no doubt in my mind that we have all it takes to win elections by 2015.
Background before becoming APC National Secretary
I was pioneer state chairman of the ACD (Advanced Congress of Democrats) which later became AC and later ACN. Thereafter, I joined the ANPP and was appointed secretary general of the campaign organisation of the present governor of Yobe State in 2011. After the elections, I was appointed the Political Adviser to the government. After the merger, I became the protem secretary of the APC in Yobe and then the state chairman after the congresses. In the process of coming to the convention to elect our national leaders, I emerged national secretary of the party. I came to the convention as a delegate because I was the state chairman of the party and was elected the national secretary. We thank God that people have made a lot of sacrifices to make APC what it is today because it is not easy for existing political parties to come together to merge and abandon their status to form a formidable opposition party which is unprecedented in the history of this country.
 candidates for 2015 general elections. This, the party’s National Secretary, MALA GONI, tells Special Correspondent, COLINS OSIGBEME, in this interview. He also speaks on other activities of the party ahead of the polls.){kind=link}