Erstwhile Imo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and now chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Marcel Nlemigbo, assesses Governor Rochas Okorocha and President Muhammadu Buhari’s administrations. He also speaks on his reasons for living PDP in this interview with Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, and Assistant Editor (South East),CHRISTIAN NWOKOCHA.
How would you assess the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government, one year after?
So far so good. If you knew the rot that was in the system before Buhari took over, you would appreciate what he is doing. If you knew how much that had passed through this country since 1960 and what was achieved with it, you would weep. When you check what other countries achieved when compared to Nigeria, you weep over the wastage. His fight against corruption is commendable because unless we crush corruption, we will just be working in circles. The nation is in some kind of transition, no doubt, but there is this trust that Buhari will fix it.
In a few months from now, we will begin to witness some changes, now that the budget has been passed. What we need is to be a bit patient. Buhari just started. What the country has passed through in the last 16 years requires a lot of patience for people to understand where Buhari is heading to. It requires a lot of hard work, painstaking (work) and some level of carefulness in managing the country.
Our interest remains on what needs to be done to move the country forward, and that was why we all joined APC. You can see that corruption has eaten deep into the Nigeria’s system and has become a way of life of our people. Cleansing needs a lot of beating and tasking to wake our people up again.
When power is given to you by the people, you are expected to work. A situation where someone steals N10 billion and another $2 billion, you begin to wonder the intentions of such persons. If Buhari can do more on corruption, Nigeria will be better for it. The former Iranian President was asked on his achievements, and he said freedom of speech. When the CNN report asked why freedom of speech instead of roads and other projects, he said, in the past nobody could get up and say his mind. So, if Buhari can make Nigerians accountable for whatever they handled for the public in the past, this will amount to an achievement in itself. Meanwhile, out of Buhari’s hard work within one year in office people are returning the money they looted while in government.
Critics say his anti-corruption crusade is selective, given that no member of APC is being investigated.
APC people can be arrested and quizzed by law enforcement agencies for the offence they committed while in PDP or any other political party. I believe that time shall take care of all things. Everybody who committed offence and ran to APC for cover will eventually be disappointed.
So I advise some of them who looted public funds, irrespective of political party, not to wait until they are invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). They should make haste to return the money before they are hunted.
Some of us in APC are not saints and cannot claim ignorant of what is going on. The government has even started looking beyond political parties, and from the look of things, the Christmas party will soon be over. Buhari is looking at the individuals irrespective of the political party.
Buhari appears not willing to publish names of looters and amount so far recovered as ordered by the Abuja court. Why?
I believe it will eventually be made public. Buhari is a man I know that cannot say things that are not real. Even the foreign countries are helping us to return money stolen from Nigeria. This shows the level of credibility and confidence the international community has on him.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is already begging Nigeria to borrow money from its institution. They know that Nigeria’s resources can pay back any money borrowed. The nation’s problem is the will power by leaders to take right decisions and stick to them. To be frank with you, managing Nigeria for now will not be easy, but a journey of a thousand mile starts with a step.
You were a prominent member of the PDP. Why did you leave the party which you laboured to build for APC?
I worked hard for the PDP. But when my brother, my town’s man, I mean, Eze Madumere (Imo Deputy Governor), was appointed as the Chief of Staff by Governor Rochas Okorocha, we were all happy as a community. In my community, we had a reception for him then. In that reception, being one of the political leaders in my town, I was told to give an advice. And I advised that we should give him all the needed support since he is our kinsman and we trusted him.
But some people were offended with what I said. They saw my action as anti-party activity. They then put me on trial and I had to subject myself to the law and abided by it.
But as somebody that had worked for the PDP in the last 16 years with nothing to show for it, as their (PDP members) plan was to humiliate me or perhaps clobber me to irrelevance. So I decided to take a back seat and opted out. And since Madumere had been very supportive of me, I decided to join them (APC people) seeing that they were on the right track.
I wanted to assist them to succeed. And looking back, I have no regrets. For me, it is like the Almighty God wanted me to work with them.
Are you so sure you have no regrets?
Regrets for what? Why should I have any regret? The young man is from my place. He is a nice man and he is assisting the governor to do a good job. So why would we abandon him? Even while I was still in the PDP, he was helpful. He has always been there for me. And we have good relationship. The cheering thing, for me, is that they are doing quite well.
So I can, in all honesty, say that I have no regrets. They are delivering democracy dividends and that for me is quite commendable.
PDP was said to be a corrupt party and that perception perhaps made it lose the 2015 election at the federal level. You were once a state chairman of the party. Can you be exonerated from that corruption tag?
The leadership in government and of the party at the national level then lacked what was required to instil discipline in members. Instructions on how to manage the party comes from the national headquarters. The problems in PDP resulted from the activities of the national officers not insisting on doing the right thing at the right time. Every member at the state level believed in a godfather in Abuja. Everybody became interested in the ‘grab’ mentality which has kept Nigeria in bad shape for too long.
The monitors of budgets and other approvals made by the former president were weak and could not checkmate activities of government functionaries and party loyalists. We had no reason to fail this country if those who were meant to execute projects were properly monitored and made accountable.
How would you assess Governor Rochas Okorocha in his handling of the affairs of Imo ?
Governor Rochas Okorocha is a human being and not a spirit. He is expected to have his own faults and weaknesses. But in all, he has done well. If you come to Imo and check the infrastructure he has put in place, I can tell you that the other two governors before him could not achieve such feat. And he is still working on new projects. He promised free education, he is doing it. He promised roads, he is doing them. He promised bringing governance close to the people, he is doing it and the factory…factory… factory issues he has been talking about, he is on top of the implementation too. So, generally, the young man is doing well as far as delivering the dividends of democracy is concerned. He deserves commendation with his team.
But critics of his administration accuse him of awarding contract to his relations or cronies.
For me, the most important things are that the jobs are done. The truth is that somebody must do the job. Some of us are also working for the government, along with expatriates. If it is his relation that is competent to deliver, I do not see anything wrong with that. But I still think that those people with such perception are wrong because those that do contracts in the state cut across local governments in the state. They even include other states and foreign contractors. The bottom line is that they are delivering the contracts. I will only see such allegation as an issue if those involved are not delivering. The most vital thing is that the jobs are done well. They are done by Imo people, by Nigerians and, in some cases, expatriates. Is it not an expatriate company that is doing the fly-over bridge?
Are you aware that Orlu zone is still working to be governor on 2019?
The political space is too large to accommodate everybody. If they are aspiring to be governor, let our people also aspire. But we will appeal to their conscience because political power is not given on a platter of gold. If there is nobody running from Owerri zone, would you want a vacuum? Somebody must be a governor of Imo . But when we get to the bridge, we will cross it. It can also be discussed. It is not something gotten without an effort.
I come from Owerri zone, and it is my wish that our people should put their house in order. Politics is a free-for-all activity irrespective of age and profession. People are not made governors in their houses. There is no time governorship has been restricted to one zone.
At the end of the day, leaders in the state will take their decision and the boys will be separated from the men or perhaps goats from sheep. I want them to start moving round. Okorocha said he must have an idea of who will succeed him. That statement means a lot to me and others who believe in him. So we should make haste to discuss with him.
How strong is the APC in Imo and the South East?
Like in any other government, immediately after election, many people want to take the back seat. But as far as I am concerned, the party is strong. Can you compare APC in Imo with what the PDP is doing? In the APC, there is a straight line command unlike in the PDP where they have not less than five groups. The magic wand is that Okorocha is on the right track and doing great job.
