Dr. JOHN ODIGIE-OYEGUN, former governor of Edo State and National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), speaks on efforts at strengthening the party, pacifying aggrieved members, lessons of Ekiti election among other issues. Special Correspondent, TITUS OISE, presents the excerpts…
Pacifying aggrieved APC national chairmanship aspirants
Chief John OyegunWell, everything is happening rather quickly. Changes are going on even before one settles down for the new job. The first one is straightforward and easy. For those who felt rightly or wrongly aggrieved, it doesn’t matter if they are right or wrong; my job is to make peace. It wasn’t just my level. There were several levels during the convention. I have given equal attention to all. There was a bit of bad blood over the secretary and other positions. I have reached out to every one of the significantly aggrieved people. Some have responded, some have not; but there is no giving up. What I have realised is this: in a party that has no prospect, you beg people to volunteer for office; you virtually plead with them to accept offices. But because the APC has very bright prospect, it has become virtually the government-in-waiting, given the mood of the nation and the universal cry for change.
APC is a party whose time has come. Because of that, the contestation for offices becomes a little sharper than it would have been with a party that has no prospect.
So we have reached out to all of them. Most have responded positively; those that are still nursing grievances we will continue to reach out to. As far as that is concerned, it is good and healthy because if the party was not a giving concern, people would just walk away. But it is not like that. This is a movement that is going to end up in Aso Rock in February of next year. So we are doing everything we can to talk and bring them back happily into the fold.
Loss of Ekiti election
Ekiti election, to some extent, is still a mystery. It still has some aspects that we are trying to unfold. But the first point is because we are a party of change and because we are a party that wants to show Nigerians that there is a different way of doing things; that politics doesn’t have to be bitter. Despite all our reservations, the governor was advised to concede amid reservation for a lot of reasons. One, given the heavy militarisation of the area, we didn’t think it was worthwhile raising tension which may lead to the spilling of innocent blood. I was there in Ekiti. I had to leave virtually in the dead of night all the way from Ado Ekiti to Lagos, and most of our people who got there by air couldn’t go back by air because the airport was closed. So there was this state of tension which needed a little spark to set it off and we said this is not our style of politics. The governor did the honourable thing. We have a lot of questions about the elections. We are going ahead with something more detailed than a forensic examination of what happened. We knew all was not well. On the face of it, the processes before election day were heavily faulted and, of course, with the very unconstitutional militarisation. But the day of the election, the facade was given that made everybody think that everything went normally. But we know that, that was not the case. We are looking into it in a very clinical way. When our findings are ready, we will address the nation.
As I said, we didn’t think power was worth shedding innocent blood. So we have taken the path of honour and conceded. And there was a little peace thereafter. If we had decided to dispute the election, only God knows what would have happened. But that is not the APC way; we are a party of change and we hope Nigerians have taken note of what we did in Ekiti. We hope it doesn’t repeat because a lot of what happened was totally unconstitutional.
You are allowed to restrict movement within 24 hours before the election. You don’t lock down a state and arrest the leaders of the governing party there but allow leaders of the opposition party who have no business at all being in Ekiti.
We are going to court to uphold the fundamental rights of citizens to free movement in this nation. Of course on the issue of locking down a state for 48 hours, there is no such law in this nation, and bringing the military forcefully into the political arena, there is no law in practice that accepts that in this nation. All these things we will query and take the appropriate legal action, so that our legal authorities will tell us where the boundaries are for governmental action.
That exercise itself was deceptive and in delusion because when the time comes in February, the whole nation will be voting at the same time. Let them take all the soldiers out of Borno and come and police every single state and see if there will be a Nigerian left at the end of the day. Yes, it was a very regrettable loss, but the D-day is still coming, and we are very confident that when it comes, the people of this country will decide for change.
Tom Ikimi’s threat to pull out of APC
Like I said earlier, talks are still ongoing. But it is unfortunate that when you feel hurt, you threaten your party. That alone creates suspicion about you in the party. It was a mistake for him to have threatened to leave the party. We value him and respect him. I used to go to him quite often and share a lot of goodwill and I hope this has not separated us. It can’t. Politics can’t separate us. I pray that when he calms down, we will resume our very warm and close relationship; not just with me personally, but, more importantly, with the party.
Muslim-Muslim ticket for APC in 2015
I don’t know where you got this Muslim-Muslim ticket, Christian-Christian ticket, pagan-pagan ticket or whatever you want to call it. I am national leader of this party. What I can guarantee Nigerians is that we are going to have totally free and fair primaries from the rank and file of the party to decide who will be the candidates. That is the way it is going to be. We want to win election. So the party members whose job it is to select their candidates will do whatever they need to do to win an election and whatever the party decides. It is not me or any individual or group that will decide; it is the totality of the members of the party, properly acting through their delegates, who will select a candidate for the election. So whether it is Christian-Christian or Muslim-Muslim, it will be the decision of the party. So let us not cross bridges that don’t exist. When we get there, we will deal with that issue.
Party still far in picking its candidate
Every party is still far away. Though in the case of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), there is a presumption. Don’t be fooled; it could change very dramatically.
It looks like a one man race, but the reality is that on the eve of selecting candidates, they dictate otherwise. APC has a fair selection of prominent Nigerians. We are listening to the people, and we are hearing what they are telling us because we have a dragnet spread out. We have people we are talking to all over the nation who are telling us and giving us vibes about what the people feel, want and expect. So, presenting a candidate in another two or three months will not be an issue. What is important is what the party stands for; how it can prove that it is different and serious. That is the task we have between now and the selection of the candidate. Once the people buy the fact that yes this is a party they can trust to deliver change, the candidate becomes number two issue. As far as John Oyegun is concerned and as far as the constitution of the party is concerned, anybody from any part of this country is qualified to vie for our presidential ticket. That is the law of the party.
Securing Governors Rotimi Amaechi, Murtala Nyako and resolving crisis in states
In desperation, the federal government is creating problem for us in all our states. Let us start with the present insecurity. Once or twice, I have read that it is the opposition that is doing all this because they don’t like the government; they hate the government. But do you kill your family to prove that you hate somebody else? How come that these things are in APC states?
Where violence is not being used, it is the issue of impeachment. We know the kind of figures that are being mentioned and offered in Adamawa to impeach the governor. In Rivers State, they have a courageous young man. We are fighting the Adamawa case and by the grace of God they will not succeed.
As far as the other issues are concerned, when a party is seen as having prospect, the struggle for offices gets keener. That is what is happening in all of these states. All of these things will be resolved. We already have a high powered committee working on Ogun. As a matter of fact, Ogun is the most delicate of them all. We already have a high powered committee headed by former vice president Atiku Abubakar, including some truly respectable senior party leaders working on the Ogun case. These things going on will build and solidify the party.
The Edo State case is clear. From the time we had some defections, I think the PDP saw it as a wonderful opportunity to undermine the state government, particularly, as four members of the House also defected with the group. They thought it a wonderful opportunity to destabilise and undermine the state government, keeping it preoccupied with crisis. It is a clear case of the opposition in Edo; the PDP is using illegal tactics to try to undermine the government of the state. That is unacceptable and illegal and must not be allowed to stand.
Absence of internal democracy
Internal democracy means that there is a law and you must conduct yourself according to the law. The APC has a constitution and it states clearly that consensus is a preferred way of reaching decisions. Because all leaders would have subscribed to that consensus and everybody will be happy, that means nobody has everything he wants; but everybody has something. So we are able to live happily together.
And it states clearly that when that consensus can’t be reached and even a single member insists on a proper election again according to the rule of the party, we then go and have an election. That is what we are operating; unless somebody has another definition of internal democracy. What is important is that we are abiding strictly to the constitution.
Managing Atiku and Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential ambitions
I don’t know if there is a management problem. I am praying desperately that there should be more aspirants. Each of them will have a support base. Each of them will be able to get a lot of party and non-members’ interest in the party. Each of them will get people to look with magnifying glass at all the people offering to be our president, and I will sit down smiling and hoping they come and pay our fees so we can make quite some money. It becomes the duty of the people, party members represented by the delegates to decide which one in their opinion, in their wisdom, in their consideration is most likely to help us win the election and then provide a good leadership for the nation. It will be the choice of the people. Mine is to hold the ring and be a very impartial referee and provide a level-playing ground for all the contesting interests. There is nothing to manage. I know a lot more who are interested in being the president on the platform of the APC and I have given them my word that their candidacy for the nomination will be most welcome.
We have already presented ourselves. The first message we preach is that the Nigerian nation is broken and change must come. Let the Nigerian people try something new even. They must vote for change. We are presenting the states that we govern as sign post.
We have never ruled this nation, but we can tell you to look at our states.
On the confab
The only good thing I heard recently was that they are now in agreement with state police and I hope somebody is listening. Why people till now find it hard to see that basic point, I can’t understand. I don’t only want state police; I want local government police because nobody in his right senses will want his state to become the habitat of armed robbers, kidnappers and all sorts of miscreants.
That is the only good thing I heard recently just because I accidentally came across it. But it is a good diversionary thing.