IDRIS KOSOKO, who represented Badagry Federal Constituency, Lagos State, in House of Representatives, speaks with Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, on the recent congress of APC in the state, among other issues…
Congress as a charade
IDRIS KOSOKO
I think that is a misconception. The election was conducted and those that emerged were simply the choice of the people. By the party constitution, there are options that you may want to resolve the issue through consensus. But don’t forget that we started from the ward level to the local government level, then to the state level. Everything that happened was very clear. The delegates emerged from the wards. Part of the delegates will be officers at local government level and to the state. Within this process, there is no way you can manipulate it because it is Option A4. Once you emerge there, automatically you will become one of the state officers. But if you don’t emerge from the ward level, there is no way for you.
Our national leader, Bola Tinubu, said it during one of the stakeholders’ meetings that he would urge all the members to go and use any method that suited them, that would not cause problem for them. He said if in their elections they could reach consensus, fine; but where you failed to reach a consensus, you might go to congress. And that was what we had done. Anybody who said the congress was manipulated must be a joker and not telling the truth. Everything that we did was transparent because it is our belief that the wish of the people should always prevail and it must be done transparently too.
Plan to make you Chairman
That, to me, is a non-issue. The issue is whether one is capable to do the job, and given my pedigree, I am capable and everything was conducted to the best interest of the majority. Most times, it is even better that certain positions are not given too much publicity, so that the contestants may not start coming to influence you unduly. Having been in politics for many years, I was equal to the task given to me, which I discharged to the satisfaction of the majority. That is democracy in action. Looking at my political antecedents, I did not think to be a chairman in such election would pose a problem to me.
PDP’s boast to spring a surprise
For me, it is an empty boast because there is nothing that shows they are on ground. Talk is cheap; so they can talk. Unless they are deceiving themselves, when you survey all election variables, there is nothing that points to such victory. Will they use magic? In politics, especially among most Nigerian politicians, even when the person has just 300 people with other millions of people on the side of his opponent, he will still be claiming that he is a factor. It is a tragedy of our politics. PDP should not waste their time in the South West zone because apart from our party programme that touches the lives of the people, the electorate, we also have the credibility of the people at the helm of affairs. The Yoruba know their leaders. They know those that are honest with them. They know who can deliver and they vote for such people. PDP is suffering from desperation, but the people are now wiser. The masses are dissatisfied with the PDP politics. It is a party playing politics with the people’s lives rather than governance. PDP is jittery because they know that they will lose in more states under free and fair election.
Even with their federal might?
Of course, even with their federal power, under a free and fair election, they will lose. The days of ballot snatching and barbaric rigging are over. The people are now more sophisticated to resist it. You can no longer use violence or intimidation because you are the ruling party. The people must be allowed to choose their leaders, those they want to represent them. Any attempt by the PDP to rig election in the South West will not be taken kindly by the people.
Insecurity in the land
In my interview last year with some newspapers, I did say that whoever that must be the Minister of Defence should be a person with military background. At least, they listened to the advice. In that interview, I also noted that security issues are not things you treat on pages of newspaper; they are not what you come on screen and say government is on top of it, that Boko Haram will soon be phased out. These terror groups plan ahead, and government needs to do its job properly on the issue. The governor of Borno State was saying that the Boko Haram boys are well motivated and all that. But when you look at our military, those that are expected to contain them, are they? Government should set its dragnet well. This is not an issue you solve by road blocks. These people know the checkpoints; they will not pass as at the time you expect them. We should advance our technology. We must know certain types of security gadgets that can screen metals, track sensitive objects among other things, to be mounted in some areas.
Extension of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe
I think there are more to be done by the government and its security agents. What are the conditions of the curfew, the restrictions in certain areas? It is sad that now that we have state of emergency, we are getting more people dead.
Advice to confab delegates
I am not happy with what is going on there. Look at the huge amount of money they are collecting. Some are even asking for more allowances, like transportation. If you are there and have no car, then you have no business there. If you cannot make certain sacrifices for Nigeria, then you are not worthy to be in confab.
