APC will use coming council elections to finally nail PDP’s coffin in Lagos–Ajomale
Otunba Henry Oladele Ajomale is the Lagos State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview he speaks on the forthcoming local governments election in the state, two years of Muhammadu Buhari ‘s administration, the 2014 National Conference among other issues. PATRICK OKOHUE reports.
Recent primaries organised by APC to pick chairmanship candidates for the party in the forthcoming local government elections were marred by violence following protest by aggrieved party members who opposed imposition of candidates by APC leadership, what’s your reaction to this?
That’s another false allegation being sponsored by the opposition against the party. APC never believes in imposition of candidates, we organised that primary in an open place with a view of promoting transparency. No one imposed any candidate on anybody.
APC is a party of democrats and the party believes in providing a level playing ground for all aspirants. No particular candidate was favoured above others, but where delegates from a particular area said they believe in consensus candidacy, we don’t oppose their wish.
Any talk about any leader in APC imposing anybody should be regarded as idle talk. For those mentioning Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s name, may God forgive them. They are being unfair to the man. Tinubu is a democrat. He doesn’t believe in imposition, and he has never imposed any candidate on us.
To show you how democratic Tinubu is, if we have a meeting and we, his supporters and followers have a superior argument over his own position, he doesn’t impose his own decision on us.
He goes with whatever decision is taken by the majority. Tinubu is not only a democrat but also a team player. He detests imposition and autocracy.
What advice do you have for those that are aggrieved by the exercise and who are now making various allegations against the party?
My appeal is that we should allow peace to reign and give peace a chance. In APC in Lagos State, we have always been working together as a team, and we regarded ourselves as members of the same family. We should not allow enmity over this primary.
What is surprising me is that most of those people at the arrow-head of the imposition accusation against us are beneficiary of the same process. Some of them were in Lagos State cabinet for 10-12 years.
That time they were there for that long, they were not accusing us of imposition, but when they are now asked to give others a chance they are now accusing us of imposition. You can see the hypocrisy in human beings.
Moreover, it is even not true that we impose people in APC. What usually happen is that we use to have a process that is called consensus, and consensus is part of politics all over the world, even in advanced climes.
What consensus involves is a process whereby other aspirants by mutual consensus agree to step down for a particular candidate. It is by mutual agreement.
It is not something being forced upon them by the party and consensus is done in all political parties. But where there is no consensus, aspirants now go for primaries and this is what has happened in APC’s case.
It is unfortunate that some individuals for selfish reason are now making this wrong allegations against APC leaders in Lagos State. But my appeal to these people is that we should give peace a chance. We should all rally round to defeat PDP in this forthcoming local government election.
On the forthcoming local government elections in Lagos State, some PDP leaders have declared that APC will not find it easy and that PDP is poised to spring a surprise by trouncing APC?
Which surprise? Anyway truly PDP will be surprised, and what kind of surprise are they going to get. PDP will go into oblivion in Lagos State after the council polls because APC will defeat them thoroughly.
In fact PDP is already dead in Lagos State, but APC will use the council elections to finally nail PDP’s coffin in Lagos State. After the election nobody will hear of PDP again in Lagos State. PDP is virtually dead in Lagos State. APC will use the council election to bury PDP in Lagos State.
How would you react to the recent decision by the Senate to have a look at the 2014 national confab organised by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan with a view of taking some parts of its recommendations?
Cuts in ….Well I have no grouse against the Senate’s decision. But my own position is this and which is also the view and position of other progressives including our national leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, what Nigeria need is a Sovereign National Conference. We have been canvassing a sovereign national conference and our position has not changed.
Do you call that jamboree of 2014 convened by Jonathan a conference? No. What Jonathan convened was a mockery of a national confab. It was a sham and caricature. I believe in restructuring, especially the need for us to embrace fiscal federalism, and this we can do without falling back on Jonathan’s confab.
What Jonathan convened was never a national conference talk less of being anything close to Sovereign National Conference which Tinubu has always advocated. Jonathan’s conference was just job for the boys.
Nothing serious happened there and that was why you see many of the delegates sleeping for most parts of the time. Like I said during an earlier interview and which I’m still insisting now, Jonathan’s confab was like a comedy show. You even see husband and wife, brothers and sisters as being delegates to the confab.
Jonathan was never sincere with that confab. He knew it was a gathering for merriments, and that’s why he himself didn’t implement the confab reports before he left office. That Jonathan’s confab was just an avenue to distract Nigerians who are disgruntled with his bad administration.
It was a gathering to share money, and keep some of his opponents or critics mouth shut. Why do we now say it is such a confab that its report we want to use to carry out some reforms in the country. I think the Senate should review their position.
My advice to Nigerians is that they should exercise patience with President Muhammadu Buhari. His government is on the track and the man is poised to address various grievances of different ethnic nationalities. We should just exercise patience with him.
I believe in a sovereign national conference, and this is a conference where the reports or decisions arrived at would be subject to a national referendum whose final results would be binding.
Power belong to the people, and this is why under a sovereign national conference, it is people through a national referendum that will decide whether they accept or reject reports and recommendations made by a sovereign national confab, and it is whatever the people say through this referendum that becomes binding.
But some Nigerians are saying that nothing has changed, and that if anything has changed at all it is that things have changed for the worse as many people are complaining of hardship, what’s your take on that?
Those who are saying that nothing has changed are just being mischievous, they are apologists of PDP. They are not engaging in constructive politics.
In Nigeria today, things are changing for better every day.
About three years ago when PDP was still in power, how many Nigerians can sleep with their two eyes closed? The Boko Haram insurgents were everywhere wreaking havoc.
They were bombing everywhere, killing innocent Nigerians. Nobody was safe, and blood was flowing freely at motor parks and garages as a result of Boko Haram bombings, and PDP government in power then was helpless to do anything about the situation.
The Boko Haram insurgents were so bold and daring that time that they were attacking and bombing Army Barracks, and even the Police Headquarters in Abuja was bombed by Boko Haram.
But today the situation has changed since a more capable government in form of APC has taken over reins of government at the centre. It will be very unfair if Nigerians fail to give kudos to President Muhammadu Buhari for taming the monster called Boko Haram. Lives of Nigerians are now more secured.
Again, look at those Chibok girls that were abducted under Goodluck Jonathan’s watch as President, President Buhari has brought joy and succour to the families of the abducted girls as his administration has secured the release of many of these girls, and Buhari is still working on how to secure the release of remaining ones.
Look at the huge sums of money being recovered from those who looted the nation’s treasury running into trillions of naira, has that happened before? Did PDP’s government bring any looter to justice? No.
These are some of Buhari’s achievements, and again look at the ongoing war against corruption, Buhari’s ongoing war against corruption has exposed many Nigerians who looted the nation’s treasury and yet some people are saying that nothing has changed; to me those saying nothing has changed are being mischievous, and they are mostly PDP’s apologists.
Today things are looking up for us in Nigeria, nobody should ever wish for us to return to PDP era. That was an inglorious era that plunged Nigeria into evil rule and bad governance.
It was reported that former President Goodluck Jonathan’s supporters are urging him to have a shot at the Presidency again in 2019, claiming that he would beat Buhari hands down should Buhari seek re-election, what’s your view on this?
Jonathan coming back? That’s a big joke. I would rather advise Jonathan not to allow some selfish Nigerians who are out to make money from him to deceive him.
If Jonathan or his supporters ever contemplate coming back for Jonathan, I can categorically say that, that’s a project doomed to fail from beginning. I will advise Jonathan to spend his time in retirement in his Otuoke village peacefully.
He should not allow some people to deceive him. What are the credentials that Jonathan want to flaunt for his comeback attempt. Even some of his own kinsmen in Niger-Delta recently publicly declared that six years of Jonathan’s administration as President of this country was a disaster to the Niger-Delta.
But I want to quickly add to it that six years of Jonathan’s Presidency was not only a waste to the Niger-Delta but to the entire Nigeria. Jonathan was a big flop. Nigeria almost became a failed state under his clueless leadership.
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PDP will be surprised, and what kind of surprise are they going to get. PDP will go into oblivion in Lagos State after the council polls because APC will defeat them thoroughly. In fact PDP is already dead in Lagos State, but APC will use the council elections to finally nail PDP’s coffin in Lagos State. After the election nobody will hear of PDP again in Lagos State. PDP is virtually dead in Lagos State. APC will use the council election to bury PDP in Lagos State.
