Why 2023 Election will not be free, fair, credible – Ex- Presidential Candidate, Yahaya Ndu

Alhaji Yahaya Ndu is the founder and National Chairman of the now deregistered African Renaissance Party ARP.

He contested for the Presidency of Nigeria twice (2003 and 2011). He is the President, Peoples Movement for a New Nigeria (PMNN) and Director, Institute for African Renaissance Studies and Realization (IARSR), at the Gregory University Uturu, Abia State.

In this interview conducted by TUNDE OPALANA, Politics Editor, the politician explains his alliance with the African Democratic Congress (ADC), justifies why Presidency should go to the South East, expresses fear why the 2023 election may not be free and fair as expected by Nigerians. Excerpts.

Your political party is now defunct and not among the 18 registered parties to field candidates for the coming 2023 general election. How do you feel not participating in the democratic process towards 2023?

I would be lying if I said that I do not feel bad about it.But then,who knows the will of God Almighty? Diop’s ideas were further popularized by former President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki during his tenure as Deputy President,where the African Renaissance continues to play a key role in the post- apartheid intellectual agenda.

As a matter of fact I called the current chairman of INEC and suggested to him that since all political parties that were deregistered but went to court were recalled as the court held that INEC’s reason for deregistering were faulty , would it not be the right thing to recall all deregistered political parties? But he gave no answer and you know actions speak louder than words. His actions show that he did not agree with me.

But then like I said earlier,who knows the will of God? It is also said that every disappointment is a blessing.

That notwithstanding my opinion has not changed in anyway that the best philosophy or if you like, ideology to deliver Nigeria and Africa is African Renaissance,which is why we registered the African Renaissance Party ARP in the first place.

The African Renaissance is the concept that the African people shall overcome the current challenges confronting the continent and achieve cultural, scientific and economic renewal.

This concept was first articulated by Cheikh Anta Diop in a series of essays between 1946 and 1960, later collected in a book titled, “Towards the African Renaissance”
Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe said- ” Educate the Renascent African to be a man.Tell him that he has made definite contributions to history.

Educate him to appreciate that iron was discovered by Africans; that Africa ruled the world from 763- 713 B.C; that is while Europe slumbered during the dark ages,a great civilization flourished on the banks of the Niger, extending from the salt mines of Taghaza in Morocco,to Lake Chad right to the Atlantic.

Narrate to him the lore of Ethiopia,Ghana,Melle,Mellestine and Songhai. Let him realize with the rest of the world that while Oxford and Cambridge were in their inchoate stages, the University of Sankore in Timbuktu welcomed scholars and learned men from all over the Moslem world” The challenges confronting Nigeria today and the whole of Africa for that matter spun from lack of knowledge of whom and what we are.

If we look inwards we shall discover that all the solutions to our challenges whether of insecurity, poverty, disease and what have you, are abundantly with us and that the core of our problems is nothing but intellectual dependency.

Is there any concerted efforts by leaders of your ARP such as the nobel Laurette, Prof Wole Soyinka who was your last national chairman to revive your political movement with the aim of registering it again?.

The direct and straight forward answer to your question is No. At least not in the short term.

But then we have come to realize that Nigerians and Africans of nowadays do not really appreciate the depth of our malaise.

So we have gone to work underground to sensitize, mobilize and galvanize Nigerians, Africans and the black race towards realizing that they just have to take their destiny in their own hands so to say and stop looking up to the west to solve their problems for them.

Towards this end,in November last year for instance I was appointed Pioneer Director of the Institute for African Renaissance Studies and Actualization at the Gregory University Uturu and we set out immediately to mobilize the generality of Nigerians across board as well as some of the friends of Nigeria in the international community to organize a Nigerian People’s Peace and Security Summit.

The intention was at the end of the day to present the suggestions and conclusions of the people to the government for consideration, amendments were applicable and adoption.

In realization of the fact that culture is the totality of the life of a people,we have for many years being working on the establishment of Africa’s Cultural capital.

We have been interfacing with various state governments especially in the Niger Delta as we want the facility to be located by a sea shore to make it easier for black people and tourists from all over the world to access the place by water.

The event was articulated to commence from the communities of Nigeria all-over the country and throughout the world amongst the global Nigerian Diaspora Communities to gradually add systematically move to the wards, local government areas, states, geopolitical zones to national and likewise among the global Nigerian Diaspora Communities to their nations of residence, to continents etc.

We reached out to the Peace Committee led by the former head of state Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar, the professional groups like the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigerian Medical Association, Committee of Vice Chancellors, the Senate, House of Representatives, Governors, youth and women organizations, the Ohanaeze , the Afenifere, the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Northern Elders Forum, Ijaw National Congress etc, etc.

But at the end of the day there was not much enthusiasm amongst Nigerians. They prefer condemning the President rather doing anything to help their own situation.
What a great shame.

At the end of the day we may not need to reregister the African Renaissance Party ARP.

We may succeed in getting a political party like the African Democratic Congress ADC which may see and appreciate the need to form an alliance with us for the salvation of our people.

We also launched a 100 page full color new magazine known as the Renaissance World News Magazine.

Also I and my contacts set up the People’s Movements for a New Nigeria which many have been trying to copy.

At the end of the day, we may not need to reregister the African Renaissance Party ARP again.

Now that ARP is defunct, which of the leading political parties are you supporting in the 2023 polls and why?

You ask now that my party the ARP is defunct, which of the leading political parties am I supporting in the 2023 polls and why?

Well let me start by saying that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took the nation on a long rough ride and practically brought the nation to it’s knees. Right now it’s twin brother, the All Progressives Congress(AP) has led the nation to the abattoir where life is cruel, brutish and short and everyone is fearful for their lives.

I remember when in 1998/1999 in order to address and bring redress to the South West to compensate for the perceived Injustice against the zone occasioned by the annulment of the June 12,1993 presidential candidate perceived to have been won by Chief M.K.O Abiola, the two leading political parties all selected people from the south west as their presidential candidates in the persons of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Olu Falae.

Now, therefore in order to address the gross marginalization and Injustice against the south east,it is time for Nigerian political parties to do the same for the South East.

What is good for the geese is also good for the gander.

Like I said earlier we of the African Renaissance Party ARP ideologically lean towards the African Democratic Congress ADC.

However regarding the issue of the next President of Nigeria, there is something known as repugnance to natural justice, equity and good conscience.

I for one cannot support any candidate from outside the South East for the presidency of Nigeria because it will be evil, wicked and bad as well as unpatriotic especially against the background of the insecurity highlighted by the weekly sit at home in the entire south east imposed by the youths of the zone protesting the gross marginalization of the South East in the scheme of things.

So, as far as the Presidency goes ,I am personally supporting all presidential candidates from the south east.

There are lot of apprehension and concerns ahead of the 2023 polls. INEC’s resolve to conduct free, fair and credible election is being threatened by incessant spate of insecurity across the country and arsonist attacks on INEC offices particularly in the South East.

Do you think the 2023 election will hold and if not why?

But even if elections hold today it can never be free , fair and credible in my opinion. To begin with the entire process so far up till this stage is over monetized.

Secondly the degree of insecurity in Nigeria today will never allow many people to vote as kidnappers are all-over the country.

Killings everywhere, burning and looting of properties have become daily occurrence and over 90% of the perpetrators are never arrested and when they are arrested in 90% of the cases that is the end of the story.

By the way, if insecurity is so rampant today and our security agencies are not able to contain the situation, what will happen during general election when they will be thoroughly overstretched?

Now look at what is happening in many of the states.

The governors have arrogated to themselves the powers to chose for the entire citizens of the state who to vote for and are deploying government apparatus without let or hindrance in pursuit of their personal open agendas.

So, talks about free fair and credible elections are already largely dead on arrival.

Honestly your guess is as good as mine as to whether the 2023 elections will hold against the background of the overwhelming insecurity sweeper the nation and the attacks on INEC facilities in parts of the country especially in the south east.

However many things are clear; the survival of Nigeria does not depend on the succeed of the 2023 elections; Whether elections hold or not ,the primary purpose of Government as our constitution states is the security and welfare of the people;

Nigeria has survived many elections and change of governments in the past so I have absolutely no doubt that Nigeria will survive this; None of the presidential candidates is acceptable across the nation despite all pretenses.

Even the president and commander in chief of the armed forces is not only a member or head of the presidential campaign organization of his party but is already telling the nation whom he will hand over to long before the election and you are still talking about free fair and credible elections?

Even at the national level where serving ministers are spokesperson to presidential candidates and serving governors campaign managers and you are still talking about free fair and credible elections?.

Are you confident that INEC is independent enough to conduct a largely acceptable election next year?.

Our erstwhile colonial masters tell us that elections are an essential and inevitable part of democracy and we agree, what nonsense! Meanwhile while they are sending us pittance in the name of aid to help us organize another round of rubbish in the name of elections they are at the same time advertising for our teachers to leave us and relocate to Europe, still we refuse and fail to see through their deception!

So, naturally if the election holds, those who announced results favour will accept the results and those who they do not favor will reject the results and the courts will continue to have a field day and lawyers will continue to smile to the banks.

You ask if I am confident that INEC is independent enough to conduct a largely acceptable election next year?

Well the first thing I would like to ask is are we not referring to the elections expected or rather scheduled to hold in about eight weeks time?

The election if it holds is already jeopardized by reasons of the factors I have alluded to in my answer to your last question.

You are seeing governors announcing what percentage of votes their preferred candidates will get in their states and the INEC is not even challenging or cautioning them and you are still asking if the same INEC is independent enough. It is clear that it is not independent in anyway.

I ask again, why are we fixated on elections in this country and in many parts of Africa?

We have accepted many doctrines hook, line and sinker without interrogating them in anyway.

The degree of our intellectual dependency and inferiority complex has reached alarming proportions which is why you see those who say they want to be president shy away from meeting and interfacing with us Nigerians but find time to run to Chatham House in London to say all kinds of rubbish.

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and a host of others who fought for our independence must be turning in their graves in anger, anguish and total disgust. If we spent one tenth of the time and resources we spend on elections in this country and continent, on good governance and on how to ensure transparent, competent, effective, responsible and responsive government, we shall be a thousand times better off.

Instead of asking and wasting our time on whether INEC is independent enough to conduct a largely acceptable election next year we should spend our time working out how to ensure good governance election or no election and how to ensure that if there is election that no matter who wins what that there must be good governance and nobody is taken for a ride.

If we sit down to calculate what we spend on elections, campaign etc year in ,year out, month in ,month out, at the end of the day we gain nothing but generating mistrust, strive, hatred, and at the end electing point zero zero zero one percent of the people who will now begin to lord it over 99.9999% of the people and loot their resources and own forty mansions, thirty luxury cars, and so on with reckless abandon and when they are caught, which rarely happens, you begin to hear about plea bargain and all sought of rubbish, while insecurity and poverty get out of control. This is possible and achievable.

People have many times blamed the decay in Nigerian body polity on the defect in leadership recruitment process, do you agree to this?

And in the confusion in the polity where the INEC is overburdened and charged with responsibilities beyond it’s natural purview you have the lamentations attending our political Odyssey. Defective logic to some extent.

Half truth at best. One ugly trend emerging in the polity is that of people posturing to be aspiring to political offices as a guise to establish foot hold to attempt hijack of political parties whose fundamental ideologies they do not understand in the first place.

The return of democratic, I beg your pardon, civilian rule in 1999 came with a lot of contraption, contradictions and confusions. You have a situation where government was given pittance in the name of grants to political parties and was complaining that people were registering political parties just to collect grants. Then the government stopped giving grants to political parties yet the number of registered political parties continued to grow.

At a point in time a serving president was mockingly saying that the nation had some husband and wife parties. But in all these, the INEC was statutorily mandated to continue to interfere with the smooth operations of political parties and forcing the patriotic once into tight corners while turning blind eyes on the activities of ruling parties.

You have a situation where patriotic citizens would spend their hard earned monies to build formidable political parties and unhealthy regulations will be thrust on them compelling them to abandon the parties to those who are desperately looking for footholds to massage their ego .

Honestly not only Nigeria but the whole of Africa is in confusion. We suffer from extreme colonial mentality and we need African Cultural Renaissance badly.
We speak too much about recruitment process.

I have heard so many professors talk about it and if you ask me ,I think we are forgetting the more important faultline – our educational process.

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The bottom line is that no matter how you recruit those you thrust into leadership positions, you cannot get wheat from an empty husk.

We should focus more on the educational process which is why political parties that are ideologically based such as the now deregistered African Renaissance Party ARP and the African Democratic Congress ADC stand out from the maddening crowd. What are we teaching our so called leaders of tomorrow whose tomorrow we are already ruining today?

What are your expectations from whoever will emerge next president of Nigeria?.

On the question of what are my expectations from whoever will emerge next President of Nigeria,my answer is this: The person should first of all remember that Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians of all ethnic nationalities,all religious divides,all sexes, and to the young as well as to the old and finally to the living and the yet unborn.

That we as giant of Africa have the responsibility to lead the rest of Africa and the black race and so we must get it right at home here in Nigeria as charity begins at home.

That it is stupid to expect the west that previously enslaved us and sold us openly for 500 years to now turn around and be the ones to develop our country and deliver us from poverty, ignorance and disease.

That we have all it takes to pay off all our foreign and local debts within one year ten times over if need be. Monies stollen in just the last twelve years if recovered is more than enough to take care of that within one year

That turning our country into a perpetual theater of war where we kill ourselves with foreign weapons when there are peaceful and sustainable alternative means of bringing lasting peace to our land to say the least is not wisdom and is not working and is unsustainable.

That no one has any monopoly of knowledge or of wisdom or of patriotism and that mass participatory and all inclusive governance is the way to go.

That we have no other country than Nigeria. That though it is true that the 1999 constitution has many defects and that the nation needs a new constitution, that there are a million ways of improving our lot using the same 1999 constitution while waiting and working for the ideal constitution.

That the way forward for Nigeria and Africa is democracy and not electracy.