Why the presidency should be zone to South East in 2023-Adewale

Bolaji Adewale, a legal practitioner, is the Lagos State chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP). In this interview, he speaks on efforts to reposition the party ahead 2023, and Muhammadu Buhari’s administration among several other issues in the polity. PATRICK OKOHUE reports.

***********What is your take on the defection of Babatunde Gbadamosi, your party’s governorship candidate in the 2019 gubernatorial election in Lagos State to the PDP?

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He has just changed party; we are not surprised, it is his fundamental right.

Nigerians has right to choose who their leaders are, so he is just exercising his right under the constitution, he just remembered that the moment we finished the gubernatorial election that he does not belong to ADP and since that time he has been inactive in our party.

**********What does this portend for the ADP, a crisis?

Obviously no, but like I said I do not know what informed his decision to defect, he is in a better position to say that, but what I know is that there is no crack or crisis within the party; we are wagging stronger. Don’t forget that, this is a new party, not even up to three years old. In June this years it would be three, for us to be among the parties that was not delisted by INEC tells you that we are still a force to be reckoned with among the political parties in the country.

2023 is still far away and we are preparing and not relenting, our structure is getting stronger. Some people have come into the party, others have equally left. Like I said this is Nigeria, politicians defect like they are changing singlet. This moment the person is in APC, the next moment he is in APGA, there is nothing strange about what has happened, it is normal in Nigeria.

*********** What does this defection mean for the future of your party?

You can only get the performances of party during election; at the last election among the 80 political parties that participated in the election in this state ADP came third. This was a party that was less than two years old.  Then, for the 2019 election we were just one year and nine months old and we were able to come third, nationally we were six or seventh that is something to write home about.

It means that there is something that we have and can work on towards the 2023 election. Also the local government election in the state comes up next month; we are going to see a better party and performance.  Yes, we are going to consolidate on our performance in last year’s election that is what we would do.

*********** But there is the presumption that your party is not grassroots based?

The reason ADP was not deregistered is because INEC found us in the grassroots. You know INEC check all the parties and we were all invited, including all our officials from the ward to the national level and they carried out verification.

They are able to establish that ADP is on ground; what you people don’t understand is that ADP is not making noise; the result of elections would make noise for us.

***********The conduct of LG government election in Lagos State has been questioned in recent times; are you saying your party would participate in next year’ LG election?

What I can tell you is that ADP would participate in all elections. Look at the local government elections in Sokoto, Jigawa and the rest states, the ADP participated and had candidates, even some constituencies in Sokoto State for example we came second in the election. That is to show you that we are always there and ready, and we would compete with most of these so call big parties, and overtake them. In the last general elections our candidates in Oyo won House of Representative and Assembly seats.

*********** What is your take on the recent delisting of political parties by INEC?

It was long overdue, I am not an advocate of multi-political parties, I don’t know the essence of it. I was thinking that they want to limit the number of parties to five. Many of the parties are just there in the newspaper and television, they are not on ground.

**********But some of them have complained they were not given enough time before being registered by INEC?

Why did they go and submit proposals for registration during the election when they know they were not ready? They knew the election was coming even when they don’t have the grassroots support, they asked for registration. We knew what we wanted, they know that there is going to be an election and they went to compete, they should not blame anybody. The Senate should control the number of political parties in the country; parties with the same ideology can merge together.

In the United States and the rest things are not done like this. If the Electoral Act is amended parties would be streamlined. What is happening now is proper, more than 90 parties, that does not make sense. How do INEC monitor 92 parties? Then should you have a ballot paper that is as tall as this. And we saying that we would not temper with the system it confuse people.

**********What is your take on Electronic voting?

If it is achievable it is ok. But there is no system that is adopted that would not be abused here, everybody see the system as survival of the fittest, everybody wants to win election. But if the purpose for contesting election is for the development of the people, you want to go to office and serve the people, assist the poor it should not be a do-or-die affair. But rather our people wants to win at all cost, destroying ballot paper, it is business to them.

**********What is your take on agitation by the South East that the 2023 presidency should be zoned to the region in 2023?

If it is the presidency, personally I think the South East should have the presidency in 2023, it is their turn. I don’t believe that they don’t have anybody in the South East who can occupy that position, it is not true. There are South eastern politicians in APC, what kind of alliance are they talking about? We have Igbo politicians in the PDP and APC, why can’t they pick candidates from there. Why can’t they zone the presidency to the South East? This question that they should go and join forces with other regions I don’t believe in it.

The people of the South East belong and are members of the party; why not zone the presidency to them? But I believe they have lot of qualified Nigerians from the South East who can vie for the president.

*********** What is your take on Buhari’s administration?

If there is another name to be used than failure, that is what I would use to qualify the Buhari’s administration now, because Buhari is failure right from day one when he assumed office. Look at this issue of this Coronavirus; the President has not even addressed the nation for ones, and look at what Presidents of other nations have been doing, they are active, but he decided to keep mute. That is a sign of failure, as a President who does not know what to do, this is a failure. I don’t see what he has achieved in five years and I don’t know what he can achieve.

************What is the position of your party on ‘Amotekun’?

Necessity is the mother of invention, if the President had not failed there would not be need for ‘Amotekun’. Even in your house when you have an issue no one tells you to look for solution for your problem. The President has not done much in term of security, what has he done? It appears nobody is safe now. People are being killed every day and some people are supporting him. People are missing and nobody is doing anything about it, they have their reasons.

************Your party criticised the performance of INEC after the 2019 election, has that position changed now?

INEC is doing their bit, but within INEC there are some infractions that have taken over the place, they give political parties the power that they have their men in INEC, employment is part of the issue we have.

***********Is your party satisfied with the performance of the governor of Lagos State so far?

Let see what happen after one year by May 29, the government met Lagos State in a very bad state, it would be unfair to pass judgement negatively now, let us wait and see what happens in the next three  months and the shortest period.

He was not a politician, but was drafted their by his godfather. So within the first six, nine months he is grappling with issues in that office, but let’s wait and see for now. But going forward Nigerians should be wary of politicians, they should look for alternatives; People who can sanitise the system, people who wants to serve. Rather not people who want to do business and make money; if you want to make money go into business instead rather than politics which is to serve.

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 If it is the presidency, personally I think the South East should have the presidency in 2023, it is their turn. I don’t believe that they don’t have anybody in the South East who can occupy that position, it is not true. There are South eastern politicians in APC, what kind of alliance are they talking about? We have Igbo politicians in the PDP and APC, why can’t they pick candidates from there. Why can’t they zone the presidency to the South East?