NATIONAL
Publicity Secretary of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties
(CNPP) and Enugu State governorship candidate of the Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC) in last year’s general election, Mr. Osita
Okechukwu, spoke on the alleged pact between the leadership of Ohanaeze
Ndigbo and President Goodluck Jonathan last year, the possibility of
Igbo Presidency in 2015, the planned alliance between the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and CPC ahead the 2015 elections and other
topical issues.
As we approach the 2015 general elections, what are the chances of Ndigbo producing the president?
The chance of a president of Igbo extraction is very remote, for the Igbo have put all their eggs in one basket.
Don’t forget the old proverb that warned against putting all your eggs in one basket.
What do you mean by putting all their eggs in one basket?
I mean that in the run up to last year’s general elections, almost all Igbo politicians were canvassing for votes for Jonathan.
It was a heavy mobilisation, even members of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), who are normally our allies, got involved, with Governor Peter Obi leading the squad.
I remember vividly how we made efforts to get Ndigbo to vote for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. We narrated the impeccable qualities of Buhari, as a man of integrity, who will wage a relentless war against corruption and will revamp our decayed infrastructures.
The answer we received was that Ndigbo had decided to vote for Jonathan, who will in turn hand over to a president of Igbo extraction in 2015.
Are you saying that the President really made such promise to Ndigbo?
What I am saying is that the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo told our people that it would be our turn after Jonathan. They made the assertion of a pact with Jonathan and his managers in private and public meeting.
Frankly, the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo must answer this question. They are in a better position to know whether the deal they struck on our behalf is realisable.
I remember one town hall meeting at Presidential Hotel, Enugu in August 2010, organised by elder statesman and former Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and others, where they repeatedly promised the audience that any Igbo man who wants to witness a president of Igbo extraction in 2015 should vote for Jonathan. It was a chorus in Igbo land.
We warned against the dosage of propaganda at the time.
Was the agreement cast in stone?
All agreement must not be written in black and white or as you said, cast in stone. It is like a gentleman’s agreement, but this does not mean it should be revoked, for the Igbos canvassed and voted massively for Jonathan.
One easily recalls how I was shouted down in a public debate of governorship candidates, organised by the Catholic Church at Holy Ghost Cathedral in Enugu when I called on them to vote for Buhari.
One man came up to me after the speech and advised me not to mention any other candidate except Jonathan in any other forum during my campaign.
But the President has not told anybody that he will be running in 2015, which does not forecloses the chances of Ndigbo?
The body language of the President shows that he is running. For example, during the Northwest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) meeting late last year, a group of youths stormed the venue with posters depicting the Vice President Namadi Sambo as a presidential candidate.
The next day, the office of the Vice President did not only distanced their boss from the incident, but also they disowned the posters and dubbed the printers of the posters as jesters and evil men.
Secondly, in the suit instituted at the Federal High Court in Abuja by Chijioke Njoku challenging the validity of Jonathan to contest for president in 2015, the lawyers of the President are seriously defending his inalienable right to contest in 2015. The lawyers cannot be defending him for fun.
Chief Edwin Clark, former Minister of Information and elder statesman and one of the great supporters of Jonathan is already in an advanced stage of the campaign.
These are a few of the signposts that show that Jonathan is warming up seriously for 2015.
If he is running, can’t someone contest the primary against him?
Have you heard any member of PDP member declaring his/her intention to run, even former Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku?
There is no law that says that nobody can contest the primary against him. However, Nigerians are copycats and the argument will be that the incumbent doesn’t contest primary.
Conversely, it is not easy to defeat an incumbent in an intra-party election, more so when he is the leader of the party.
What are the options left for Ndigbo to actualise the long dream of producing a president of Igbo extraction in Nigeria?
The only viable option left for Ndigbo is to join forces with the move to form a granite coalition by progressive forces in the country represented by the ACN, CPC and other progressive elements in other political parties.
There will be level playing field in the coalition, unlike the PDP, where the candidate is already known.
Do you think Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu would allow others to come in and pick up the ticket?
Buhari and Tinubu are more concerned about building a granite coalition to save Nigeria from the stranglehold and grip of the PDP. The leadership of the coalition is aware that Nigeria cannot claim to practise democracy if there is no regime change.
It is regime change, which Ghana and other countries are basking on. It is glorious to defeat the incumbent, and the world will jubilate with Nigeria.
They do not want the mistake we made last year to repeat itself. There will be no miscarriage this time.
Are you saying that our democracy is still fledgling?
Regime change is the spice of liberal democracy, as against one-party ruling for 60 years.
The day PDP will be defeated in a presidential election will be the day Nigeria will be said to have completed the transition to full democracy, not civil rule.
The defeat of PDP will usher in free and fair elections, transparency and accountability in governance and delivery of public good and safety net.
Is PDP not delivering these to Nigerians?
What I am saying is that if PDP is defeated in 2015, the party that comes to power must perform and must not repeat the culture of impunity, monumental corruption and abuse of power, which is the metaphor of the PDP.
Lets come back to the quest of Ndigbo to produce a president. With PDP producing most Igbo legislators, councilors and governors, how do you think the granite coalition would win in the Southeast?
An election in liberal democracy serves two fundamental purposes- it confers powers on the electorate to choose their leaders, especially if there is free and fair election, and it is a referendum on the incumbent.
Since after the civil war, I have never seen the Igbos unite for common purpose and jointly fight together, like they did in supporting Jonathan for president. They went out of their way and raked up votes from every available register, to the extent that a state like Imo, where Jonathan scored 1.3million votes, recorded below 800,000 from all the candidates for governorship, same in other Southeast states. It was bumper harvest.
One does not think Ndigbo will reward Jonathan with votes if he reneges from an agreement he had with them.
How would the Igbo be compensated for voting en masse for Jonathan?
Permit me to refer you back to Chief Ralph Uwechue and other leaders of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, who were the ones that conveyed the promise of turn-by-turn in 2015.
They went ahead to list, not only the handover of the presidency to an Igbo in 2015, but also that other juicy promises, like the Second Niger Bridge, Coal-Fired Power Plant, etc would be realised.
Some Igbo leaders have denied knowledge of such promise. So, can anyone vouch for the sincerity of such pact?
This pact was made and proclaimed at several fora, sometimes in hush tones, reminding you that the deal should remain secret until an opportune time.
Some might deny the deal, especially now that it seems a pipe dream, as far as PDP is concerned. I mentioned to you a town hall meeting where this carrot was openly canvassed.
The Ohanaeze leadership should be held culpable, if at the end of the day nothing good comes out of the deal.
Outside who becomes president and who occupies other offices, what other tangibles differentiates the granite coalition you mentioned from PDP?
Ideologically, we are centre of the left. That is why we talk of progressives. We believe that government has business in business and we must invest our resources to revamp our decayed infrastructure. That is to say that public sector must invest in our infrastructure.
We cannot make the mistake of waiting for the private sector, until one of the busiest roads in the country collapsed, in this instance, the Benin-Lagos and Lagos-Sagamu.
What is the role of the private sector in the picture you painted?
We welcome the private sector. However, we are not going to wait for them, like PDP waited for the private sector. We are aware that 90 per cent of all those who call themselves captains of industry have no industry, even pure water factory. They are captains of industry without factories; their industry is the foreign exchange market.
Our economic landscape is primitive economy and the veritable growth must come from transparent state capitalism. Charity must begin at home. If you show seriousness, foreign investors will come.
Don’t forget that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as a President, going by the late Gani Fawehinmi records, made over 400 trips abroad looking for foreign investors and nothing commensurate came out of them, because he left everything in the hope.
We must also remind ourselves that all those tunnels and 10 line road lanes in Europe and North America were constructed by the public sector and up to date, they still subsidise agriculture and other essential items.
As we approach the 2015 general elections, what are the chances of Ndigbo producing the president?
The chance of a president of Igbo extraction is very remote, for the Igbo have put all their eggs in one basket.
Don’t forget the old proverb that warned against putting all your eggs in one basket.
What do you mean by putting all their eggs in one basket?
I mean that in the run up to last year’s general elections, almost all Igbo politicians were canvassing for votes for Jonathan.
It was a heavy mobilisation, even members of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), who are normally our allies, got involved, with Governor Peter Obi leading the squad.
I remember vividly how we made efforts to get Ndigbo to vote for Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. We narrated the impeccable qualities of Buhari, as a man of integrity, who will wage a relentless war against corruption and will revamp our decayed infrastructures.
The answer we received was that Ndigbo had decided to vote for Jonathan, who will in turn hand over to a president of Igbo extraction in 2015.
Are you saying that the President really made such promise to Ndigbo?
What I am saying is that the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo told our people that it would be our turn after Jonathan. They made the assertion of a pact with Jonathan and his managers in private and public meeting.
Frankly, the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo must answer this question. They are in a better position to know whether the deal they struck on our behalf is realisable.
I remember one town hall meeting at Presidential Hotel, Enugu in August 2010, organised by elder statesman and former Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amechi, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and others, where they repeatedly promised the audience that any Igbo man who wants to witness a president of Igbo extraction in 2015 should vote for Jonathan. It was a chorus in Igbo land.
We warned against the dosage of propaganda at the time.
Was the agreement cast in stone?
All agreement must not be written in black and white or as you said, cast in stone. It is like a gentleman’s agreement, but this does not mean it should be revoked, for the Igbos canvassed and voted massively for Jonathan.
One easily recalls how I was shouted down in a public debate of governorship candidates, organised by the Catholic Church at Holy Ghost Cathedral in Enugu when I called on them to vote for Buhari.
One man came up to me after the speech and advised me not to mention any other candidate except Jonathan in any other forum during my campaign.
But the President has not told anybody that he will be running in 2015, which does not forecloses the chances of Ndigbo?
The body language of the President shows that he is running. For example, during the Northwest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) meeting late last year, a group of youths stormed the venue with posters depicting the Vice President Namadi Sambo as a presidential candidate.
The next day, the office of the Vice President did not only distanced their boss from the incident, but also they disowned the posters and dubbed the printers of the posters as jesters and evil men.
Secondly, in the suit instituted at the Federal High Court in Abuja by Chijioke Njoku challenging the validity of Jonathan to contest for president in 2015, the lawyers of the President are seriously defending his inalienable right to contest in 2015. The lawyers cannot be defending him for fun.
Chief Edwin Clark, former Minister of Information and elder statesman and one of the great supporters of Jonathan is already in an advanced stage of the campaign.
These are a few of the signposts that show that Jonathan is warming up seriously for 2015.
If he is running, can’t someone contest the primary against him?
Have you heard any member of PDP member declaring his/her intention to run, even former Vice President, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku?
There is no law that says that nobody can contest the primary against him. However, Nigerians are copycats and the argument will be that the incumbent doesn’t contest primary.
Conversely, it is not easy to defeat an incumbent in an intra-party election, more so when he is the leader of the party.
What are the options left for Ndigbo to actualise the long dream of producing a president of Igbo extraction in Nigeria?
The only viable option left for Ndigbo is to join forces with the move to form a granite coalition by progressive forces in the country represented by the ACN, CPC and other progressive elements in other political parties.
There will be level playing field in the coalition, unlike the PDP, where the candidate is already known.
Do you think Buhari and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu would allow others to come in and pick up the ticket?
Buhari and Tinubu are more concerned about building a granite coalition to save Nigeria from the stranglehold and grip of the PDP. The leadership of the coalition is aware that Nigeria cannot claim to practise democracy if there is no regime change.
It is regime change, which Ghana and other countries are basking on. It is glorious to defeat the incumbent, and the world will jubilate with Nigeria.
They do not want the mistake we made last year to repeat itself. There will be no miscarriage this time.
Are you saying that our democracy is still fledgling?
Regime change is the spice of liberal democracy, as against one-party ruling for 60 years.
The day PDP will be defeated in a presidential election will be the day Nigeria will be said to have completed the transition to full democracy, not civil rule.
The defeat of PDP will usher in free and fair elections, transparency and accountability in governance and delivery of public good and safety net.
Is PDP not delivering these to Nigerians?
What I am saying is that if PDP is defeated in 2015, the party that comes to power must perform and must not repeat the culture of impunity, monumental corruption and abuse of power, which is the metaphor of the PDP.
Lets come back to the quest of Ndigbo to produce a president. With PDP producing most Igbo legislators, councilors and governors, how do you think the granite coalition would win in the Southeast?
An election in liberal democracy serves two fundamental purposes- it confers powers on the electorate to choose their leaders, especially if there is free and fair election, and it is a referendum on the incumbent.
Since after the civil war, I have never seen the Igbos unite for common purpose and jointly fight together, like they did in supporting Jonathan for president. They went out of their way and raked up votes from every available register, to the extent that a state like Imo, where Jonathan scored 1.3million votes, recorded below 800,000 from all the candidates for governorship, same in other Southeast states. It was bumper harvest.
One does not think Ndigbo will reward Jonathan with votes if he reneges from an agreement he had with them.
How would the Igbo be compensated for voting en masse for Jonathan?
Permit me to refer you back to Chief Ralph Uwechue and other leaders of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, who were the ones that conveyed the promise of turn-by-turn in 2015.
They went ahead to list, not only the handover of the presidency to an Igbo in 2015, but also that other juicy promises, like the Second Niger Bridge, Coal-Fired Power Plant, etc would be realised.
Some Igbo leaders have denied knowledge of such promise. So, can anyone vouch for the sincerity of such pact?
This pact was made and proclaimed at several fora, sometimes in hush tones, reminding you that the deal should remain secret until an opportune time.
Some might deny the deal, especially now that it seems a pipe dream, as far as PDP is concerned. I mentioned to you a town hall meeting where this carrot was openly canvassed.
The Ohanaeze leadership should be held culpable, if at the end of the day nothing good comes out of the deal.
Outside who becomes president and who occupies other offices, what other tangibles differentiates the granite coalition you mentioned from PDP?
Ideologically, we are centre of the left. That is why we talk of progressives. We believe that government has business in business and we must invest our resources to revamp our decayed infrastructure. That is to say that public sector must invest in our infrastructure.
We cannot make the mistake of waiting for the private sector, until one of the busiest roads in the country collapsed, in this instance, the Benin-Lagos and Lagos-Sagamu.
What is the role of the private sector in the picture you painted?
We welcome the private sector. However, we are not going to wait for them, like PDP waited for the private sector. We are aware that 90 per cent of all those who call themselves captains of industry have no industry, even pure water factory. They are captains of industry without factories; their industry is the foreign exchange market.
Our economic landscape is primitive economy and the veritable growth must come from transparent state capitalism. Charity must begin at home. If you show seriousness, foreign investors will come.
Don’t forget that Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as a President, going by the late Gani Fawehinmi records, made over 400 trips abroad looking for foreign investors and nothing commensurate came out of them, because he left everything in the hope.
We must also remind ourselves that all those tunnels and 10 line road lanes in Europe and North America were constructed by the public sector and up to date, they still subsidise agriculture and other essential items.
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