Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed spoke with JEREMIAH OKE on the All Progressives Congress (APC), its prospects, manifestos and challenges ahead.
How will the All Progressives Congress (APC) overcome the registration hurdle?
Neither the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) nor the merger parties have any precedence to follow. Clearly, in the political history of Nigeria, so far, this is the first time we are having a merger of two or three political parties. What we had before was an alliance. So, with that, we can understand why there is so much misconception, controversy and noise. We are on the right course, on the track. We are following the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in all our dealings. So, we refuse to be intimidated. If political parties want to merge, they will write a letter to the INEC of their intention to merge and in that way, they will be able to reserve their name. There is no provision in the electoral act or constitution, which says we must write a letter of intention or they should reserve a name. However, the relevant provision for merger is stated in the Section 84 of the Electoral Act as amended. It says that, if any two political parties want to merge, they shall give the commission 90 days notice of their intention to do so before the general election.
What it means is that, if you give the notice of your intention to merge less than 90 day before the general election, such a merger cannot be accepted. However, the defining provision in the Section 84, Sub-Section 3 says: “a written request of the merger shall be send to the chairman of the commission jointly signed by the national chairmen, secretaries, and the treasurers of the different political parties proposing a merger and shall be accompany by a special resolution passed at the National convention of the political parties proposing to merge and approving the merger. The proposed full name and the acronym, logo or symbol, constitution, manifestoes and the address of the national body of the party and evidence of payment of the party.
The law is very clear that the party that want to merge, must first consider the consensus agreement that they want to merge. After that they must sit down and decide on the name, the logo, the manifesto and the constitution of the new party and other conditions they want to adopt. After that, they will now go and call for the convention of their various political parties to get a clear resolution because the convention of the party is just like the annual general meeting of the organisation which is the highest body in any organization. Now, from that resolution, you will now write a letter signed by the National Chairman, secretary and the treasurer of the party that they want to merge if the name they agreed upon is not contrary to the law of the land. What we have done is to follow the law to the latter as the issue of the merger is concerned. But we must make a distinction between the process of the registration of a new party and the process of merger because they are two different process and the procedure are very different in the electoral act and they are governed by the constitution of federal republic of Nigeria. In the case of registering a party, you go to INEC and pick a form; you fill the form meanwhile the procedure for merger is more complex than that because it involves more interest, more people than party registration. So, by the provision of the law, it is very easy to ambush or frustrate a merger. People have been asking why we have to blame INEC since we have not written a formal letter before another group signifies interest in the same acronym, which we have adopted. But I tell them that the issue is far from that because on February 6, when we agreed to merge, we held a world press conference, at the press conference, we informed the whole world our intention to merge. We told them that we have adopt the name called All Progressive Congress, and INEC also reacted to it through its spoke person that they have heard that we want to become one political party and we must fulfill all the condition required by law. Although, we have not informed them formally, INEC has the constructive knowledge and our motive on our intention to come together.
APC is made up of three political parties. How can rancor be avoided during the selection of the members of the National Executive Committee of the party?
The first thing we all agreed upon at the first meeting of the merger was that there shall not be any conditionality. The only thing behind this merger is the resolution of the three political parties that we want to rescue and savage this nation from the PDP. Before we entered the merger negotiation, we have agreed that everybody must drop his ambition, ego and self-centeredness to make proper negotiation and that is why it is possible for us in less than six weeks to achieve more than half of the merger procedure. Sincerely speaking, it is not easy for three political parties, which have been competing against themselves in the past 14 years, to come together and form a merger. But we are able to do so because we are more concerned by the future of this nation. For you to know that it is not that easy, we have to set up different committees on constitution, logo, manifesto and even acronym. In six weeks, they submitted their report. It is a phenomenal achievement. I don’t see myself in this merger because of material gain. So also all other members of the merger. On the issue of who want to be this, who wants to be that, I can assure you that the party will handle it effectively without any rancor, since it is meant to savage this nation.
How can the differences that have marked the parties out be resolved?
We have taken care of that in our manifesto. This manifesto is a product of very intensive consultation by members of the three merging parties. What we did for each committee was that each party nominated five members in the party to be among the different committees and after thorough examination of the different manifestos in the world. They sat down and decided on what is going to be the vision and the focus of APC. In the manifesto, there is something we called a cardinal program of the party, which will be the core program that must be executed by the APC government, either at the federal, state, or local level, irrespective of whether they are from the North, East, or west. For instance, the issue of no tolerance for corruption will apply to every government under the APC. The issue of internal security, protection of lives and properties must apply by all governments under the platform of the party. Youth empowerment will be given priority. Housing and power will also be given priority. After that, each state depending on the peculiar reality and situation will now determine what their people need. For instance; if you talk about ecology, while the problem in the South might be erosion, flooding, the problem in the North could be gully erosion or other problem.
How can APC dislodge the PDP?
There is going to be an explosion in the PDP. They are no more on ground. For instance, they held a reconciliation meeting and their key people did not attend. Let me give you some of the headlines: “ Tambuwal, Kwankwanso shun meeting”. “Obasanjo, Oyinlola fail to appear”. ‘In the Southsouth Amaechi walks out of meeting’. I think it is the people that give credibility to the PDP. PDP is imploding. PDP is not what it used to be. The governors in the party are at war with their chairmen. It was the serious crisis within the PDP that led to the creation of the PDP Governors’Forum. As we are talking now, virtually all the states are having serious crisis with the national secretariat of the PDP. In Ogun State, for instance, they have sacked all the Obasanjo people there. In Adamawa State, Nyako and Bamanga Tukur are at war.The most important thing is that the PDP has been in power for 14 years and they failed to give dividends of democracy to Nigerians. Epileptic power supply, our roads are death trap, mounting youth unemployment, graduate unemployment, kidnapping, Boko Haram insurgency, health centre are death centre. Tell me what will make any rational being to vote for the so the PDP. Do you think our people are not tired of this suffering?
But the PDP is threatening to capture the Southwest…
They have been saying that for a very long time. Obasanjo vacated his sit in 2007 to come and superintend election in Lagos State. In 2003, he did the same thing. Were they able to get Lagos? On the contrary, they lost Ogun, Oyo, Ekiti and Osun. You see their leader should be able to show people that, in my state where I control, this is the thing our people are benefiting. The PDP has nothing to show for it. Let themcontinue to threaten and if they are threatening from today till 100 years to come, our people will never vote for them. Yes, it is true that we are making some rules, policies and laws that may seem to be inconveniencing our people, but look at the long-time benefit of the policy. People are saying that Lagos State banned okada rider, and I asked them, is Lagos State not better than what we used to have in the past, in terms of crime? Lagos State want to add value to my life and your life because they are constructing more roads, buying more busses. Lagos State is not the only State that had banned okada. The aftermath of the BokoHaram in Kano was also responsible for the banning of okada in Kano. We realised that most of the crimes are committed by the okada riders. Police research has shown that most of the armed robbery is okada -assisted. Two weeks ago, a boy was shot from okada in Lagos State University. I can tell you that we are have responsive governments in ACN and that is why we are there for the people to make their lives more better.
Can APC sustain the tempo to the end?
We have drawn the battle line with the PDP government and have you ever seen anybody in the water and complaining of cold? No surrender, no retreat. We are going to fight the political battle till the end to save this nation from the bad governance. The core leadership of ACN can never be intimidated. We are very confident that the people of this nation will also support us till the end because the battle is for them.
What are the manifestos of the APC?
We cover factually all the spares of life. From environment to industrialisation, to housing. We intend to build a million houses in a year. When you create a million houses in a year, you can see that you are creating additional jobs for our people. We intend to construct 26 killometers of rail every month when the facilities are there on ground. So, we believe that, with a proper leadership, which we want to provide in APC, we can regain our lost glory.
There is this speculation that General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) is going to be the flag bearer of the APC and the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Tinubu, will be his running mate. How true it this?
Nigeria has the most advanced rumor industry in the whole world and it is so vibrant to the extent that even you the actor on the subject matter will begin to doubt yourself. Like I said before, we entered the merger negotiation without any conditionality, not even the chairman of the party. We are focused on getting the party registered, compiling our manifesto, constitution, logo and other important things. We don’t want to be distracted by the rumor of who wants to be the flag bearer or the running mate. The constitution of our party is very clear on how to choose our leaders. No cause for alarm.
What informed your recent statement that the economy was about to colllapse?
Yes, it is true I said that, if care is not taken, the economy may crash in few years’ time. For instance, in 2002, a barrel of crude oil was four dollars. In 2005, it went to seven dollars. In 2007, it was $12 and today, it is $35. Out of the $35, 16 goes for security. They said Nigeria looses six billion dollars in a year through oil theft and what it gained through the amnesty programme, we are losing to the oil theft. I said Nigeria is not investing in exploration. The discovery of gas and oil is making America less depending on our oil. They came out that what I said was a false calculation and all sorts of things, but the following day, Shell came out to confirm that they looses 60 barrel of oil a day to the oil theft. They said that it is possible that by 2014, America will stop buying oil from us. Shell has stop production in some areas because of insecurity and oil theft. So, help me ask them who is lying? Is it me or the federal government? Let them come out and tell me they don’t produce at N35 per barrel. This government is always trying to defend what is open to the whole world and the fact is that the economy is not getting better. If the economy is better, why is the level of unemployment increasing by the day?
What is your reaction to the state pardon granted to former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha?
No comment.
