Why is your group championing the
re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari?
President Muhammadu Buhari has been
very important personality, his interest in anti-corruption fight, a
personality you cannot try to influence. Going down history, nobody can say
this is what he committed in respect of corruption.
One of the greatest men I have ever
related with, the late Gani Fawehinmi, who was my mentor, recognesed and
commended Buhari as an anti-corruption expert.
I did not wake up one day to start
supporting Buhari. My support for him was based on conviction. As I speak to
you, I am not an APC member and I am not ready to be one. I am a National
Conscience Party (NCP) chieftain. I am the National Deputy Chairman for South
East. My interest is only in Buhari. After Buhari, my loyalty goes to the
party. It was through my closeness to the late Fawehinmi that I got to know
Muhammadu Buhari.
A lot of people are in Buhari
support groups. But, some of us have taken time to study him and decided to
work for him for him to return and finish the good work he started during his
first term. So, the interest of the Re-elect Buhari Movement (RBM) is in Buhari
activities.
In 2003, Gani Fawehinmi contested
election to be the president of Nigeria. Then, I contested for House of
Representatives in Amuwo Odofin, Festac. Gani told me to pick a form, stressing
that as vibrant young people like me should participate in the election. Thus,
I became the party’s candidate. Out of candidates of 30 political parties, I
came third despite the rigging in the riverine area of Iyape and Ward K in
Amuwo-Odofin Local Government.
As I said earlier, I am not an APC.
The defections in APC and PDP show that they are the same. Thus, our interest
is in Buhari. Despite intimidations and criticisms, we have been standing firm
like Rock of Gibraltar because we are fighting a just cause. Buhari is my man and
I believe so many people want him back too.
What would you consider the major
achievements of President Buhari that made you to be backing him?
President Buhari’s major agenda is
based on economy, security and anti-corruption. The Boko Haram came up during
the Peoples Democratic (PDP) rule. When he came on board, the Boko Haram had
overrun the north east. In Borno for instance, the Boko Haram was in control of
most of the local governments there. But now, through the effort of the
Buhari’s administration, all the local governments in the north east have been
taken over by the Nigerian government, What we now have of Boko Haram are
pockets of influence. Those of us that are students of history know that once
insurgency infiltrates a country, it does go easily. But, in Nigeria, it has
been reduced to the barest minimum by the Buhari government. In UK a couple of
weeks ago, there was an insurgency attack and several people died. In France,
such attacks are still going on. In America, people can pick guns and shoot
others. But, Buhari has been able to reduce it to the barest minimum.
In the area of the economy, the 16
years of PDP rule messed up the Nigerian economy to the extent that Nigeria
went into economic recession. But, the Buhari government was able to bring
Nigeria out of the economic quagmire.
When you come to anti-corruption
crusade, through Buhari’s efforts, a lot of looted money has been recovered. He
has been fair to everybody. When his closest friend, Babachir Lawal, former
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), who has been with him in
his ANPP days, was involved in corruption related matters, he was sacked. He
believes that what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. That is
Buhari for you.
But, people had been accusing him
of surrounding himself with corrupt people. What is your take on that?
Nigeria is a difficult country to
rule. But, that should not make leader run away from the task of leadership.
The people you mention now, to the best of my knowledge, may have one or two
records with the EFCC. But, their relationship with Buhari has not stopped
their case with the EFCC. Their cases are still going on. That is Buhari for
you.
Nigeria is now regarded as the
poverty headquarters of the world. How would you justify the claims of the APC
government in the area of economy?
We know that before a good thing
comes, there must be suffering. Remember that before this administration, the
PDP was in power for 16 years. President Buhari cannot perform miracle within
three and half years. I must tell you that before you get a pure gold, there
must be a process and procedure for refinement. That is exactly what is going
on in Nigeria.
You are an Igbo chieftain, do you
think that Igbo Presidency is realisable in 2023 through the APC as promised by
President Buhari, when Babatunde Fashola, one of his ministers said it will
come from South West?
That statement by Fashola was
uncalled for and people were not happy over it. I believe that if Buhari is
re-elected, the next president will come from South East as he has promised.
That is why everyone has to team up to ensure that Buhari gets his second term.
Going by the strength of the two
major political parties, PDP and APC, what are the strategies by the RBM to
ensure that President Buhari is re-elected?
Our group has a powerful structure,
an organogram. I am speaking as the National Coordinator of RBM in Nigeria. My
colleague, Barrister Emmanuel Umohinyang, is the Convener of RBM. He is also
the SSA to President of on Digital Service and Strategic Engagement. Besides
these two positions, we also have national officers that represent the various
interests, south-south, south east, south west and others. We have zonal
coordinators for all the six geopolitical zones. We also have state coordinators
in 36 states and Abuja. After the state coordinators, we have local government
supervisors and ward overseers. So, you can see that RBM has structures in the
774 local governments in Nigeria and it cascades to the wards in the whole
country.
In the zones, our leaders are there
who will tell you about the states. If you go to the states, states would tell
you about the local governments, if you go to the local governments, local
government leaders there will tell you about the wards. So, with this type of
structure, we are on ground everywhere in the country. We have grassroots
spread. Our campaign is centred on the possession of the PVCs and how to use it
well during voting. We have also been educating people on the achievements of
President Buhari and why he should be re-elected on the Saturday February
16 presidential election.
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