Success Damian:
Dr Vincent Anyigor is the
National Coordinator, Unit2Unit Initiative, a grassroots-oriented support group
for Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate in
the 2019 election. He spoke to Newworldnewsng
on the vision of the organisaiton and why it is rooting for Atiku, among other
issues. Excerpt:
What informed the formation of the
Unit2Unit Initiative?
What informed our decision to form
the platform was that in 2015 elections were held in 119,972 poling units and
out of those number, we discovered that in thousands of polling units,
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored zero votes. Probing into that, we now
discovered that it happened essentially because we did not have enough foot
soldiers to protect our votes. So, what we decided was that we are going to
come up with something that enables us not just to vote, but protect our votes.
That was how Unit2Unit Initiative was formed.
Now, as I speak with you, in all
the polling units across Nigeria, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, he Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman, has said that there is another
plan to increase the number of polling units from 119,972 to 180,000. But, the
truth is that even if it is 180,000, we will have representatives in all the
polling units.
Before now, we had a total of 4.3
million members, and what we encourage our people to do is when you want to
nominate a representative at the poling unit level, you nominate a married
person. That does not mean we are segregating against the singles. But, the
essence is that chances are that 99.9% of them would be able to convince their
spouses to vote where they vote.
Like when I was talking with the
Jigawa State coordinator, he said, ‘Sir, you are talking about two votes. In my
household, we have 47 votes’. And I asked him how, and he explained that he has
four wives, and they have children and three of his children have three wives
each. And when we calculated it, it was actually about 47 votes.
But then, we are not looking at
that; 4.3 million votes multiply by two, that is about 8.6 million. And that is
about 63% of the votes PDP scored in the last election.
So, Unit2Unit Initiative, before
the recent partnership with former Lagos Atikulated Agenda, and that was also
before the partnership with Market Traders Associations in Lagos, has the
capacity to produce a minimum of 10 million votes for Atiku. Unit2Unit is not
just the most robust group, but the most grassroots-oriented support group
backing Atiku.
Would you say that Atiku Abubakar,
the former Vice President, has the capacity to govern this country?
Atiku Abubakar has the capacity to
govern this country, because over time he has proven himself. He is a
businessman per excellence. He is a politician of repute. He has integrity, not
the type of integrity we are seeing today. Moreover, he is a Nigerian and
Nigerians need a Nigerian president. That is why we are supporting Atiku. Atiku
has the capacity because he has shown capacity in his business community. And
coming on board now, just like the last time we were inaugurating Unit2Unit
Lagos chapter, somebody said, that the only reason he is supporting Atiku is
because Atiku is a trader. I told him that Atiku has never been a trader. He
said, ‘a Customs officer is a trader. And now, Peter Obi still has shops in
some of the markets in Lagos, which means two traders are coming to rule
Nigeria. Now, when they come, they will understand what it takes to clear
containers at the ports.’ That was a personal experience. So, Atiku has the
capacity because he has been tested and proven. Atiku is most
qualified among the presidential candidates to rule Nigeria now.
Would you say Nigerians are willing
to support Atiku Abubakar to victory come the 2019 presidential election?
Nigerians are willing to support
Atiku Abubakar. Are you also aware that three weeks ago we launched what is
called ‘5million people by N200 for Atiku’? Nigerians are saying, ‘We don’t
want to be another praise singers. We want to be part of what is happening. We
want to commit our resources.’ People are ready to contribute as much as N1,000
and N3,000. And we said no, it is not about money. It is also about the support
base. That is why we brought down to N200 x 5 million people.
How do you see the arrest of some
politicians by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)?
The only strategy of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) is rigging. It will not work this time around.
Nigerian people have rejected the current government. They have rejected
President Muhammadu Buhari. The only thing they think they can do to whittle
the power of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is to begin to go after their
big shots. This is not going to work. Every single thing they have done, since
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifted the ban on
campaigns has been in favour of PDP. If you arrest somebody, you are
campaigning for PDP.
Talking about going after the PDP’s
big shots, what is your take on the reported freezing of Peter Obi’s
account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)?
Now why would they wait until now
before freezing the account of Peter Obi? What happened to Godswill Akpabio?
Godwill Akpabio was one of the most sought after by the EFCC. But, the moment
he crossed over to APC, he became a saint. What happened to Oshiomhole? Have
they accounted for how their state treasuries wrre emptied? In one of my
interview, I told the world that Buhari cannot effectively fight corruption
because he is the highest beneficiary of corruption as far as Nigeria is
concerned.
I said before the last election,
Buhari knew that he had 300 cows. How much is 300 cows? The people who funded
his election, where did they get the money from? Of course, they stole it from
their various state treasuries. So, if they stole it from their state treasuries,
and you do not have the moral standing to come after them, how can you now
convince me that you can fight corruption? It is not possible. They have
been stage-managing their fight against corruption. But, we are no longer
interested. What we want to do now is to vote them out because that is not the
kind of government that will take Nigerian to the promise land,
How do you see the crisis between
Adam Oshiomhole, the APC chairman and some of the party’s governors and
chieftains?
I don’t see it that way. I see it
as God using your enemy to deliver you. God brought Oshiomhole on board because
He wants Oshiomhole to work for the PDP. He came and every single thing he has
been working is in favour of the PDP. The truth of the matter is that APC is a
house divided against itself, and it can never be one. They in APC have the
penchant for weakening the strong to strengthen the weak. Meanwhile, this is
the first election they are conducting. PDP has been there in the last 20
years. They have not been able to manage there so-called success. The truth is
that going forward, they will continue to have this kind of crisis.
Do you think that the PDP can
defeat APC in Lagos?
PDP is taking Lagos. Forget the APC
propaganda. PDP narrowly missed Lagos in 2015. Let me tell you something. I
have said it before that Lagos State has fallen. PDP is taking it this time, no
matter how you look at it. Forget what they are telling us, the propaganda they
are carrying out now. When the chips are down, you will see that nobody from
Epe division will vote for APC, because their son was badly humiliated. And the
difference, the margin of defeat in the last election is so small that if Epe
division decides to turn their back on APC, PDP will carry the day. Don’t also
forget that in the last election, they promised the traders a lot of things,
and they never kept any of them. It has proven that Tinubu does not like the
Igbos in Lagos State and to that extent, the Igbos are coming together for the
very first time to speak in one voice. 2019 is not just another election year.
It is about the survival. It is about the soul of Nigeria. What becomes of
Nigeria will depend largely on the outcome of 2019. So, no matter how you look
at it, the truth is that Lagos State must fall and DP will take over Lagos.
How do you see the claim by the APC
that PDP has been experiencing paucity of funds to prosecute the 2019
elections?
Do you mean 14 state governors
cannot fund their elections. And if they are funding their elections, are they
not funding Atiku’s election? People say all manner of things. When they went
to search Atiku’s plane, what were they looking for? They were looking for
funds. And why were they looking for funds? Because, they think it is possible
the man has money somewhere. But, the man has money somewhere because the man
is rich, just like Peter Obi. When information came that EFCC froze Peter Obi’s
account and they said they found N400 million, Peter Obi said it is not true.
He said:, ‘I doubt that information, because, if they actually went through my
account and found anything less than one billion naira, that means someone
stole from me’.
So, the truth is there is nothing
we needed to do that we have not done. We have over 10,000 support groups
supporting Atiku and each of those support groups wants to be funded. Now, the
Campaign Council has said it is not going to be business as usual. We fund you
based on your strength, like all the support groups, you have seen, at zonal
rallies, they are people doing things on their own. The Atiku Presidential
Council has not funded any group.
What is your reaction to the issue
of Electoral Act Amendment Bill and the controversy over President Buhari’s
refusal to give assent to it? Why do you think Buhari does not want to sign the
bill?
Before the 2015 presidential
election, three days to that election, Goodluck Jonathan signed Electoral Bill
into law. Now, the reason for the refusal to sign the bill is just simple. APC
and Buhari know that Nigerians have rejected them. And signing this document
into law means they have just dug their own grave. Whether they like it or not,
they are still going to lose. But, it will be more disastrous if he signs that
bill into law. So, what they are actually trying to do is to try and buy time.
He said he will sign it, but that it will take effect from next election. Why
does it have to take effect from next election if he is not afraid? I remember
three times he contested election, he said that our electoral system is false,
and needs to be sanitised, that one of the first things he would do if he
became the president was to sanitise the electoral system. He came in and three
and half years down the line, he has not done that. So, the truth is that he
has performed so badly and knows that the only strategy he has is to rig the
election, and he will not be able to rig if he sighs the bill into law.
Do you think the National Assembly
can override the President’s veto and pass the bill into law?
That would have been an ideal thing
for them to do. But, as things stand now, that may be difficult. This is
because, the National Assembly, as it stands now, may not easily get the two
third votes in both chambers to override the presidential veto, unless the
lawmakers will show patriotism.
