Basorun: APC has not failed Nigerians

Former Secretary to Lagos State Government Olorunfunmi Basorun is a member of the Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) Gubernatorial Advisory Council (GAC). He spoke with Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU on President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term ambition and preparations for next year’s polls in the Centre of Excellence.

There are post-primary crises in the APC in many states. Is this not worrisome to you as a party elder?

It is worrisome. But, when there is no crisis, you will not know where you are weak. The party will come out of the crisis stronger. I am not being over optimistic. I believe that in areas where there are disagreement, I believe many of them will be made to see the correct position. The crisis will be resolved. In many of them, the crisis has been resolved. The area where the National Working Committee wanted to use the big stick to stop the aggrieved has been clarified. Any aggrieved person can go to court. One would have thought that as a loyal party member who read the constitution, it is in the nomination form that you should go and swear to an affidavit in court, that whatever decision that is taken shall be acceptable to you. The decision has been taken now. You feel aggrieved. The normal thing is to go to court. Take the case of Amaechi. He went to court and became governor. If he did not go to court, he would not have become governor. If he feared the reprisal from the PDP then, he would not have been governor. If that is an example, let them go to court. When the court rules, we are bound by the ruling of the court. The serious areas are Imo, Ogun and Zamfara. Zamfara is more serious because INEC is saying the party has not brought a list of candidates and the party said it has submitted a list. In other areas, I think the crises are been handled successfully. Without this crisis, we will not know that there is competition.

Does this crisis suggest the failure of reconciliation?

To an extent, if one looks at it that way. But, it is not the failure of reconciliation. Many people looking for positions are desperate. They are always desperate. The interest of the party is paramount. But, many of them will not give up, particularly those of them who have money. There might have been, and I don’t want to rule this out, areas of injustice. And that is why, probably, the president is right; that if there is injustice, they should go and seek redress under an independent body.

Is APC still as popular as it was in 2015?

What would have made it unpopular? In 2015, it was a baby. People were coming him from left, left and centre. It was in fulfilment of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s prediction that the progressives will come together. But, those who does not belong to that group, having gone out now, the APC will be more popular. In many of the states, those in government on the platform of the APC have performed. At the national level, there are things we have seen which have made the party popular. The first thing is the fight against corruption. The economic problem we have today is a function of the amount of maoney that has gone to private hands. Those private hands are not using it to develop the economy. They are using it for themselves. This government is still pursuing them. The other day, Jonathan said the amount of money recovered by the EFCC under him was more than N200 billion. Now, they have recovered more than N400 billion, that there is more corruption in this regime. That is not true. The money were recovered from those in government before, not really those in government now. This government is focusing on an area that has been destroying the economy. Boko Haram, for example, is a serious matter, the recent happenings notwithstanding. This government has fought that cankerworm. The, the economy itself, despite the wound that has been inflicted by those who hold the money of the country in their hands, is not going down. Two days ago, the Central Bank governor said the exchange rate, despite the spending there and there, has remained the same. It has not been fluctuating. That is one of the indices to measure whether we are doing well or the party is popular. What would have made it unpopular is the return of some National Assembly members to their party. But, APC is as popular as before because it has not, in my opinion, failed Nigerians. It has not failed Nigerians. If not for the ingenuity of those in the executive, the party would have become unpopular. The National Assembly has not been cooperative at all. Somebody who was nominated by the president was not confirmed. They deferred it. The, a number of electoral acts; they said the president did not assent to it. I went through the list, may be the president wants to make an adjustment, I didn’t see anything there. But, they have not been helpful. They kept budget for more than five months and they want the government to perform. I have made enquiries and I have found out that, but for the ingenuity of this government, all projects would have failed. When Fashola was talking he analysed these achievements. They are visible all over the country. Some people from the Southeast have affirmed a lot of projects being done. The major ones are infrastructure projects. Another one is the Niger Bridge. How many times has it been flagged off? It has been done more than half now and the government has voted money for its continuation. It is a plus for the government. All the governors have acknowledged that Buhari has been fair to them, despite the fact that some of them are in the opposition.

Is the ambition of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar not a threat to the second term ambition of President Muhammadu Buhari?

Is the presidential ambition of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar not a threat to the second term ambition of President Muhammadu Buhari?

It cannot be a threat. Atiku is a non-starter. There are so many questions to answer in this country. When he was deputy to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, he was in charge of the BPE. The companies were carted away and bought over before the president knew what was going on. The former president trusted him the way Buhari is trusting Osinbajo. The two of them sat there and approved university licenses for themselves. To establish a university, you need two million naira. That too should be probed.  How can people on seat approved universities for themselves? Is it their ;evel of education that made them to do so? The two of them have diplomas. Obasanjo has a diploma in Engineering. Atiku has a diploma in Law. Obasanjo with his diploma in Engineering built a bridge in Surulere and the thing collapsed. Is it their love for the country or their education that made them to be instrumental to the founding of universities; approving universities for themselves? This may look like a digression.

The truth is that Atiku has no value to be president in this country, whether in terms of education or in terms of performance. He has been talking, condemning many things. He has moved from one party to the other. He belongs to the category of those who moves to another platform, if he cannot actualize his aspiration. He is facing the electorate now. Let him show the credential which will qualify him to be the next president. As a matter of fact, he cannot defeat Buhari. The Northwest will not vote for him. In the Northeast, it will be divided. There was an election in Bauchi recently, the PDP was defeated. The fact that the Lamido has made him the Waziri of Adamawa will not change the position. He may not win any state in the Northeast. In the Northcentral, the Saraki factor and the Ortom factor are there. Apart from that, I don’t know what he will get in the Northcentral. The Southwest is poised to deliver and they will deliver. They just want to say thank you to Buhari. He gave us eight strong mi istries. The Southeast, I don’t know what they want again. He gave them strong ministries too, I think four or five, with one minister of state. Not just ministries to decorate. Their leaders have affirmed that Buhari gave attention to the development of their region. Then, Southsouth. A lot of works going on there now. People are fighting the status quo. I don’t know where Atiku will win.

How united is the Lagos APC family behind its governorship candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu?

APC is lucky. The leaders and followers of the party believe in the party. A change took place. It was not a matter of Sanwo-Olu or Ambode.  The APC leadership is looking in another direction. And the members, in the name of the party, turned into that direction. I don’t have any doubt that the choice of a new candidate, as against a serving governor, is going to run into any problem. Governance at the highest level is like the local Osugbo where people sit down and consider issues which they don’t want to disclose to the public, and take a decision. Fortunately, the leadership of the party in the state is respected by the followership. So, when the leadership took the decision, the followership was properly informed. And in the interest of their party, they have all come to terms with that decision and they are working towards it. The serving governor is also doing his work. There is no flexing of muscles. Everybody is required to give him backing in the short period. I think they are doing so. The leader of the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the governor, the leaders and members are backing Sanwo-Olu. There is no problem. The issue is party supremacy. Sanwo-Olu is the symbol on election day. We will all vote for him.

Is the Lagos APC underrating Jimi Agbaje, the PDP governorship candidate?

We cannot afford to underrate anybody. We will have to work very hard and we are working very hard. We went into history, looked at past elections, compared them and we are determined to do much better. He was the candidate in the last election. So, it is not difficult to see how he garnered the votes he got then; he got over 600,000 and APC got over 800,000; a difference of 152, 000. It is going to be so this time. In 2011, Dosunmu had about 200,000 and Fashola had over one million votes. We are working very hard. A number of things have happened since then. The entire state executive committee of the PDP has been dissolved, following the defection of its chairman, Adegoke Salvador, to the APC. The leadership the PDP in the state is not as strong as it used to be. Then, the APC has embarked on a number of projects that have impacted on the lives of the people, which will make them vote for the APC. The performance of the APC in 2019 will be better than 2015.

What is your position on restructuring?

It is an area where I am scared. They call it restructuring when it suits them. They call it true federalism when it suits them. So will say we should go back to the regions. At times, people are sentimental, particularly Afenifere. One of them said if there is no restructuring, the country will scatter. The country will not scatter. Aluko had warned us that, despite the poor economy at that time, but for the fact that Nigerians are resilient, the whole country would have gone down. Restructuring, yes. But, it is asking for things that will take years to achieve. There are things you can achieve immediately. Break them down. The first thing is the devolution of power. The national is taking too much. It should devolve some. Legislation or an amendment to the constitution can do that easily. From the Exclusive List, take some subjects. Bring them to the Concurrent List. Bring education out. It is in the Concurrent List. If it has to remain in the Concurrent List, then, the federal should only have supervisory roles, not creating schools. When we devolve some of these functions, we should make adequate provision for funds to the state to perform. You change the revenue allocation formula. Thirty five percent is enough for the federal. It is an arbitrary figure.