‘Buhari needs best hands for Next Level agenda’

The Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Mr Joe Igbokwe, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari on selection of ministers. In this interview with Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN, he speaks on the performance of the party at the 2019 poll, Igbo presidency, Federal Government presence in the Southeast and other sundry political issues.

What was responsible for improved performance of the APC in Lagos during the governorship election?

Lagos remains the stronghold of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southwest. It is true that the margin between the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the presidential election was narrow, compared to what we had in governorship poll. One major factor responsible for this was that some Yoruba pastors told their congregators not to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari whom they described as a killer and herdsman. Again, the Igbo in Lagos voted for Atiku Abubakar, because of his running mate, Peter Obi, who is an Igbo man. The Igbo told APC governorship candidate, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, that they would vote for him, but will vote Atiku/Obi in the presidential election. The APC believes in free and fair electoral process; we don’t influence results like the PDP used to do when they were in power. We believe that power belongs to the people and that every vote must count for our democracy to grow.

Are you sure the Igbo in Lagos voted for the APC governorship candidate?

Yes, they did. I and some Igbo leaders made humungous efforts to ensure they voted for the APC governorship candidate. We visited all markets where there is large concentration of Igbo people to sensitise them. Even, Senator Ifeanyi Uba joined us in the crusade. We told them that they stand to benefit a lot by pitching their tent with the ruling party. We have large population of Igbo in Lagos. They have their major investments in Lagos; they don’t have one-quarter of their investments here in Lagos in the Southeast. I don’t know how Lagos will look like if the Igbo decided to leave. This is why our host community should see Igbo as partners in progress and treat them well. Lagos is second home for Igbo. They spend 11 months in a year in Lagos. They travel home during Christmas and Easter celebrations.

The Yoruba and Igbo have had good relations in the past. For instance, it was in Lagos that Igbo properties were kept and returned to them during and after the civil war, even with the rents collected on them. It also happened in the North, but not the South-south. Igbo property is said to be abandoned in the South-south. Professor Wole Soyinka, a Yoruba man braved the odds to visit Biafra during the war and came back to tell the Federal Government to stop the carnage being perpetrated by the Nigerian soldiers. He was put in jail for this. The kind of loyalty and service that late Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya offered the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe was unprecedented. When the killers of the late Head of State, Major General Aguiyi-Ironsi, surfaced during his state visit to Ibadan, the capital of the old Western Region, his host, the Military Governor, the late Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, told them if you must kill him in my domain you have to kill both of us. Fajuyi sacrificed his life for national unity.

These are the things that cemented our relations. It didn’t start today. When Zik returned from overseas, he started his political career in the Western Region. The Southeast is small in population, because Igbo don’t stay at home. They move to anywhere they can find fortune. Igbo are mobile businessmen. You will find them in Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Ghana, South Africa, Canada, South America,Asia, Europe, United States, etc.

The Igbo voted massively for Atiku/Obi during the presidential election.

Don’t you think that this will affect the quest for Igbo presidency in 2023?

I told them, if you want to produce President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2023, work with Hausa/Fulani/Yoruba alliance. I had expected them to vote the APC, so that they can have a shot at presidency in 2023. After the civil war, no Igbo man has ruled this country. I told them to play politics of inclusion but they voted PDP thinking Atiku will win. What will happen in 2023? It is not yet concluded. There could be a compromise for the sake of national unity.

The Igbo are not happy with their present status in the country. It is only the Southeast that has five states. With that we have smaller number of representatives in the National Assembly and the federal allocation to the region is small, compared to other zones. In Canada, a small group of people called Quebec with less than 10 per cent of the total population produced the current Prime Minister of Canada. They are French-speaking people. The President of Rwanda is a Tutsi, an ethnic group with less than 10 per cent population of Rwanda.

It is possible for Nigerians to sit down and say the Southeast is not happy, let’s have a presidential candidate from the zone for the sake of equity, justice and fairness. In addition, create additional state for the zone. If this happens, the agitation for Biafra will vanish.

But, the Southeast is clamouring for the Deputy Senate President of the 9th assembly. Is it feasible?

Who among them will be considered for Deputy Senate President? There is no APC ranking senator from the Southeast. You can’t eat your cake and have it. Anyway, we can bend the law for the sake of unity. Our national leaders may say let’s have compromise for the sake of peace, because when there is peace there will be development. Professor Harold Laski of the London School of Economics said politics is superior to economy. Politics should not be left to politicians alone. We are not making progress because of bad politics.

Can we say there is no more division in Lagos APC?

There is none. APC has a deep structure in Lagos. It is maintained throughout by hard working people. To the glory of God we have two gentlemen, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat, coming on board that to take Lagos to the next level. They belong to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s school of thought. We shall support them to achieve their goals

The presidency and the APC national caucus have endorsed Femi Gbajabiamila for House of Representatives Speakership. Was it by accident?

It was designed. He had been positioned in the House for it. He was supposed to be the Speaker in 2015, but for the rebellious acts of some APC members in the House who connived with the PDP elements to truncate the party’s arrangement. We don’t want to throw the issue of National Assembly leadership open in the House. APC has majority in both chambers to decide the leadership of the 9th National Assembly. In spite of the party endorsement, Gbajabiamila and the APC Senate President candidate, Senator Ahmed Lawan, have been going round the country seeking support from APC legislators-elect and the opposition members as well.

What would you advise President Muhammadu Buhari in choosing his new cabinet?

He should go for the best. Only the best is good enough for Nigeria. We told Nigerians during the campaign that the president, if re-elected, would take Nigeria to the next level and they are waiting for it. He is a trusted leader. He can’t do it alone; he needs capable hands to assist him.

There are a lot of saboteurs in the system; there are PDP moles in government. You find them in INEC, military, civil service and the judiciary sabotaging the government. For President Buhari to continue to fight corruption, build infrastructure and invest in the economy and security, he needs the support of loyal people, otherwise they will constitute an impediment and slow down the process.

The Buhari administration’s investment in agriculture is paying off in rice production. But the smugglers are trying to undermine the government’s efforts. I am in support of the suggestion that government should set up special courts to handle cases of economic saboteurs and the corrupt elements in the system. Our judiciary is corrupt. That is why people are calling for the establishment of special courts manned by incorruptible judges. We need to protect the interest of local rice farmers. There should be a task force to apprehend the saboteurs. Smuggling is a crime. They should be jailed.

How would you rate the achievements of the Buhari administration in the Southeast?

The infrastructure development in the Southeast under the Buhari administration is fantastic. What the PDP didn’t achieve in Southeast in 16 years, Buhari has done it in less than four years. Road construction is going on in all the Southeast states, major critical roads like Enugu-Port Harcourt road, Enugu-Onitsha road, Second Niger Bridge and many others are in progress. The Independent Power Project (IPP) in Ariara Market in Abia State financed by the Federal Government is wonderful. Light has improved in that area. Even  in Adelabu Street where I live in Surulere, Lagos, we enjoy 21 hours power supply every day.

Election results in the South-south have not changed since 1999. What is responsible for this?

The South-south is known for electoral fraud. It didn’t start today. The zone is known for election rigging since 1999. Votes don’t count in the South-south. Some rogues with the support of security operatives would seize electoral materials and write out results. Anyway, some aggrieved candidates have gone to the election petition tribunal to seek redress. We are waiting for the tribunal’s findings and rulings.