Akinjide boasts: No mercy, PDP will win 25 states

Former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Chief Richard
Akinjide has seen all in politics, dating back to the pre-
independence days. Now in his twilight, he x-rays the forth­
coming elections in February, and gives it squarely to the
ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP , in all of 25 states of
the federation.
He sees the alliance of some south west politicians and the
North as crystalised in the opposition All Progressives
Congress, APC, as a gambit that is bound to backfire, vowing
that nothing will stop his party, the PDP from sending the APC
packing in the zone. Akinjide further warns proponents of
parallel government to beware as they risk treason charges.
On the insurgency in the North east, he says there is nothing
new about it.
“The problem in the North-east is not anything new. The
problem has been there for the past 40 years or more. They
have never supported the government at the centre.”
He speaks on other election related issues including the
reported endorsement of the presidential candidate of the APC,
Gen Muhammadu Buhari, retd, by the outlawed Movement For
the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, and former vice
president Alex Ekwueme’s insight that Jonathan may not get
the bloc votes of the South east, among others.
Excerpts.
Nigeria is at the threshold of a general election, and for the
first time in this dispensation, there is a major opposition
party that appears to have what it takes, in terms of capacity
to give the ruling party, the PDP, a big run. What is your own
view on this?
I don’t accept that we have a major party in the sense you
have explained. If you know the history of this country, we
used to have the NCNC, the NPC, the AG, which are very
powerful political parties. At that time Balewa was prime
minister, and I was in his cabinet. Later on Alhaji Shehu
Shagari became the president, and also I was in that cabinet.
None of the political parties you mentioned is as powerful as
those political parties of those years which were in the
opposition too. So, your question is not correct, and I can
assure you that the coming election is going to be free and
fair and PDP is going to win overwhelmingly.
I like your confidence, but you know since 1999, PDP has
dominated the political space. Suddenly last year APC sprang
up from the ashes of ACN, ANPP, a rump of APGA, and CPC,
and there were massive defections from the PDP to APC. The
way they are going and their calculations in the North and the
South west, the party is beating its chest to take over power
from the PDP this year.
That is nonsense. In the South-west, the PDP now rules in
Ondo State. The PDP rules in Ekiti State. And I can assure you
that the PDP will win in Ogun State, and very, very likely Ondo
State. So after the election, the equation of the control of
states will be different. I have very strong reasons to believe
that PDP will win the South-west in the next election.
I must make that very clear to you. In the delta where there
are six states, the dominance of PDP is very, very strong, and
I want to tell you in advance that the PDP will win all the six
states in the delta. The same thing will happen in the middle
belt. The PDP is extremely strong in the middle belt. It is the
strongest political party there. In the North-west, the PDP is
very strong, and in the North-east, PDP is the strongest
political party. So if you take the equation of Nigeria’s politics
objectively, out of the 36 states in the country today, I have
reason to believe that PDP will win not less than 24 or 25
states total. Those who are putting false possibilities on
television, radio and newspapers or magazines are wrong.
After the election they will be proved extremely wrong.
You excluded Lagos in your calculation of the states where
PDP will grab power. What makes you think that PDP will not
pick Lagos?
Lagos is controlled by the opposition party now. I am aware
of that. But if we have true free, and fair elections in Lagos
State, and there is no dominance by one single individual,
there is no corruption, I have reasons to believe that PDP has
a very strong chance of winning Lagos State. That is my
belief.
I would like you to compare the present regime of Goodluck
Jonathan and that of the Second Republic headed by Alhaji
Shehu Shagari. Both are true civilians. In both dispensations,
the presidents were accused of incompetence. They used the
word “inept” for Shagari and “incompetence” now for
Jonathan. When Shagari rolled back to power in 1985, the
military struck within three months. Are you not afraid that if
Jonathan wins, the military may also intervene?
Definitely, the military will never intervene again. And I want to
assure you that one of the best governments ever run in the
history of this country was that of Alhaji Shehu Shagari
presidential government, and the worst governments ever run
in this country were run by the military governments. I want
you to name one military government in the history of this
country that you can declare as being clear and clean. We had
extreme detentions in prison, extreme removal of governors,
dictatorships, and so on and so forth. And they were not
elected into power. And if you look at the history of corruption
in this country, the most corrupt governments in the history of
this country were the military governments. In fact, if you look
at the history of this country and the profile of the citizens,
the most affluent and richest people in the country today,
were those former military rulers, or governors, or people
whom the military are using as front to hide their wealth. So,
you must have gotten the arithmetic wrong. Some of them
have established newspapers, either directly or indirectly, and
radio and television stations, and they use them to tell all
sorts of lies. Don’t let that carry you away. After the coming
general elections, the card will be on the table face up.
The main challenger of President Good luck Jonathan, Gen
Mohammadu Buhari, led the military coup that toppled the
democratically elected regime of Shehu Shagari in 1983. He
has promised to stabilize the security situation in the
country, and of course stem the tide of corruption which this
government has been assailed with. Do you think it is a tall
order for him?
Buhari toppled a democratically elected government and we
are witnesses to how he ran a despotic government for two
years. This is the fourth time he is trying to come to power
through the ballot box that he so despised, and on each
occasion the people had always turned him back. I can tell
you categorically that he will not win. Jonathan will still win
overwhelmingly. I have reasons to say that, but I will not go
into any detail now. The equation or alliance of certain people
in the South-west to the effect that their presidential
candidate will come from the North is very clear and it is
going to work against them. It is going to make them lose
many states and many senatorial seats and House of
Representatives seats. I will not develop it more than that.
When the results are declared, many people will be shocked
and disappointed; because the PDP will win overwhelmingly.
The main opposition party APC, has also declared that it will
form a parallel government should Jonathan bounce back to
power. As you insist that Jonathan will win, and against the
backdrop of their threat, don’t you see a looming crisis?
That is the cry of a loser. If you lose election, what you do is
that you go and file election petition. There is a tribunal for
those who feel unfairly losing the election. You don’t form a
parallel government. I challenge anyone to show me anywhere
in the constitution where it states that when you lose election,
you go and form a parallel government. You cannot do that, if
you do that, that will be treason, and it will be dealt with
according to the law.
Why is the present government finding it difficult to subdue
the mounting security challenges and corruption on which the
opposition party is basing their campaigns?
The problem in the North east is not anything new. The
problem has been there for the past 40 years or more. They
have never supported the government at the centre. If you
remember, when Waziri Ibrahim was in politics before he died,
he formed his own political party. He didn’t support any
national party. He didn’t support NCNC. He didn’t support
NPC. During the Second Republic he didn’t support any other
party. They formed their own group. Well, if they want to have
their own political party, I have no problem with that. But
what I have serious problem with is your engagement in
terrorism, kidnapping innocent young girls who have
committed no offence, and who did nothing but to go to
school to be educated in order to develop their country. I can
assure you that when the elections are held, you will discover
that the PDP, will win all those states in the North-east where
there are problems. I have no doubt about that. All we need is
free and fair election.
Going by current trends now, there appears to be so much
apprehension in the air, that has elicited fears that if this
election holds, there may be crisis or war, and this can lead
to anything, including disintegration. Do you harbour such
fears?
There will be no crisis. There will be no war. Anybody who
creates crisis or war is committing treason, and that person
will be dealt with in accordance with the law. I have no fear at
all, that there is going to be amity, and the winning party will
be called upon to form the government at the centre. And
those who win at the state level will also do the same thing. I
think those talking like that are predicting their own downfall
and the coming defeat. PDP has no problem with defeat, PDP
will win overwhelmingly, fairly and the country will be in
peace.
Let me take you to the area of prediction. Most men of God
are prophesying that Jonathan will lose the election. Don’t
you believe in these seers or prophets?
I don’t accept that analysis. It is false. It is not correct. If you
look at the media, whether it is radio, television, magazine or
newspaper, it is the one controlled by the opposition party or
the one they have enormous influence on, and they talk and
write rubbish. Such a thing will never happen. Anybody who is
going into an election and is predicting anarchy and chaos is
not a democrat. Those people will be dealt with in accordance
with the law.
I am talking about prophets, those who are prophesying
failure, doom for Jonathan. Recently Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka, a
Catholic priest, who runs the Adoration Ministry in Enugu,
said Jonathan will lose the election. He put out four pigeons
to fly. The fattest one represented Jonathan refused to fly,
symbolically suggesting failure.
I don’t accept that. I think that is arrant nonsense. We don’t
do elections through prediction. We don’t do election though
religion. We do election through democratic process, and by
voting. We rely heavily on the votes and voices of Nigerians
and through that, PDP will win overwhelmingly.
Let’s look at the government of Goodluck Jonathan. There
has been accusations of profligacy, especially from his
predecessor Obasanjo, who said recently that the foreign
reserves had been depleted and that the president has lost
focus, describing his government as the worst in the history
of Nigeria. Coming from his predecessor, do you not believe
that there are gems of truth in the allegations?
That prediction is wrong. It is false. And if you have any
rationale and objective assessment of regimes in this country,
Jonathan’s government is one of the best that we have had. I
want you to turn to the price of oil. I want you to turn to the
price of groundnuts, the price of other products. Anybody, who
was former head of state, and is predicting evil and downfall
for his country cannot be said to be patriotic and I cannot
support such a person. I support the present government, and
I believe the PDP will win next election overwhelmingly.
What about the issue of the devaluation of the currency upon
which this government has taken a lot of flak. Do you believe
it is expedient for a government that is about to face election
to allow its currency to be devalued at the time it did,
instead of waiting till after the election?
You get that very wrong. Currency devaluation is worldwide.
It has affected Russia, all the European countries, all the
African countries. And Spain is in financial problem. So also is
Greece, so also is France; so also are other countries in the
Southern and Northern hemisphere. The only country that has
a stable currency now is the USA. And it is because they have
changed the mathematics of their oil. At the moment, they
don’t import much oil again. They produce their own oil, and
that is helping them a lot. But here, we depend heavily on oil
and there is a limit you can go if you depend heavily on a
single product. At the moment, we are doing a lot to develop
our agriculture and other products, and I have very strong
reason to believe that the sky is not the limit for the strength
of our economy in the future.
The Movement For the Emancipation of the Niger Delta,
MEND, a few days ago endorsed the APC. MEND is from
Jonathan’s volatile Niger Delta region. What do you read into
this endorsement of the opposition by a group from his own
region?
That endorsement is nonsense. I tell you categorically that
PDP and Jonathan will win all the six states in the Niger-
Delta overwhelmingly. I have no doubt about that. After the
elections, you can phone me and confirm it to me. People say
all sorts of things before election. I think it is either out of
ignorance or political incompetence.
But Governor Amaechi is also from the Niger Delta region and
I understand that he and his party are very strong in Rivers
State. Are you not building false hopes on Rivers State?
I know RiversState very well, and I know the six states of the
Niger Delta region very well. I can assure you again, that PDP
will sweep the votes in Rivers States. I have been there
recently several times. And each time I am there, I go round
the place, and talk to the leaders. The governor of Rivers
State at the moment, thought he was going to be the vice
presidential candidate of APC. Unfortunately, he was not
picked, so, his political arithmetic has collapsed, and there is
no strength in his calculation.
Let me take you to the South East. Former vice president Dr
Alex Ekwueme, recently declared that Jonathan will not get
the bloc votes of the Igbos over what he termed betrayal. Is
the ship sinking right under the feet of the president?
I did not read that. If he said that, I don’t know why he said
it. But I can assure you that PDP will win the whole five Igbo
states, overwhelmingly. Either Ekwueme was misquoted, or he
got what he said wrong. I have no reason to know why he
said that. I doubt if he said it.
In the South-west here, you have very strong voices in the
APC, which have been largely unchallenged, or countered by
the PDP. Looking at the history of the South-west, they have
always been in the opposition. Why do you think it is now
they will change and join the mainstream national political
movement?
That is not true. If you look at the politics of the South-west,
before the last elections, the opposition did not control it. It
was controlled by our party; and the reason why they lost the
states has been analyzed in the media. A large section of the
judiciary was corrupted; because of their leadership and
manipulation of the people who had election petitions. I don’t
want to go into the details of that, but I can assure you that,
that will never happen again.
You talk with so much confidence, but only yesterday, the
DSS, said APC had already concluded plans to hack into
INEC data base with a view to rigging the elections. That
means they can still manipulate things.
I don’t believe in corruption in election; and I have not read
what you have said. But I can assure you that nobody will be
allowed to corrupt the next election. It is going to be clean, it
is going to be clear, it is going to be democratic.
Do you have confidence in INEC?
I don’t know the personnel of the INEC. I have never met the
chairman and I don’t even know the commissioners. So, I
don’t want to comment on them.
The anti-corruption agencies in this country have been
moribund for some time now. What is the reason for that?
I don’t know the personnel of that body. I don’t know how
they operate; and I will not like to comment further. What are
the best credentials of Jonathan, you think that can sell him
best to the electorate. One, he is one of the most educated
presidents we have ever produced. He is a Ph.D. Two, he has
got enormous experience in governance. He has worked at the
state level; outside government, he has operated as deputy
governor, he has acted as governor, he has been vice
president, he has been president. He has enormous knowledge
of Nigeria’s problems and governance. So, he is one of the
best candidates to rule this country.
But he has been in power for six years now. If you add
another four years, assuming he wins, that will be
unprecedented. The North is seriously agitated, and part of
their opposition to Jonathan is because they feel he is
usurping their slot on the zoning formulae? Will that not
affect his chances at the polls?
There you go again. Jonathan is using his term as prescribed
by the law and the constitution. He is not breaking any law.
He is competent and is obeying the electoral law. Anybody
who accuses him of disobeying any law must be talking
rubbish. I don’t accept it, and I don’t agree with it at all.
Obasanjo was president or head of state during the military
regime and ruled again for another eight years as civilian
president. And he has been one of the longest serving heads
of state anybody can think of. Jonathan has not served as
much as that. How can anybody accuse Jonathan of
wrongdoing without accusing previous holders of that office of
wrongdoing?.
North as expressed by their socio-cultural organization, ACF
insist that Buhari is their candidate. Why are the cultural
organizations in the South like Afenifere, Ohanaeze, finding it
difficult to endorse a particular candidate like the North did?
Cultural bodies don’t fix candidates for governorship or for the
presidency, so anybody who talks the way you presented it
must be reading his arithmetic upside down. The political
parties are responsible for presenting candidates for elections
at the local level, at the state level, at the national level. I
reject the analysis you have put forward. Those who have
endorsed a candidate of the North are wrong, and don’t know
what they are doing.
Jonathan by his own admittance said, he is the most
criticized president ever in Nigeria. Do you agree with him?
I have not done the arithmetic. I cannot say he is right. I
cannot say he is wrong. I cannot comment on that.
Between Shagari and Jonathan who actually are Nigeria’s
only true executive presidents (Balewa was Prime Minister)
who would you vote for?
Oh! I will vote for both of them. Shagari was excellent as
president. I was in his cabinet as attorney general and I know
his performance, his competence. At that time, the country
was riddled with military interventions. The greatest
intervention we have had in governance in the history of the
country is through the military. So, I don’t want you to
compare military rule with civilian rule. They are two different
arithmetic.
What do you have against Buhari, plan to come back to
power?
I am not in his political party. What I have against him is that
I don’t want his political party to win. I want his party to
lose. And I want my party to win. That is the truth.
I would like you to give an overview of our pre-election
process?
One. It is going to be democratic. Two. The PDP will win
overwhelmingly.
Three, the opposition parties will lose. And finally, there is
going to be peace and amity after the elections.
Let me also add that an ex-militant Asari Dokubo has vowed
that should Jonathan lose the election he will go back to the
trenches.
How did he read that? I believe in the rule of law and I
support the rule of law. I don’t believe in violence and nobody
should believe in violence.