Everybody is in politics for selfish interests–Adams, OPC National Coordinator

Gani Adams
In this interview with ADEOLA BALOGUN and GBENRO
ADEOYE, the National Coordinator of a pan-Yoruba group,
Oodua Peoples Congress, Chief Gani Adams, talks about
politics and the contract secured by the group to guard oil
installations and pipelines in South West Nigeria
You used to accuse Dr. Frederick Fasehun of running after
politics but since you returned from the confab, you’ve also
become a politician.
We have had our own impact in most of the politics being
done in Nigeria. In 2003, we contributed to politics. As a
matter of fact, we supported (Asiwaju Bola) Tinubu (a
chieftain of the All Progressives Congress) in his bid to
become governor at the time. Then, the Peoples Democratic
Party wanted to take over the South West and we realised
that he was our ally. I was the one who went to Ibadan to
seek Baba Adewale Thompson’s support. That was when I
connected Baba Thompson to Rauf Aregbesola (now Osun
State Governor). I played a lot of roles for them to succeed in
2003. When you have followers, you may not be fully partisan,
but you will have a role to play to elect a leader. When you’re
talking of power, if you don’t know the essence, your enemy
will come from the back door to use it against you. Also in
2007, we played a role. In 2011, we also played a role but
now, you can’t expect us to continue that way in 2015. As an
organisation, there will always be some changes in pattern
and strategy at certain levels. We realised that if we kept
quiet, we wouldn’t be able to inform Nigerians about the
candidate of our choice. Some parties that don’t believe in us
or love us will go behind us to hijack our grassroots structure.
Inasmuch as we didn’t tell the world where we were going,
our grassroots people would not be punished because they
would say they didn’t know the direction we wanted them to
go. That’s one of the reasons why we have been making
political statements than in previous years. It’s not as if we
have joined any party. Even now that we are supporting
President Goodluck Jonathan, have you ever seen me at a
PDP rally? I select whoever I want to support based on the
individual and not his party. For example, I’m a friend of
Aregbesola, the Osun State Governor, but I may not be a good
friend to his boss, Tinubu.
Then why did you fall out with Tinubu if you helped him in
2003 as you said?
Before 2003, we saw Tinubu as a Yoruba hero and we thought
that he would be a future Yoruba leader if Yoruba people
could groom him. We dissipated all our resources. In the
process, he helped us too. Anytime Olusegun Obasanjo
(former Nigerian President) wanted to hit us, he would lend
his voice and he also refused to say any negative thing about
us. But we contributed a lot. In the process of supporting him,
we paid the price because one of the reasons that PDP took
us as its staunch enemy was because the party members felt
Gani Adams and Tinubu were inseparable. So, most of our
arrests at the time were politically motivated. They felt by
arresting us, they would clip the militant wing of Tinubu so
that they could get to him. I remember vividly in 2005, when
people went to Obasanjo to ask ‘why are you detaining this
boy? The crisis that occurred at Iyana-Ipaja had nothing to do
with Oodua Peoples Congress and a Lagos court had freed
them, why then did you arrest them?’ He said, ‘I want to clip
his wings.’ He said he didn’t know what was wrong with me.
At the time, I had only one house, so he felt why was I
supporting Tinubu and not him? He wondered how much
Tinubu could be giving to me that he couldn’t do 10 times. So
that was one of the reasons Obasanjo kept me in detention in
2005. His plan was to keep me there until the end of the
election in 2007 but miraculously, there was a court
judgement on December 19, 2006. So we just saw a certain
change of attitude in Tinubu; he didn’t want to empower us.
Anytime we had a programme and we sent him a proposal, he
had a nonchalant attitude to it. When we wanted to see him,
he started closing his doors. And I’m not a politician or a
regular visitor to the government house. I may not see the
governor of the state I live in for two years because I’m not a
contractor, but we realised that if we suffered for them to get
a mandate, by the time they were sharing positions, they
would not take us into consideration. Although I may not need
an appointment but I have some of my friends or followers
that say ‘ oga , if there is a political position, please kindly give
to us.’ I remember we supported Olusegun Agagu (a former
Ondo State Governor) and he promised to give me a position
as special adviser if he won for second term. I was in Brasil
when he was being sworn in in 2005. His brother called and
asked for the CV of the representative I wanted for the
appointment. I sent the CV of one of my friends who was not
even a member of the OPC. Something similar happened in
Gbenga Daniel’s government too. But no matter what you do
for Tinubu, he will not empower you or give you the benefit of
your struggle. There was an election period, I think 2007, we
sent a proposal to him. Politics is about local interest. If
anyone says he’s in politics without thinking of his interest,
he’s a liar and a product of deceit. If you want to be in any
party, the first thing you ask is which position in the executive
will you give me? When you get an executive position, if you
win the election, how many commissioners will you give me?
That’s why any politician who is intelligent will negotiate. So
we wrote a proposal saying, if you win this election, give us a
commissioner, special assistant or adviser. He threw the
proposal away. He would only call you to go and support his
party. So we realised that he was not keen to support this
organisation anymore. We got information authoritatively that
his late mother told him not to empower our group because
the group would go to a higher place in future. Yes, quote me.
About the national conference, you and some others have
been supporting President Jonathan because you believe the
confab report will be implemented. If he has not done it all
this while, why will he do it if he wins the election?
Did you expect any sitting president to implement anything
while we were in the peak of electioneering in August? We
finished the national conference in August, 2014 and the
political campaigns started in October. Some of the politicians
had been tactically campaigning since July. Even majority of
the people at the conference were politicians who had to go to
their various communities to prepare for 2015 elections. So it
was not easy to agitate for implementation at the time
because most of the members of the National Assembly were
concentrating on how to win back their tickets at the
primaries. The President wanted a second term so that period
was close to the beginning of the campaigns. So we relaxed
to see who would win the election and implement the report
of the conference. We felt Jonathan was the one who
organised the conference despite some impediments on his
way. You know when Jonathan was about to organise the
conference, Tinubu described it as diversionary tactics. While
returning from the United Kingdom, without consulting the
stakeholders in Yoruba land, he organised a press conference
and started knocking and kicking against what Mr. President
said. Gen Muhammadu Buhari also kicked against it. A lot of
people said N7bn was too much to spend on it. How much is
the National Assembly spending in three months and we are
talking of people that would produce a document to move this
country forward and bring us out of insecurity and crisis? So
with everything, we felt Tinubu was no longer part of us.
Immediately Jonathan started his campaign, he said he would
implement the report of the National Conference. Who do you
want me to support?
Before now, pan-Yoruba groups have accused the President
of not doing enough for the South West. But he has
practically relocated here since the postponement of the
elections, don’t you think this is all a political trick?
Who said he didn’t do anything for Yoruba people in six
years? What did Obasanjo do as President for eight years?
This man gave us a sea port in Badagry. Do you know that a
sea port will be constructed in Badagry and it will be the
largest in Africa? He gave us an airport in Lekki, another sea
port in Lekki, a free trade centre with the collaboration of
Lagos State in Lekki, Lagos-Ibadan Road is being constructed
and Sagamu to Benin Road also. He said he injected more
than N20bn into the infrastructure and he gave us a
university. Although, getting one university out of 12 is not
okay but most of the private universities are in this region. He
gave Ondo State another polytechnic. Most of the governors
benefited from this man but they wouldn’t tell you. Governor
Babatunde Fashola (of Lagos State) and the President were in
good terms until a year to the elections. There was nothing
Governor Fashola wanted from Mr. President that was not
given to him, underneath. Apart from playing politics, he gave
Governor Ibikunle Amosun Commander of the Order of Niger,
even as an opposition governor. The only person I know he
has problem with is Aregbesola. I know they are not on good
terms. Dr. Kayode Fayemi (former Governor of Ekiti State)
knew his way with Jonathan when he was governor. He was a
product of the villa. He was one of the technocrats they
normally used in the villa. Even when Obasanjo was there, he
wrote speeches for him and worked as a research person.
Truly, we were one of the people who criticised President
Jonathan at that time. We told him we needed the position of
Chief of Staff and he gave it to Yoruba. He removed the man
from Edo State. We have some Yoruba people in very good
positions in government. But you won’t know them. They
won’t show themselves. When you go to them and speak
Yoruba to them, they will speak English to you. So, sometimes
you will be reluctant to fight for them because if they become
ministers, are they useful to you? But because of parity, we
insist that there must not be disparity in appointments. Now
people will blame me for not supporting Tinubu, did Tinubu tell
me when he was endorsing Buhari as his candidate? Did he
consult me? Have I had interactions with him in the last three
years? He underrated me because I shied away from politics.
He underrated my charisma and strength.
At a time, you and Dr. Fasheun fell apart but it seems you
are back together because of Jonathan.
No, it does not mean that we have come together. We have a
common interest. We can come together when something
happens or when we are sensitising people about the National
Conference and after that, everybody will go back to his base.
That does not mean that we are together as one. Dr. Fasehun
is a person that will be very difficult for me to deal with. He’s
a father to me but we don’t share the same spirit.
Before, you accused him of going into politics because of
pipeline security contract. So, you’ve schemed for your share
of the contract now?
No, mine is quite different. It’s different from partisan politics.
He has involved himself in full partisan politics by resuscitating
the Unity Party of Nigeria and being the Chairman of the
party. I still remain nonpartisan in politics and the
organisation does not belong to any political party. But as
human beings, we are political animals. My opinion matters in
this society. Even if I don’t want to talk about politics, the
media will ask me. It started on my way to Cyprus. I was
asked who I would support and two days before then, we had
decided that we would vote for Jonathan. So I said that we
would vote for Jonathan. On getting to Turkey, on my way to
Cyprus, the internet and the newspapers had reflected that
Gani Adams was supporting Jonathan. By the time I returned
from the trip, the heat was on and I started responding. I
don’t need to lie.
People say the protest you recently led in Lagos was to
justify the money given to you by President Jonathan.
Is it people that are saying that or the All Progressives
Congress? It’s not people, we should not deceive ourselves.
When we were to organise a protest the next day, you sent a
press release that we got a pipeline contract of N9bn. What is
the meaning of that? We got the contract truly. And the
contract had been in the process. We had sent the proposal
but the issue was heated at the time. You know Yorubas;
most of the rich people would not want you to eat. We
wanted to get the contract to empower our followers who
don’t have jobs. It’s not about the money, it’s about giving
jobs to our followers. I said on a radio programme that we are
ready to give 10-15 per cent of the strength of the job to non-
OPC members. By the time they realised that Dr. Fasehun was
talking about the matter, Mr. Wale Oshun of Afenifere Renewal
Group spoke to Sahara Reporters that Dr. Fasehun had got a
contract of N9bn, a pipeline contract. The second day, Lai
Mohammed issued a press statement. Obasanjo issued his
own statement too. So I kept quiet. The file was given to the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and it started the
processing. The processing was on and most of the people
involved in it couldn’t renew their contracts, so it was put on
hold. Now NNPC has realised that the damage it was
recording was huge. How much will they pay us to secure the
pipelines? It’s not up to one per cent of the money they are
losing. It will give jobs to almost 30,000 people in the South.
And people are dying daily at Arepo, Akute, and other places in
Ogun State. Most of the pipes have been damaged and are
wasting fuel. So that was one of the reasons the process was
activated and they now approved the contract. I was not in
the country and didn’t even know that the contract would be
awarded again.
Don’t you think it’s a strange coincidence that the contract
was awarded by the President at the time the elections are
about to hold?
Whether it’s a strange coincidence or not, empowerment is
empowerment. We are citizens of this country. I have paid my
dues and I never got this opportunity in my life. I had never
got a job from the government. When your brother fails to give
you a job and somebody from South South gives you a job,
then your brother should be ashamed. The budget of Lagos
State is a lot and we never benefited any kobo from the Lagos
State Government; meanwhile, our presence here is a security
advantage to the state. Ogun State, instead of recruiting our
members, went and recruited people who are non-OPC
members as vigilantes. The Lagos State Government created
Neighbourhood Watch to frustrate our goal but God did not
allow it to work. You did not empower us and somebody does
that and you say it’s strange. What is our Yoruba people
doing to support OPC? We have lost about 7,000 members to
this struggle. Many people have been handicapped, lost legs,
arms, some are in detention and some have been frustrated.
The Niger Delta people have been gaining amnesty for the
past four years with billions of naira- and we refused to join
amnesty because we believe we didn’t commit any offence.
Now this is not amnesty, it is about a job we have been doing
free of charge and by getting peanuts on the streets.
Somebody says he will give about 5,000 youths jobs with the
least paid getting N50,000 a month. The supervisor should not
get anything less than N70,000; that was the standard NNPC
gave us. We can’t throw that opportunity away.
So how much is the worth of the pipeline security contract
given to you by the government?
The figure APC has been brandishing is a lie. But the worth of
the contract is not meant for public consumption. It’s after
three months that we will get to know the full package
because there are many things involved: the vehicles to be
used and so on. But I cannot tell you the worth of the
contract since I’m not the only one involved.
During your protest, you claimed to be calling for the removal
of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral
Commission but your men were armed. How do you relate the
two?
That is why I showed you the picture. There was nothing like
arms. The problem with APC is that they are jittery. I told
them that we have six million members. I got it from reliable
source that Tinubu told some members of the APC that ‘it’s a
lie, Gani does not have up to that number in OPC.’ The protest
was because of the shortage of Permanent Voter Cards.
So why destroy APC banners in the process?
Wait. The reason was about PVCs. We still have almost five
million PVCs not yet given to their owners in the South West,
South South and South East. In my house, we have about 20
persons who have not got their PVCs and election is just a
few days to go. Secondly, there is the issue of registration of
underage persons in the north and thirdly, the 30,000 polling
units that were illegally created by INEC Chairman, Attahiru
Jega despite criticisms. Those were the main reasons for the
protests and we started from Toll gate peacefully. The protest
lasted for four and a half hours. We provided more than 1,200
security men and we contacted the police. I called the police
commissioner about it and explained to him. He said he hoped
there would not be any problem and I said no. He linked me
up with the Deputy Commissioner of Police, who said he
would provide us with 16 patrol vehicles because he didn’t
want any trouble as elections were approaching. I said six or
seven would be okay. But that we needed police presence
there so that they would attest to anything we would do
there. And they were in the front, in the middle and in the
back. No crisis, nothing. Nobody touched the billboard of APC.
We have pictures that say otherwise.
Wait. The picture on the website is not from the scene of the
protest. Look at the picture. If somebody vandalised the
billboard, he’s not our member. Look at the picture of the
crowd at the protest, how can you see another picture where
one person was hitting a billboard? There was no space for
that. When our people moved to other roads, we had to be
pushing them back. The crowd was too much; about 200,000
people. All these things you see are fabricated. They are all
fallacy. There was nothing like a gun (there). Nothing like that
can happen in my presence. It’s not in our culture for the past
12 years. You will be dealt with if you’re caught brandishing a
gun. What is the monitoring committee of our group doing?
There is a code of conduct. When there was no war, why
should we hold guns? All the pictures are fallacies and were
meant to discredit the purpose of the protest. And I wonder
why APC has been defending Jega. Let Jega defend himself.
Jega has said it will be a disservice for him to leave. I’m
saying it will be a disservice for him to create 30,000
additional polling units for the North as against the South.
Is it a coincidence too that the Movement for the
Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra held a similar
protest in the South East, calling for Jega’s sack some days
before OPC held its own in the South West?
When last did you see me and Chief Ralph Uwazurike
together? It’s been a long time. I saw him three or four years
ago. He’s my friend. He’s somebody who believes in justice.
He will not sit down at home and allow 30,000 units to be
created by INEC in the North. It’s the beginning of rigging.
You may take it as a coincidence but it’s the beginning of
rigging. It depends on how passionate you take the elections.
Some of you journalists just want the election to hold and are
not interested in seeing the nitty-gritty of the election. At the
end of the day, there may be crisis and you will be selling your
newspapers because of the crisis. But we freedom fighters
who want change will be detained. The issue is that I don’t
know the source of Uwazurike’s move but if you have been
following me for the past few months, you will know that I’ve
been criticising Jega on the issue of PVCs. And what triggered
this protest was the statement of Arewa Consultative Forum.
It gave the idea that it was backing Jega on illegality. So we
decided to protest.
Even before the protest, we already heard that President
Jonathan would use groups like OPC, MASSOB against INEC
and APC and it came to pass.
Did Tinubu not relate with us before? Was he not close to
Asari Dokubo before? Dokubo normally went to ACN rallies.
Does Tinubu want to tell me that Henry Okar has not visited
him at Bourdillon (his residence) before? Was I not close to
him before? But now that he has made money, he’s so
arrogant to relate with his old friends and Jonathan hijacked
that. Jonathan came to South West relating with kings one
after the other. You sit down in Bourdillon, issuing statements.
In politics, you don’t believe you have won. Elections have not
come, you thought you had won. You are assessing your
winning process through the Internet, through some people
who don’t even have PVCs. They will just be editors on their
own. We have many editors in Nigeria now. When you have
your phone, you are the editor of your Facebook page. So you
believe all these internet parasites that will say Sai Buhari.
Jonathan got in touch with YCE, Afenifere and most of the
civil society groups. And most of them said they would
support him because of his promise to implement the report
of the confab. They say Yoruba people are good fighters but
not good at negotiating. Now, we are negotiating. We will give
you power and you will implement the outcome of our
National Conference.
Speaking of negotiation, earlier you said people are in politics
for their interests and that Tinubu did not give you positions
in his government. Have you negotiated ministerial or senior
advisory roles with Jonathan?
No, we don’t go to that level. When Nigeria is being
restructured, there will be less concentration at the centre.
That is our position. If we have true federalism, some of our
politicians will prefer to be governors than to be the president.
It’s not as if the president will not be powerful but the
resources you will spend to be the president will be too much.
You will concentrate on becoming a senator or a member of
the state House of Assembly because most of the states will
be buoyant and highly economically independent. So all this
will change with the implementation. There will be less
attention on the Federal Government and more on the state
level of governance.
You have confirmed that you got a pipeline security contract
but you have not said anything about allegations that you
collected billions of Naira from President Jonathan when you
met him in Marina, Lagos, for mobilisation?
Did Jonathan have a bank in Marina that was printing money
for everybody? Do you know how many people go to Marina
to see him? It wasn’t about collecting money. That was not
the first time I would see him. I see him virtually every six
months. If I want to see him almost every month, I would see
him. But what he requested for which I have done was to see
the leaders of the group to appreciate their support because
we stood by him in 2011. And I took about 50 of our leaders
there. He spoke to them and said he was not campaigning
but only wanted to thank them. You know politicians and their
tactics. We knew it was politics. We spoke for about 45
minutes or one hour and he shook our hands. That was what
impressed the leaders of the organisation- the presidential
handshake. Most of them are not poor, they may not be
multimillionaires but they are okay in their own right. But for
the recognition the president accorded them, they were highly
impressed. So it is not about money at the Marina. If the
president wants to give you money, is it until you go to
Marina? Are they not transferring money? I have been in
touch with him since he was the Vice President. It’s not until
I go to him and he gives me $100,000 (N20m), how much is
that? It’s about relationship. Even if he wants to give you
money, it won’t be on that day; there were lots of people
there on that day. Jonathan is a smart person, people think
he doesn’t know what he’s doing. He knows what to do at
the right time.