Dr. Ibrahim Emokpaire is a former Chairman of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN, UK) and now the Interim Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC, UK). In this interview with GBENGA ADERANTI, he explains the plans of the APC to bring about change in the country, among other issues. Excerpts:
You were at the forefront of the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the United Kingdom. How do you hope to make an impact from your base in the UK?
I was at the forefront of forming the APC because I was one of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) party leaders in the UK. I had the opportunity of working with most of our leaders who worked tirelessly for the merger and the resultant emergence of a bigger party to challenge the PDP. I am passionate about ensuring that we have a progressive agenda that will turn this country around.
But you are based in the UK…
I’m a Nigerian. Yes, I am living abroad at the moment, but I don’t want to live there forever. I intend to come back home and play a role to effect some of the changes our party so much desires. Every progressive person would be looking forward to seeing that the party actually does well.
In Edo State where I come from, I actually played a prominent role in ensuring that the present governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, won the election. We worked tirelessly in the Diaspora to ensure that he was able to fight his case in court.
Considering the geopolitical zone you come from, one would expect you to support President Goodluck Jonathan. Why APC?
PDP is a hopeless case for Nigeria now. They have been there for 14 years and Nigerians have lost hope in them now. The only thing left for us is to support a party that will be able to bring change. If you look at the ACN, which has transformed to APC in Lagos, Edo, Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti and Osun states, you would see what they have done over the period they have governed. You would see consistency in what they have delivered.
Nigerians will never fall for sentiment and emotion anymore. We have a president who, when he was campaigning to get into power, said he had no shoes. Today, we see a man who has uncountable shoes but has not done anything to help the masses. He played on the sentiments of Nigerians for him to win their votes. When he was campaigning, he never said he was a deputy governor in Bayelsa State or that he was a governor in Bayelsa State for a number of years. He didn’t say go to Bayelsa State; this was what I did as a governor.
Forget about the fact that he was a vice president; we know he would say that he was supporting the government of Yar’Adua. But we have seen this man acting as the President before he now became the substantive President of Nigeria. All he could tell Nigerians was that he had no shoes. He even deliberately avoided the debate that was organised by an independent body to tell Nigerians what he would do and for Nigerians to ask him what he did when he was a governor. In the APC, we are determined to win the election and let Nigerians know that there is a clear difference.
You are talking as if you are sure of winning the election. How sure are you, considering the power of incumbency?
APC has been working and we have the antecedents to show Nigerians what we can do. Nigerians will be able to choose between the two parties. We are aware of their antics and we are going to prepare ourselves to ensure that the votes count. We are going to make sure that Nigerians are fully sensitised about one-man-one-vote and make sure that their votes count. The party will make sure that some of these issues that were not dealt with in Uwai’s report are brought back and discussed thoroughly to ensure credible elections in 2015.
We are aware of PDP’s shenanigans, using the security services to intimidate Nigerians. We saw what happened in Rivers State; how Governor Rotimi Amaechi was completely shut out of the Government House. Perhaps the President is not aware that he is laying a dangerous precedent with what happened in Rivers State, by not allowing Amaechi go into his office.
If the President is denied entry into his Aso Villa, you can imagine what would become of it. That is a treasonable offence and it is something this government should actually look into and take seriously, no matter who is involved. These are constitutional issues that need to be looked into by this administration.
On the power of incumbency, we have seen the reckless use of the power that they have. But again, we will continue to take them on issues. They are not going to invent anything by piling up accusations on personalities. We are going to specifically stay on issues of education and health. You could see what is happening to education today. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was on strike for months. We have seen the recklessness of this government on how they spend money; APC will run this economy with prudency.
They waste money as if there is no tomorrow. See the number of people that travel with the President whenever he is going outside the country. Imagine the entourage that goes with the First Lady when she is travelling out of the country. Imagine the number of cars in the convoy when the President is moving around the country. Imagine the number of economic shut-down. Thank God for the enormous resources we have in this country, this country would have been bankrupt.
You have different people with different ideologies coming together to form the APC. How is your party going to manage this?
One of the cardinal points of APC is internal democracy. We actually promised that right from the beginning when the merger was being put together, it was in the forefront of our manifesto to ensure that we carry out internal democracy, and we will continue to pursue that. I believe that with internal democracy in place, the entire process will be smooth.
Are your members in the UK coming to contest elections in Nigeria?
Some of them are coming home already. They are registering themselves at the ward and local government levels. They are already involving themselves in politics even in the various states where they come from. Like myself, I come from Edo State and I have other people who come from Edo State as well, and these people have been able to go out there. I played a prominent role in supporting my governor. I’m a party chieftain in London and I’m also a party leader in my state. Although I live in London, I come home. During the last election in my state, I spent two and a half months in Nigeria for the campaign to make sure we usher in the Comrade Governor, because he did well in the first term. So, we are also saying again that he should improve on what he is doing.
APC is gradually swallowing other parties. Do you foresee a two-party system in Nigeria?
Well, I believe that there is the likelihood of two major parties in Nigeria. Probably, a third force would come in as well, but it may not be as big as the two major parties. In America, there are two major parties. In the UK, there are two major parties with the third force coming to help in forming a balance coalition in the UK. For me, if we had two party system in 1993, I believe that if we are back again, Nigerians will have a choice to make between the good and the evil.
Do you think it is healthy?
It is healthy because when you have a choice between two parties, democracy is fully entrenched. The rotational issue would be something that would be immediately phased out, and the best credible candidate comes up.
We talk of rotation and federal character, but where we have good alternative parties, the best candidate will always win the election and it would be based on merit, not zoning. That is exactly what is going to happen. INEC will be able to spread the fund they disbursed to parties equally and even the media air time would spread almost the same as well. It will not be a situation whereby the ruling party is monopolisising the state media. Nigerians will be able to see the true position of things from time to time. The democratic system would be much healthier as well.