Pastor Blessing Adima is the secretary of arise Nigeria, South-South zone, a political forum fronting for President Goodluck Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with Okpalaume Mary, he discusses issues in Nigerian and delta politics as well as the UPU stand.
Excerpt:
With the recent developments in Nigerian politics the postponement of the election and the ensuing reactions from all concerned- do you think the postponement is called for by INEC especially given the reasons behind it?
Actually, the postponement was inevitable; it is one good thing that has happened to Nigeria in recent times. If not for the postponement Nigeria would have been taken back again to 1983 when there would have been a kind of political chaos, or to 1999 when election was conducted in an enclave and a larger population were undermined and denied their rights to vote.
For Prof. Jegga to have attained that level, he should know what he has impacted in the lives of people; the kind of value people have for him. But for him not to own up to the fact that INEC was not adequately prepaid for the election that was supposed to hold on February 14 leaves much to be desired. We respect him as an elderly man, a scholar and once a labour activist but today he has fallen from the place where he used to command respect. You printed 68 million PVCs – actually over 68 million people registered, and some anomalies were discovered in the issue of underaged but those areas were claimed to have been dealt with. Before the Anambra guber election, over 400, 000 persons were disqualified in terms of double registration and underage registration. In other southern states, these things were followed up. But it will amaze you to know that in Jeggas own north, over 8.5 million underage were found in the INEC register, prepared to vote in this election and he thinks that we are still in that dark age where we dont know what is happening. You said you have distributed 45 million PVCs what happened to the other 23 million. We are not talking of 1 million because one can make the difference. We are talking of 23 million. These are issues that should be looked at.
Some of these PVCs are still with the company in China where it is being printed. So how could Jegga have been able to distribute PVCs to 23 million eligible voters as at on February 8 while the PVCs are still in China? Jegga should be able to come up as a clean man he is known to be and tell Nigerians the true position of INEC rather than to be fooling himself.
There is the allegation of Northern Elders Forum donating 150 laptops to INEC in their respective states. Who are the people in the Northern Elders Forum to be donating 150 computers to INEC? That means INEC has been compromised. Northern Elders Forum is not an NGO or an organisation of sort that can contribute such sensitive materials which can be used in manipulating elections in favour of a particular person. We dont know who it is going to favour.
About card readers, who bought these card readers? These card readers have not been test run to know the efficacy of the machines and it is said that these card readers cannot last for more than five hours. Can you conduct elections, including accreditation within five hours when more than five hours is been given for accreditation alone? As a man who has been in the field to vote and as an election observer I am talking from experience. These are areas where INEC has not been able to prove their worth.
I think the security chiefs came to Jeggas rescue, if not the whole world would have seen his mess. Weeks ago, two democratic institutes: the republican and the democrat electoral institutes have the same view about Jegga and INECs preparation. They came up to say that Jegga was not actually prepared for election. The 700 000 ad hoc staff that he wants to use to prosecute this election has not been trained; they have not even been recruited. So how would they have done the work on February 14? A bad history would have been made.
So postponement of the elections has saved Nigeria, Jegga and has saved him from the wrought of Nigerians.
You listed some of Jeggas faults; do you think he is still qualified, as INEC chairman, to handle the elections or should he be removed as there are speculations that the presidency is scouting for a new INEC boss?
There are rules of engagement of service in this country. Jeggas case is not exempted. Besides the criminal act of his in the INEC to undermine the rights of Nigerians to vote, by standard, by March 24 he is supposed to proceed on compulsory leave three months to the end of his service. So this cry of nobody should remove Jegga by some civil society groups is unreasonable; it is out of place. Knowing the kind of president I have, he would always want to avoid the cry of the world so that they wont say he is sending Jegga on a compulsory leave because he is afraid the loose election, he might want to leave Jegga. But compulsorily Jegga should leave before the elections and I would have said that by March 4 he should leave so that somebody coming in would have three weeks to educate himself to run the election or he should handover to a senior director of the INEC to conduct the election instead of bringing in a fresh person. So the cry that presidency is plotting are the cries of a drowning opposition who wants to draw this country back.
Some schools of thought believe that the election postponement has the federal government and PDP undertone. How true is this?
INEC does not need to consult the presidency before postponing elections because it is an independent body. It is an umpire that oversees a process that ushers in a government. So INEC is not an appendage of government. It is not under any governments ministry or parastatal.
PDP does not have a hand in the postponement. The only crime of PDP in the eyes of the opposition is that PDP is aware of the evil scheme of the connivance of the INEC with an opposition party to deprive millions of Nigerians from exercising their civic rights. So there is no PDP undertone. It is not out of place if PDP notices that it is about to be schemed out or Nigerians are about to be denied of their rights. If this cry had come from the opposition, I believe the press which is a tool in the hands of the APC today would have been awashed with their cries.
At these times of political campaign, we experienced a calumny and some unhealthy politics between political parties. We also noticed that the PDP has attacked the APC presidential candidate through the media, judging from his past as a military leader and forgetting that he wants to come as a civilian president. Do you think such methods are healthy for Nigerian politics?
You see, Nigerians are pretenders. Is there anywhere in this world where politics is devoid of digging into someones past? What happened to Sarah Parly, Senator John McCains running mate? What made her quit the race? It was her daughters irresponsible attitude. Such person cannot run the country. That made her quit the race and it weakened the republicans presidential cause. So why do we think Nigerias case is worse when someones child is used to judge him.
It is erroneous to say the press is behind the PDP propaganda because the press is the strongest tool of the APC. They dont have structure on ground. Even in the states where they govern, they cant lay claim that they have actually won elections or that they have the backing of the people. But it is the press has always make things right for them and their corrupt governors in the respective states where they are not performing. Look at Imo State where Okorocha beat up some widows who were crying for their rights. Look at the nonexistent projects in Rivers State. In Edo State, after 2012, there was no more work. They show Ring Road and some federal roads like it was their doing.
Talking about politics of calumny, once upon a time President Goodluck Jonathan was called a clueless president. A party chairman, a former governor, a man who is supposed to be an elder statesman, Bisi Akande called a whole president a kindergarten president.
For Buhari, a former military Head of State coming out as a civilian candidate, a leopard remains a leopard. He dethroned a democratically elected government and I dont see why he should benefit from the same democratic process. To us, he is not qualified. We are helping to make his image clean; we should be thanking the PDP. Today Buhari is visiting Christian organisations- a people he once considered as infidels; a people that are not worth leaving in this country.
Whatever the PDP is doing is not out of place in democracy. It is like criticizing a government. It helps to put your house in order but unfortunately, the APC could not put their act together. Buhari is a self styled saint who has never been a saint – a federal Commissioner for Petroleum who went into the NNPC vault to withdraw S2.8b as at then (compared to now we will be talking of S280b) and he could not account for it. That led to his overthrowing a democratic government. Are we talking about the billions of naira missing in his days in the Petroleum Trust Fund or about the illegal way of securing contracts during his days as military Head of State when his in-law is the sole consultant to the federal government of Nigeria? Is that man a saint because he said he wants to fight corruption? He claims he borrowed N27m to buy his party form but today his wife is distributing drugs worth N135m. Did they go to the same bank where the husband borrowed N27m to borrow another N135m. How did the wife get the money? It is not about the destruction of image or politics of calumny. For every allegation against Buhari, there is a fact. He claimed this administration is not fit to fight insecurity that is why he wants to come to fight security. He forgot the fact that he destroyed the security institution before he left. He refused to equip the military and today the weapon the military are having is not even strong enough to withstand what the terrorists are having. It was an APC governor that revealed that the terrorists are well equipped than the Nigerian military. You cant blame that on the current administration because institutions are built over time. Capacities are built over time as well. To build the military capacity is not what you can do in a day. Nigeria has met many brick wall in terms of equipping the military. When America, Britain and other super nations in the world refused to help Nigeria, some arms dealing consultant came up to propose that they can get the weapons in South Africa but the same opposition element trialed them and made it look as if the people were criminals. But today the military are well equipped. Thanks to Ukraine and Czech Republic who decided to sell arms to Nigeria. With these weapons, the stronghold of Boko Haram can now be penetrated. The army can now drive their tank inside Sambisa forest.
We are only telling Nigerians that this man you said is an angel has never been an angel. Nigeria will regret voting him in.
The National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai Mohammed, has said that the APC does not condone violence how can you relate this stand with the recent political violence especially during campaigning?
Who stoned the president in Katsina State? Who stoned President Jonathans campaign train in Bauchi State? Is it APGA that vandalized the PDP Secretariat in Taraba State? The violence you are talking about is it taking place in PDP states or the opposition party states. Why would Nigeria be misled because of a statement by Lai Mohammed? Are these things not evidence enough to be in our archives in case the man is trying to misfire. That the APC is not a violent prone government, that is not true. It is highly hypocritical for Lai Mohammed to make such statement. I would have expected them to organise a town hall meeting on a non violence campaign process. It is not enough to use the media to put themselves in a hypocritical light. If there is any party that is perpetuating violence it is the APC not the PDP.
Looking at the situation in the far north and the assurance of the National Security Adviser that insurgency can be curbed in less than six weeks, how possible do you think it is owing to the fact that the security agencies have failed to curb terrorism since the past six years?
It is possible. Nigeria has tackled this Boko Haram issue on many fronts but it has not yielded the desired success. However, the new front they have taken now from all indications shows that we have achieved a lot of progress. Of all the local governments that Boko Haram captured, Nigeria has been able to retrieve all of them remaining fourteen and if they are assuring us that within six weeks they can retrieve fourteen then lets have confidence in them. It is not because of the six weeks, it is because of the capacity that has been built and the front they have adopted to pursue the insecurity situation in the country. So we can take the National Security Adviser by his word but dont get it wrong that it is a campaign strategy because of election. It will be wicked for anybody to say so.
In the cause of the presidential debate, Buhari and the APC vehemently refused to attend. Do you think it is nationalistic of them to do that?
It is not nationalistic of them. Buhari said the NTA and the AIT are the media which the PDP is using to blackmail him, so for that reason he can never attend the national debate. But I think anybody who means to serve this nation will not transfer aggression to other people or media because he was attacked by some media. If he becomes the president of this country today, will he ban NTA or AIT? That shows you the kind of person Buhari is; he is a leopard and will remain a leopard whose spots cannot be washed. See what he has held against these stations. That means if he becomes the president of this country today, NTA and AIT will fold up. Anybody with leadership qualities should not be afraid to face criticism or accusations. It up to you to come to the public and explain yourself clean of the allegations pressed against you. It is unfair for Buhari to withdraw from the debate.
Arise Nigeria is a frontier for President Jonathan and you emphasize on a lot of areas where he has done well. We know however that there are areas where the president has not been able to meet with the expectations of Nigerians. Being frank, which areas do you think he has not really performed?
You are right in saying that he has not really performed in some areas but sometimes there are processes in governance. I was not too happy with the president on the issue of power because of what the oppositions are sending to the world. But I listened to the Minister of Power who is a man that reveres God and will never compromise in the name of politics. Professor Chinedu Nebo is not a PDP member; Jonathan recruited a lot of technocrats into his government; people with worthy characters who will not compromise their integrity. He has recorded a lot of achievements from the federal government in the power sector. That has helped to remove my worries. He said we inherited 2, 800 megawatts of electricity but today we are putting up over 5, 000 megawatts daily. Many power plants has been built which if today are connected would supply Nigeria about 20, 000 megawatts. So it is on the issue of power that I felt my brother the president has not actually done well. It became my worry, you won’t blame me for it, because he promised when he was coming in that the issue of power will become a thing of the past but by the time he got in he saw that there are many issues involved. The issue of power is more than building roads. There are certain things to put in place which he is already putting in place and he promised that by the year 2020 Nigeria will be generating about 40, 000 megawatts. I think that is the only deficiency I found in this government but it is no more a deficiency because the government has designed a blueprint on how to tackle power.
Coming to Delta politics, the Okowas PDP, Emerhos APC and Ogborus Labour Party are the three major contenders. Looking at the politicking in Delta, who do you think has the ace?
The ace is with the PDP candidate, Senator Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Arthur Okowa. When you look at the credentials of these three major contenders, Ifeanyis political CV stands out more than the other two. It is not enough to say the people know me” or I was in this industry or I can rule this state.” We should look at their credentials carefully. Ifeanyi Okowa is a medical doctor, and then he delved into politics. He was made the secretary of a local government council after he failed to emerge as the partys candidate to run for the local government election. His local government was later carved out and he was called upon to be the chairman. Then coming to the emergence of the fourth republic, he became the Commissioner for Water Resources and the record he left behind has not been matched. He became the Commissioner for Agriculture and while he was there the record of how he handled the affairs of the agricultural sector and the Delta farmers cooperative is still fresh in their memory. They paid him a visit recently because of the record he achieved then. As an SSG to the Delta State Government, he was able to stabilize both government activities and the polity of Delta State. I thought all those were a fluke or an arrangement within their fold but when he went to the senate, you will agree with me that ordinarily he became a name to be reckoned with. As a first timer, he became a house committee chairman. That is an unprecedented fit to achieve. So in terms of one who knows governments deficiency and sufficiency, it is Okowa. Go and check the Ifeanyi Okowas catalogue and see the kind of programmes he has for Deltans. Tell the other contenders to produce their own. Even though you are not a Deltan, you will be forced to vote for Okowa over and over again. With all these good programmes in place, we cant afford to miss Ifeanyi Okowa this time. Deltans know what he has achieved and we are taking this campaign to the grass root, showing them what this man has for them. Dont judge PDP, judge Ifeanyi Okowa. I think PDP made a mistake by not producing him as governor in 2007 so that by now we would be enjoying from these programmes.
On the issue of tribal politics, especially as it concerns the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) and the Uvwiamuge Declaration, do you perceive the Urhobo agenda a threat to Delta politics?
It is not a threat and has never been a threat. I only weep for my Urhobo people who have decided to drag UPU into the murky waters of politics. UPU is not a political organisation and it has never been a political affiliate right from its inception to the days of the Okumagbas and the Azizas. So the Uwvimuge Declaration is alien to the UPU philosophy because UPU is supposed to be the custodian of the Urhobo culture, not a forerunner of the Urhobo political cause which they have turned it to be. It is so disturbing that our UPU has been factionalized and they have taken their battle to the media. I will advise the leadership of the UPU to retrace their steps and go back to the position of the founding fathers- what they stood for. For an Urhobo man not to be the governor does not mean the Urhobos lost their right. So we should stop using the governorship of Delta State to drag UPU to the mud.
This whole fight we are seeing is not in the interest of the Urhobo, it is in the interest of the people fighting this fight; just to enrich their pockets. It attracts politicians to go and appease them and I tell you these politicians have doled out much money that they can’t bear it anymore and they decided to crack them.
We should not make it look as if with money you can buy the Urhobo. That is not true because with money you cannot buy us. And I believe the younger generation of Urhobo does not want to sell their rights for money. They are only pursuing the cause for which they believe in. You cannot tell me to leave the PDP which I belong to because the UPU is interested in somebody.
UPU should think of how to develope the Urhobo culture which is eroding; it should be concerned with the Urhobo language that is getting into extinction or being adulterated. It should think of how the Urhobo language should be introduced into the schools curriculum. Being the sixth largest ethnic group in Nigeria, we should look beyond Delta governorship; there are more needs that the Delta governorship.
There are many Urhobos who understand what UPU needs and who understands the existence of Delta State; who are fair enough to say that what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
The Arise Nigeria group obviously has been campaigning for the reelection of President Jonathan and has recruited more members. What does the group stand to gain from all this?
It is not all about what we stand to gain in our pockets. If at the end of the day, we succeeded in convincing Nigerians to vote for transformation continuity and did not allow somebody who does not want the progress of Nigeria to come and take over and destroy the laudable structures which this government has put in place, we would have had our benefit. We must not be ministers or a federal board member or an SA to Mr. President. What Nigerians are benefiting is our benefit.
