The spokesman for the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in this interview, says those who have been speaking on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan, make their principal look incompetent.
How do you describe the convention that led to the emergence of Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) as the presidential flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress, APC?
We are grateful to God, to be able to prove beyond reasonable doubt to Nigerians that our party is capable of internal democracy. We were able puncture the lies, as well as the wicked allegations and unfounded truth against our amiable party. You would remember that, from inception, what the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has always touted is that the APC lacks internal democracy.
Ironically, they were unable to conduct any presidential primary. We did not only conduct presidential primary we made it so credible, transparent and it became the toast of the entire world. We thank God we were able to conquer pressures from within and without that we should settle on a consensus candidate. If we had done so, Nigerians would had been robbed the opportunity of the possibility of internal democracy in Nigeria. From the feedback we got, that singular act has catapulted our party to a level that has made us the party of choice.
Presidential spokesman, Dr. Doyin Okupe, recently, faulted the emergence of Gen. Buhari as the Presidential candidate of the APC, tagging him as the greatest mistake of the APC. How do you react to this?
What is important is not just who emerged, but how the person emerged. I think that is the reason Nigerians are so pleased with us today.
General Buhari may not have been the best aspirant we have in our party, but the manner we went about it convinced Nigerians that, truly, the APC is ready to practice internal democracy.
We scored two very important points with our convention: the how and the who? On the part of Doyin Okupe and his co-jobbers, I believe their worst nightmares came as a result of the emergence of Gen. Buhari. Anywhere you see a sign board that states: No thorough fare, it means there must be a road there. Otherwise, if we made a mistake, they should be happy. Why are they worried about our mistake? Today, most Nigerians agree that the one person that can savage Nigeria, presently, is Gen. Buhari. I say this with all sense of humility, the major issues confronting us as a nation are insecurity and corruption. Every other thing follows from there. Gen. Buhari has the track record of being able to confront the two issues. As a former military Head of State, he confronted both. See, a corrupt government cannot fight corruption.
How do you mean?
This administration is corrupt. All the people that surround the government have one story or the other. This is a President, when we handed over Nigeria to him, the country was in one piece, there was no single square metre that was occupied by terrorists. Today, over 22,000 square metre is being occupied by terrorist.
When you need a man that can clean it up, it is only Gen. Buhari that can do it. That is why they are worried. Frankly speaking, this man’s personality has soared! That is the reason Okupe and his colleagues are bothered.
But he has never won elections before. Do you see him delivering this time?
That is correct. But there are many factors that have changed. Buhari has never contested on a broad based national party before. He contested twice on the platform of ANPP, and once on CPC. Even when he contested on the platform of CPC, the party was barely six months old, a virtually unknown party. Today, he is contesting on a party that has representation and spread all over Nigeria. He is contesting on a party that can boast of 14 governors, and a party that produced the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
These made all the difference but, more importantly, there is a time for everything. When he contested in 2003 and 2011, there was neither corruption nor insecurity. Today he can be likened to Winston Churchill, who was the only Prime Minister that could rule Britain during the Second World War. Today, we have just one person, when he says he is going to fight insecurity and corruption, he will do it because he has done it before. Those that were hostile to his candidature have turned around and said this is not about religion nor about age but a person that can do the job.
But many people insist he is a religious bigot. Is that not a threat to his candidature?
I strongly believe that is an argument that Nigerians are no longer buying. If he is a religious bigot, how come he was also a subject of an attack by extremists? If truly he is a religious bigot, how come nobody could think or finger him of sponsoring Boko Haram? How come the same Boko Haram is bombing mosques? If he is an extremist, how come all his years, he has always being running with a Christian candidate? I think, it is part of the lies of the PDP that have now blown in their faces. Nigerians, today, do not give a damn, they want somebody who can salvage them, be it a Christian or a Muslim. What Nigerians want to hear now is how does the APC intend to rescue Nigeria by restoring security and banishing corruption.
All the things Doyin Okupe said about Gen. Buhari failed woefully. And under them, things are getting worse. The people that gave Jonathan four years, do you think they will give him four more years to mis-govern! He has no clue! He has been given everything he needs in this country to curtail insurgency. He wanted emergency, he was given, there is nothing he requested for that was not given, but what is the result? As we speak, there are over 300 of our girls missing, recently about 100 are missing.
In a decent government, there is no President in the world today that won’t have a clue about where over 300 girls are! Should he have the moral right to say he wants to run again. Even as an opposition member, I am very embarrassed that the Boko Haram ragtag army can come anytime to abduct our girls, mothers and children! And the government has no sharp response except lamentation. We want somebody that can take charge and truly act as a commander in chief!
Honestly, there is nothing President Jonathan can tell Nigerians today. No President in the history of Nigeria has been so warmly received by Nigerians as Jonathan, yet he has left Nigeria poorer, more insecure and more divided. He declared his rerun ambition months ago, but he never told Nigerians what he will do differently. That means there will be more of insecurity and corruption under his rule.
TAN Director of Communications, Dr. Udenta Udenta, in a recent interview, accused the APC of fuelling the insurgency, in the N-east. How do you react to this?
Most of the spokes persons of the Presidency make President Jonathan look incompetent everyday. If your house is gutted by fire, will you be looking for those that ignited the fire or put out the fire? For a good President, what he should do first is put out the insurgency and then arrest those he suspects to be responsible.
How come that all these while, they are yet to pick any single member of the opposition as being responsible for the insurgency? Nigerians are tired of dirty whispers by the Presidency. Is Jonathan an impotent President? There are many laws in Nigeria, and no law gives immunity to anyone sponsoring insurgency. If you say we are responsible for Boko Haram, then why can’t you arrest and prosecute us? We speak everyday and you know where we live. I think Nigerians are tired of that.
What actually inspired the selection of Prof. Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo, SAN, as the running mate of Gen. Buhari?
I think it is a masterstroke of the party to have produced an accomplished person, a man of impeccable character, integrity, excellence and a professor of law,a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, a two time attorney general of Lagos State, a pastor and a family man. I don’t think we can get a better choice.
What do you make of Dr. Doyin Okupe accusing Gen. Buhari of celebrating poverty by claiming to have only N4million in his account and therefore could not pay N28 million presidential fee to the APC and had to go a borrowing to do so?
A man who has been a governor of six states, who has been the Minister of Petroleum for about two years, Head of State, Chairman of Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, yet today has no house in Lagos, Abuja, has no business, living on his pension, this is the kind of person Nigerians can trust with their fortunes. He is a kind of person that will tell you, he is not in politics to make money but to serve his country. Gen. Buhari is not celebrating poverty, but integrity and honesty where as the Okupe camp is promoting corruption.
Do you see Gen. Buhari taking Nigerians to the promised land?
Presently, if anybody can do it, it is Gen. Buhari. Because all it takes is political will and track records. And he has both. Vanguard
