,Says APC will soon capture Anambra State, Southeast
Honourable (Chief) Modestus Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina) is a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC); in this interview with CYRIACUS NNAJI in his office in Lagos, Umenzekwe applauds President Muhammadu Buhari for giving his assent to the Amended Electoral Bill; he also thumbs up the president’s Cabinet for being united, while commending Babatunde Fashola (SAN) for infrastructural development in Nigeria. Excerpts:
Let’s meet
Well, simply put, I am Chief Modestus Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina) an APC Chieftain, a businessman, employer of Labour and Board member, Federal Housing Authority (FHA)
Let’s have your view on the general political atmosphere in the country
One thing is that our democracy is working. Right from 1999 till date we have had successful transitions, unbroken; that shows that Nigerians are mature enough; that shows that the political space is very rosy in a way; that shows that we are advancing in politics and democracy.
The major issue in the nation now is the Amended Electoral Bill, and just some hours ago, President Muhammadu Buhari disappointed the doubting Thomases and signed the bill, your take.
You see, one thing with Nigerians is that we are always in a hurry, and I have taken time to observe President Muhammadu Buhari, which, if you could remember, in one of his addresses to the nation, he said it, I am a slow person, but I will get there, and Nigerians did not understand him. The President is a very meticulous person, very careful, he takes time to study whatever, and once you start giving him pressure, he starts being careful in order to understand why that pressure is coming, he doesn’t like pressure, from my own understanding of Mr President. So all these hullabaloo about Amendment Bill, protests and all that, were unwarranted, because the president is a true democrat. He wants democracy, you can see his actions, outside Nigeria, when there is a coup, he would always go there to rescue, condemn the military attack and all that, and like our people keep insinuating, maybe he has something in mind, he has said it times without number, he has no need for elongation to stay longer than necessary in office. So when people make all these noise and protests, I am baffled.
I knew he would sign it, he wanted to study it, and he reads, people think the president doesn’t read, he reads a lot, despite the fact that he has experts around him, but he must read, painstakingly. So he took time to read it so far as he has done that within the time frame provided by the law.
So I congratulate him, I congratulate Nigerians, I congratulate the national assembly, the leadership of national assembly they have done marvelously well, and you can see the synergy, both Houses are working in synergy, the National Assembly is one, national assembly and the federal executive council, they are one, and you can see the way we are moving, budgets are passed, if there is any reason for correction, they will come together and handle it, not what we used to have in the past, when there was a lot of rancor, because the opposition thought that they were in charge, whatever the president did they would go and puncture it, anything, they won’t allow it to have a smooth passage at the national assembly and you can see the way things are running smoothly now and we are progressing, development being noticed in almost every part of the country.
The opposition and the civil society group were insinuating that refusing assent could mean rigging the 2023 election for APC, what is your opinion now that the President has signed it, what are you telling them?”
If they were insinuating that, then let them apologise to the President, let them apologise to APC Government, let them apologise to makers of that bill, because the President had no slightest intention not to sign it, if you observe him very well, he is a very calm person, so when you insinuate wrongly, the onus is on you to apologise so that we can move forward.
As a Chieftain of APC, how would you assess Buhari’s cabinet, considering the enormous achievements under this government?
I will cap it by saying Buhari’s United Cabinet is a Good Legacy, the cabinet is one. I have made several publications commending Buhari’s style of leadership in keeping his house in order. Yes, during meetings they may disagree, which is normal, but in the end you see them going the same direction that is favourable for Nigerians. So Buhari has done well by making sure that his team is intact even if there is need for changes, those changes are made without rancor or bitterness. And he is good in intervening in various parastatals when there is deadlock, you see him stepping in like he is doing in Labor now, and you know, that Labour, it is my brother that is there, Senator Chris Ngige, a seasoned administrator, a man whom I see as an international politician, not local, who has tried well to keep the Labour intact, to make that ministry look attractive now, because in the past you don’t talk about labour, but since Ngige came in there, Labour has become attractive. You see the president coming in from time to time to make sure that things did not go haywire, all the ministers are one, they listen to him, and he listens to them. Periodically, every week they would have meeting. You see, after the meeting, one of them would come out to brief the country. I think last week it was Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) that briefed us on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council; that is another seasoned administrator, quiet but a giant achiever. He is one of those I called Buhari’s Heros in my publication of Sun Newspaper of December 7, 2020, page 20. They are Buhari’s Heros including but not limited to Ngige, Amaechi, Onu and the rest of them.
They are progressing very well, they have achieved a lot that have outclassed 16 years of the opposition, Rail line is being constructed in almost every part of the county because Buhari gave a marching order that the 36 states of the federation must be linked with rail. And I believe they are going to achieve it before they leave office, even if they don’t achieve it, it will be 90/95% completion, and when APC wins in 2023 they will continue because APC will win in 2023.
Look at our roads, if not for APC, like Buhari said, everybody will be trekking from one city to the other, and he has used the Minister of Works and Housing, Fashola, to achieve that, the workaholic minister is there, doing what he knows how to do best in as much his training is not in Engineering work, he is a lawyer, a season lawyer, but he used his own ingenuity to control Lagos, developed Lagos, then transferred the same thing to Abuja when he was appointed the minister for Works and Housing. Look at the Second Niger Bridge, it gives me joy anytime I am passing that route, it is my state, I normally drive to that place to see things for myself. Look at Azikiwe’s compound, Housing projects springing up here and there, 764 units of mass housing at Zuba, Abuja, is a signature project. It is uncountable. So in a nutshell I say, Buhari’s cabinet is united and it is a good legacy he is leaving for this country.
Do you think that such cooperation between the executive and legislature will not work against the interest of the masses who expect robust debate on issues? We have seen a wholesale approval of loans requests by the executive without a single scrutiny on the side of the lawmakers before giving approval.
Let me ask you, are you not seeing what they are doing with the loans. Are you not seeing development throughout the country, then why did they disagree on the Electoral Bill, because the president is an executive? But they disagree on the electoral amendment bill and that is why it took time, so such insinuation is wrong. Let me ask, you always have a smooth ride with your wife and children, does it mean that you people don’t argue on certain issues? It is just like that, I said it from the beginning, they argue, but they are united. You see, the spirit of pull him down syndrome is not there, because each and everyone of them want this country to move forward. You see when you are outside, you will be criticizing until you get into that place, then you will know that it is another world. The rot they met when they came in, I said it in one of my publications that it is what Buhari met when he came into office that caused his ill-health, and nobody has refuted it. He came in and met what he never expected, he nearly ran away, but as a courageous man and as a military man, he summoned courage and today, he has pulled us out of the woods and people are outside there talking. So the cabinet, they normally disagree and agree and that is why they are moving forward, so that insinuation is absolute nonsense.
Let’s talk about your state Anambra State, people say APC has no place in Anambra State, what are you doing to make sure that you win the state for your party in no distant time?
That is a very good question. We are working seriously to make sure that APC wins Anambra State and in the near future you will see it come true. You see things are like that because my state believes so much in APGA, they hold so tenaciously to it, so they don’t see mistakes. I won’t say they are wrong or they are right, but all I know is that APC has made an inroad in the entire southeast and Anambra inclusive. There is this wrong impression that APC is a Fulani or Hausa party. It is wrong. All the parties, APGA, PDP and the other political parties, they are all Igbo parties, they are all Hausa parties, they are all Yoruba parties, and therefore they are all Nigerian political parties. You see all of them talking about zoning, this one zone to North, this one to go to south, if it is a party owned by a particular tribe, why are they zoning? You go to Abuja, you see an Igbo man contesting for local council there, you come to Lagos, you see Igbo people contesting, so what is happening is normal in any true democratic setting, and APC is working to make sure, now they have made an inroad, the next thing now is to win Anambra, and even the entire southwest for APC and it will happen in no distant time.
From what some of us are hearing there is this little bit of loggerhead between two strategic personalities in Anambra State….
Who are those people?
Somebody like Senator Andy Uba and Senator Chris Ngige, there is this rumoured loggerhead between them, on who controls APC in Anambra State. What is actually happening?
Has any of them addressed you as a person? You see you journalists, you try to create problems where there is none. Senator Andy Uba and Senator Chris Ngige are brothers, and people should allow them to be. They are leaders of note of the party and Igbo people and nobody should rubbish them. We should allow them to be. The issue of people going to them, saying certain things they did not say should not arise, they are two leaders in their own separate ways and actions, they deserve our respect at all times. In short I don’t even see them again as being pinned down to Anambra, they are national figures. Take for instance Senator Chris Ngige, he has gotten whatever it takes to rule this country and you are now talking about Anambra, the same thing with Andy Uba, he has been there at Aso Rock with Obasanjo, he has seen it all, and they are our sons, we should not joke with them.
You see, everything is turning out for good for APC, people should leave the two alone, some of these matters are in court, and people are talking, are they trying to tell the judge what to do? They should allow Senator Andy Uba and Senator Ngige to resolve this matter in a very amicable way, not making inflammatory statements that are really disturbing, I don’t subscribe to that. And I warned that nobody should rubbish any of them, all these statements on Whatsapp, social media, here and there, some people are attacking Ngige, some people are attacking Uba, they should know that these are great leaders of our great party and they are brothers, the two know the best way to handle the issues so that APC will still be one family so that we can win Anambra for APC in this election.
Let’s talk about the incoming government in Anambra State come March. Do you think, party filiation aside, that the Governor elect has all it takes to do well in government?
I want to thank you by saying political party affiliation apart. The much I know Soludo, he is an intellectual giant; that is much I can say. He is not poor in administration. I believe he will perform, taking into consideration his track records, what he has done in the past and his work at CBN, his consultation with multinational companies and all that, during the time of Obasanjo when he introduced National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), that programme worked a lot, so I think he will bring those things to bear in the development of Anambra State. I believe he will do something irrespective of political party.
There is no way we will not continue to talk about 2023 and as it affects the Igbos. Do you think the Igbos are making a rightful demand by asking that they be allowed to take a shot at the presidency?
I am an Igbo man and I am proud to be an Igbo man. And anything that will benefit the Igbo I won’t be against it. My take in all those things is that whether it is rightful or not, let there be handshake across that Niger. We need negotiation with other tribes to achieve that, so if an Igbo man becomes the president, it is not a crime; I will support that wholeheartedly. But let’s watch and see where the political parties are heading, now they are talking about zoning and all that, let’s see where they are zoning the presidency before we can take up that matter. So I will be glad and happy if an Igbo man becomes the president of Nigeria come 2023. It will usher in the principle of reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation, it will be a very good and welcome development. But what I don’t like, be it Igbo, be it Hausa, be it Yoruba, is violence. What I don’t like is inflammatory statements, I am a very calm politician that believes in dialogue, ability to convince one to agree in what I am saying, not attacking someone unnecessarily, no, dialogue is the best answer and violence has never solved any problem. And I believe that with organized dialogue Igbo people will get it.
You can conclude
I wish Nigeria well, it is my country, I am proud of Nigeria, no matter how bad things are, I believe in Nigeria. Where we are today is not where we were 40, 50 years ago. When they say we are not like America, we are not London, those ones were like us 300, 400 years ago before they got to the level they are now. So we are progressing.
