…Commends Tinubu for testing his popularity at party primary
Hon. Chief Modestus Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina) in this interview with CYRIACUS NNAJI recently, spoke on the just concluded APC primaries and advised politicians to play according to rules as 2027 General Election approach. Excerpt:
We start by saying, kindly accept our heart-felt condolences over the demise of your cousin, it is God that bringeth, he also taketh. On behalf of our platform, we say, take heart, and welcome back to Lagos.
Now, we are in a political season, lots of things are going on at both states and federal levels, talking about the Party primaries. I know Anambra is not really in the purview by virtue of the fact that the governor is not directly involved. Now, how do you assess the entire exercise, the political atmosphere, the dynamics and perhaps the way forward, as the 2027 elections approach.
Right now, I am not in the mood to talk about politics, because myself and my entire family, Umenzekwe family and by extension, the Azike dynasty, are still in a mourning mood, having lost our dearest vibrant and vocal sister, Theresa.
If you watch me, I have been out of what I may call, out of circulation because of the sudden demise of our sister. We have just concluded the burial.
I want to use this opportunity to thank members of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) who took out time to pay visits, to support financially, and also joined us in prayers for the repose of the soul of our sister.
I thank the state, Anambra State chapter of APC, I thank the zone and I thank Aguata LGA chapter of APC, for standing behind me throughout the mourning period. May God reward them abundantly.
Coming to your question, I have not been able to navigate round the political activities for sometimes due to what I stated above.
However as a Nigerian, I will chip in one or two words. First of all, let me congratulate Nigerians irrespective of political affiliation for very seamless political transitions we have had since 1999, even though each phase comes with its own unique challenges and goodies, but the most important think is that our democracy is deepening and evolving, our electoral processes have been strengthened, and we have not had any truncated transition cycle. So it is a plus and it is a sign that Nigerians have already embraced democracy. Like they say, the worst democratic administration is better than the best military rule. So I congratulate Nigerians. I congratulate our politicians throughout the country.
The former President of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan picked a presidential form and has just been screened by one of the factions of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and indeed he is declared the sole candidate. Your thoughts.
Well, first of all Jonathan is a leader per excellence, a perfect gentleman, and somebody who would never wish the disintegration of this country. He abhors violence, and all manners of political thuggery. The respect he has earned throughout the world cannot be quantified. I admire his gentility, I admire his approach to issues.
But then, he should as a matter of maintaining his golden status thread with caution. You are just informing me that he has just picked a nomination form from one of the political parties, which political party?
One of the factions of the PDP….
You know the PDP from my own understanding now, I might be wrong, has three factions, we have the Turaki faction, we have the Makinde faction, Makinde who has just declared his intention to run for the presidency and we have the Wike faction. So which one is behind Jonathan?
I will get it
Anyway whichever faction that is behind him, Jonathan has the right to contest, but I would advise him, if I were in a position to advise him, I would tell him, in the course of exercising his right, he should never allow himself to be rubished. If he wants to pick a ticket, let him pick a ticket from a united political party, or look among the three factions and pick from a legitimate one, one of them must be legitimate and legal. So he should live above board. But all in all, I will advise him to remain as a great leader in Nigeria, a great leader in West Africa, a great leader in Africa, and a great leader in the whole world. By now he should stay as a kingmaker, consultant to incoming president, and incoming administrators. I will say, Jonathan, no matter how they push him, I know they are pushing him, or I believe they are pushing him, he should be able to recluse himself from any elective post now. And I believe he will heed to this advice. I was watching the television and one pastor of, either Anglican Pastor or one of these pentecostal churches, was advising him, I think it was at Gowon’s book launch, speaking very glowingly about him, and I want to join that pastor, to please tread as the Lord Mayor of Nigerian politics.
Can you give us your assessment of your party’s primaries?
First of all I have to say congratulations to our great party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, for deepening democracy in Nigeria and within the party. I think the primary was near perfect, because nothing is perfect on earth as far as it is being handled by human beings. It is only God that is perfect.
I congratulate the president, not necessarily because he won the primaries but because he subjected his popularity to be tested in the public through direct primary, where option A4 was adopted during voting. If he is a greedy and rascal man, he would have bulldozed his way and overlook the challenger, Mr Osifo. I also congratulate Mr Osifo, for his courage to stand out boldly to demand through electoral process to govern this country and that necessitated this open ballot; where the president won and won convincingly. It is another testament of the president’s popularity. And if only APC members participated in the primary and he got up to 10 million plus votes, the main election will be a work over, a total victory in almost all the states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So I congratulate the President, for subjecting himself for this all important exercise, for standing before the people both high and low, from the wards to the local governments, to the zones, to test his acceptability, and that shows he means well for the country, he means well for humanity, that means he has not changed from the time I knew him in Lagos, he has remained the same Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that fought for democracy, that fought for the exit of the military, that fought for the retention of the election of Chief MKO Abiola, even though he didn’t succeed. So he has been as constant as the Northern star. Also his decision to handle sensitive issues in such a way that everybody would be carried along.
Some sections of the people are also saying it may be an arrangement so that it would appear, it is a genuine process….
You see, why do Nigerians always talk about arrange in everything, in the family, you do something, they say it is arrange, in your town, you do something, they say it is arrange, whatever, wherever, it is arrange, those people that talk about arrange, are agents of arrange. Let me tell you, in our party there is nothing like arrange, it is a free family, where you are free to express your view, your opinion. If you have attended any of our meetings or conferences, or gatherings, you are free, you air your views and mark you, my National Chairman, Prof Nentawe Yilwatda and his working team made it clear that APC is one family one united family, free of unnecessary bickering, not that there won’t be disagreement, but it has to be settled in house.
Unfortunately you are not a member of APC, why are you too inquisitive about our great party, why not join and pick your own presidential nomination form and contest?
Someone said expression of interest begins with printing of poster, you will soon see my poster….
I will love to see that, I will love to see that.
There is this fear that Tinubu may lose Kano especially due to the influence of Kwankwaso who recently joined Peter Obi in NDC as VP, what is your take?
Is Kwankwaso the owner of Kano?
…This fear is genuinely driven by the fact that he has a large following being the Principal of Kwankwasia group, a group that has allegiance to himself.
Have you forgotten that the governor of Kano is a member of our party? Have you forgotten that Ganduje is a member of our great party? Have you forgotten that Shakarau is a member of our great party? And you are talking about one man. How? We have no fear about Kano, the most important thing is for Asiwaju to win the primary, once he wins the primary, leave the rest for us, because the election will be credible, free and fair, and we will win Kano.
It’s alleged that this Government is persecuting political opponents, let’s take the issue of Mallam El Rufai for instance.
Hold it there. Why this type of insinuation? Remember in the Fourth or Second Republic Awolowo was tried in this country, Zik faced the jury, Dasuki faced the jury, so if the law warrants that one should be tried including you, including myself, any Nigerian can be tried. So what are you talking about? No one is above the law. Okay get me the charge sheet so that I don’t even go into what is sub- judicial, so that I know how to reply because what you are saying I don’t know about it. I am not a lawyer but I am sensible enough to know the difference between one and two.
Okay, your advice, Nigeria’s political atmosphere is charged, in some areas people are being killed because of primaries…
Which area? You are just informing me?
It was alleged that some people have lost their lives in Ajeromi/Ifelodun, Lagos, since the primaries.
I am not saying it can’t happen, but I have not heard about it. My advice is let us not be desperate, political offices are not a do or die affair. Let’s be calm, if you contest and lose, wait for another time. If you want to contest and there are obstacles on your way, which you cannot clear, know it is not your time, let everybody remain calm so that Nigeria can remain one indivisible nation and our democracy not truncated.
Hope Uzodinma, the governor of Imo State has just been cleared to contest for the position of Senator, even as he remains the governor of Imo State, how is it going to play out knowing that his tenure is not terminating by 2027?
It is his right. And Hope Uzodinma has been leading the South East APC very well. And let me tell you, you can see his propagation of the Renewed Hope Agenda, a fine gentleman, a seasoned administrator who has turned Imo State into a new heaven.
We are in celebration mood. You can use this opportunity to wish our Muslim brothers and sisters, happy Eid-El Kabir.
Yes despite the trying time which we are experiencing in this country, we must glorify God, no matter the situation, because, the holy book, the Bible, I believe it is the same in the Quran, God says no matter the condition, glorify me. We have no option. So why we call on Him to come to our aid, in Nigeria, in Africa and in the whole world, to rescue us from so many things giving us burden, we still thank him that we are still alive. We thank him for our leaders .
And more importantly this period our Muslim brothers and sisters celebrated their Eid El-Kabir, I wish them well, and I wish them continues happy celebration. Let them continue to pray for this country. In my area the celebration was all encompassing, both Christians and Muslims. We exchanged banters, we dined and wined together, that is the way it should be, some of my Muslim friends, we exchanged visits and to some, I sent them messages of felicitation.
So it is important, I call on the Muslims to unite with Christians to fight against anything harassing this country, anything that will cause us the peace we have. Let them unite to keep this country as one, because we are brothers and sisters under one God. I wish them long life and prosperity as they are going to celebrate more Eid-El Kabir festival in the future.
Today is the third anniversary of the inauguration of President Tinubu’s Administration, has be achieved what he stated in his manifesto?
I would have loved you to come back on a good day for us to dissect all the achievements of this Government, you just bumped into me now and you can see me attending to some people.
But what I want you to take home from me now is, it is a litany of achievements, you need to give me time, I have to talk to you for about one hour or two hours talking about this government, what it has achieved. We have achieved a lot. But more importantly, the administration has been able to keep the nation as one, united, our democracy is still in tact, our road infrastructure is going on, so many economic policies that people see, some people see them as bad policies, but without those policies, we are heading no where. At least for the courageous pattern, which this government is adopting, to propel us to the echelon of success. Very commendable. So if you don’t mind, come back in three days time, so that we start dissecting the achievements of this administration.
However, we are not yet there in so many areas, but I assure you, this Government is working round the clock to make sure we achieve the desired goal. If not for anything security is still giving us a serious problem but I believe the president, he said, we must win the war against terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping, and others. That is much I can tell you.
