NIGERIA 2015: WHY BUHARI WILL WIN THIS TIME AROUND -LAI MOHAMMED With the emergence of General Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate, the All Progressives Congress (APC) believes that it is indeed ready to do battle with President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election. In this interview the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, speaks on what went into the primaries that produced Buhari and how the major problems in the country can best be solved. Excerpts: You had a very successful convention where Gen. Buhari emerged as you presidential candidate. What went into it to make it a success? It is a pity that the APC was unfairly and savagely criticised from inception. I think PDP must have been so worried and so convinced about the threat that the emergence of the APC posed. From the beginning they attacked us as a party lacking internal democracy without any basis; they attacked us as a muslim party; they attacked us as a party that is sponsoring terrorism. Unfortunately, no matter how we tried, we could not shake this off. So, when we had the opportunity to showcase our belief in internal democracy, we went all out to so do. Remember that there was a lot of pressure and temptation that we should agree on a consensus candidate. We were not completely averse to having a consensus candidate, but we resolved that we would not impose any candidate on the party; we agreed that if the candidates among themselves agreed on a consensus candidate, we would accept it, but we would not do anything outside what they want. Fortunately, the candidates also believe that the best way to go was to test their popularity on the field. We set up a national convention committee and invited all the aspirants to nominate a person each as a member of the committee, so that they will have the opportunity to know and participate on how the election will be conducted. Secondly, all the members of the committee were automatically delegates, but we ruled ourselves out of voting. So, we set a tone for a very neutral convention. Our host, Lagos State, was magnanimous in providing us with a stadium and we went out to make sure that accreditation, which is the heart of any primary was done in a manner that nobody will come out with any fake figures. We broke up into several sub-committees and everybody set out to do what he was assigned to do. We must at this juncture express our gratitude to Lagosians, to the police, the military, the FRSC, the LASTMA… Everybody cooperated with us. We were transparent. It was laborious; it was tasking; it was challenging! But it was transparent. Many of us were at the Stadium by 10 a.m. on Wednesday and did not leave until about 7 p.m. of Thursday. People were patient and the media reported accurately. At least, we have raised the bar for democratic practice in Nigeria. Now, it is impossible, even for us, to go beyond that. Amazingly, it is the same party that the PDP had accused of lacking in internal democracy that has now shown the whole world what really internal democracy is all about. Most people had expected that you would go to Abuja for your convention. Besides, some of the aspirants had also preferred Abuja. So, why did you have it in Lagos? There is a lot of misconception and mischief. One, PDP was having its convention, the same time in Abuja, so, even the choice venue which would have been the Eagle Square, was not available. Two, INEC and security wouldn’t have allowed two major parties to hold their conventions at the same place and in the same day. After we lost Abuja as a venue, we considered other venues. We considered Port Harcourt; we considered Jos; we considered Owerri; we considered Benin. The members of the committee ruled out Port Harcourt, on the ground that it was the home of (Rotimi) Amaechi who was very close to Buhari’s campaign. We ruled out Owerri because there was a contestant from Owerri; we ruled out Kano because of Kwankwaso; we ruled out Jos for security reasons. So, the others left standing were Benin and Lagos. The governor of Edo State said his state did not have the facility to accommodate 8,000 guests. So, we were left with no choice than to come to Lagos. Yes, it is true that a few of the aspirants were not comfortable with Lagos, but we called them and explained to them why the choice of Lagos and they all agreed with us. How do you feel about the emergence of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari as your presidential candidate? I don’t think it is about how I feel, but the fact that it is the verdict of the people – the members of the party. It was clear; it was a resounding victory. I am happy to be part of a system that produced a candidate in such a transparent manner. And you see, when a candidate like that emerges in a rancour-free and transparent manner, with such a commanding majority, it brings the party together. I am happy that not one of the aspirants complained about any malfeasance. In the speeches after the result, each of them praised the organisation saying it was credible; it was transparent. That was why it was easy to manage the fallout because it was transparent. Nigerians have always complained about money politics and during the convention we learnt that it came up again with some of the aspirants trying to wade through with money. What would you say about this? If it is true that money was used as an inducement, I would tell you that nobody approached me and nobody gave me money. When you look at the outcome of the election, and how transparent it was, and how overwhelming the victory of General Buhari was, you will discountenance the influence of money about money; people voted according to their beliefs and their conscience. There is the belief that the PDP became jittery following the emergence of Gen. Buhari, but the chieftains of the PDP had declared that the former Head of State is not a threat in any way. Do you agree with this position? Anywhere you see a sign post that says “No Thoroughfare”, it means that there is a road there. How would you say “No Thoroughfare” if there is no road there? The fact that they say Buhari is not a threat means that he is a threat and it is justifiably so. We have a candidate today who has the credential, the track record and moral authority to fix Nigeria. He has the credential to address the two evils bedeviling Nigeria today – insecurity and corruption. This is a man who had been not just a military Head of State, but Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and he had also been General Officer Commanding. He has the track record that it was him that finally wiped out the Maitatsine sect in the 80s. We have a man whom… when the Chadian gendarmes were messing around with our people, as the GOC, he chased them out and since then they never tried it again. Under him, Nigerians are sure that there will be security. Buhari is the only man today that can stand out and say he’s going to fight corruption and Nigerians will believe him. He truthfully fought corruption when he was Head of State. He has been almost everything in Nigeria and yet, he has no house in Lagos, he has no house in Abuja and he has no house in London. Let anyone who has that kind of credential come out. That is why they are worried and it is justifiably so. Today, we have a candidate that can fix our problems. As we are speaking today, over 250 of our girls are missing; we don’t even have a clue as to where they are; bombs are exploding everyday all over Nigeria. Kidnapping is going on. What Nigeria should face now is the issue of security. Once that is fixed, every other thing will fall in place. You talked about Gen. Buhari as one with a very great chance of winning the coming presidential election, but he had contested for the same post on two or three occasions and lost. So, what will give him a better chance this time around? Does it mean that the fact that I had contested and lost, if I contest again, I will lose? What were the circumstances of his contesting before? Twice he contested as a candidate of the ANPP. The last time, he contested as a candidate of the CPC. ANPP, in 2003 and 2007 was a minor opposition party. CPC was only six months old when he contested in 2011 – no structures; no money; no spread. Today, he’s contesting on the platform of APC a bigger party; a more national party. But more importantly, the issues today are not the same as the ones in 2003, 2007 and 2011. Security was not an issue in 2003, it was not in 2007 and it was even not in 2011. So, those are the differences. In 2003, 2007 we didn’t have Boko Haram occupying Nigeria; we didn’t have bombs blowing up everywhere. So, we now need a person that can address the most pressing issue of the moment, which is security. We need the man that can address the most debilitating cancer in Nigeria corruption. And believe me, nobody has the track record; the political will, the antecedent and the moral standing to combat these two evils as Buhari. That is the difference. You would agree with me that it is often an uphill task defeating an incumbent president. What magic wand does your party have to turn things around ? I agree with you that it is not always easy, but it is never impossible. Two, I don’t know, if you feel the pulse of Nigerians in the past few days, and I am saying this with all sense of humility that Nigerians today are tired of this government; they are tired of excuses; they are tired of lamentation. What Nigerians are saying is, PDP has been there for 16 years, give these people a chance. It is true we have focused on security and corruption, but what about the economy? What was the rate of unemployment and what is it today? From my own take, Nigerians today say they believe Buhari is the one that can give hope and restore glory. That is why we are very confident it is not us, but Nigerians that Buhari can do it. I couldn’t have said this three months ago. But we knew that as we approach election time, things will change. With the emergence of Buhari, and how he emerged, Nigerians are saying we can now have a government that is organised and can inspire people. They are saying if you can conduct your primaries the way you did, then there is hope. Some Nigerians are wondering if APC, in the event that it assumes office, would be able to do anything different from what the PDP has been doing. What is your reaction to this? Very simple. The way our primaries went, for instance, is evident that there is organisation and transparency. Look at our states. Is it Osun, is it Ogun, is it Oyo, is it Kano, is it Edo, is it Lagos that any honest person would say he has not seen a difference in infrastructural development, human capacity building , welfare, environment, education? As a matter of fact, we built more roads, more hospitals, more power stations, more dams than all other states put together. Our track records show these. Our manifesto shows that we understand the issues and problems. The choice of our candidate also shows our decision to ensure security and fight corruption because our candidate is a man who is very competent to deal with it. In Ogun State, Osoba and others left your party as a result of internal crises. Are they not a threat to Amosun winning in the coming election? We are not happy they left; we wish they were with us. But since they have left, we have gone back to the drawing board. I can assure you we willwin handsomely in Ogun State because the track record is there for Amosun. If elections are won judging by the performance of a governor, then Amosun will win. What were the real issues that led to the crises because we hear so many tales? When the wife divorces the husband, there will be different stories from different angles, depending on the perspectives. What is important is that we tried very much to resolve this issue, but we didn’t succeed. You have pointed out that the main issue Nigeria is battling with today is that of insecurity. What, in your opinion, is the way out? We’ve told Nigerians that we shall, within a few months of coming to power, resolve the problem of Boko Haram. When we said so, some people asked: Why can’t you do so now? We can’t do that now because we are not the Commander in Chief. We can only offer advice. We had offered advice on several occasions, and the advice were not taken. Some had even said since you said within a few months of coming to power you would resolve the Boko Haram issue, then you are responsible. Then, I say that is silly thinking. We have done a very thorough work on insurgencies and we have told government, time and time again, that it is always almost impossible to defeat any insurgency relying only on the military option. You must combine the military option with political and economic options. Political option is talking to them; discussing with them. Every government will tell you that they will not negotiate with terrorists, but behind, they do so. How come we have the Oslo Accord between Palestine and Israel? How come we had the Peace Treaty between the IRA and the UK? It is not talking that is wrong; it is what you discuss. Without discussing with the terrorists, you can never know their mindset. 90 out of such cases are resolved through that means. The other argument is: How do we talk to ghosts; we don’t know them? Insurgents don’t advertise their headquarters; the onus is on the government to know how to reach them; you reach them through contacts; through intermediaries. In the case of Israel and PLO; in the case of IRA and the UK and in the case of Indonesian rebels, it was individuals, organisations, NGOs that were used as contacts. From contacts, they became negotiators before government came in. In many cases, you go to their territories to negotiate. They will not talk to people they don’t trust or believe in. This government has done nothing in this area and that is why everyday, we lose lives. I will talk to anybody to save lives. When we said that we are going to stop insurgency, it is because we know what it takes; we have studied how it is done all over the world and know how to go about it. Two, there is the economic factor. 50 per cent of the problem of Boko Haram can be resolved with better job, better infrastructure, more employment opportunities etc. This is because we have left these people without any hope. The youths are unemployed; they see corruption and they go through hardship. So, how would you now ask them to resist the offer of Boko Haram. Boko Haram is one of the easiest insurgencies to dismantle because they have no political base; unlike IRA, unlike PLO. What is the political philosophy of Boko Haram except Islamisation. Not even the people of the North East agree with them on that. So, you can see the total lack of understanding of insurgency. Also, we can’t have a rag-tag army and tell them to go and sacrifice their lives; an army that is not well equipped. We need to gather intelligence. Where is the morale? That is why we are confident that we will wipe it out. An area of interest is your relationship with former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. What is Obasanjo to APC? You don’t have to be a card carrying member of a party to be sympathetic to its cause. When we met him, we told him that we have a project to rebuild Nigeria and that he is one force we cannot afford to ignore. Each time we went to him, he told us that he is a member of the PDP. So, he is sympathetic to our cause. Source: National Mirror
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 19:06:46 +0000
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