Buhari doesn’t need endorsement, he’s God-chosen —Ex Ekiti Gov

A one time governor of Ekiti state, Engr Segun Oni is now the deputy National Chairman (South) of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with BODE OLAGOKE, he explains why the last National Executive Council (NEC) meeting didn’t endorse President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term, his comeback bid to Ekiti state Government House and the relationship between the party and government as well as sundry political and governance issues.

You have shown interest to become the next governor of Ekiti state but one of your opponents said that your party is weak in state. How do you want to make APC well grounded in Ekiti state before the next elections?
We are not weak. The party is not weak in Ekiti and I doubt if you are not quoting him wrongly. There is no way they can say we are weak. The first thing that will be an indication of whether a party is strong or not is the number of people that want its ticket. As we are talking now, we have over 40 in our party that want to be governorship candidates. There are parties that haven’t gotten a single person by now. So, we are not weak and by God’s grace, we are going to win the next election.

A former lawmaker, Hon. Bimbo Daramola has expressed concern about the popularity of Governor Ayodele Fayose, and the people’s love for him. How does your party plan to cultivate the people’s acceptability between now and 2019?

Well, what I will say is, when we get to that river, we will cross it but we know that people are complaining; there are things people are complaining about, and it is obvious. So, when the time comes, we will show that we are not a weak party at all.

The recent National Executive Committee(NEC) meeting of APC fell short of endorsing President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term. Is that not a sign of a crack in APC?

No! That was not the objective of the exercise. The president doesn’t even want it that way, so it is not as if we didn’t endorse him. That just came up when discussions were on but all of us were very proud of the achievements of the party, we are happy with the President. When the time comes, wait, you will see what will happen.

But it seems governors are not on the same page with NEC members. On the day of the meeting, many governors who spoke to reporters before the commencement of the event, had expressed confidence that President Buhari would get automatic ticket. What happened?
I believe when the time comes, it would be overwhelming – the support for him will be overwhelming because he is doing a very good job and the rate at which he turned around from that health challenge would tell you that he has the blessing of God Almighty. So, there is no need postulating, there is no need, when the time comes, we will do the needful.

Don’t you think that endorsing Buhari will offend some other people nursing presidential ambition within the party?

We are not going to do anything outside the constitution of this party. Anything that will be done when the time comes, will be done in line with the constitution. We are not a small party that will put the constitution aside and do anything. We are not going to do anything outside the constitution of this party but at the same time, we know that the President is doing well.

Is it true that some APC bigwigs in the party, especially those that contested against President Muhammadu Buhari at the 2014 primaries, are planning to defect if Mr President gets automatic ticket?

If he (President) gets the automatic ticket? What of if he gets the ticket in a proper way, will they stay? I will say that yes it means they will stay because we are not going to do anything outside the constitution like I am telling you.

There are lot of aggrieved members in your party. The likes of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, even refused to attend the last NEC meeting, what is your party doing to address some of these issues?

That people are not at a meeting doesn’t mean that they are aggrieved and I personally will believe that it is not an indication that anybody who is not at a particular meeting is aggrieved. I don’t think we should look at it that way.

Are you surprised that the NEC passed vote of confidence on Chief John Oyegun-led NWC? Because before that NEC meeting, there were protests where some people were calling for the sack of the NWC.
Let me tell you, protest by who? Anybody can organise a motive crowd and give them some money and some placards. What would that represent? Does that represent the interest and disposition of larger society, members of this party and so on. You see atimes, what I expect from you journalists is, when you see that kind of motive crowd, research into them. Who is paying? Somebody must be paying the bill and that does not mean the larger cross section of party membership are supportive of that. So, why should I be surprised? I was not surprised that the NEC and the Caucus went well. That is also an indication that our party is getting ready for the 2019 challenge.

What were the resolutions of the NEC meeting which you think will benefit the party?

No, I will not speak on the resolutions of NEC. That’s the job of the National Publicity Secretary of the party.

 

‘PDP has offended Nigerians’

 

The main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has been boasting that it will regain power in 2019. How prepared in APC to meet this challenge?

Nigerians are not fools. Nigerians will still remember the extent of the secretion that the PDP visited on Nigeria and for them now to be talking as if we have all forgotten, we haven’t forgotten. I know that at the right time, they would be told that very very clearly.

People who went to town, destroyed the economy of Nigeria with impunity, corruption was riding on golden horses and gulf stream jets were all over the place. Nigerians are not fools. If Nigerians are not talking, it doesn’t mean that they have forgiven them and they have to be very careful the way they will campaign and so on. They should realise the fact that the misgovernance they visited on Nigeria has destroyed a lot of lives and those people are not likely to get it back. So, they should be sober. They should be very very sober.

If in running government for four years or six years, some people were buying 70 something houses or 30 something houses, where in anywhere in the world would that ever happen? And if Nigerians are not on the street taking laws into their hands, it does not mean they are fools or they have forgiven those people. The PDP has offended Nigerians, especially the younger generations whose future they have destroyed and coming back to be talking now, they have to watch what they say.

But most Nigerians are also saying that some of these corruption allegations are also cropping up in your party. Critics cite the recent altercation between Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) as an example….

Let me say that, to a reasonable extent, what I know as a lay man is that there was no allegation of corruption in NNPC. It was said that they did not take some approvals to the board but to the presidency but the president is the Minister of Petroleum. Therefore, his approval ultimately is still what is required.

I am not making any case but amongst them, between the Minister of State and the Chief Executive of NNPC and so on, they would, I’m sure, by now have sorted out their differences. But that is not corruption, whatever is happening there is not about corruption but it is about following due process.

On the issue of appointment, President Muhammadu Buhari promised at the last NEC meeting that he would expand his cabinet. What should Nigerians expect?

Once he said that, we know he will do it. Expansion means more ministers. So, we expect him to do it. Don’t forget it was one minister per state and one per zone, that made it forty-two (42). So, if we are going from thirty-six now, an expansion will definitely take it to forty-two. We are expecting that the President will do that.

What will be the input of the party in appointing these new ministers?

The party is not responsible for appointing ministers, it is the prerogative of the President. The only thing we can do if the president wants is to recommend people but the president is the one who appoints ministers not the party.

Will you also join those that are calling on the president to reconstitute his cabinet because some Buharists , as they call themselves, are alleging that 50 per-cent of people in this government are PDP members?

Well, you see, let me say this very very clearly and this is my own view. Nigerians are always looking for who would be down next. Rejig is an euphemism for sanction! We are always looking for who would be down next.

Why don’t we talk about the effectiveness of the cabinet? Is it effective? Yes! If he’s effective why do you need to rejig him? If anybody is doing what he should do, why should that person be rejigged. I think Nigerians, there is still this sadistic mentality in us. Whenever any government is in place, they will say it is time to reshuffle. Reshuffle means somebody would have to lose his job and so on. I don’t buy that. I don’t think it’s a right mentality.

When people are appointed to office, let them do their jobs. Let them do it. If they are not doing it well, point it out to say Mr A or Madam B are not doing it as they ought to and if you want to say that, you must be ready to back it up with data. But I don’t support any insinuation that will bring people down all the time. We should build people not destroy.

How true is the allegation that a cabal is running the government?

You see, when you want to do something or when you dislike something, you will have to look for a name probably scary, probably to call them a tag. I don’t think so. Look, as Nigerians, let us work towards making this system work. We have a government that is doing its best to deliver the result. Let us make it work, let’s get away from all these tagging one another because we want to make funny remarks.

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