No day hardly passed in Kogi state which the two time governor of the state, Prince Abubakar Audu name not been mentioned either as a result of his acclaimed achievements as a one time governor of the state or his endless battle to dislodge the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP which removed him from office in 2003 as the governor of state on the defunct All Nigeria peoples Party, ANPP.
Recently he heard an encounter with journalists at his palatial home in Ogbonicha in Ofu Local government Area of the State where he bared his mind on so many issues including alleged unhealthy romance with the incumbent governor of the state, Captain Idris Wada.
Audu, a journalist delight equally spoke about his rumoured defection to PDP and other national matters.
Excerpt:
The intimate relationship between you and the incumbent governor of the state, Captain Idris Wada is generating serious concern among the supporters of your party, APC in the state, what is the motivation behind this relationship?
Governor Captain Idris Wada is my brother and a good friend of mine. Politics can never come between us. As far as I am concerned , he remain permanently my friend . I respect him because he did what I can not do..
Immediately after his inauguration, he was in my house despite the fact that we were in the court that time and he did not mentioned any thing about the court case. He was reminding me of our friendship of over forty years. I was saying it in my mind that did this man know that I am in the court with him? He did not show any sign of concern that we were in the court. Then few months after that he came to my house again. I as a person can not do that and I will continue to appreciate him for such simplicity and gesture.
Even if I am contesting for presidency I can not blackmail him. When my children were wedding Captain Wada was not invited but he deem it necessary to attend to attend the reception even when he was not allowed to enter the venue he insisted that he must enter because he did not come there as a governor , but as a friend. I quickly intervened and he entered the reception venue. Such thing I can not do it and he has done it . I will continue to be grateful to him and respect him. I can not blackmail him because I want to win election , I will never do that. He play his politics as a member of People Democratic Party (PDP) and I played mine as a member of All Progressives (APC).
I don’t think that should create enemity between us . If not the kind of primitive politics being played in Nigeria. In other parts of the world twins from the same womb can belong to different parties , when they clamp rostrum they can criticize or even abuse each other, when they come home, they sit together and eat from the same plate, that is what I believed politics should be. Politics should not be allow to generate permanent enemity between people especially friends who have been coming together before they venture into politics .
Politics is all about interest and such interest may differ or be the same. As far as I am concerned, Captain Wada is my friend , I belong to APC and he belong to PDP I will never insult him or blackmail him, but that does not deterred me from winning my election or achieving what God have destined for me.
I am not into politics of the wood been played in the state in the past. What I did for the former governor Ibrahim Idris , I did not do one quarter of it for Wada and he appreciated it, instead the former governor made me his worst enemy. Wada is playing politics of civilization and not politics of primitive ideas that is being played in developing parts of the world. Wada is an intelligent man, his brain box is impressive, he had a lot of intellectual capacity and he is very exposed and that way and manner God has made me. So whenever you see somebody who poses similar quality like yours, you will definitely admire him, but that does not mean that I am working for PDP or I want tpo defect to that party.
I am one of the few politicians in this country who have never join the ruling party. I have consistently and permanently remain in the opposition party.
In respect of Barrister James Ocholi, his case is a non issue in APC fold. He has been suspended from the party twice and now that he took the party to court he stand to be expelled from the party because the constitution of APC clearly stipulated that any member who takes the party to court for any reason whatsoever will face expulsion. I wonder why he is impersonating that he is the deputy national legal adviser of the party when he was sacked. I am saying it now without mincing words that Ocholi is no longer our member and he is not a member of National Executive Council of the party.
The people of Kogi State are still yearning for your return as the chief executive of the state based on your track record when you ruled the state some years back, are you thinking in the same direction?
There is nothing I can not think about the state. Most often than non I think about what is happening to the state in terms of low and slow development pace. If it is the wish of God and the people for me to come back again as governor of the state, I will definitely come back. If it is not the wish of God and that of the people , I will not because I will be the last person or politician who will accept an election to be rigged in my favour to satisfy my ambition of becoming a governor again.
I leave every thing to God to decide for me. I hailed from Ogbonicha, one of the most remotest area in the state and in the country at large, if not God who can that someone from this locality can get the opportunity to rule this state. It is an act of God. I knew about yesterday and today, but God knows yesterday, today and tomorrow.
If you want to be frank about elections in Nigeria, every elections that took place in 1999 was free and fair . I have been saying often and often that there is no credible elections held in Nigeria and as a matter of fact, 1999 election that was midwives by the military was the true, free , fair and credible election that was held in Nigeria since the return of democracy.
Since 2003 that the political class have been holding elections, it has all been in a sham and full of flaws. The late former President Umar Musa Yar’adua attested to the fact that the election that brought him to power was characterized by irregularities and as such described the election as not been free and fair. I am not just exaggerating this issue because I belong to the opposition party. Justice Mohammed Uwais committee on electoral reform also confirmed in clear terms that there is no free and fair election in Nigeria from civilian to civilian transition. The Uwais committee advanced a way forward through which the electoral process of the country can be reshape via the committee’s recommendations based on their finding from the political class and the statement made by the late president.
Federal Government up till today refused to implement a single items of the report because they knew that if such report and recommendation are implemented to the later, the right people will start winning election in the country. It is disheartened that the people in power want to remain their permanently without considering how they got there. We have a terrible situation at hand when electorates can no longer hold their leaders accountable for their action and inaction while they occupied public offices which ordinarily ought to be on trust.
America of recent have stop buying our crude oil, other countries may soon join because there is no true democracy in Nigeria which is not palatable to us as a country. It is apparent that 90 percent of the people in elective positions in this country today were not elected but selected and that mode of operation is not good for democracy. The essence of democracy is for the electorate to choose by way of election the person or persons they believed can adequately represent them at any level.
Nigeria has a very strong economic base and there are avalanches of indices of development, but all of these also depend on the political situation of the country for such available potential to be utilized maximally. If we don’t practice true democracy we will have it all wrong and if we have it all wrong , it will be terrible for the people of the country meaning no democracy in Nigeria, but civil rule.
How will you assess the three bigwigs contesting for the Presidential ticket of APC, don’t you think that it may have negative effect to the party ?
Their aspiration will never in any way affect the party. In western part of the world like America where we took a que in our democracy from, a seating president will have more than four contestants contesting with him at the primary election and that not change or affect the political party he belongs to. Definitely all of them can not win, it is only one person that will emerge at the end. If that happen, it behooves on the others to support him to win at the general election.
It is mock of democracy if only one man emerge as a sole candidate for election which is not good for our democracy. If that is a Nigeria factor so be it, but if there are more than two aspirants lot make the process more democratic as the man with the best manifesto and the man that the people like will emerge at the end of the primaries and such person if he win at the general election, he will definitely perform because he get the power through a legitimate electoral process. He will also be accountable to the electorates.
So I don’t see anything wrong if APC have three or four bigwigs contesting the forthcoming presidential primary election. It is only in the military that when a General gives an order every other soldier takes the order, in democratic setting it is not like that. An aspirant has to convince his people before they can vote for him. We are democrats and we should be able to absorb and assimilate criticism neither constructive nor otherwise. That is what true democracy is all about.
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have just lift bound on the activities of political parties, considering the insecurity in the northern parts of the country, what do you think can happen?
As far as I am concern, INEC did not live up to expectation. Where is INEC when a particular party was campaigning openly and organising rally, despite the bound.
The insecurity in the north is a general phenomenon and terrorism is a global issue. In my opinion, the insecurity crisis in the north emanated from gross unemployment in the country. It is unemployment that gave birth to Boko – Haram, kidnapping, armed robbery , 419 and other vices that are inimical to the peace of the society today.
Unless the government at all levels stood firm to reduce the pressure on the labour market , the country can not move from unpleasant situation like the one we are facing right now. We have to check other contributing factors too. A situation where tertiary institutions in the country continued to churn out graduates every year and there is nothing for them to do pose a great threat to the peace and security of the country. In my candid advise the three tiers of government we have should intensify effort in creating jobs for the youth to discourage them from venturing into criminal activities all in the names of search for sources of survival.
Source: Daily Newswatch
