Politics
‘We Need To Recalibrate Nigeria’s Democracy’
The clamour for the restructuring of the Nigerian federation is one that is gathering momentum by the day. In this interview with Opaka Dokubo, an ardent and passionate proponent of the rearrangement of the Nigerian State with a view to making it deliver its best for the people, Andy Akpotive bared his mind on the burning issue amongst others. Excerpts.
What do you mean when you mention the word restructuring?
If there are people who today say they do not understand the concept of restructuring, they are merely playing the ostrich. Restructuring presupposes that there was something and you know that that thing was not delivering the best for you, what was important that you did would be that you restructure that thing in a way that it would serve you better. It happens in organizations; it happens in families; it happens in societies.
When you go to certain houses, you will see that their chairs are arranged in certain ways before they get married. But when they eventually get married and start having children, and they see that it is very inconveniencing for the children to move around in the house, a parent who understands that these chairs have become impediments, would naturally rearrange or reorganize the chairs such that the children will have ample space to be able to play around while visitors that come in will also be able to enjoy themselves within that same house. That, essentially, is what the concept of restructuring is all about.
Nigeria today is a country that has been existing on a certain structure and we are saying that this structure, from its very beginning, we have had tweaked here and there, we have been removing and adding certain things but not doing it as it should be done, not addressing the core, not doing it organically. So, people like me believe that we have shortchanged ourselves as a people; we have not been able to get our best from our institutions. Therefore, it is imperative that we reconsider the structure so that we can redesign it for effectiveness in order to deliver the best for us.
How important is it for the Nigerian federation to be restructured?
Let me use a story in the Bible to illustrate my response. There was a prophet who always prophesied doom. But the Bible says that in the year that King Uziah died, Isaiah saw also the glory of the Lord. Everything that we have been seeing with the current structure, with the current constitution and the current political arrangement has been at best bleak, has been at best doom because we say we have free education yet it is free of quality; we say we have free healthcare yet it is free of health; people are dying in droves because police officers cannot deliver on their mandate. It is equal to what happened in the time of Isaiah because everything is bleak.
Let’s say for instance you have your car engaged in reverse gear, it wouldn’t matter how powerfully you pres on the accelerator, the car will never move forward. It wouldn’t matter if you are a Formula One driver, until and unless you reengage the gear and put it on drive mode, you will never be able to move that car forward. Nigeria as it is currently constituted is such that all the institutions are at best engaged in park mode.
I give you a typical example. You say that you have federal character and by that principle you are going to pick people in representation, regardless of merit, to fill certain positions in our institutions. Now if there were ten people and nine of them were really very good, but the nine of them were not qualified by the Federal Character principle, you will have to pick the one that is not as competent but is qualified by the Federal Character principle to give that placement. What you would have done in that instance is that you have rendered that institution ineffective. No country progresses with such kind of structure.
We say we operate a federal constitution, yet there are a lot of items that have been placed on the exclusive legislative list such that event the federating units do not have enough power to be able to federate because of such designs. So, today you have the federal government going to drill boreholes in villages across the country. This should not be so. We are saying that, right now, the country is wrongly calibrated. By the structure that we have, even if you bring a saint to this country, he will not be able to deliver because the car is already engaged in reverse gear.
Recently, a presidential aide said that President Muhammadu Buhari will restructure Nigeria if he is voted into power again in 2019. How do you response to that?
My people say that it is the morning that determines how the day will be. The person that will deliver, the person that will restructure does not need to ask of his people for a return to be able to deliver. We would have been seeing signs that this person is interested in restructuring the country.
A lot of people have argued that the restructuring of Nigeria is the preserve of the National Assembly. While I agree that the National Assembly has a lot to do, I beg to insist also that the president has much more to do in the equation as it concerns restructuring. What is this president’s body language as regards restructuring, for instance? Does the president understand that there are certain things concerning restructuring that can be done administratively? There are certain things that do not necessarily need to go through the parliament, that if he is interested he could have done sitting on his table and the citizens will see that this man has good intentions to indeed restructure this country and they will willingly give him their votes so that he can begin lobbying that National Assembly to do the part that they will do.
But what do we have today? We have seen that the president has consistently refused to address the issue concerning restructuring.
The truth is that unless and until this country is restructured we will just be like the proverbial barber’s chair: we will be turning in circles but making no movement. The question I’ve often asked is why is it that there has never been any president that came and Nigerians did not insult? Abacha came, we insulted him. Before then we insulted Babangida. We insulted Shagari. We insulted all the presidents, because they could not deliver. We insulted Obasanjo. Obasanjo left and we insulted Yar’adua. After him came Goodluck Jonathan and we insulted Goodluck Jonathan. Now Buhari has come and we’re insulting Buhari.
What does this tell any sane person? That it is not essentially the people that are administering this state called Nigeria, it is about the fact that the structures are such that even if you bring in a saint, he will not be able to function. If you bring in an Obama to lead Nigeria today, he has to fix two things immediately: restructure the hard infrastructure and soft infrastructure in our country; otherwise he will not be able to deliver.
The best of presidents, in the world will not be able deliver with the present structure we have in Nigeria. Until and unless there is a restructuring such that the institutions will align with the purpose of government, we will just be going round in circles. Because I understand that the president has not shown us sufficient signs that he is indeed interested in restructuring.
In any case, we have not seen the president himself commit to it because we have seen now that this president has shown to us that certain things that were commitment of his party and of his people are not his commitments. So, I am no longer moved by the comments of the people who are following the president or who are in the presidency. I will rather that the president come on air and say to Nigerians that if you give me a second term, I am going to restructure and this will be my idea of restructuring.
If the president says that and that is subjected to intelligent debate and the president eventually accepts it, of course, most definitely I will give him my support. What well meaning Nigerians are interested in is a man who will come and understand that it is only a change in the structure that can change the Nigerian people’s situation. That kind of a man, regardless where he comes from, I will give him my support.
What do you make of the seeming endless registration of political parties by the Independent National Electoral Commission?
A lot of people have said that it is great to open up the space for a lot of people to get in to compete but as much as I am someone who believes in democracy, I think that there is need for us to recalibrate our own democracy after our peculiarities. If you look at China, for instance, you will find that their own democracy was calibrated to suit their peculiarities. The same thing goes for Cuba and even the United States of America.
Democracy is about representation that is brought about as a result of popular vote. When a lot of people show indeed that they have confidence in you as compared to the other person that does not have that much popularity, democracy stands. I believe that a lot of people can be wrong in the equation where they follow and pursue after sentiments. By the design of the American democracy, even though Hillary Clinton won the most number of popular votes, Donald Trump is the president of America today because of the collegiate system. So, there are ways we can design our democracy such that we do not become an embarrassment among the committee of nations.
In the last gubernatorial election that took place in Anambra State, if voided votes was a political party, it would have won the election because the total number of voided votes was so significant. Some of us have investigated and found out that the ballot paper was so long and replete with similar logos and party names that people will just thumbprint any one and anywhere in the confusion.
In any case, we are still using an analogue system so that if you pressed the ink on that particular portion that you want to vote for, by the time you folded that long ballot paper, chances are that that ink will stain or touch on another political party and that vote becomes void.
So, imagine us going into the 2019 elections with close to a hundred political parties, INEC will have to go print a ballot paper that will be as long as you can imagine. The truth is that anytime that is presented to people, it becomes an embarrassment and an impediment to a free and fair election.
So, for me, I think that it’s just not about opening up the space; we must set mutually agreed criteria for establishing political parties. If we streamline and recalibrate our system after our peculiarities, then we can be on our way to solving our problems. Right now, with the registration of these new political parties, I have serious fears that the 2019 general elections will not be free, it will not be fair, it will not be credible.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun deploying non-sensitive materials to the zones as it prepares for the 2027 general election.
Acting Chairman of the commission, Prof. Rhoda Gumus, disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday at a bench-marking meeting with a delegation of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
“Right now, all non-sensitive materials are almost ready. In fact, today as we speak here, the non-sensitive materials have been lifted to some zones now,” Gumus said.
She said the commission had completed nine of its scheduled activities and was preparing for the next phase.
“We are preparing for the election next year and we have activities lined up. So far, we have been able to complete nine activities and we are still preparing for the next level of activities,” she said.
Gumus said the commission’s leadership had just concluded a tour of the country’s six zones to assess their level of preparedness.
“The purpose was to go round the zones to see how prepared we are, assess what the zones have put in place, their challenges and what to do. We concluded last week and we can see from our tour that we are really going towards the election proper,” she said.
On Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), the acting chairman said production had been completed and distribution to the states was well advanced.
“As of today, we can say that PVCs have been produced and the first, second batches, most of the states have received them. Their PVC collection is ongoing. All those who are supposed to be the voters are supposed to receive their PVCs, and if they don’t have them, it is also another challenge,” Gumus said.
She added that capacity building was under way for staff at the headquarters and in the states, and that the procurement and deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS devices were also ongoing.
On diaspora voting, Gumus said the commission could not proceed for now because the law did not provide for it.
“Here, because we go by the law, in our electoral law, it is not included there, so we cannot go on for the diaspora voting for now until we amend the electoral law,” she said.
The acting chairman said the commission had arranged for its directors to hold an interactive session with the Kenyan team and present papers on the work of their departments.
Leading the delegation, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Nigeria, Isaac Parashina, said the IEBC team was in Nigeria to benchmark ahead of Kenya’s general election in August 2027.
He said the team was studying how Nigeria handled its diaspora population and special voting groups, as Kenya sought to widen voting rights for citizens living abroad.
“Currently we have about 12 of them who voted in the last general election, but there is intention to expand to around, I think, 26,” Parashina said, referring to the countries where Kenyans abroad vote.
He said the expansion was a constitutional requirement backed by Kenyan court rulings, and would be enforced progressively.
Parashina said Nigeria’s election, which he noted would come in two rounds, would be closely watched across Africa.
“Everyone is looking at what Nigeria will do because it is the biggest democracy in Africa. The success of Nigeria remains a great success to Kenya and indeed to the continent,” he added.
The High Commissioner thanked INEC for receiving the team despite a tight schedule and wished the commission success.
Governor Douye Diri has set a target of at least one million votes for President Bola Tinubu in Bayelsa State in the 2027 presidential election, while charging the newly inaugurated All Progressives Congress (APC) State Campaign Council to prioritise reconciliation, party unity and collective electoral mobilisation.
Governor Diri gave the charge at the inauguration of the 20-member campaign council at the APC secretariat in Yenagoa, where he warned that internal divisions could undermine the party’s efforts to secure victory for President Tinubu and other candidates at the federal and state levels.
Governor Diri urged party members who were not appointed to the council to support its activities by taking the APC’s message to communities, wards and polling units across the state.
He specifically charged the campaign team to mobilise at least one million votes for President Tinubu, arguing that Bayelsa’s voting strength had increased and should be reflected in the 2027 election results.
“I give you a target that in Bayelsa, we must not bring less than one million votes for Mr President. You are going to campaign, and you have a lot to talk about the President. He has done so much for our people,” the governor said.
He listed the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the second phase of the Nembe-Brass Road, interventions in the power sector, federal appointments for Bayelsa indigenes and the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy among the achievements the campaign should present to voters.
The governor particularly praised President Tinubu for the coastal highway project, arguing that it reflected federal attention to the development needs of coastal communities.
“No president, alive or dead, has remembered the coastal people and coastal states to say let us do this signature project from Lagos to Calabar. The first president to think about it is Bola Tinubu, and those were the demands of the Ijaw people,” he said.
Governor Diri also expressed hope that a second term for President Tinubu would provide an opportunity to advance demands for fiscal federalism, greater resource control and state policing, which he described as longstanding aspirations of the Niger Delta.
He said the President had shown indications of addressing some of the demands of younger Nigerians and argued that re-election would allow the administration to consolidate its reforms.
The governor further cautioned campaigners against personal attacks and abusive exchanges with political opponents, insisting that the APC should focus its campaign on issues, policies and achievements.
The governor’s mobilisation directive comes amid criticism from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which has questioned his commitment to President Tinubu’s re-election campaign, alleging that APC campaign billboards erected across Yenagoa promote other party candidates without featuring the President.
The PDP, through its Publicity Secretary, Mr Ikaebimo Mark, said the billboards showed Governor Diri urging voters to support APC candidates for the National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections without identifying President Tinubu as the party’s presidential candidate.
Mr Mark described the omission as an indication that the governor was not fully aligned with the APC’s national leadership.
“When we said that the governor, Senator Douye Diri, is not supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we knew exactly what we were saying. Now Governor Douye Diri has erected APC campaign billboards across Bayelsa State without Tinubu’s picture. He is even afraid to associate himself with the photograph of the presidential candidate of his own party. How can this governor claim to be supporting President Tinubu?” he said.
The PDP, however, maintained that the governor’s public campaign posture raised questions about his commitment to the President’s re-election bid. Its allegation over the billboards now places the issue of the relationship between the state APC leadership and the party’s national campaign among the political questions likely to feature in Bayelsa’s preparations for 2027.
The PDP’s allegation has introduced a fresh political dimension to the APC’s preparations in Bayelsa, even as Governor Diri publicly called on party leaders and members to close ranks and mobilise support for all its candidates.
“Every person picked as a member of this campaign council was carefully scrutinised. I want to tell you that our campaign team is loaded. We parade the best candidates among all the parties in Bayelsa State, and there is no doubt about that,” he said.
He urged members to remain focused and united, warning that political opponents could exploit any divisions within the party.
“Our unity is very important because they would want to feast on our disunity. We will not give them that opportunity. Please, as you carry out this assignment, do not take your eyes off the target,” Hon. Ogoriba said.
SP Edafe explained that during the meeting, the organisers were briefed on the identified security threats and advised against embarking on an open-road procession.
Instead, the police reportedly recommended that the political activities be conducted at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
However, the Command alleged that the organisers disregarded the security advice and proceeded with the road procession.
Meanwhile, the Delta State Government has condemned the political violence that erupted in Asaba, the state capital, on Saturday, confirming that one person was killed while four others sustained serious injuries.
The government described the incident as unfortunate and unacceptable, warning political parties and their supporters against actions capable of threatening public peace, security and democratic participation in the state.
In a statement issued by the Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, the government reiterated its zero tolerance for political violence, intimidation and other forms of political misconduct.
Mr Aniagwu said the government had repeatedly cautioned political parties against engaging in activities capable of disrupting the peace, insisting that the incident could have been avoided if the organisers had followed security advice.
According to him, the police had advised the organisers to cancel the proposed street march and instead conduct their political campaign at a designated venue where adequate security arrangements could be provided.
He expressed concern that the advice was allegedly disregarded, resulting in a confrontation that claimed one life and left four other people seriously injured.
The government subsequently called on the police to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the violence and ensure that anyone found culpable is brought to justice.
Mr Aniagwu further warned that the state government would not tolerate politically motivated attacks against any individual, regardless of political affiliation.
He maintained that Delta State remained safe for residents and visitors, stressing that the government would not allow the actions of individuals or groups to undermine the prevailing peace and security in the state.
The government also urged political parties, their leaders and supporters to conduct their political activities within the confines of the law and demonstrate respect for human life, public order and the rights of other citizens.
The latest development follows an attack on supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) during a political procession in Asaba, which reportedly left several participants injured and campaign vehicles vandalised.
The government’s condemnation comes amid growing concerns over political violence and the safety of opposition supporters as political activities intensify ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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