A political stakeholder in Rivers State and stalwart of the Labour Party, Chief Isaac Nwonwu contested the Emohua/Ikwerre Federal Constituency seat in the National Assembly in the 2015 general elections. In this interview with Opaka Dokubo, Chief Nwonwu bares his mind on some contemporary political issues in the country. Excerpts.
You are a stalwart of the Labour Party. Are you still a party man?
Yes, I still believe in the ideology of Labour Party, particularly, in the interest of Rivers people and Nigerians.
You were a candidate in the last National Assembly elections. Are you still interested in contesting the forthcoming elections in 2019?
We are all more or less political animals. We’re also admiring the leadership style by Governor Nyesom Wike in the State and President Muhammadu Buhari, particularly with policies and campaign promises made by the PDP and the APC and Buhari. We are assessing them all and most importantly assessing the Electoral Act as being reviewed by the National Assembly, and if it’s properly reviewed, and passed into law and enforced, we will want to see whether we can as well join the race come 2019 elections.
The 2015 election was characterised by a high level of insecurity and violence, and actually did not provide room for any reasonable and constructive persons to be able to participate in politics. But if between now and 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), can, by law, provide an enabling environment for free and fair elections, I’m sure that more credible people will participate in the elections.
What do you make of the recent special press statement released by former President Olusegun Obasanjo?
It’s a wonderful one. We must commend Chief Obasanjo for such a letter; even if the process wouldn’t have been very necessary but we have no doubt that he has spoken the minds of a few Nigerians. We have no doubt that his observations are likely to have been there but it should be welcomed by the APC under the leadership of President Buhari to be able to correct the shortfalls.
As a member of the Labour party, do you agree with Chief Obasanjo that there are only two political parties worthy of note in Nigeria?
We had hoped that Labour Party would have been an alternative party and we’re also looking forward to seeing many politicians and Nigerians to embrace Labour Party as an alternative party to be able to bring leadership to this country but, so far so good, we haven’t seen an aggressive drive in that direction. We have not also seen new political parties springing up with the capacity to face the challenges of 2019; it therefore suggests that what we have before us is APC and PDP. In those circumstances, we still believe that if the enabling political atmosphere is actually created, we should be able to encourage more Nigerians to join the political parties to see whether we can bring about a change by supporting any of the existing political parties.
Are you saying you do not agree with Chief Obasanjo that we need a new political movement?
Absolutely, it will not be correct to have any group. if that was to be; it should have been during Chief Obasanjo’s administration when there were a lot of shortfalls.
Of course, we must also agree that leading Nigeria is not an easy task anymore as compared to what we saw in the days of Chief Obasanjo when there was no social media system. It was only NTA that was controlled by the national government; it was only what you wanted to be aired that was aired through the NTA. But today, we have a lot of competitions in terms of the news media and all that. And of course, through the social media, you expose any information in your community. It means you must also understand Nigerian politics to be able to lead Nigeria and as much as the federal government dissociates itself from corruption, it will definitely be difficult in repositioning Nigeria the way it should be. And I must say that what has continually united us today is corruption. Once you erase corruption, everybody will disengage.
Do you agree that President Buhari should not seek re-election in 2019?
In a genuine democratic process, Chief Obasanjo has only one vote and I do not think he was speaking for Nigerians; he was actually speaking for himself. The question of who becomes the president of Nigeria can only be determined by the electorate and we should be able to leave it for the poll to determine who leads this country.
Should President Buhari heed that advice?
The membership of APC, the membership of PDP, the membership of Labour Party and Nigerians are all entitled to vote and be voted for. And I think that if President Buhari so wishes, he should also contest elections. If the APC so wishes that President Buhari becomes their candidate come 2019, so be it.
Are you satisfied with the performance of this administration so far?
We must make a separation distinct in this matter – Buhari one side, APC one side. Buhari as president of Nigeria has done well. It is left for Nigerians to assess the institutions, the officers, the ministers and other people around him on how well they have performed. I believe that President Buhari means well for Nigeria.
What do you make of the timetable for the 2019 general elections recently released by INEC?
The timetable met my expectation and except for some politicians with hidden agenda, I think that we should be able to conform to the INEC timetable and work towards it. I also know that most politicians and political parties are already gearing up towards the INEC timetable for 2019 elections.
With 68 political parties on ground, INEC says it is likely to register more before the 2019 elections. Do you think we need more political parties?
The Constitution permits INEC to register as many political parties that meet the requirements. I am also in the process of registering a political party and looking forward to mobilising Nigerians that will be able to support us for leadership. We are in the process of registering a political party. We are taking an overview of the process.
No doubt that multiple political parties will create clumsy processes, will cluster the ballot paper, will increase logistic issues, will create quite a challenge for the electorate, will as well increase the burden of presiding officers and of course will also result to additional cost in the electoral process. Except, between now and the elections, something like the electronic voting system is adopted to save the situation.
In your own estimation, what number of political parties would be ideal for Nigeria?
Four wouldn’t have been too much at most and of course with a provision for independent candidates. I don’t think we need more than four political parties.
Are you worried that so early in the day, politics is given so much attention vis a vis governance of the country by this administration?
Yes, it is quite worrisome with the level of politicking now and it should also be a matter of concern to Nigerians why virtually every issue is politicised.We should approach the processes with caution. We should be able to get the dividends of democracy within this period. We should be able to charge our leaders to offer service between now and the 2019 elections because if we devote all the time there is to just campaigns, we may not see the dividends of democracy.
We should all participate; we should all look inwards and encourage our governments to be able to give us the dividends of democracy; to ask questions and ensure that their electoral promises are delivered. We are expecting them to perform between now and the elections and their performance will determine our direction in the elections.
What would your advice be to the APC as regards heating up the polity so early in the day?
I think a release has already gone out from the presidency to the APC asking its members to exercise restraint on their call on the president to run for 2019. I am also aware that the president has not made any comment as regards issues relating to 2019 elections, whether to run or not to run. I think the issue of election should actually be on hold for now and let’s see how the respective governments at various levels are able to perform, provide us with basic infrastructure and improve upon the economy, provide us with the shortfall on fuel supply and the development of our roads and rails. This is exactly what we expect from our government at this period.