Politics
Feeling Of Allienation Fuels Agitations – Rev Dagogo-Jack
He had been governorship candidate in Rivers State on the platform of the Fresh Democratic Party as well as the chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties in Rivers State and the South-South region. In the past Rotimi Amaechi administration, Rev (Dr) Minaibi Dagogo-Jack was S.A to the Governor on Empowerment and Chairman of the SURE-P programme.
In this interview with Opaka Dokubo, Rev Dagogo-Jack shares his thoughts on some trending issue, in the polity. Excerpts!
Have you left politics?
No, I have not completely left politics. I am still there but I am taking another direction. Having served in government as S.A to the governor and chairman of the SURE-P programme in Rivers State, I’ve come to have a better understanding of what leadership is all about. So, I’m taking a different approach in trying to raise awareness in righteous governance.
What I have come to understand is that it is not of him that willeth, neither is it of him that runneth, but it is of God that showeth mercy.
What is the condition of Fresh Democratic Party in Rivers State and is your governorship ambition still alive?
Well, when I came up to contest the governorship under the Fresh Democratic Party, I mentioned to everybody, while some of my counterparts were telling people that God spoke to them that they will be elected governor, I told people that God didn’t say in my case. It was my heart’s desire to serve, my heart’s desire to change the system, my heart’s desire to bring fresh democracy into the system. That was how I joined the party whose leadership is ministerial.
So, with regard to my governorship ambition, before now I said and not the Lord but for now I have not said and God has not said anything. So I can’t say I still have such ambition because I have not thought of that yet and God has not spoken to me too.
What is your opinion concerning the renewed talk about restructuring of Nigeria?
Ten years ago I made my position clear that Nigeria needed restructuring and that is still my position until it is restructured. We say that we are a federation but it is obvious that we are not practicing true federalism. I think that the concentration of power at the centre is too much. We need a devolution of power.
Agitations are coming because people are feeling alienated, people are feeling that they’re being marginalised. So I strongly believe that restructuring is indeed needed.
I have been watching Buhari to start the process but there’s no way you can start restructuring without fighting corruption; there’s no way you can properly govern well without fighting corruption. I think that corruption has become a great monster in this country. So I think that the president’s fight against corruption is in order but he must think about restructuring the country also with a view to according every unit its proper place. Let the local governments properly run as local government, let the state governments be given their proper powers and let the federal be given their proper place as well.
We need to come together and discuss on restructuring. It’s not the federal government alone sitting down and deciding the matter. While we discuss, we must take into account the reports of panels and conferences that are already available. The report of the National Conference held by the Goodluck Jonathan administration is there. There is also the Justice Uwais Electoral Reforms Report. There is yet another report by a committee led by Ledum Mitee on the Niger delta issue.
We really need to come together and talk as friends in order to chart a way forward for this country.
What do you think should be the appropriate relationship between a sitting government and opposition political parties and politicians?
I think that the government should always give a reasonable quota to the opposition to come and demonstrate what they have to offer to the people. For example, at the national level, can you point to any member of an opposition party that is in government? There is none. Opposition parties are not accommodated at all. In fact, if they can kill all the opposition to have a one party system they will do it.
Today, the only opposition party is the PDP and I thank God. Let them suffer and let them see the pains of being in opposition. They are crying and they’re shouting but how many commissioners in the state where they control are from the opposition parties? So, the present situation is not fair. It is not proper. We must think of how to put Nigeria first and the people first in everything we do.
What do you say about a situation where the opposition makes it difficult for the government to settle down and work as in Rivers State?
No, that’s not the right thing. Right from when I was actively in politics and as chairman of the CNPP. I have always told people that opposition does not mean throwing stones. Opposition means ensuring that things work well. You’re not examined or rated by the number of stones you throw at those in power. Whatever government does you want to criticize, no its not proper.
I was pleasantly surprised when Governor Nyesom Wike joined the government at the Ogoni clean up. That’s good. I was also surprised when he said that the militants bombing of oil facilities should stop. This is how it should be.
When you identify government policies that are good, you should support and encourage them because the welfare of the people should come first in our mind in whatever thing that we’re doing.
Take another example of Governor Wike completing projects with contractors from the previous government and I hear some people criticising it “you don’t have a project.” I don’t know what is wrong with politicians. Government is a continuum and Minister of Works, Fashola is saying that they will do the same thing. So what is the justification for the criticism. What the federal government is doing in this regard is proper and what Governor Wike is doing is proper.
Some people say he (Gov. Wike) does not have a vision, he is operating the vision of Rotimi Amaechi. If Amaechi has a good vision and he is continuing with that vision, what is wrong in that?
I think we should leave that type of politics and support those in government who are doing right and also, when they’re doing wrong, you constructively tell them that they’re doing wrong.
Give your assessment of Governor Wike’s one year in office
I have been asked this question severally and I have maintained that I can’t assess Governor Wike now the reason being that if you watch very carefully, since this man came on board, he has never rested. He has been fighting court cases, militants fighting here and criminals fighting there. And then it is only recently that he had the Supreme Court verdict. If you watch him now, it is now that he is trying to settle down to governance. He has been playing politics since he came. He has been too partisan since he came and that is part of the restructuring we need to do.
A leader that has assumed office no longer belongs to a political party alone. You can see how much he has been struggling from the time he got that verdict till now without money and borrowing to meet up some obligations. I don’t want to assess him now. But from now to his second anniversary in office, my eyes are on him.
INEC says it is under no pressure to conduct election, in Rivers State. What do you make of that?
Every Riversman, the church leaders and everybody should be ashamed. If a church leaders says they are politicians, when they win don’t go Mother Teresa said the sin of indifference is greater than any other thing. We all are at fault in this matter-Nyesom Wike, Rotimi Amaechi, APC, PDP, we church leaders are all at fault because we were sleeping when the devil came to sow the tars.
I have not heard this kind of thing that INEC said they’re not going to conduct election because of insecurity. It is uncalled. It is unthinkable. We played ourselves into their hands. We were sleeping. Let’s go back and ask God for forgiveness.
It is unacceptable that we don’t have anybody in the Senate and we have only five persons in the House of Representatives. Do our people not have a right to be represented? The same thing is happening in the House of Assembly.
Every Rivers leader should be ashamed of himself for the fact that you did not even speak out the truth; for the fact that you did not get involved, for the fact that you were protecting your party ahead of the interest of the people, you should confess that sin because the interest of Rivers State should be paramount in our heart. We all should be blamed and it is a shame that we are so deprived.
If we all come together and say enough is enough, this excuse of insecurity will not stand and INEC will come and conduct election. We all must take Rivers State as our constituency and forge a common front and INEC will have no say. We, our conduct gave INEC the boldness to look at us in the face and tell us there is insecurity otherwise did INEC not conduct election in Borno State? Even when President Jonathan said there should not be elections, the people insisted that there should be elections and they conducted elections.
There were elections conducted in Boko Haram infested areas and you can’t conduct elections here? Well, we played ourselves into their hands.
As I have said, we have to take the blame. The spirit of indifference was in us and we were thinking of our own and the devil came to sow tars because we were sleeping. INEC is capitalising on that and I think we should rise up from our slumber and God will help us.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday brushed aside the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which ordered him to stay proceedings in a suit that sought deregistration of the African Democratic Party (ADC), Accord Party and three others.
The Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision of a panel of three Justices had on May 22, 2026 directed the Federal High Court Judge not to proceed with the suit until an appeal pending before them and filed by Accord Party is resolved.
In a Certified True Copy Enrol Order of the Superior Court, Justices Mohammed Danjuma, Adebukola Banjoko and Oyejoju Oyewumi asked the lower Court Judge to stay proceedings until all issues on the appeal filed by the Accord Party were resolved
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State had, through the Accord Party, applied to justice Lifu to join him as a defendant in the deregistration legal battle instituted by a group of former legislators.
The contention of the Osun State governor was that he had a stake in the Accord Party, being the platform he was seeking re-election in the August 15 gubernatorial poll in the state.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu on April 27 ruled against the Osun State governor, rejecting his request to be joined in the suit to defend his own position and interest.
Not satisfied with the Federal High Court decision, the Osun State governor, through his lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), moved to the Court of Appeal in Abuja where he challenged the Justice Lifu decision to refuse to allow him join the suit.
After listening to the argument canvassed, especially that he has interest to protect as Accord Party gubernatorial candidate for Osun State governorship election, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal, unanimously directed Justice Lifu to allow them look into the grievances of the governor.
In specific terms, the Court of Appeal Justices directed Justice Lifu not to proceed further with the matter and fixed October 27 to determine the interlocutory appeal of the appellant.
However, when the certified enroll order and notice of appeal were served on Justice Peter Lifu by Mr Adetunbi (SAN), the judge rejected it on the ground that it was a ploy to arrest his judgment in the matter.
Although the judge had adjourned his judgment delivery in the matter indefinitely, he finally made a dramatic turn around on Monday and proceeded to deliver the judgment that has now proscribed the five political parties.
Actor turned politician, Mr Kenneth Okonkwo, has rejected the choice of former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, as the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement on Monday, Mallam Bolaji Abdulllahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, announced the party’s choice of Mr Amaechi.
However in a statement, Mr Okonkwo said that the choice of Mr Amaechi from the South South strengthens the continued marginalization of people from the South East.
According to the former spokesperson of the Labour Party, any arrangement that would not factor a person from the South East either as president or vice president in the party is anti-Igbo.
He contended that Chief Raph Nwosu, who founded the ADC in 2005 and willingly surrendered it’s leadership to Senator David Mark did not do so to entrench Igbo marginalization in the party.
The former actor said: “I heard from the social media that ADC has picked its vice presidential candidate from the South-South. If this is true, it is unfortunate, as this will continue the crude marginalisation of the South-East.
“This geo-political zone has neither produced a president or vice president since 1999. To deny the South-East the opportunity to produce the president or vice president in the ADC in 2027, will amount to perpetuating the marginalisation.
“The ADC was founded by Ralphs Nwosu from the South-East in 2005. He made the sacrifice to give up the party in 2025 for the coalition to usher in a better Nigeria. He couldn’t have made that sacrifice to marginalise his own people.
“I did not join the coalition to assist in marginalisation of my own people further. I am of the opinion that if we made a sacrifice to give up the national chairman and the president, it will amount to unpardonable injustice to deny us the vice president in 2027.
“I joined politics to fight for a better Nigeria where no region, geo-political zone, or person will be marginalised.
“The only favour I asked Atiku Abubakar, who openly declared that he is the pathway to the presidency of the South-East, is to show it by choosing someone from the South-East to be his vice.
“If it is confirmed that he has chosen a candidate from the South-South, I wish him well. I am not favourably disposed to campaigning for any presidential ticket that does not have a person of South-East origin as president or vice in 2027”
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, on Monday said that the numerous projects being executed by President Bola Tinubu across the states in the southeast will give him upper hand over other presidential candidates during next year’s general elections.
Prof. Yilwatda stated this at the Abakaliki Township Stadium during a mega rally organized by the Ebonyi State government and Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, during which President Tinubu and other APC candidates for the 2027 general elections were adopted.
According to the APC National Chairman, no President had done for the southeast region what President Tinubu has done for them and expressed the confidence that the president would not only win in Ebonyi State but in the entire South East.
Prof. Yilwatda also used the occasion to address growing insinuations in some quarters that Ebonyi State had been conceded to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dismissing the claim, Prof. Yilwatda said the state would not allow the PDP to win any position in the forthcoming general election.
“We will return President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Francis Nwifuru as Governor of Ebonyi State in 2027.
“We want to return all APC senators, members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates in 2027.
“Nobody has conceded Ebonyi to the PDP. Therefore, there is no vacancy in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi PDP has no place, and there is no vacancy at all in the Government House come 2027,” the APC National Chairman declared.
He commended the people of the state for their support for President Tinubu and urged them to re-elect him in the next presidential election in appreciation of what he has done for the state and the entire South-East through infrastructural transformation and human capital development.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, who also spoke at the event, said the state had no other presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections apart from President Tinubu.
He declared that Ebonyi remained a stronghold of the APC and vowed that the party would deliver the President in the state.
Gov. Nwifuru said President Tinubu had shown exceptional commitment to the state and deserved total support for appointing Senator Umahi as Minister of Works, a role he said Senator Umahi had performed creditably.
“Ebonyi has no other presidential candidate apart from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we will return him in the presidential election.
“We are standing here today to tell the whole world, especially those using the President’s name to orchestrate division and confusion in this great state, that we have only one party, and that is the APC.
“This statement became necessary because some people are going around claiming they have discussed with Mr President and that he has handed Ebonyi over to the PDP. They are also saying that Chief Nyesom Wike is their leader and that Wike said the President has given Ebonyi to him.
“Ebonyi is not for sale. We are restraining ourselves because the people are with us. Nobody should push us because we have what it takes to confront anyone trying to destabilise us.
“We want to tell Mr President that he has earned our votes. He gave us what we had never had in Eastern Nigeria — the office of the Minister of Works. And this Minister of Works is not sitting idle; he is working,” he stated.
Senator Umahi, in his remarks, said President Tinubu had done what no other President had done for Ebonyi State and the entire South-East by executing numerous projects across the state and the region.
“Ebonyi State is a one-party state under Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done a lot, not just for Ebonyi State but for the entire South-East and other geopolitical zones,” he said.