Senator Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu, a presidential aspirant under PDP, at the height of National Assembly controversy with the Independent Anti-corruption commission moved a motion on the floor of the upper house for a review of its activities. Vanguard spotted him in Minna when he visited in continuation of his campaign. In this interview, the senator accused the presidency of witch-hunting those opposed to its programmes or its second term bid, hence his moving the motion. He also spoke on other national issues with our Niger State correspondent, Wole Mosadomi.

Excerpts:

You recently moved a motion on the floor of the House for a review of activities of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The feeling among Nigerians is that your call is coming because the senate is involved. Don't you think the senate is directly or indirectly constituting itself an obstacle in the war against corruption?

The answer is No. My motion came out because it became clear to any responsible Nigerian citizen that the ICPC was beginning to be used as an instrument of terror, an instrument of victimisation, an instrument that can only come alive only when someone criticises the executive. The call was not because the senate is pro-corruption but because the senate wants an organisation and commission that would ensure fairness in its dealings. I am anti-corruption. It is a shame that our country has come down to be the second most corrupt country in the world in spite of the anti-corruption commission; in spite of the posture of this government against corruption. You will recall that there was a report by an international organisation that suggested that corruption has become even worst than it was during the so called Abacha days. So what my motion is talking of is not pro-corruption but anti-corruption. It is saying that the organisation should be an organisation that every Nigerian will feel it is there to do the job fairly and justly not selectively.

Can you then come up in your own way on how to deal with this cankerworm?

We must be decisive about it. Those who are offered bribe should reject them and those who offer bribe should be dealt with basically and we must all be decisive as a people to jettison corruption and fight against it.

Your party PDP has directed that all those aspiring to contest should resign. We are surprised that you are still in the senate. Secondly, Nigerians believe that we have had enough of civilian/military at the helm of affairs. You have served in many military administration. What is your reaction to this military/civilian administration?

First of all, the party I belong to is PDP and there is no such instruction to anybody and if it is so, it means everybody including the president will have to resign before running for an office, if what you are saying is right but I know it is wrong. No party that worth its salt will say so. We are in democracy and anyone who wants to run is free to do so.

On the second question, I am a senator. I am not coming from the barrack to run for the office of president. You should recall that there is a cycle in life because before you are a military Custom officer and then when you are done with your service, you return to be a civilian. So for all intent and purposes, I am a civilian today and secondly I am not just another civilian or another soldier but I am a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria elected by my people making laws. I have spent about three and half years helping to make laws for them and so I understand how the legislature works and today, I find myself running for the office of the president because I know I have something to offer our country. We need innovative leadership; we need leadership that had compassion for her people; we need to create jobs for them, we need to revive agriculture; we need to industrialise, we need to put more value on our humankind. If you recall, countries like Japan and Singapore have no mineral resources to itself but they have great human resources, so we are going to invest in the resources of Nigeria.

There is no doubt that you are a PDP stalwart and luckily for the party, you have a PDP Head of State. Are you coming out because you are not satisfied with the leadership of your president? Secondly, it is being remarked that you are a Northern candidate and that you are being sponsored and supported by the North. What do you have to say to this?

We have a PDP government and within the PDP, we understand the government is not doing its best as it ought to be doing and I am therefore stepping out to move the country forward and give my party more kudos by saying we have realized that we have not been doing well and that we have now made a change to transform this country for the better. And that I am a Northern candidate, well, I will be delighted to have the North supporting me because without the North, you cannot produce the president of this country and if the North has done that, then that is fantastic and I will be very delighted. However, I want to make it clear that I will not want to be a president of a small region. I want to be a Nigerian candidate, president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not Republic of Northern Nigeria or Eastern Nigeria or Western Nigeria or South-South or South- East but president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that is what I am preparing for.

Because of the desperation of some elected officers to stay put in office, there had been clamour for a five year, one term for president, governors and other posts. Are you in support of this (cuts in sharply)?

I am absolutely in support of that. I believe we should have a rotational presidency in this country. Every zone should have a go at the presidency. For stability in our politics, I support a one-term presidency. If the country gives me the opportunity to run the affairs of Nigeria, I will do it in just one term and quit.

Don't you think it will deny the country good leadership?

There is no such thing as good leadership. In my view what you have is good process to true leadership. If your process is right and you have the right quality of followership, the leadership definitely will be right.

What I am saying is that if you have a good president who is performing and after just five years, he gives way for another person even though he is performing. Don't you think this can deny the country of a good leadership?

No, because the country of over l20million people cannot just have one man to be doing the job. There are millions of good presidents in this country and so the office must move around so as to have stability in our polity. You don't want to be a good leader when you have chaos on your hands. No matter how brilliant you are, you can't function.

What qualities do you think you have that are not available in the incumbent president?

You see, I will not be happy to start comparing personalities because that will be unfair on President Obasanjo or myself. I will rather wish you ask me what we want to do for Nigeria. Then I give you a clear answer. All these are contained in my declaration speech last October. My mission include eliminating poverty, ignorance, indolence and that which frustrate access of most Nigerians to opportunities for self and communal development and fulfillment. Also, education, health, shelter and security of lives and property, restructuring our economy to create more employment opportunities and transforming our rural hinterland, water ways, and urban slums into centers of productivity rather than citadels of crime are part of my priority.