Charles Onyekamuo
21 May 2008
interview
Lagos — Chief Kanayochukwu Obidigbo is the Chairman of Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) in Anambra state. In this interview with Charles Onyekamuo in Onitsha, Obidigbo speaks on the strength of his party, PPA and the administration of President Umar Yar'Adua
Suddenly your party, the PPA appeared on the political scene of the south east with a bang, winning two gubernatorial seats in the April 2007 general elections in the zone. But now, it appears the tempo with which it emerged is dying down. What is going on?
First of all, your question which qualifies the emergence of PPA in Nigeria's nascent democracy as that of a bang portrays the party as formidable. The word bang means to my mind that we are formidable. Therefore, the question of whether the party is accepted as one of the strongest political parties in Nigeria should not arise. PPA as a political party of circumstance was aimed to address the short fall in Nigeria's political party engineering. If you had observed closely, the party came on board at a time there was confusion in the nation's political landscape, with the ruling PDP circumventing the rule of law and democratic process, as well as the constitution. That was a time, the then president Obasanjo wanted to extend or elongate his tenure through the back door in the form of a kangaroo constitution review. But men of conscience in the party like His Excellency, Dr Orji Uzo Kalu, the immediate past Executive Governor of Abia state said through the prism of Obasanjo's manipulations in the PDP characterized by exclusion and arrogant disobedience to the rule of law and decided that the best option is to float a party found on equity, justice, obedience to the rule of law and true democracy. That in fact gave rise to the birth of PPA.
Today, PPA is one of the fastest growing political parties in Africa. After nine months of its formation and registration PPA was likened to a woman who delivered a set of twins after nine months pregnancy. And this is in the party's winning of the Governorship seats in Abia and Imo states during the last April 2007 general elections. It didn't come easy. It was as a result of hard work and acceptance by the people. Today, we are consolidating on those gains. In almost every ward and local government area in the south east zone, the party has opened offices. In Anambra for instance, we have opened offices in almost all the 326 wards and 21 local government areas.
The enthusiasm with which people accepted the PPA when we go to open these offices is very encouraging and speaks volume of what to expect in the next political dispensation. A lot of parties which claim to be on the ground in the zone would be shocked because the PPA is out to make a statement. So, it will be wrong to say that the tempo with which the party emerged is dying down. Rather, it is gaining momentum and ascendancy by the day.
In Anambra, your state, the much talked about local government elections is yet to be held. What is your party's position on the issue and is your party prepared if the election is called today?
Let me tell you, it is rather very unfortunate that it is only in Anambra state out of the 36 states of the federation that we have had only one local government election in almost 10 years. The only local government election we had was conducted in 1999 by the military administration of General Abudulsalam Abubakar. That was also when the administration of Dr Chinwoke Mbadinuju as the second Executive Governor of Anambra state was ushered in. Ngige who succeeded him didn't see the need for this all important tier of government to be on ground. And now, the administration of Mr Peter Obi has not said anything encouraging to that effect. So, it is rather unfortunate. The local government is constitutionally recognized as the third tier of government through which the grassroots are touched.
The general feeling in the country today is that the administration of President Umaru Yar'Adua is somehow slow. Given that your party is participating in Yar'Adua's unity government so to say, how do you react to this?
President Yar'Adua should be likened to a child of circumstance. He is a pencil in the hand of God to right the wrongs of the past administration. As far as the political class is concerned, Yar'Adua has performed creditably in the last 12 months. However, the Nigerian people always look at political dividends as an act and not a process. President Yar'Adua's seven point agenda should be allowed to unfold by Nigerian people. The PPA involvement in the government of National unity is a guided development towards the actualization of Vision 2020 which we believe will reflect in all sectors of our economy party affiliation not withstanding. I don't see Yar'Adua as slow as people are insinuating. Our problem in this country is that we are too much in a hurry. If you had watched, he appears calculated, focused and visionary and I believe personally that one year is too short a time to judge a government that has to run for four years in the first instance. What we need now is patience and co-operation with his administration to achieve its programmes for the benefit of the people. I don't share the views by some writers and commentators insinuating recently that politicians in government are square pegs in a round hole, because most of them as you know are well learned and possess the requisite credentials and knowledge to lead. It is however pertinent to say that the president having known his ministers and their performances in the last 12 months or thereabout is at liberty to make changes to suit his vision for the overall development and interest of the country.
There are these probes embarked upon all over the place by the National Assembly. The House of Representatives particularly is probing the expenditures in the power sector in the last 8 years. People are of the view that the probes may go the way of others before them which yielded nothing. What is your view?
The probes are a welcome development in Nigeria. Congressional hearings and probes are the over-sight functions of a legislature in a true democratic set up. The can of worms that was opened in the power and oil sectors confirmed the extent of corruption that pervaded the two tenures of the Obasanjo administration. The revelations so far, are more than enough for Nigerian people to know why this country remains underdeveloped. I therefore give kudos to the present administration to allow the legislature to do its job without hindrances. When their recommendations were made, it becomes the responsibility of the relevant agencies like the EFCC, ICPC and the Attorney General of the federation and the court of competent jurisdiction in our land to apply the rule of law where necessary. It is even heartwarming that the Attorney General has said that government will implement the recommendations arising from the findings of the various committees looking into the running of past administration.
So, on the basis of that, we shall keep our fingers crossed without pre-empting the committees of the National Assembly doing these over-sight functions.
One of the cardinal points of the YaríAdua administration is the Electoral Reforms. But most Nigerians are of the view that it should have waited until various election matters in the tribunals across the country are dispensed off, and the 1999 constitution reviewed first. What is your reaction?
The genesis of Nigerianís political problems has since the first Republic to date been traced to the conduct of elections. It is therefore a welcome development to this nation to have an electoral reform committee and constitution review since we have failed to hold a National Conference to address some of the thorny issues that are threatening to tear us apart as a nation. We are only hoping that the Electoral Reform Committee will make recommendations that will sanitize the electoral process in this country. As for the constitution review being championed by the National Assembly, we are only hoping that there will be no go areas and the exercise doesnít end as a smokescreen. Because the constitution was handed to us by the military without necessarily the input of the people, many things appeared flawed. We expect that they will address the issue of states and local government creation especially as it affects the South East zone. Over the years, this zone has been cheated in the subsequent state creation exercises and when you realized that almost everything in this country ranging from representation into the National Assembly, recruitment into the civil service and para-military institutions, and even the allocation of revenue is done on the basis of the number of states and local governments, then you realize how this zone with its massive population has been shortchanged.
There is also need to review the aspects of the constitution that touch on revenue sharing between the three tiers of government, and the disposition of election matters in the tribunals before actual winners in the elections are sworn-in. we hope, the constitution review will finally ensure justice and equity in our body politic.
Recently, the Governorship Election Tribunal that sat in Abia quashed the election of Governor Theodore Orji of Abia state. One of the reasons given by the tribunal for quashing his election is that he was a member of the dreaded Okija shrine in Anambra which it referred to as a secret cult. What is the position of your party in the zone regarding the courtís pronouncements?
Honestly, we are as startled as every other person over the judgement because the crux of the matter and which is, was there a gubernatorial election on April 14th last year in Abia conducted with substantial compliance to the 2006 electoral act, and if so whether Governor Orji won the election, it appeared were resolved in favour of the incumbent Governor of Abia state by the tribunal. Nonetheless, the court said it was quashing the election on the grounds of his alleged membership of Okija traditional religious organisation the ìOgwugwuî, and or that he didnít resign his appointment in the former government of Dr Orji Uzo Kalu.
But the truth of the whole thing is that we all in Igboland know that the ëOgwugwuí Okija shrine which the trial election tribunal in Umuahia referred to as a secret cult is a traditional religious organisation. There are different ëOgwugwusí or ëNgenesí in different parts of Igboland depending on the part or the name the local people there give to their deity. And these things are cultural beliefs which have been influenced by the advent of Christianity. They even pre-date modern Christian civilization, just like the Oguns or Ifas in Yoruba culture. Would you now say that these deities in Yoruba culture are secret cults? The constitution recognizes this traditional religion. So this is the point. Long before the 2007 general elections, there was this invasion in 2005 or thereabout by the police of the ogwugwu Akpu shrines in Okija and it was public knowledge. The practitioners were arrested, interrogated and throughout the period of the invasion, and arrest of the practitioners, it was the police and the press that dubbed the religious practice a secret organisation because dead bodies of those who fell victim of the oath they took before the deity are thrown into the forest where the shrine is located. But the owners of the shrine who worship there never admitted it was a secret cult. If it were, why did the police release the practitioners after and the case died naturally after many months of investigation only for it to resurface in 20007 because there was an election in which the PDP lost and the PPA won. Therefore to insinuate that his Excellency, Governor Theodore Orji was a member of the Okija traditional religious organisation in the first place would have come to light then when there practitioners were arrested, investigated and their register screened and his name never came up. Moreover, the man didnít admit before the court he was a traditionalist because we know that he was born into a Christian family and given the name Theodore. Now, I hear the Okija people have gone to court protesting this sacrilege on their deity and religious worship, and that is a good development. Let us hope that now the matter has gone to the Appeal Court, justice would be done.
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