9JA POLITICS: President Jonathan is just disgracing Nigerians,....
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the first civilian governor of Edo State, is one man who craved, long ago, for an alternative national political party that can check the seeming arrogance of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) at the federal level.
Today, he is one of the Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN, leaders working for the registration of the All Progressive Congress (APC). In this interview, he discloses how the leaders of the opposition have been able to bury their personal interests to ensure that the APC merger becomes a reality.
He describes the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP as a failure, just as he notes that the activities of the First Lady of the nation, Dame Patience Jonathan, are making the President more unpopular. He speaks on other national issues including Edo State politics.
Excerpts:
Some of the leaders of the opposition have been busy trying to register the APC. What impact do you think the party will make if eventually registered?
I think that the day after we get the official letter, registering the APC, the political dynamics of this nation will totally change, because it will be a move nearest to a two- party system. Secondly, we will be creating, from day one, a credible national party which will have root in every state, every geo- political zone of the country. We will be offering, from that very day, a choice between the PDP and the credible alternative, the APC.
We will be offering the people a choice between two proven entities, the record of the PDP is there and I think it is one great endless list of mismanagement, bad governance and extreme level of corruption, as against an APC which also has a record; fortunately, when you think of the record set by the South-west governors, when you think of the record set by the only APC government in the South-south, which is Edo, when you think of the Nassarawa governor who knows that he has an Assembly that is controlled by his opponent but he has been able to make a landmark achievement in the short time he has been there, you know we have an edge over the PDP. And, of course, you must think of the ANPP contribution in terms of its strength in the North-east.
Also coming into the fold very strongly is Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, and you have to count Anambra where we control one senatorial area, and, but for electoral manipulations, we would have won the governorship there.
So we have a party that is evenly spread all over the country. The one component of the party in the North, the CPC, their candidate in the last elections garnered about ten-eleven million votes; by the time we add to that the massive votes that are to be harvested in the South-west, in the South-south, South-east, I think the voting public will now see that, truly, they have an alternative with performance that can be the ruling party at the center.
So it is going to be interesting, it is going to be challenging and i think the course of political events in this country will dramatically alter. I don’t want to go into the endless crises and the threat of implosion within the PDP which, of course, can only rebound to the advantage of the APC.
Several governors of the PDP will be lining- up, knocking at the gates of the APC in the not too distant future; so the future is absolutely bright for the APC.
Many people think that the same crisis you spoke about in the PDP may tear the APC apart due to personal interests of the leaders?
It does not worry me. I have seen miracles happen since the negotiation for the merger of this party started. I have seen politicians accept what I never thought politicians will accept. I have seen politicians making sacrifices that I never thought politicians were capable of making.
I have seen the hand of God in what is happening now; we have already set up an interim executive to meet up with the requirements of INEC. We have three major parties each of which has an executive already, almost the same number of positions.
There were three, four chairmen, but we now have only one; so there are chairmen today who are just playing the role of ordinary members and they have accepted the situation. Nobody has had to make extraordinary promises of anything whatsoever.
In a political circle, I think that is nothing short of a miracle. God loves this country. I have no doubt about it and what is happening now is God’s way of saying, ‘look, I wish you people well, I want to give you another chance,’ and, thank God, the various leaders of the parties, have been modest enough, sacrificing to make what has happened possible.
Yes, there will be disagreements here and there, but the pattern is already set on how to spread the offices between the various interest groups and the minute the APC is recognized, all the barriers of ‘I am CAN’, ‘I am CPC’, ‘I am ANPP’, will be totally broken down; we will now have one single national party.
But how optimistic are you that APC will take over the Federal Government come 2015?
I am not a gambler but, on this particular issue, I am ready to wager anything. The discontent in the country is palpable, you can see it, you can feel it, even touch it.
The hopelessness in the country is very high and you can see that the people are waiting for a way out. What they have been doing in the past is based on the fact that they did not perceive that they had a credible alternative so that they can punish a non- performing Federal Government. Now that the alternative is here, I have no doubt that the long suffering Nigerians will know where to dismount and back the party that will restore hope to their lives.
READ MORE HERE
Today, he is one of the Action Congress of Nigeria, CAN, leaders working for the registration of the All Progressive Congress (APC). In this interview, he discloses how the leaders of the opposition have been able to bury their personal interests to ensure that the APC merger becomes a reality.
He describes the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and the PDP as a failure, just as he notes that the activities of the First Lady of the nation, Dame Patience Jonathan, are making the President more unpopular. He speaks on other national issues including Edo State politics.
Excerpts:
Some of the leaders of the opposition have been busy trying to register the APC. What impact do you think the party will make if eventually registered?
I think that the day after we get the official letter, registering the APC, the political dynamics of this nation will totally change, because it will be a move nearest to a two- party system. Secondly, we will be creating, from day one, a credible national party which will have root in every state, every geo- political zone of the country. We will be offering, from that very day, a choice between the PDP and the credible alternative, the APC.
We will be offering the people a choice between two proven entities, the record of the PDP is there and I think it is one great endless list of mismanagement, bad governance and extreme level of corruption, as against an APC which also has a record; fortunately, when you think of the record set by the South-west governors, when you think of the record set by the only APC government in the South-south, which is Edo, when you think of the Nassarawa governor who knows that he has an Assembly that is controlled by his opponent but he has been able to make a landmark achievement in the short time he has been there, you know we have an edge over the PDP. And, of course, you must think of the ANPP contribution in terms of its strength in the North-east.
Also coming into the fold very strongly is Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, and you have to count Anambra where we control one senatorial area, and, but for electoral manipulations, we would have won the governorship there.
So we have a party that is evenly spread all over the country. The one component of the party in the North, the CPC, their candidate in the last elections garnered about ten-eleven million votes; by the time we add to that the massive votes that are to be harvested in the South-west, in the South-south, South-east, I think the voting public will now see that, truly, they have an alternative with performance that can be the ruling party at the center.
So it is going to be interesting, it is going to be challenging and i think the course of political events in this country will dramatically alter. I don’t want to go into the endless crises and the threat of implosion within the PDP which, of course, can only rebound to the advantage of the APC.
Several governors of the PDP will be lining- up, knocking at the gates of the APC in the not too distant future; so the future is absolutely bright for the APC.
Many people think that the same crisis you spoke about in the PDP may tear the APC apart due to personal interests of the leaders?
It does not worry me. I have seen miracles happen since the negotiation for the merger of this party started. I have seen politicians accept what I never thought politicians will accept. I have seen politicians making sacrifices that I never thought politicians were capable of making.
I have seen the hand of God in what is happening now; we have already set up an interim executive to meet up with the requirements of INEC. We have three major parties each of which has an executive already, almost the same number of positions.
There were three, four chairmen, but we now have only one; so there are chairmen today who are just playing the role of ordinary members and they have accepted the situation. Nobody has had to make extraordinary promises of anything whatsoever.
In a political circle, I think that is nothing short of a miracle. God loves this country. I have no doubt about it and what is happening now is God’s way of saying, ‘look, I wish you people well, I want to give you another chance,’ and, thank God, the various leaders of the parties, have been modest enough, sacrificing to make what has happened possible.
Yes, there will be disagreements here and there, but the pattern is already set on how to spread the offices between the various interest groups and the minute the APC is recognized, all the barriers of ‘I am CAN’, ‘I am CPC’, ‘I am ANPP’, will be totally broken down; we will now have one single national party.
But how optimistic are you that APC will take over the Federal Government come 2015?
I am not a gambler but, on this particular issue, I am ready to wager anything. The discontent in the country is palpable, you can see it, you can feel it, even touch it.
The hopelessness in the country is very high and you can see that the people are waiting for a way out. What they have been doing in the past is based on the fact that they did not perceive that they had a credible alternative so that they can punish a non- performing Federal Government. Now that the alternative is here, I have no doubt that the long suffering Nigerians will know where to dismount and back the party that will restore hope to their lives.
READ MORE HERE
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