Mr. Stanley Osifo, a presidential aspirant under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 elections, has thrown his weight behind President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies. Speaking in an exclusive interview with OLADIPUPO AWOJOBI, Osifo addressed several national issues, including security, economic policy, and the role of the National Assembly. He emphasised that a harmonious relationship between the executive and legislature does not equate to the legislature being a “rubber stamp.” Turning to the issue of insecurity, Osifo asserted that resolving Nigeria’s security challenges must begin with identifying and confronting the financiers of terrorism and banditry. Excerpts:
People have criticised President Bola Tiniubu that some heroes of Nigeria such as the late Adekunle Ajasin, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Babafemi Ojudu and others that fought for June 12 were not recognised in the recent national awards, would you say they are wrong?
Some of these people are dead, they are no longer alive. It’s a normal thing for the people to expect certain things and it does not mean that as it did not happen now it would not happen later. There are still opportunities for the people that think that they did not get awards to get later. I don’t think national awards should be what we should be talking about now other than our national development. If you are able to make contributions to our development then it is better. For me, award is not a recognition of who we are.
Two years down the line, President Tinubu has not been able to alleviate poverty, and people still find it difficult to survive, it’s like everything is in shambles, don’t you think the government needs to brace up and do something for the people?
This particular assessment is what we need to be careful about. Most of us that were here during the time of Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) will know that it is even better now. There is no time that people would not complain, but that does not mean that we cannot improve on what we have right now. I strongly believe that the government, led by President Bola Tinubu and those working with him, are capable of fixing the economy of the nation. The work is still ongoing, let’s continue to support the government. The government and the people are together. Whatever affects the people affects the government and vice versa. It’s the people that put the government there. It is the lower rung of the ladder that are complaining, especially on the removal of the fuel subsidy. It is one thing that aggravated the situation, but it will still be better.
What of security, look at the killings in Benue State, Plateau State, Zamfara State and others, people believe that the government is not doing much and it’s like the military is not being motivated, yet the people in government have started campaigning for 2027 rather than facing governance…
Let’s talk about security in Nigeria, we can see that the issue of security is not limited to our country. We have insecurity in Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Iran and even within Africa. If you go to the Sahel and other places, you will see issues of insecurity there. But who are those killing their fellow Nigerians and who are those sponsoring them. We need to ask those questions. We need to know the origin of insecurity in the country before we can tackle it.
Don’t you think the government should rejig the security forces, especially at the leadership level?
People have agitated for that and when the current government came on board, they did it and retired some senior military officers. We have a new set of people on board now. The President and the military officers are in the best position to know what to do to make security better. They know if we need better tactics to tackle insecurity.
We see defections into the APC in recent times, and it is believed that the current government is intimidating members of the opposition to defect to the party, would you say President Bola Tinubu is achieving with the defection?
People defecting from one party to another is a thing of choice. If you look at the people that are defecting, nobody told them to move. It is out of their conviction that they are moving. Like I said, defectors do so willingly. It is possible that they have seen something different, which is why they are moving. I am not sure that anybody is being forced to defect.
Does it not bother you to see that after two years in office, Nigerian politicians would start campaigning and they would abandon governance?
Those in government are those that are actually working now, especially the civil servants. They work with plans and strategies, which is why you have a budget that is being implemented. They are the main engine rooms of the government. We are all political beings. If you get yourself involved in political activities, you will want to promote the people in power, but the government is working.
This government has been accused of borrowing money to finance the budget, especially external loans that would affect the future of the country, do you think this is a good economic strategy?
The issue of external borrowing, I would say is not done for activities that would not be beneficial to the country. You cannot borrow without outlining the purpose and the money borrowed is effectively utilised for the interest of Nigerians. You look at the rate and the purpose. Every government in the world goes for borrowing and they are meant for projects. I don’t think doing this is wrong and there are plans for the repayment. Those are the things we should look at. Once that is done, then it’s okay.
In 2014, there was a coalition against the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which was when the APC was formed and they took over governance in 2015. Don’t you see the present coalition as a threat to the second term ambition of President Bola Tinubu?
Talking about coalition to form a single party or join a political party, this is part of political practice all over the world. People want to be relevant. Most of what we see now are part of plans to take over from the current government. I don’t think we should bother ourselves about that; we should focus on good governance and ensure that the welfare of Nigerians is taken care of, ensure that security is better and the economy is restored. I think that is what should bother us most rather than talking about coalition.
The current National Assembly has been accused of being a rubber stamp to the executive, there is insinuation that they approve anything the executive takes to them whether taking loans, appointments or any issue. People believe that we don’t have a vibrant National Assembly
It depends on how they look at it, everybody has ways of looking at things. That you have a cooperating National Assembly does not mean they are a rubber stamp. When there is understanding and there is no quarrel of any sort, then it is good. I want to believe that the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives have been able to ensure that things go on smoothly in the National Assembly. That is why we have harmony unlike in the past when we had crisis in the National Assembly. It is different from when we had Senator Bukola Saraki as the senate president and when Senator Ike Ekweremadu too was the deputy senate president. We should always look for something different. I don’t think fighting should be a constant thing in our democracy. We should be mature and do things in a better way. It does not mean that we should not change our ways and do things differently.
