A former presidential aspirant under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections, Mr. Stanley Osifo, has advised Nigerian politicians to focus on fulfilling their electoral promises rather than diverting attention to the 2027 general elections. Osifo urged Nigerians to have faith in those in authority, noting that the government is making genuine efforts to end banditry and terrorism across the country. He also emphasised the need for state police, adding that several state governments and communities are already implementing forms of state and community policing, which have helped to reduce insecurity. Osifo spoke on these and other national issues in this interview with OLADIPUPO AWOJOBI. Excerpts:

What would you say about the way the government is handling the issue of banditry and the allegation that it is paying bandits as alleged by Malam Nasir El Rufai?

Banditry is an international issue as it is not limited to Nigeria. The government is using non-kinetic approach to deal with it. The government is working and like the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu said, the government is not relenting. They are dealing with the elements. Everybody is in this situation that we are; though it is very minimal now, the government is dealing with it.

Don’t you think time has come for the government to expressly deal with the issue of state police?

There is a bill before the National Assembly on that, and I feel that the debate is on and in due course it would be given a due consideration. Apart from this, state police is being established in many states such as Amotekun in the South West and others in other parts of the country. The issue is being tackled in many communities; policing activities have been brought up in different states. What we should be looking at is how states can make use of the outfits they have now before state police is finally approved for them.

We have seen people campaigning for political offices in 2027 and it is being suggested that there should be one single term of five years for public office holders to avoid a situation where people would be campaigning two years into office for second term…

What is going on cannot be called campaign as such though people see it as that. I have said several times that it is not yet time for politicking and that people should deliver good governance and provide amenities for the masses rather than campaigning now; I feel that they should try and meet all the expectations of the people. You see people making political statements and saying a lot of things in the media and you see many parties not stable and they are fighting themselves. You see politicians in the same political parties fighting themselves and saying a lot of things. Nobody has said that he or she wants to contest for a particular office. To a large extent, people call what they do as campaigns, but they have not said that these are what they will do for the people. They are just trying to position themselves and plan for the different offices in 2027. You can call them political campaigns to a large extent, but I think the politicians should focus on governance and provide the dividends of democracy for the people and do things that would lead to improvement in the country.

The APC is being accused of dividing the opposition parties so that we can have one-party state, what is your view on this?

You said they are accusing the APC of trying to create one-party state; when you accuse someone, it doesn’t mean that it is a fact, you have to bring evidence to prove your accusation. If you cannot prove your accusation, we cannot dwell on that. People can allege and it is left for whoever alleges to tell us why he made the accusations. What we have now is internal wrangling among the various political parties. But it depends on how each party handles its issues.

There are reports that the government want to improve the salaries of public office holders when Nigerians are suffering; is the time ripe for this?

The issue that has to do with the salaries and emoluments of public office holders is being handled by the Revenue Mobilisation and Financial Allocation Commission (RMFAC). It is their job to fix salaries of government workers and public office holders. There are processes of doing this, nobody can just wake up and fix salaries of public office holders, if they feel that what they are doing is correct, they have to make the decisions. But to a large extent, people believe that increasing salaries of politicians is not in the best interest of the country. We need to know exactly what the increase is all about.

There are agitations for state creation as the South East and others are saying they need more states; do you think we need more states in Nigeria and what should the present states do to improve on what they are doing?

Even if you create states now, others would still come and agitate for their own states. It’s a good thing to create more states, but if you watch since we had our independence, we used to have regions, we later had 12 states, 19 states, 21 states, 30 states and now we have 36 states in the country. If you watch, when you create a new state, you have development in the state capital; there would be building of infrastructures, provision of roads and other amenities. In that regard, we can create more states, but I think that rather than creating more states, we should focus on the 774 local government councils across the country and make developmental funds available to them. If we have all the local governments working well, nobody would agitate for more states as the development would be more impactful. Those calling for states creation have the right to do that for balancing and federal character. But when we are doing it, we should do it in accordance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But like I said, let us place more emphasis on local councils so that the people can have a feel of governance.

In 2019, you contested for the presidency under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and under the APC in 2023 at the primary level, what do we expect from you in 2027?

I am a pragmatic person who believes in Nigeria. I believe that no matter the situation, we will surmount the challenges. I believe no matter the situation, we will triumph. Nigerians should believe in themselves and Nigerians should be adequately taken care of. They should also be interested in what is happening. I believe that poverty should be properly tackled and that we should have strong institutions. Those in positions of authority should do the needful for the country. I believe that governance is not for the elites alone, it is for the people; they should believe in democratic principles. I believe that we should handle the issues affecting the people carefully. That was why I came out in 2019 and 2023 to contest for presidency. In 2027, I believe that we should be ready to do things that will favour the people. We cannot condemn those who are there now. We should all do what we can do to make sure that the country is great. I want to tell those contesting that whether they win or not, they should work with those that are there for the progress of the country. I believe that with my experience, if I become the president of the country, there will be further improvement than what we have right now.