Engr Sunday Babalola was a governorship aspirant in Kwara State. In this interview with SUCCESS NWOGU, he speaks on the need for leaders to be accountable to the people and appointment of next chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), among other issues
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, is about to leave office and there is the need to appoint someone who will head the electoral body that will midwife next elections. What is your advice to Mr. President and others involved in the selection and appointment of the INEC chairman?
In their own interest, let them select the chairman based on integrity. This person must be sincere and competent. There are a lot of people in the country who possess attributes of integrity, sincerity and competence.
Somebody said we should choose an individual who is not a politician, but there’s nobody who is not a politician. Nobody; even when we go to other countries. Ask any Nigerian today about Donald Trump. He or she will have things to say about him.
If you are not a politician, why are you talking about a man who is ruling another country that is about 10,000 kilometres away from you? We all have elements of politics in us. But we need to choose somebody who is sincere as the next chairman of INEC. He may like someone, but because of integrity and sincerity, he will do the right thing.
The man may not have come out to say ‘I declare for one party or the other, but let him be somebody who can say ‘I will do this in my integrity.’ Some of them will say ‘I am a Muslim or I am a Christian’ but they have no integrity. They don’t fear God. They are just using God’s name. Do they even believe in God? I don’t know.
Many people are calling for electoral reforms. What’s your opinion on that?
Reforms are always a welcome idea because nothing is perfect. Even after the reform, we will still do another reform because nothing is perfect. That’s why we update our laws from time to time.
Why are we not using 1900 laws today? We are changing the laws because things are changing. New things are happening. So, reforms are necessary and I will support electoral reforms.
The 2027 general election is around the corner. What is your advice to politicians?
I will say don’t just go there because you want a position. Go there because you want to impact lives positively.
Don’t contest because you want them to say, ‘honorable this has arrived or distinguished this has arrived or His Excellency has arrived.’ Go there because you want to do something positive, to touch lives and to change lives.
That is why we should be contesting. I just discovered after studying so many countries that politics has become business. Otherwise, why does one man remain in the Senate for 50 years? Why does one man finish his term as governor and go to the Senate?
Some of them can even after finishing their terms as governor, become chairmen of local governments, because to them, it’s business. It’s a profession. So, for the followers, I have an advice. Don’t look at people in government as your bosses. They are not your bosses. They are your servants.
They are people you employed and they should be seen as that. In the churches and the mosques, we give them front seats. I agree with that but it should not make people to just stand up and start over-respecting them.
It appears Nigeria is not making progress. What’s responsible for that?
The people easily forget that elected officials are their employees. What we see is that the people think they are their bosses. When they go to any meeting, they follow what I call stupid protocols. And when they are not following, they say, I stand by established protocols. The man is your employee.
Do you go to your worker and start respecting him? Tell him what you want. I was once in a meeting where a governor was invited, and they used about 30 to 45 minutes to praise the governor. It’s just very sad.
These people do not see themselves as servants of the people. I think it’s a former governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, who called himself Chief Servant for the eight years he spent in office. Whether he lived up to the chief servanthood or not is a different story entirely. But they see themselves as the masses’ bosses.
We don’t have followers, who believe that those in government are working for the people. We should be telling them that they are working for us; that we put them there, it doesn’t matter who we voted for
They see themselves as being in control instead of seeing themselves as being accountable to the populace and the people themselves see them as their bosses.
Until things change, we will continue to have the same problem. We don’t have many people in government who think, and we don’t have followers, who believe that those in government are working for the people. We should be telling them that they are working for us; that we put them there, it doesn’t matter who we voted for.
We need to get to that reality. Though I blame not only people in government, I blame the followers as well. Out of 93.47 million that are registered voters and the about 12.2 million that have so far registered in the ongoing voter’s registration exercise, how many of them vote during elections?
Only about 24.9 million people voted in the 2023 general election, representing 26.72 per cent voter turnout. Where were others? They didn’t come out to vote.
Their conclusion was that whether they vote or not, the politicians will do whatever they want. But I usually tell them to do their own part by voting because refusing to vote is actually a vote. So whichever way you look at it, you voted.
The continuous voter registration is ongoing. What are you telling unregistered but eligible voters?
Every eligible voter should join the crusade and register. Even this time; we have released some funds to help some people at local government areas to transport people to the registration centres. It’s essential that people realize that they are the government and not the people currently occupying government positions.
The people there are just holding their respective positions in trust for the people. All of us cannot be signing papers at the same time, so we choose one person to be the one that will be signing. That doesn’t make him our boss.
Why are you releasing money for people to go and re? Do you have intention to contest Kwara governorship again?
We released the money to assist our people, so that they will discharge their rights to vote. If we can get the right people in place, we will reduce bad governance.
It is not about wanting to contest or not. It’s about getting the right people in place. The people I’m encouraging to register and vote; how am I sure they will even vote for me if I contest? All I’m doing is for them to go and register, so that when it is time to vote, they can vote.
Voting is very important in a democracy, that’s why I released the fund. If you don’t like the person ruling you, you change him, you fire or sack him. If you like him, you ask him to continue.
But many people believe that votes do not count in Nigeria, so it will be waste of time to queue and vote during elections?
When they say votes do not count; that should not make them not to discharge their own duty of voting. They should vote.
Even in some advanced democracies, they are still struggling. In such systems, they say he wants to rule forever, and it’s all a lie of politics.
That’s why they are shooting people because of the way they talk about some people being fascists. People say their votes don’t count; let them not count today, they will count after some time. Things will change.
Even the people who have been in this politics for a very long time are still struggling because the game of power is not an easy game. Look at how long Bola Tinubu waited before he became president. Politics is not an easy game, so you have to continue struggling.
Supposing he gave up after the first time he contested and said, ‘I’ve been governor; let me just relax,’ he wouldn’t be president today. You have to continue struggling and you cannot say your vote won’t count, so you are not bothered. That is defeatist.
What is your assessment of the Nigerian youths when it comes to political matters?
Some of them feel unconcerned about governance. They should know that their future is at stake because what we do today is going to affect us tomorrow, and they are the owners of tomorrow. Most of the people alive now will not be there forever. How many governors since 1999 have passed on to the other side?
How many of Second Republic governors have passed on to the other side? Only Jim Nwobodo and another one are still alive; the rest of them have gone to the other side. So, the young ones should be ready to take up positions.
Young people are making a lot of sacrifices all over the world, saying things must not be like this. Like the young man, the Conservative activist, Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed at an event he was hosting at Utah Valley University in the United States, he was just saying: ‘No, it shouldn’t be like this. A man cannot be a woman. A man is a man, a woman is a woman.’
So, young people should rise up like that and start a kind of movement that we will be talking to people about what needs to be done because if they don’t rise up together now, the future would be bleak.
I want to thank God that President Tinubu recognizes that and encouraging the youth to participate in governance and electoral activities.
There are not many women in political offices; what is your advice to women concerning political participation?
Women are concerned about their children and the home. To leave the home is difficult for them.
The man can leave everything for the woman and go out to do politics. What we can do is to encourage them and ask the men to release their wives, so that they can participate in politics.
