Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa is a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview, he speaks on Prof Mahmood Yakubu’s tenure as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and his 2023 bid for the PDP presidential ticket, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU reports
What is your take on the end of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s reign as chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after a decade?
I believe its cheering news because Yakubu did not leave a very sweet taste in the mouth of many politicians, wrongly or rightly because he let us down, especially in the last elections. He raised our hopes so high that we’ve gotten our electoral system in a manner that we can trust the results. But at the critical time, he dropped the ball. Whether it was accidental or coincidental or deliberate, history will judge that.
He also left a bitter taste in the mouth of every Nigerian because we shouldn’t have gotten to a stage, where we would be disputing the legitimacy of our president. Yes, when a man wins, or even a governor wins an election, there may be people who will challenge it, but largely, we should say this is the man who won the election. When Chief MKO Abiola won election, the result was not announced but people knew that Abiola won.
Even when all the denials were made at the time, eventually, the government admitted that Abiola won the election. People were sent to jail for daring to say it. So, people know when the right things are done. Yakubu let us down but I’m happy his tenure is over. He should just go and take his rest.
How much of an opportunity is it now for Nigeria to again bring elections back to the right path of rectitude?
For me, there could have never been a better time. I think that what is calling on us today in this country is actually to retrace our steps. With what is going on, I think that government reforms should run through every gamut of activity.
That boldness and courage of working against the wrong and doing something different, break from the past, is what the President has shown. So, I think this is the time for him to be selfless and say, guys, I’ve heard you. I think this is an opportunity. If we miss it again, it might be long in coming.
You have assessed the Nigerian economy, both as a former chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) and a former opposition presidential aspirant. What are the wider signals that you’re detecting from the Nigerian economy under the Tinubu administration?
Consumer confidence is real with government policies. People have stopped trusting government over many years of promises that failed. Lights for all, health for all, housing for all, still we have no house.
We have no health. We have no light over many cycles. So, why would people keep believing when you say something? But I can tell you with all sincerity that the feelings we’re getting is that we are about to get this economy in the right path.
That is the overall signal; that at last, maybe, we’re about to find a way to run an economy and allow a sustainable growth, not the up and down, boom and bust we have gone for years through artificial subsidies, rent-seeking and all manner of corruptive things that have happened, which enriched few and impoverished many.
A small percentage of the people are taking a disproportionate share of the revenue. They are getting high on the revenue. Everything is in billions and we can’t continue like that
Deregulation, of course, has been issue in NESG because we’ve always said let’s deregulate, let the market determine the value that you give for every product and identity, let there be competition, let the consumer get the best because the consumer is the one who determines what he’s willing to pay for. We did a regulation in petroleum that also rubbed off foreign exchange, meaning we’re moving in the direction.
Secondly, the government of Nigeria, for over seven years went through a very critical revenue crisis. It couldn’t fund capital projects. it had began to not even be able to fund recurrent. Debt repayment was becoming 97 per cent of revenue. Debt repayment; that’s all the money we earned, we used to service debts. It was not sustainable.
The way out was to find very creative ways to reverse that. What the President and the government have done, has at least, brought us out of that crisis stage. Revenue is ramping up. When they bring these new tax laws that are ready to go, revenue will fly and we’ll deal with that crisis.
The other side is that there is another crisis, which existed, but is bludgeoning. That is the expenditure crisis, the waste crisis. We are making revenue but we must appreciate the sacrifice that people have made because this increased revenue, another way of saying it, is tax on the people.
There was a time in Lagos, when we said if Governor Babatunde Fashola wants to take more money from us, we’re ready to give him because we saw him work to change Lagos. Nigerians now want that transformation to justify that pain, and it is not yet reflecting, because there is a mismatch between this increased revenue and the impact of the expenditure on the life of the people.
So, this is what government should pay attention to now. As we’re increasing the revenue, let’s please ensure that we get value for money. Try and wind down all the extraordinary expenditure on the political class. A small percentage of the people are taking a disproportionate share of the revenue.
They are getting high on the revenue. Everything is in billions and we can’t continue like that, because soon, it will look like you spend energy digging the hole and when you are through, you use the other leg to put the sand back. What’s the result of that work you’ve done? Well, that’s a very good point. That’s my point. The government needs to do that, so that this good news can really roll down.
Let’s talk about your book; it has a very long title, what is behind that title?
It’s called ‘Driven by Revolution and Inspiration: My Aspiration Journey through the 2023 Presidential Elections and Matters Arising.’ The title is that long because many people have asked me and I even asked myself, why are you in this game? I mean, I try to resist it.
If you read the book from the first chapter, I talked about the political heartbeat that I’ve had, but I’ve always run away because I do not think everything else about me fits into the Nigerian political system. My values and principles are complete contradictions, but the pressure got so unbearable that I had to go.
And people asked, why, Sam, do you think you could swim in this murky water? I wanted to explain that it was a whole depth of inspiration and revelation that was irresistible.
The revelation and inspiration is from who?
The revelation from powers that are above me, from my God, and God’s time is not our own time. But when He says a thing, He has a purpose for saying it.
And the important thing is obedience. It is obedience that works with Christ. If you remember, when in the Bible, somebody was asked to go and sacrifice his son, he did not ask why, but he went. And for that obedience, he was blessed. God can test you in different ways.
So, that revelation and inspiration is about a country that I have lived all my life hoping that it will move from being a third world country. I was born into a third world country 75 years ago. I’m seeing a third world country, a developing country, and I’m asking myself, when will this country become a developed country?
Beyond the supernatural test that you say you had, what lessons did you learn from that experience?
The lessons I learned is that this country is not ready for people who have ideas. The country is not yet ready for ideas to rule the nation; for competence to rule the nation, for capacity. What rules the nation today to be able to get to political power is how much money you have. It is a matter of how much money you have.
That’s the currency. I spoke about Nigeria’s monetized political culture. And that’s the culture. The person who wins any primary in Nigeria, as far as we’ve done, must either have spent the highest amount of money. Either he has it or he’s able to raise it, or people are ready to spend it on his part.
That’s how you have these godfather people. But when you see an average Nigerian who has an idea of how to serve at any level, whether it’s local government, state or federal, but he does not have bags of money from whatever source, he’s going nowhere.
People will listen to your story, sympathize with you, but go for the highest bidder. Before the election, people came to me and said, Sam, we’ll vote for you, it’s not about money, we will vote for you because we believe you have what it takes at the primary but it never happened.
Are you still in the PDP?
I’ve not resigned but I’m currently not anywhere. Truly, I’m nominally in PDP, but my spirit is not in PDP. My mind is not with the party. I am contributing politically. I am contributing my ideas, I’m making suggestions, I’m willing to support any group of people who share my values. PDP is a party that is in complete disarray, and every day you think that it’s getting better, but it is getting worse.
Anybody that puts his hope on PDP is like a follow-up for me today because today, the acting chairman or is it chairman and the secretary are exchanging mails and they are quarreling.
So, what is the redemption for that party? This two people are going to sign forms nominating people to the election or whatever. If the secretary refuses to sign, the chairman can’t sign. The decay of PDP has gotten so bad that only God can redeem it. But the question is: What are the alternatives?
That’s why I say it is the African Democratic Congress (ADC), but again, the ADC is still in a formative stage, and you do not actually define it now because the disease in Nigerian political parties is not going to be different from the disease in ADC. Do you have money? If you don’t have money, there’s no space for you.
For you in particular, because you talked reverently about the revelation and the inspiration, is there likely to be another political resurrection for you in the near future?
I’m not headed for political oblivion. That’s why I wrote a book. If you see the conclusion of the book, I said God cannot lie. I am sincerely taking political work as a ministry.
There should be a call because it’s not about you. It’s not about what you want to do for yourself. If it’s what I want to do for myself, I don’t need to do anything more. I mean, God has blessed me and my family, but I am unhappy when I see the level of poverty, when I see the level of suffering, when I see the way Nigerians are put down because of our country.
When you see the way President Donald Trump, for example, is talking to Nigerians and Africans, I feel offended, and I say, well, we could do better than this. So, my desire today is, how do we get this done. It doesn’t have to be me. If I find that you can do it and achieve the same result or similar result, you have my support.
That’s what politics is all about. It’s not about individuals. I am still looking for like-minded people, so that we can move this country forward. That’s why I’ve said this government is doing well in the area of economy because the economy is the central thing. But if they don’t arrest the erosion in terms of expenditure and waste, then we may not get the total benefit of what we have received.
