- There’s no way Nigerians will allow APC to come back’
Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed is the National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). In this interview monitored on Arise Television, he speaks on the credibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the readiness of his party to welcome members of other opposition parties, among other issues, EVINCE UHUREBOR reports
How viable is this PRP arrangement; if you say that they are facing challenges in the ADC and that they should come, will they be able to integrate quickly with the PRP structure and meet the deadline set by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)? Secondly, as regards INEC and its integrity, is there a need for an independent forensic audit based on this Prof. Joash Amupitan scenario, so that we can get to the end of it?
You asked how viable the PRP option is; I will say very viable. Our doors are open to anybody who wants to come in, either on their own or because the system has blocked and virtually destroyed their own party. In the last three or four weeks, you will be amazed at how many people have reached out to us to say, we’re coming over to your party.
We say our doors are open. We see our role in the next few months is far greater than anything we’ve done before. We are very humbled by the fact that people are not just coming here as political refugees. They’re coming because we’re a party of principles. We are 70 years old. We’re the oldest party. We’ve always existed on the basis of certain principles. Yes, you correctly raised the issue of time. Time can be a challenge, but we will overcome it.
We know Nigerians are ready for real change given the way this country is running. I watched you before I came here. Some of these percentages you’re talking about in terms of budget releases for budgetary commitments are unbelievable. In a country like this, you’re giving the Ministry of Defence seven per cent to buy procurement. It’s unbelievable.
INEC must deliver free, fair and credible elections otherwise the consequences will be too disastrous to contemplate
There’s no way Nigerians are going to allow this administration to come back in a free and fair election. So, PRP is a viable option. We have to work very hard, but people can come in and they are aware of the timelines. You also raised a very serious issue – the integrity of INEC. This is absolutely essential for the survival of the democratic process.
It doesn’t matter what President Bola Tinubu and his All Progressives Congress (APC) and his 32 governors and virtually everybody in government do. INEC must deliver free, fair and credible elections otherwise the consequences will be too disastrous to contemplate. I was the secretary of INEC when President Olusegun Obasanjo’s second term came in place. At that time, the Secretary of INEC was a very powerful person.
You have a chairman, you have national commissioners, you have state commissioners, but the secretary had to be a serving permanent secretary. He was in charge of so many things. One of the things I will say here, and forgive me if I don’t mention a name, to show you the kind of standards of integrity required of INEC and not just because the public demands it, or because the law demands it, is that the people who are there must live above board. Absolutely, you leave no grounds for suspicion.
INEC commissioners, on their own, found out that one of our own national commissioners had committed a transgression that could seriously damage the integrity of the 2003 elections on our own. We got to this commissioner and said, there is no way you can stay in place. Tthis was just a few weeks before the 2003 elections. We said, if you insist on staying as a commissioner, we will report this matter to the authorities. You will taint and discredit the integrity of this election, and we will not tolerate it.
I suspect President Obasanjo knew about it, but he never interfered. And do you know what? We got that commissioner to resign and another person was appointed in that commissioner’s place. I mentioned this only because it is important to emphasize the fact that if there’s one institution around election time or any other time that should not tolerate all these questions they are asking, it should be INEC. And in the interest of the 2027 elections, it is not the wrong thing to raise issues and demand answers.
What was different about INEC at that time when you were secretary such that you were able to uphold the integrity of the institution to that extent that you took such actions against a particular national commissioner?
What was different about the INEC in the conduct of the elections in 1999 and 2003? I think it was the quality of people, who were charge of the elections. And let me tell you another story that many people don’t know. Initially, when INEC was set up to conduct the 1999 elections, it was called NEC (National Electoral Commission) but they realised that name had already been tented in a controversy.
So, they went back to the president and said, we want you to introduce the word ‘Independent’ before NEC. And the president said: Why, you are still the electoral commission. They said, we want to be Independent National Electoral Commission.
You have persons of unimpeachable integrity. I was very proud to work with them. I was just deployed there routinely as secretary of INEC because I was a permanent secretary. But believe me, those 12 or 13 people, including late Abel Guobadia and other like Prof. Shehu Galadanci, were Nigerians of unimpeachable integrity.
They were people who committed themselves entirely to conduct elections in a manner that does not damage their credibility. I’m not saying that others in place now are not concerned about personal and institutional integrity, the manner you conduct that election is absolutely important and you leave absolutely nothing for Nigerians to question.
President Tinubu recently said that members of the opposition are the architects of their misfortune. He made statements to this effect when he met with coordinators of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors last week. He also said that if they cannot see the reforms or changes that his government has made, perhaps they need to wear glasses. What do you have to say about that?
Are you being deliberately obtuse to some of the reforms and changes that his administration has made positively for Nigerians? I think that President Tinubu is either not in touch with this country. I’m saying this with the highest respect. If a president would say, if you don’t see his progress, you need either to wear new glasses or you’re biased beyond a point, I think we should be even more worried.
There is no way you can live in this country and see the level of poverty, the level of unaccountability, we’re not accounting for the funds we’re getting and still say that Nigerians should see what you’re doing . One of the reasons why we feel confident that we can defeat APC is exactly this kind of mindset. You have 10, 12, 20 failings of an administration that is saying we have done fantastic and anybody who doesn’t applaud is either an enemy or a hostile interest or he doesn’t have glasses in his eyes.
Honestly, I think President Tinubu is s too isolated from the problems of this country that he actually thinks the reforms on paper translate into the way Nigerians live. They don’t. We are more insecure; we are more hungry, we are more desperate, we want change. If he doesn’t understand that and he goes to the elections with this attitude and INEC conducts free and fair elections, then we’re home and dry.
Who amongst the coalition or within the opposition, especially those who are being called front runners do you think has impeccable track record of governance performance that you’ll be opening your arms to? Secondly, will you be extending the period of your party membership registration to accommodate those who are likely to be flooding into your party in the next few days?
Let me address the first question you asked. One of the first thing we did in the last few weeks and months is to say nobody in this country tells Nigerians what they will do if they get into power. They just want the power and then they decide what to do. We in the PRP said, no, we need to be identified with a number of things. And we identified five things. One is that we must restore credibility, integrity, and competence to all levels of leadership in this country.
Bad leadership, poor leadership, indifferent leadership is what has brought this country to where it is. A nation of 250 million people has no business being in this level of distress if we had been led by good people, honest people, people who want to serve as an end in itself rather than just serve and make a lot of money. So, we emphasise the first one. We must restore integrity, credibility, and competence. Number two, we want to re-secure Nigerians.
There is no way we can continue in a situation where children are being abducted on their way to school; villagers are being abducted, and demands of billions of Naira are being made for them. Every single day, Nigerians are reminded that we live in an insecure country. So, our second challenge, which was telling Nigerians, if you vote for us, we will make sure we deliver, is to re-secure Nigerians. The third one is we have to rebuild the Nigerian economy. President Tinubu and his party throw statistics on our faces.
My question was; among those who are coming to PRP from the ADC, can you just handpick a few names of people, who by your estimation have the type of track record of performance in governance that you would like to see?
I know where you’re going to. You would like me to mention a specific name and say to Nigerians, if this person leaves ADC and comes to PRP, and we give him the ticket, he will deliver Nigeria. I understand; I hear you very well. The point is, first of all, PRP itself, has a large number of excellent Nigerians who have performed diligently and fantastically in terms of what they have done.
I can’t mention names here but we are not just a nobody. We have people, very good people, who have done fantastic work in this country. If some people from ADC or any other party join us, as I said, I mentioned five things they must subscribe to.
The party will exercise effective and legal supervision over them to make sure that the next government formed under whatever name and arrangement, must go the opposite direction of this government. If this country is going to be changed, the starting point will be in 2027 elections. So, there are good people. A lot of them are coming in. But whoever comes into PRP will have to abide by the principles and the ideals of the party.
If they can do that, then Nigeria is safe. Our understanding is that we have until the end of this month to submit to INEC our digital register. We’ve sought for clarification on this but we are registering people every year. We will stick by the law. If it is tomorrow, we’ll do that. If it is on the 29th, we’ll do that.
Will PRP consider a Southern presidential candidate and we hope you do not have factions and court cases in PRP, and not that when they join you, the factions and court cases will start to rise?
Look, in this administration, every day we wake up and there’s nothing wrong outside our door, we say thank you God because seriously, the opposition is in trouble. But anyway, our party is open. We believe that we must go for the highest quality. If really we are going to put a good leader in this country, who can change this country, we don’t care if he falls from the heaven.
That is the truth. We are hoping that Nigerians can elect a leader based on his quality and not based on where he comes from. We’re open-minded about this. We are aware; we follow the debates about northern candidates, southern candidates, the pluses and the minuses.
As far as our party is concerned, we’re just looking for the best Nigerian who can offer this country a different direction that will take Nigeria to a different trajectory. So, the answer your question is that our doors are open to all Nigerians. They should come in and compete; it doesn’t matter where you come from. We’ll give you the ticket if you win the primaries.
