A lawyer and politician, Mr. Ladipo Johnson, is the national publicity secretary of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, (NNPP) who at a time was the national legal officer. In this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO, Johnson talked about sundry issues relating to the focus of the party ahead of the 2027 general elections. He also spoke on the activities of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC). Excerpts:
Recently, your party engaged in a spate of expulsion of members from the party; can you tell us what is going on? Could it be that internal cohesion is weakening?
Our party, the NNPP, is solid. We are in the business of growing our party to become a viable opposition to the APC. Internally, there is no problem within, though I must admit that it is usual that within a party, there would be some members who for selfish purposes or for reasons best known to them might step out of the line regarding the constitution of the party, and then the party activates its disciplinary mechanism to treat issues emanating from the actions. For me, I don’t think from what is on ground that we lack internal cohesion. In fact, the process of disciplining errant members is suggestive of the fact that the party has cohesion. It shows that the party is still in order. That discipline is being meted out when necessary as a means of ensuring cohesion within. This is the situation with us at this moment.
The last time you spoke with Saturday Telegraph, you stated that your party would be willing to team up with any like minded platforms to wrest power from the APC? Has there been any movement towards that?
Yes! I think that it is clear or perhaps, it was made clear in the recently held national executive committee meeting of the party in Abuja to remain open to dialogue and engage other stakeholders who are like minded. We have had people (from other parties) talking to us. We are also talking to people as well. Some of our members might feel that it is good to work with the current government at the centre while a lot of others feel that it will be better to team up with the others in the opposition to work against the government and the party in power. Those who hold this view feel that the government is not performing optimally. So, I will tell you that talks are ongoing but I can say that our style and approach to this is different. At the right time, we will let our members and the country know the way the NNPP will be moving or be working. We still have three options open to us as I said before. The first is to remain and work to have more people join us, the other is to go to either APC or the coalition arrangement. These are the options opened to us as a party.
Can you tell us the reason and the outcome of the meeting with the National Secretary of the ADC, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, by the National Leader of your party, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; what is the essence of the meeting? Is your party joining the coalition platform?
His Excellency, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has been a long time friend of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola. The visit at that time was merely to touch base with his old time friend when he (Kwankwaso) was in Lagos at that time. He went to the former governor of Osun State at that material time when he (Kwankwaso) knew he (Aregbesola) was in Lagos too. He was there to touch base and to consult with him. You know, the only thing that is constant in politics is the need to keep talking and consulting with stakeholders. As a political gladiator, you have to keep talking, you have to keep talking to see the possibility of working together. Former Governor Aregbesola is a well respected man who is now the national secretary of the ADC (African Democratic Congress). This is the party that has been adopted by some elements as the platform for their coalition against the current party in government. As I said earlier, we are throwing all our options wide open but I can tell you that former Governor Aregbesola is a close friend of the house and he is a leader to a lot of us as well. So, it was a good meeting at that time and I know that the two gentlemen are still in contact.
Can you tell us the outcome of the meeting?
Like I said before, the meeting was for the two to rekindle the bond of friendship that exists between them and that whatever would have been discussed was in furtherance of our party’s collective desire to chart an acceptable political course ahead of the 2017 general elections.
Recently, operatives of the EFCC swooped on Kano, the only state under the control of your party; what is happening?
For us in the NNPP, it is the duty of the EFCC to look at issues relating to financial crimes wherever they occur. No one, including the NNPP, will impede them from carrying out this mandate. We can’t stop them from going from state to state in the discharge of their duties. I don’t know anything that has occurred in Kano that could have caused panic or anything to worry about. I think all things are fine with the state of finances of Kano State.
Recently, President Bola Tinubu told a global audience that corruption has disappeared since he came to power, how do you react to that assertion? Do you think the current government has moved towards stamping out corruption and corrupt practices from the country?
Sincerely, I wouldn’t have expected President Bola Tinubu to have said anything different from what he said at that forum. My position is that any student that is given the opportunity to mark his script for his report card by himself will naturally score himself highly but what I will tell the president to do at this time is to look at the current perception index to know how the issue of corruption under his government is perceived in the country by Nigerians and foreigners alike. I will ask you to do this to get your answer.
Do you agree with the assertion of the government that the economy is improving?
When you talk about the movement in the economy, whether improvement or otherwise, it is always important to have a benchmark to know the period that you are talking about. If there is a slight improvement at the moment as the government is trying to make us believe, the government will have to specify which area where such improvements have occurred. This is because we have to know where the economy was before and where it is now. I am talking about when the government took over on May 29, 2023 and where it is now as we speak. You have to realise that we need to look at the value of the Naira, to look at the inflation rate to be able to come to a reasonable conclusion on the state of the economy.
How does the NNPP see the frequent travels of President Tinubu? Do you agree with the government that they are needed for revamping the country to the path of progress and development?
The frequent travels of Mr. President for us in the NNPP has become slightly worrisome but as I have always said before, we have to keep watching to see what the results of these frequent overseas trips will be for the overall progress and development of the country in the long run. Another president that travelled a lot when in power was former President (Olusegun) Obasanjo but in that case, we saw concrete results that accrued to the country in terms of accomplishments such as debt forgiveness from various financial institutions. We wait to see the effects and the outcomes of these frequent travels by President Bola Tinubu.
It is always good for any organisation and in this instance, the party to once in a while have some form of retreat for members, for the executive and the leadership of the party. Also for state executive members from across the country. The development gives an opportunity for the party to look inwards just as it would also provide the members and leaders the opportunity to update the manifesto of the party and do some other things relating to the progress of the party as a whole. That is what is currently happening now in Cross River (this interview was conducted when the meeting was ongoing). For us in the NNPP, it is a good development because we are also taking advantage of the fact that Engr. Kwankwaso is visiting the state as well at that material time. He is also scheduled to visit other states as well as we move towards 2027 general elections.
The issue of zoning has formed a very important item in political discourse; is the NNPP considering zoning of public and party positions ahead of the 2027 general elections?
The issue of zoning is very important as you have stated in your question and the party is considering the issues around it and at the right time, we will let the membership and all Nigerians know how we will be zoning party offices and the positions being contested for in the forthcoming general elections. At the moment, I cannot say in definite terms, that the party will be zoning all the electoral offices to any particular area or region of the country but what I can say is that all these things will begin to show early next year when we will all begin to see what the party has decided to do in that direction.
Your party members are currently holding a retreat in Cross River, what is the aim of the retreat?
