Obasanjo did not endorse Buhari , says Prof ABC Nwosu who says Call for interim government is political suicide

Former Minister of Health and Special Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo Prof. ABC Nwosu has warned that any attempt to install an Interim Govern­ment

would amount to Nigeria committing political suicide. He said the confidence Nigerians had in the Prof. Atahiru Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when he came on board in 2011, has diminished because of the difficulty in obtaining Permanent Voters Card (PVCs). He said the postponement of the general elections to March 28 and April 11 would enable Jega ensure that eligible registered voters collect their PVCs. He said President Goodluck Jonathan was right, when he assured Nigerians that May 29 handover is sacrosanct. On the Igbo leaving for their vil­lages over alleged threat of violence, he said no Igbo leader will advise his kinsmen not to do so considering their past experiences. He speaks on other issues. Excerpts:

Do you have hope in Jega’s INEC?

It is better to have hope. Prof Jega has to build that confidence that will give us the hope. I think that there is no alternative hence, Jega must conduct free, fair and credible elections. In 2011, when he came on board, he conducted an election which everybody scored him highly. Nigerians have been suffering the ef­fects of elections that are suspect and in 2011 the restored the confidence of Nigerians in the power of the ballot box the exercise it was considered free, fair and credible. Jega will be committing a mortal error by not repeat­ing that feat. So, there have been matters that have given Nigerians cause for concern. First, there was disparity in the new polling booths that Jega wanted to create nationwide. This even attracted the attention of the National Assembly and Jega climbed down from his position. In fact, the thought of it and stop­page did not give confidence. Second, is that as at the time the INEC Chairman was saying he was ready, over 20 million registered vot­ers, I’m not talking of Nigerians but Nigerians who have registered and are ready to vote had not collected their PVCs. Jega had made it that it is only the cards that will be used. Some prominent Nigerians were complaining they had not received theirs hence that again has not built confidence. The third is that some of us have seen Jega’s INEC demon­strating how they will use Card Readers on the television to stop rigging. It is good in theory, but we need to see them operate the cards in the field. Again, we have doubt there. If Prof. Jega thinks these doubts are wrongly founded, he could have gone ahead, but hav­ing realized that if there is any fault he will bear the consequence. The faults are beyond his head; his head cannot carry them. The responsibility of maintaining the integrity and continuity of Nigeria is a big responsibility and we have interest in making sure that he does not do it wrongly. So, I would like to see Jega use this intervening period in building confidence that he can still conduct free, fair and credible elections.

Do you believe the military that they will not provide security if the polls had taken place on February 14 and 28 hence the reason Jega gave for the postponement?

Security is a very serious reason anytime for suspending elections. You don’t even need additional reason. So, once there is security issue, he simply has to shift the elections. My concern is there are not only security reasons, there are also reasons that I have mentioned, but he needs to give us confidence that INEC is ready and they can do it because this matter borders on national integrity, existence of Nigeria which should not be treated lightly. It is not just an ordinary election, it is a general election and all the problems of Nigeria have come from general elections. The first coup that truncated the civilian rule in the First Republic arose from general elections and insecurity. That insecurity wasn’t all over the country but in one part of the country and it destabilized democracy and the trajectory of development of Nigeria. Jega and his team must carry this at the back of their minds. They should realize that this thing is not a matter of doing their jobs; they should be prayerful and do everything they have to do to give Nigeria a free, fair and credible election.

Many especially the opposition believed that the PDP was afraid of losing the elections, hence, the reasons polls were postponed, what is your take?

I’m not God and nobody should play God. The purpose of free, fair and credible elections is that nobody knows the outcome. If you do good exit polls, you may be able to predict, but only the actual elections will prove who is winning or losing. It is wrong and extreme arrogance for anybody or group to believe that the polls have been conducted and he has won. It is only the figment of his imagination and it gets people like me worried that when you have already declared yourself the winner, you have put yourself in the mindset not to accept the outcome of an election unless you have been declared the winner. Having said that, INEC as an inde­pendent body does not take instruction from Mr. President. If the President engineered the postponement, then, the President can also engineer the outcome of the election hence, there would be no need for elections. I think it is incorrect to say that Mr. President influ­enced the postponement. We can also believe that anybody did or Jega did. It is not any po­litical party or the President, but INEC. Once we channel our discussion in this direction, we undermined INEC’sthe independence, we undermined the confidence that Nigerians should have in the outcome of the elections and this is dangerous.

How do rate the presidential media team?

I’m not in a position to assess Mr. President on his media team. I’m a citizen of Nigeria, a concerned citizen of over 70 years. I should be able say that I like the direction which this country is going or not. If Mr. President has a media team in his opinion he believes is not doing well, he will know what to do with them. I’m not in a position to know. All I know is that it will be wrong if we cannot make this country better and peaceful for our children. We should not make it worse, we should not destroy the country, we should be careful of what we say and what we do say about the country.

What is your advice to Ndigbo who are leaving their stations because of the fear of the outcome of elections?

I have received many telephone calls. There are Igbo organizations and the structures throughout Nigeria outside Igboland. From a vantage position, I have heard in the past from a group which is called Nkpoko Igbo, I know them and I can confirm to you that Ndigbo are leaving in their large numbers because of election-related threats of violence. It is very dangerous. The stage we are now in life, I can confirm to you that there is general anxiety among Ndigbo residing outside Igboland. This is very disturbing because the stage of development of Nigeria now is in nation-building that all Nigerians should be able to live anywhere they prefer contributing to the development of the country wherever they find themselves and think Nigeria not ethni­cally. So, for us to go back to the situation es­pecially that led to the crisis is very disturbing and worrisome. And when people are leaving, you can’t tell them not to leave. I’m also very privileges to have been close to the late Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and I know that one item he regretted to his death was asking Igbo in 1966 to go back when they fled and they got killed in the process. Giving that situation, no Igbo leader will ask people to go back. You can see that the problem con­tributes to Internally Displace Persons (IDP). When a person is registered to vote where he/she had been doing business and is forced to relocate to their villages. They cannot vote in their villages because they did not register there hence, this has created another group of people who are displaced and this introduced another dimension to (IDP). It is not good, it is a frightening prospect.

During the recent Presidential Media Chat, Jonathan assured that May 29 hand-over is sacrosanct, what is your take?

May 29 is sacrosanct, period! The Constitu­tion gives four years mandate for a new gov­ernment to be elected. Therefore, May 29 is sacrosanct. Discussions on the sanctity of May 29 are dangerous. Since the incumbent has said May 29 is sacrosanct, anybody who is discussing that sanctity is being mischievous.

As Special Adviser to former President Obasanjo, what is your view on the recent endorsement of Buhari by Obasanjo who is a card carrying member of ruling party?

I don’t believe that.

Have you called him regarding his utter­ances against the Jonathan administration?

No.

APC has accused Jonathan for shopping for somebody who will head an interim government hence, some Nigerians have expressed fear that it may lead to coup, how do you react?

I don’t want to hear about coup because I’m a democrat. I was in the all parties’ conference at Eko Hotel and I had my ankle broken under the late Gen. Sani Abacha regime. To hear suggestion of the military coming back under any guise in Nigeria is almost like Nigeria committing political suicide.

Can electoral matters resulting from court cases be resolved before May 29?

Cases are not relevant here and cannot stop the winner from being sworn-in come May 29. If a free, fair and credible election is con­ducted and a winner emerges, the winner must be sworn in. whether court cases are hanging on the air, on the ground or on the water, the person declared winner by the legitimate body which is INEC, shall be sworn in that is what the Constitution says.

If you are Jega, what would you do at this stage of election preparation?

Jega has his work with INEC clearly laid out for him. One, he is to restore enormous confidence which he re-instilled in Nigerians that he is capable to conduct free, fair and credible elections when he was first appointed in 2011. That confidence has been very much eroded. Nigerians are reasonable people. When Jega cited insecurity as a reason for the postponement, Nigerians agreed with him. But when he disregarded the state of unpre­paredness by INEC, Nigerians don’t really all agree with him. Many of them were profes­sors before Jega. So, it could be seen and it is being pointed out hence, the INEC Chairman must ensure that eligible voters who registered collect their PVCs. Nigerians should not be disenfranchised and that should his new motto now. He is not God. If disenfranchisement occurs, it should be within the limit of error permitted which is less than one per cent and should be explainable. Second, Jega should do an audit to ensure PVCs are already col­lected. For instance, Lagos has alone 38 per cent PVCs while areas with insurgency have 68 per cent collection of PVCs. You don’t allow this kind of disparity. In some states, 80 per cent of PVCs have been collected while in some, it is only 35 per cent. This should not be allowed and should be discouraged. Jega should do a snap audit to know what is happening so that he can restore confidence in Nigerians that INEC is unbiased. They don’t just give you PVC, they ask for your Temporary Voters Card (TVC) to collect the PVC. So, a snap check for the TVC marched against PVC should give him an indication of what is happening in the field. When Jega does this, he could then be able to say INEC is prepared to conduct elections. If some areas or states where certain people or tribe reside, those people could not collect their PVCs and people from a tribe or section of the country received theirs, there is the tendency that the disenfranchised tribe will doubt the credibility of INEC. This, Jega, must note.

Written by Dickson Okafor