In this interview the Director, Media and Publicity and Spokesperson Atiku Campaign Organisation, Segun Showunmi, provides reasons why former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is PDP’s should be PDP candidate for the 2019 Presidential election. Excerpts:
BY OUR REPORTER
President Buhari was elected on the platter of anti-corruption. Atiku Abubakar has been advocating for true federalism especially during his visits to the South-East. Do you think true federalism would solve Nigeria’s problem?
Atiku is championing an idea that all Nigerians believe in. If we find Nigeria in a situation where the leadership is not able to meet the expectations of the people and everybody keeps complaining, then it makes sense for us to look a little deeper and find out why. One of the reasons why we aren’t doing as much as we are meant to do is because we haven’t designed Nigeria to be competitive. To do that, we must look at the units within the country and give them the wherewithal to do what is best within their own natural ability. For instance, there is no conversation in Nigeria that can alter the fact that when it comes to industry and enterprise, you have to give it to the South-East. When it comes to farming, you have to give it to the North-Central or North. When it comes to bureaucracy or education, you would have to look in the direction of the South-West. It is that our feeding bottle economy that we are running where everybody comes to Abuja to take money and go back to their states.
For you to be able to get the aggregates of all of the energies in Nigeria to work well, you must look at the structures we are running. It is better we restructure and let everybody face what is important to them. The Federal Government should face things that are global and competitive for Nigeria, the states should be able to harness themselves along their natural habitation.
Restructuring is not an idea but a necessity if we want the country to grow. One of the reasons why most people have not been able to do it is that they don’t understand the practical steps they can take to get the nation restructured without breaking the country up. If you have been following Atiku, you would see that he is one of the few people that have plans on how to do it. He always says that we should ‘take all the things on the concurrent list, the items and activities that the federal, state and local government can do, and give it to the state.’ When we do that and back it up with the money required, more resources and power will go to the states.
He also thinks that we should look at the things the state governments are clamouring for, the ones that require legislative adjustment of the constitution. He believes we should put together a legislature and collaborate with them and encourage them to look at it so that the country can be relieved from the stifling unitary system we call a federation. The idea is that each of the organs must be given independence to do certain things and contribute to the center.
For somebody that is thinking about it and even has a plan, he is far better than one who doesn’t even know the meaning of the word restructuring or how to approach it.
The APC has just one candidate for the 2019 elections, but if you look at PDP where Atiku belongs, they have no fewer than 15, each one calling himself the best. What edge do you think he has over the rest?
Experience, capacity and connection to the people at different structures in the country. He has the experience and has been around for a while. All those in PDP that want to be President none of them that have created 5,000 jobs in their lifetime. Atiku created over 50,000 private employments from companies that he is managing and created over 250,000 indirect jobs. He is situating some of these businesses in their locations to help to generate growth in the local economy.
For instance, the university he put in Adamawa, if he had located in Abuja, it would be more profitable but established it in Adamawa because he knows that it would turn around the environment there and impact it. He is a democrat and never demonstrated any iota of dictatorial tendencies.
With a nation like Nigeria, we don’t need people to think presidency is ambition it is a call to duty that makes us to look for someone that can move the country forward. We have broken ourselves into clans, tribes, religions and the whole thing is a mess.
Recently, the Reformed APC came together with PDP and their tried to galvanize forces so as to produce one candidate. Among the ranks, you would have more aspirants for the Presidency. Do you think all of them would pull back?
The best person to emerge from a coalition is someone that has already gotten political relations with members of the coalition. Atiku was one of the founding fathers of PDP and one of the great members that started ACN. He is also one of the people that started the PDN structure with Shehu Yar’Adua. He played a significant role in SDP. He is also one of those who started APC. When you bring a coalition together and you do a free, fair and transparent primary, a natural leader would emerge unless fraud takes place. Do you know what it cost him to stand firm against 3rd term?
People are foreseeing danger for him now because PDP leaders visited Obasanjo craving for his support. Don’t you think that if they go with the name of Atiku, Obasanjo may go with vengeance for truncating his 3rd term bid?
I think that Obasanjo is like our father so we respect him a lot but nobody will play God over another man’s life forever. Atiku is a man whose life has been in the public space. There is no unknown reason for Obasanjo to be unhappy with Atiku. Should Atiku have allowed it? The full implication of 3rd term was not even Obasanjo. Some governors would be untermed? That means that somebody can be governor since 1999 and not leave up till today. These are the things that Atiku fought. Anybody that is to negotiate and do things on behalf of a country must be one who has enough boardroom experience.
How would he be able to tackle anti-corruption and provide a blueprint on state police when he gets into power?
Then Vice President Atiku brought about the establishment of these anti-corruption agencies. At a point when after Obasanjo and Atiku came into power in 1999, letters of credit must be cash-backed. This was because of some issues like advanced fee fraud. That was what Nigeria was suffering.
At a point he went to Brazil and found out the country went through the same situation and found out how. Brazil told him that they created an agency for financial crimes. When Atiku came back, he brought a White Paper and gave it to a set of brilliant people to reduce it as an operational document in Nigeria. That was how he took it to Obasanjo who signed it and EFCC was formed.
At another forum, he was with the President of the World Bank and expressed concern that the government was new, owe a lot of debts and don’t know how to track it. He promised to assist the country and that was Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was gotten and eventually produced debt forgiveness. Fighting corruption is a systemic fight and isn’t by just hounding people, jumping up and down, playing to the gallery and pretending that you are not corrupt when you are even more corrupt than the people you are accusing. Corruption is a universal challenge for all countries in the world. If he can create EFCC perhaps he could create another one that would be better than EFCC.
In terms of policing, Nigeria didn’t start with huge federal police. We used to have native authority police. How did they run them? Native authorities were under the regional government. The implementation strategy would probably start with community policing, where they would encourage the leaders of the community and give them structures.
In an event that he doesn’t get nominated, do we see him dumping PDP for another party?
He would get nominated. A man who is always having Plan B is someone who doesn’t want to plan anything. If he doesn’t get the ticket, PDP can’t win. Nobody can match what is on the table. I mean no disrespect to the President. For you to match Buhari, you have to have been in the optical recognition consciousness of the people before today. They have to have known you already and your name ought to ring a bell. You should have been in their consciousness. Nigerians have known Buhari since the days of the military and have known Atiku since the days of democracy. Any other thing is wishful thinking. A political party that is in opposition would need a leader that can provide leadership and to be a father figure for them. You cannot bring a candidate that other governors would push around but you need to make sure you bring a father figure. So long as it is a free, fair and transparent primary, we would see who would win. PHOTOS: Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation
