Oye: No Nation Makes Progress Without Credible Elections

CICERO/Interview

In his first major interview since the victory of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in the November 6, 2021 governorship election in Anambra State, the National Chairman of the party, Chief Victor Oye tells Onyebuchi Ezigbo that vigilance and trust in God were what helped the party to achieve the third consecutive electoral victory in the governorship election, noting that those who thought that violence would mar the poll were disappointed and put to shame. He also advised the National Assembly to listen to President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians to resolve the issue of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. Excerpts:

Before the Anambra State governorship election, many political analysts thought that APGA would lose the state and die a natural death because of the crisis that hit the party. But it emerged victorious. What was the secret?

There is no secret the only thing is that God showed he is God. In whatever you are doing always factor in God because he is the ultimate decider of our faith. So, for us in APGA, we have always placed our hopes and trust in God – doing our best as human beings and living the rest to God to accomplish. Also, I have always said it that there was no crisis in APGA. We were dealing with imposters – people, who never existed, who had very strong financial backings working maliciously to destroy the party.

If it were in other times no one would have tried it. Someone waking up from slumber and telling you your wife is no longer your wife, taking you to court to prove it. Can you believe that absurdity? But it all happened in Nigeria and we went to court and we have to give kudos to the Judiciary that lived up to the expectations and today we are happy that everything has come back to normal but we are not living it to chance. We are vigilant, praying and working very hard to build the party and make it friendlier for members of the party and others who are watching to see what happens, and whether to join or not to join. What happened in Anambra State is what we call a miracle because it shows people that we shouldn’t trust man but trust God. God is the ultimate decider of our faith; no man can decide our faith.

So, God was with us in Anambra State. He shut the mouth of the lion, they couldn’t devour us and He made everywhere quiet so that His will for the people of Anambra State will manifest and that was what happened. It was the most hyped election in the history of this country. Some people thought the heavens will fall; they said people would die; they said that people would be killed and that all kinds of absurdities would take place but on the day of election it was like cold water was poured on the state.

There was tranquility; there was orderliness and that election was the freest, most credible, the fairest election in the history of Nigeria and everyone was happy. Even the international community that was apprehensive had to applaud INEC and INEC did what many people didn’t expect. They were not sympathetic to any political party, INEC just did their job and even Mr. President extolled them and the people of Anambra for conducting themselves very well. In fact, people thought Buhari wasn’t a statesman but he showed his statesmanship. I was telling people that I have confidence in the president – forget the few mistakes here and there. I have confidence in him that he can always do the best for Nigeria. I want him to replicate what happened in Anambra in other elections in Nigeria because it will go to his credit and even future generations will remember it. No nation makes progress without credible election. The process of electing your leaders is a phenomenal factor in ensuring sustainable democracy; in ensuring economic growth; and in ensuring free and secured society.

You just said the party would welcome members that left. What value do you think those that tried to remove the leadership of the party would bring if you welcome them back?

We are not welcoming them back because they would add value. After all, we won the election without them. That means that the party can survive without them because the original intention was that since they left the party that it won’t win election. That was the thinking but it was erroneous. When the chips were down the true picture emerged that these people were light weight; they had nothing to really offer but why I am giving them the second chance is that our party is republican and democratic enough to accommodate. That is why it is a political party; it is a collection of the good, the bad and the ugly. There is no perfect political party anywhere in the world and there is nothing to find a man’s construction in his face; you don’t know what or who is going to perform tomorrow and I am a liberal minded person. Some people are very rigid in their belief but I am a free thinker. Some of them disappointed us though but to me, I have always believed that whatever you sow you will reap. If someone has done well to you and you choose to pay him back with evil it is left for you and your God. That’s my take on it.

Now that the insecurity that came with the election appears to have vanished. What message do you have for Anambra people especially those who came for Christmas?

Anambra State, as we speak, remains the safest state in Nigeria. What happened with the run-off to the election was just made up by some elements in the society to create a state of insecurity, thinking it would favour them in the elections but they didn’t think about what God was going to do. If they had factored in God in what they were doing they wouldn’t have met a disastrous end that faced them on November 6. So, for me, Anambra is very safe even before the election it was safe. What we witnessed was pockets of killings to disorganise the state and give them the undue advantage in the election but you saw what happened. God took control. So, Anambra is very safe and our international airport is there and it reduces the stress of running all the way from Enugu to Anambra, spending four to five hours, coming from Owerri or Asaba. So, anybody who came to celebrate is assured of security, good neighbourhood, peace and tranquility.

What is your view on the refusal of the president to assent to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and the reasons adduced?

The area of concern, according to the president, is the cost of funding the direct primaries. As we speak, almost all the political parties have two processes of nomination of candidate, which is either by direct primary or indirect primary. For us in APGA, the constitution is clear on that. The 2019 constitution of the party and even in the 2014 constitution as amended, the issue is clear there that you can use direct or indirect primary to select a candidate. For us in APGA, we would have preferred that the thing is left the way it was.

There is no need amending it because direct primary is very expensive and political parties in Nigeria don’t have the resources to run their affairs, let alone handle direct primaries. Even the cost on INEC is enormous. What it means is that for instance, if we were to conduct a governorship election, it means that the 326 wards will conduct direct primaries simultaneously and it also means that INEC would have to send monitors to every ward in Anambra State and if the process was to go simultaneously in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), you know what it means. INEC doesn’t have the manpower to cover the process and the political parties don’t have the resources to handle it.

Why not allow sleeping dogs lie? Why create unnecessary burden on the political parties? The government doesn’t give a dam about the political parties. Most political parties can’t even meet their basic obligations, let alone embark on this multi-million naira project which at the end is useless. The political parties have done well to manage their affairs. First, it is supposed to be an internal party matter and shouldn’t be adjudicated upon by any group on behalf of the political party. The political parties have the capacity to run their affairs. So, there should be no meddlesomeness on the part of government or the National Assembly for that matter. That’s where we stand.

But what do you say about the concerns that even the politicians and the other stakeholders have about the indirect primary not being representative or transparent enough?

The proponents of this new law are not being realistic. What do you mean by transparency? The direct primary does it guaranty transparency? It doesn’t. It can still be manipulated. Didn’t it happen in Anambra State? APC applied direct primary for the selection of governorship candidate for the Anambra election. What happened at the end? The thing went sideways and up till today it has continued to hunt the party because there is no way APC in Anambra could have handled it; the cost would have been enormous. Even the common one that they did INEC couldn’t monitor it because as at 5:30pm the party wasn’t ready for any primary. So, for me there is nothing like transparency in it. The parties have always done it in the past. Let them leave it the way it is and let’s continue to handle it.

Now that the bill would be sent back to the National Assembly what is your advice to the lawmakers in handling this matter?

My advice to them is to reach a middle-of- the-road agreement with the president. There is no need to veto it because if you do that you are just postponing the dooms day; it will still come back. So, the best thing for the National Assembly to do is to listen to the president and listen to the political parties and listen to Nigerians. What do they want? Let them do what the parties want because we are the people that wear the shoes and we know where it pinches. So, they can’t think for us. The position of the political parties in Nigeria is that we should allow the status quo to remain. That is our position. Let every party decide whether they want direct or indirect primary if it can afford it. Let them leave it as flexible as it is but if they try to force it down the throat of the political parties it won’t work. Democracy is all about choice. Give the people the choice.

On the issue of opening more room for women participation with particular reference to APGA what has been the experience in APGA in accommodating and giving women more voices?

When we came we saw the disparity – the gap between both genders. So, what we did was to bridge it. When I came we had only two members of the NWC being women but today we have five, more than 100 per cent increase and we will continue to add more women. The same thing is applicable to the office here. We have four women working for us compared to six men. So, we are working to bridge or reduce the gap between the male and female gender.

What is your position on the proposal to set aside one additional senatorial seat in all 36 states to be contested solely by women?

That isn’t democracy because what a man can do, a woman can do better. Is that the slogan? So, let’s keep it open but what I can suggest is that in appointive offices you can bring in more women but in elective let it remain as it is. In America you don’t reserve any seat for anybody to contest and that is what we should be doing here. If you allocate specific offices for women to contest for or assign to them some positions, that’s no more democracy and you are belittling our women, underrating and undermining their interest. They should live it open. Anybody that wants to contest can run for any office in Nigeria. The constitution is clear on that. Once you have reached the constitutional requirements of age, citizenship and academic qualification that’s it.

What plans does APGA has to make its presence felt in the upcoming elections especially in FCT, Osun and Ekiti by this year?

You know that has been our project since we came into office in 2015. APGA is no longer a regional party as people use to say. Now it is a truly national party because we have won elections in unusual places. We won three House of Representatives’ seats in Benue State; we won two House of Assembly seats in Bayelsa; we won two councillorship seats in Kaduna State – we even won two chairmanship seats but they refused to give it to APGA; we won the chairmanship at Gwagwalada Area Council in FCT with eight councilors out of 10. We also won four councillorship seats in Niger State; we won 13 seats in Abia State House of Assembly out of 24 in 2015; we won 28 seats out of 30 in Anambra in 2015 but now we won 24 out of 30 in the state House of Assembly. In Taraba S,tate we have one House of Representatives’ seat and also won one House of Assembly seat. So APGA is a truly national party; we are no longer the regional party people use to know. As we approach off-season election next year, we are fighting to win more chairmanship and councillorship seats here in the FCT.

For Osun and Ekiti states we are putting everything we have to show a very strong presence in those governorship elections. So APGA has come to stay and what happened in Anambra would be replicated all over Nigeria. We have been receiving calls from people who have shown interest. Yesterday, I had a meeting with a team from Cross River State comprising members from different political parties and we are ready to work with them. APGA is the most stable political party in Nigeria today and we are not taking it for granted. We are have extended our hands of friendship to all politicians across the country who desire a very strong platform to express their political interest and that is where we are today. Let me talk about those that mischievously left the party, Well, they are welcome back and when they come back they have to queue. We are not going to give anybody any special treatment; that is the stand of the party. The door is opened for anybody who wants to join our party and contribute to the socio- economic development of our country. APGA is the only stable party in Nigeria today.

Remember I predicted in 2015 why PDP was declining; APC will follow suit and very soon and both parties will fall in irreversible coma and ultimate death and APGA will become ultimate undertaker and that is already happening. The two political parties are in coma and very soon they would go into irreversible coma and from there sudden death and APGA will undertake their burial.