In an interview with Adedayo Adejobi, Senator Athanasius Achonu, bears his mind on the state of the two major parties- APC and PDP; and how Nigerians are not holding the APC government accountable among other issues. Excerpts:
What are your thoughts about President Buhari’s recent 103 days absence from office and the reaction that attended his return to the country?
It’s not his fault that he’s sick. Besides, he’s not a young man anymore. The only thing I have against it is that Nigeria can afford to bring the best equipment money can buy and doctors to the villa, to take care of the President. The President was held hostage by doctors abroad. There is no country on earth that can allow their President to be held hostage by medical doctors abroad.
Not even soldiers. He wasn’t under house arrest. Doctors can be hired from all over the world to take care of him. He’s a human being, and can fall sick. The system couldn’t crumble, because he’s sick. Nigeria didn’t grind to a halt – thanks to the Vice President (Yemi Osinbajo). The constitution took care of such eventualities, because it allows him to do that. But in other countries, I don’t think he can do that.
How do we juxtapose the campaign promises with the reality on the ground?
Nobody is holding All Progressives Congress (APC) accountable. They haven’t kept any promise they made. There is nothing like the All Progressives Congress (APC). They don’t keep promises. The whole country knows. Everything they say they’ll do, they haven’t done anything.
This brings us to the PDP and its new Makarfi-led leadership, which has been saddled with the burden of repositioning the party. What’s really new in the party?
A lot has been said about Peoples Democratic Party and the last government corruption-wise. Nigeria is a very corrupt society. Most of the corrupt people in PDP have run to the All Progressives Congress and so they are being protected. Who is deceiving who? As for politics, the PDP is going to reposition itself by making sure all those undemocratic processes used to elect people are abandoned. I don’t want to expose what we are planning.
When we come about after the next congress, you will see democracy in action, because APC is going to implode very soon, so we don’t want to expose what we are going to do. As you can you see, we’re keeping things under wraps. Nigerians should expect PDP in the villa, and in Douglas House in Imo State.
In a season of high hopes in presidential aspirations, how do you see Fayose’s presidential ambition?
Fayose like everyone else who wants to run for president can run for the position. That he has an ambition doesn’t mean he’s the presidential candidate of the party. As a card carrying member of the PDP, he has a right to run for president.
And you think that wouldn’t cause any disaffection in the party?
Even though it’s been zoned to the north, every time you zone, other people who aspire can contest at the primaries. With everyone buying forms to run for president, it would make a lot of money for the party. However, we know who we want in the party. It’s a very democratic party. If I continue, I’ll give away our secret, so let’s leave it at that.
After the November convention, then a new leadership would emerge, and Makarfi is the authentic person, who would conduct the congress. PDP is a united party. In Imo State, there are some rabble rousers, failed and failing politicians making noise. Nobody is giving them attention, as they are on their way to political oblivion.
What is your take on the National Assembly and the politics of Buhari’s Absence?
I don’t think they played any politics with Buhari’s absence. It’s the imagination of the media.
As controversy continues to trail the composition of APC’s restructuring committee, the party has also inaugurated a think-tank to properly define where the party’s stands on the issue. But people have continued to question the integrity of the person selected to head the committee. Do you share the same sentiment?
Nigeria would go up in flames if matters are not handled very carefully. Nigeria’s present constitution was done by a few soldiers, and it governs this country. The constitution should be a collective effort from the grassroots. But that’s not what is happening. Nigerians must come together and decide how they’ll live together. That would be the only solution. Any other thing is cosmetic.
How do you see Nnmadi Kanu’s approach to agitation?Â
Nnamdi Kanu is an activist. He protested on the streets of London for the victims of Boko Haram. Nobody said anything. He’s now protesting on behalf of his fellow Igbos, they are now trying to kill him. That is wrong. He has a right to his own opinion, and he’s not speaking for the Igbo. He’s an Igbo who feels marginalised. Look at the killing of Igbos on Niger Bridge.
There is freedom of speech so long they are not violent. They have right. It’s when they are violent or disrupt public peace, that it becomes a problem. The Igbo are completely marginalised, so you won’t be surprised when an Igbo says that. But we don’t want Biafra. We don’t want secession. We want a united country where everybody has equal rights. And that is what I look forward to as a Nigerian.
There have been projections that 7-APC governors may lose re-election in 2019. Any possibilities for the PDP to clinch these positions, should the projections be true?
There is nothing like APC. They have disappointed Nigerians. You are even talking of 7 states; PDP is taking Nigeria by storm in 2019. We are using broom to sweep APC away from the political landscape. We are taking the whole country. It would be a massive victory in 2019.
You sound so confident. What is the twist to this?
I am confident. Like I said, there is something we have in the bag. When we let it out, you will see a new PDP, freedom of choice and equal opportunity, and then everybody would come to the PDP. Look at APC, how can Buhari and Tinubu have a true marriage? It’s not possible. Magu, EFCC Chairman, the DSS of the same government presented him, the same government petitioned against him. The same government is in control of the National Assembly. So, tell me, is that a political party or a workable arrangement. Let’s not deceive ourselves, there is no party called APC. It doesn’t exist as far as I’m concerned.
Youths below 35 years can now vie for public office. Taking a critical look at this development, do you think it’s workable, and will politicians and government make it work?
The youths are the owners of this country. They own the voting population, should use their heads and work together. The problem is that our youths have misplaced priorities. The foundation laid by the political class, places emphasis on stealing and acquiring wealth by all means. It has led the youths astray. If it was in the olden days when student unionism was a factor in making the political class do the right thing, I would said they’d uphold it. But not anymore! If youths become more patriotic, they’ll have a chance at leadership. The youths should be the change agents.
All things being equal, do you see hope for youths?
 I’ve always believed and still believe in the human spirit, the ability of the human spirit to overcome challenges. I think Buhari was God-sent. Many of the things he has done have made Nigerians sit up. The APC government brought hunger. In their bid to fight corruption, they chased away investments. And hunger made Nigerians sit up and begin to look inwards. People are going into farming and manufacturing. This is what we should have been doing all along. I hope it takes us to the promise land.
I agree our government was very corrupt. There was corruption in Nigeria and the APC is also very corrupt. The political class is totally corrupt. So, it started from the military and it became a culture until it’s eradicated. I have hopes that good people will come to politics, try to change things and engender development. We are one of the richest countries on the face of the planet, and we have no business being poor.
What career path can you prescribe for people in politics so that the younger generation can thrive?
In Nigeria, they come into politics for the wrong reasons. In other climes, they come into government to make money for the government. Here they come in to steal from the government. Either they’ve failed in their business or don’t even have any at all. The criterion should be that they have excelled in their private life or businesses before they vie for political office. Politics is supposed to be about service, value creation and performance. But here, they buy votes, write election results.
Having been robbed of your mandate, one finds striking, your resolve and faith in the system. Where do you get that from?
I am a Nigerian. I believe in myself and I believe there are good judges, INEC officials and credible Nigerians. The source of my confidence is that the right people would someday get into the right places and things would get better. There will be a lot of improvement in 2019 when PDP takes over power. We’ll try to change the country so that there will be improvement.
Don’t you think that would be a tall task for PDP?
I agree, but there is new blood in PDP now. You are trying to make me give up our secret. I will not. Just wait and watch out after the November congress, you will see.
Why do you really believe in PDP?
Why I believe in PDP is because it’s the only party that nobody owns. If you have good intentions for the country and you join this party, you make your voices heard; you can influence it for the better. When more good people come into the party, they will change and re-structure it. Unlike APC’s Tinubu/Buhari, who own the party and dictate what happens there. But in PDP, you are chairman; you are in charge just as Makarfi is. That’s why I believe in it and joined it, so I can be one of the change agents to bring progress and development to this country.
APC sold the change mantra, and PDP seemed to toe that same line. Shouldn’t Nigerian be weary?
PDP is coming to change the change.
Don’t you think there would be a backlash, especially selling the same mantra?
It’s not a mantra. It’s a reality. They said they were bringing change and Nigerians have tasted the bitter change. Nigerians expect PDP to come and change the change.
Your colleagues in the National Assembly seemed to have turned a blind eye to their responsibilities. Why is that?
That was why my first bill as a Senator is that you can’t export any mineral resources without adding value by processing it. That way, you acquire technology, create jobs and wealth. Till we do that, we are not going anywhere. I like to think that my colleagues in the National Assembly would carry on and pass my bills, so it goes through second reading. If you know the exploitation on-going in the Solid Minerals industry, how can Nigeria import Prime Motor Spirit (PMS) after all these years? Even when in Biafra, we could build refineries and produce Prime Motor Spirit.
How can we be importing toothpick? We should start exporting our processed mineral resources. Many Nigerian Professors have invented things that can be produced in Nigeria. Government is not focusing on industrial development. Instead, it’s supporting importation. Nigeria has become a dumping ground for everybody. It’s a shame. I trust the Senate President, legislature and I hope they can make and implement the relevant laws. I have confident that Nigeria will get there no matter how long it takes.
