PDP Will Truncate Nigeria’s Democracy If Not Checked – Buhari’s Campaign Coordinator Honourable Bola Ilori is a chieftain of the All Progressives Party and the coordinator of the Buhari Campaign Organisation in Ondo State. In this interview with. ABIODUN OLUWAROTIMI, he speaks on vital issues that should be considered in the forthcoming general elections As a coordinator of General Mohamadu Buhari who is the presidential candidate of APC in the forthcoming general election, how ready will you say your party is in its quest to take over from the incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan? As far as we are concerned, we know that taking over from the ruling party is not just about our party. It is about our country because Nigeria is sick and tired about the kind of leadership that we have had in the country in the last sixteen years. So for us now, it is time to really move on and provide new innovation, new orientation and new approach that is entirely different from what we have now. You can see from our presidential primaries that the APC is a party that carries everybody along. It is a party where we don’t do imposition of candidates. Recently, your party secretariat in Lagos state was invaded by men of the DSS. Also, there was an open fracas at the National Assembly between its members and the police, and series of accusations have trailed the incident. What will you say about this? As far as I am concerned, that can be called an executive lawlessness on the part of the government of the federation and I condemn it totally. We cannot proceed that way because it has never happened before not even in Abacha days. Have you ever heard a case where federal lawmakers are being assaulted with teargas? Have you ever seen a case where judges are being beaten by thugs before? Even at the height of Abacha’s madness, he never insulted the judiciary. he could disagree with their ruling but not to the extent of physically beating judges. We have seen that happened in Ekiti state where judges were beaten and people pretend as if nothing has happened. Impunity is the major characteristic of the present government of the federation because the government continue to turn a deaf ear to all the unimaginable things that are happening. Look at how they said just seven people impeached a sitting Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly. They brought in thugs and lied that they were APC lawmakers just because they wanted to make people fall for their illegal act. This same lawlessness happened at the National Assembly before the Lagos incident. how will you say it that the police was teargasing honourable members of the National Assembly all because of an order from above? In proper democracy, it is unimaginable for that to happen to the extent that our lawmakers had to jump the gates of the National Assembly before they could gain entrance into their offices. So the judiciary is being humiliated, the legislative arm is also being humiliated by a lawless executive. That is the height of it and it has taken to absurdity. I don’t think that is what Nigeria deserves now and that is why we must restore sanity into the polity because the PDP will truncate democracy at the rate they are going. I repeat it, the PDP will truncate democracy at the rate they are going. How do we draw the map of Nigeria now? Is it the same territory that Jonathan inherited from Yar’Adua if we are to draw a genuine and authentic map where a Commander-in-Chief is ruling today. We must stop this insanity and that is why we are looking for somebody who is kind, cool headed, experienced; somebody who has the integrity, somebody who is totally against corruption, and that is the definition of Buhari’s candidacy. That is why we are convinced about him. He doesn’t have money but people are contributing money for him to get to Aso Rock so he can effect the change that we all clamour for. There are two opinions about Buhari’s age. While some are saying that age is not favouring him, some still say that it is his experience that matters. Can you react to that and as well tell us the major change he wants to effect as president? will not tell you that age doesn’t matter. I will not because I also, I am a young man and before now, I was among those people that are canvassing for a generational change. But will you tell me that Jonathan who is a young man is doing well? That is the issue. Jonathan is far younger but is he doing well? If the answer is no, then why don’t we try something else. Mandela was older than Buhari when he ruled South Africa and he performed excellently well without firing teargas at members of the country’s legislative arm. Mandela never said that stealing is not corruption. He never presided over a dismembered nation. Obama didn’t do that nonsense. Marthin Luther didn’t do that as well, and this is what the PDP-led government is doing now and they said they should keep doing it. So if we have tried a young person and it is not working for us, why don’t we try a man with a wealth of experience without thinking of his age. As of today, the demand of this time calls for Buhari. It is not about age but about his experience. It is about what he had done before it is not about a man who doesn’t know anything. Not about a man who had no shoes in the past and now he is having no clue, and that is why we are looking for someone who has shoes and who also has clues. He had done it before and we have seen and it is still a reference point in terms of discipline, transparency and consistency. As a result of that, the issue of age shouldn’t be over emphasized since we are looking for a change. You were very optimistic about the victory of Governor Rauf Aregbesola in the last guber poll in Osun even before the election was conducted. What will you attribute his victory to and what will you also say about the present cases before the tribunal as a result of the rejection by the PDP’s candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore? The victory in Osun state is a celebration of determination by the people who are resolute and committed. It is more of celebration of determination than a celebration of democracy because what we had in Osun was like a democracy at gun point. This is a case whereby people had to divide guns before they could go on vote. The intimidation and harassment was unprecedented in the history of Nigeria. But during the last governorship election, our people were determined. Due to the performance of Ogbeni, our people ignored all the intimidation and still went ahead to vote for him. Despite all the soldiers, guns and dogs that they brought, our people still voted for the candidate of their choice and that was Ogbeni. So for me, that cannot be a celebration of democracy because democracy should be a thing of joy not a thing of war. About the case you mentioned, I will want to tell you that there is no case at the tribunal as far as we are concerned because first and foremost, the PDP filed their papers out of time and that contradicts what the law says in Nigeria. There are times stipulated for filing of cases and the PDP didn’t file their case within those times, and that is why we have raise a preliminary objection that there is even no basis for the proceedings in the first place. The rules are clear that you must file your papers within thirty days and anything files after that period is filed out of time. We say the court to determine that and once that is determined, then there is no case again. All what they are bringing to court are photocopies of INEC result sheets that are baseless, and they have not even been able to pinpoint anyone that is amiss. For us, there is no case.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 17:11:21 +0000
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