Umeh shunned moves to unite APGA — Okwu Basking in the euphoria of the invitation extended to him by the Federal Government to nominate the All Progressives Grand Alliance delegates to the coming national conference, the factional leader of the party, Maxi Okwu, insists, in this interview with OZIOMA UBABUKOH, that he is the national chairman of APGA How do you perceive the Federal Government’s request that you should nominate delegates to the national conference on behalf of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, despite the leadership contest between you and the factional leader, Victor Umeh? I am the national chairman of APGA, de facto and de jure. I was elected at an Independent National Electoral Commission-supervised convention on April 8, 2013 at Awka. The High Court of Anambra State sitting in Awka on May 27, 2013 declared the process leading to the convention and the convention itself as valid and in accordance with the APGA constitution. An appeal filed on this judgment by the plaintiff was subsequently abandoned and dismissed by the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, on July 10, 2013. INEC, in an interpretation of the appeal filed by Chief Victor Umeh on the Ejike Jude Okuli case, wrote to Umeh, stating it would continue to relate with him as the national chairman of APGA. We dragged Victor Umeh, Sani Shinakfi and INEC to the Federal High Court, Abuja. On February 15, 2014, Justice Abdul Adefarati, sitting at Court 2 Abuja, gave his judgment and the defendants lost hands down. Meanwhile, they filed a motion for stay of execution of the judgment. The motion has been argued and ruling reserved till 26th of February 2014. I commend the Federal Government for observing the rule of law in this matter. President Goodluck Jonathan, in our opinion, is respecting the rule of law. Taking into consideration the growing crisis within the party, don’t you think APGA should have no business at the national conference. The Federal Government of Nigeria, in its wisdom, decided to convene a national confab. There are certain aspects of the modalities which we are not very comfortable with, but that’s not for discussion. Part of the approved modalities is that political parties, with representations at the National Assembly, will send two delegates each. There are about four such parties out of about 25 political parties in Nigeria today, and APGA is one of them. We have since nominated our two representatives in the persons of Chief Chris Ejike Uche, the deputy national chairman (South) of the party; and Dr. Sagir Awal Maidoya, the national secretary. What issues will APGA canvass at the national conference? We would remain within the confines of the mission statement by APGA at inception in 2011. That document is a historic document and I may not do justice to it in this interview. However, we believe in a truly federal polity, which includes fiscal federalism, the right and freedom of the people of Nigeria to live peacefully and pursue their rights as citizens of Nigeria throughout the geographical confines of this country. We also believe in a secular state; fundamental freedom and the greatest good for the greatest number. While believing in free enterprise, there must be state intervention, call it social justice or a safety net for the victims of market forces. We believe the internecine leadership crisis in the party has now reached its apogee and may soon peter out. We have shown commitment to this right from day one with our three R strategy, namely Rapprochement, Reconciliation and Reintegration. In the course of this, we commenced a process of winning back the soul of the party purportedly taken away by our aggrieved founding national chairman; winning back others who had become disenchanted and disillusioned. With present gains in the recovery of our mandate, we are emboldened to pursue this strategy with greater vigour. You may recall that at the door-steps of the Federal High Court in Abuja on January 15, 2014, I immediately declared “no victor, no vanquished.” I further made an offer to Victor Umeh to meet with him in Enugu at his earliest convenience to work out a peace deal without preconditions. Sadly, he has rebuffed my efforts. You once complained that the Independent National Electoral Commission did not involve political parties in the decision over the 2015 timetable and the release of modalities for the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections. Was there any need for the complaint since APGA will not take part in Ekiti and Osun elections? We are contesting in the said elections. I am aware that Ezekiel Adegboyega is keenly interested in the Osogbo government house. I do not immediately recall the name of our aspirant in Ekiti. We did concede the right to INEC under extant laws to decide the timeline and sequence for elections, but the practice has always been to sound the parties out before announcement. I do have a lot of experience about INEC’s modus operandi. It began in 2000 when I was a faction national secretary of the Mamman Yesuf-led Alliance for Democracy, through to Deputy National Chairman (South) APGA to national Chairman. It spanned the leadership of INEC from Abel Guobadia to Maurice Iwu. I may be wrong, but I think it is under Attahiru Jega that political parties became largely ignored by INEC. I do not see what INEC has to lose by engaging political parties, the main target of its activities, in its processes. What is your take on the issue of defections at the National Assembly? No one seems to be defecting to APGA, does that not signal the end of your leadership and the eventual collapse of the party? Defections are not new in this Republic. The traffic had always been towards the dominant party. The new trend seems to be a reversal, as people are now leaving that dominant party. I do not lose sleep over it because our democracy, nay civil rule, is still fledging. We must thank our stars for 14 years of civilian rule. Nigeria has yet to attain true democracy like say Ghana, a few borders away. The essential ingredients of a truly democratic polity include the competitiveness of the electoral process through a minimum of two major political parties contending and alternating power; the clear choice between these forces before the electorate; strict observance of the rule of law; an impartial electoral umpire or election management body; a fearless and vigilant press; and a vibrant civil society. What are your fears for 2015 election? My fear is that a part of the country is literally at war. I am also disturbed by the inflammatory remarks by political gladiators on both sides of the political divide. The geographical and religious colorations are equally unsettling. That is why we must commend Mr. President for setting up the national confab. It could not have come at a better time. It’s better to jaw-jaw than war-war. We, therefore, must make good use of this golden opportunity to settle the nation all questions. For some of us, it merely means going back to the original agreements struck by the founding fathers at Lancaster House London in the late 50’s. Simply put, they agreed on a Federal Republic of Nigeria. The distortions to this concept were as a consequence of prolonged military rule with its hierarchical command structure, which negated federalism. Copyright PUNCH.All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng February 23, 2014 at 01:53AM
Posted on: Sun, 23 Feb 2014 00:55:22 +0000
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