sat 15062019 I would Have Overthown Abacha If

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12—SATURDAY Vanguard, JUNE 15, 2019 Continues from pg 11 happens. An implosion will happen or why did we go for June 12 struggle? It is because the military was cheating us. Nobody put them there, they put themselves and were cheating Nigerians. That’s why we went for June 12 struggle. Talking is not enough. Action speaks louder than words and that was what June 12 struggle was about. We were saying enough is enough and that is what struggle is all about. During June 12, journalists suffered. There was the militant press and they were banned, they were shut down. I still remember those magazines: The News, Tempo, Punch, Guardian, Concord. They all joined the struggle. But now, everywhere has been monetised, every institution has been monetised including Journalists, Labour leaders. They have been monetised. The police and the judiciary are the problems we have in this country. The declaration of June 12 as Democracy Day is much deeper than we think. The annulment of the election, considered Nigeria’s freest ever, and the detention of Abiola led to major protests and strikes by workers’ unions. NUPENG launched a nationwide strike in 1994 condemning the annulment and demanding that Abiola be freed and inaugurated. I was arrested in August of the same year and detained without charges by the Sani Abacha military government. I was put in solitary confinement in Bama Prison. I was released in 1998 when General Abdulsalam Abubakar, who succeeded Abacha came into power and ordered my release as well as that of other detained political activists and journalists. I was declared Prisoner of Conscience by the late Nelson Mandela and Pope Saint John Paul II in 1997 and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Amnesty International (AI) declared me prisoner of conscience between August 1994 and June 1998. Now, knowing where I am coming from, you should know how it feels to be messed with by a man like Dr Chris Ngige. It is a terrible thing in our democracy for certain people to hijack the process and destroy the tenets of democracy. You talked about monetisation, are you aware that NLC we have today is no longer as strong as it used to be and cannot lead a struggle? Forget about that. The NLC in my days betrayed me and betrayed the June 12 struggle. So, I used the oil workers to fight that battle. When I talked in the National Executive Council, they betrayed me. Most of them were bribed, that was why NUPENG and PENGASSAN, the oil workers took over the struggle. Do you know the efforts we made? That was why they locked me up. Did NLC then fight for me? It was only NUPENG that fought for me. The leadership of NLC at that time betrayed me, betrayed the revolution that I was leading. In fact, we were succeeding. We were almost taking out the military by force. We were close to removing Abacha. If I wasn’t captured, in a matter of weeks, that government would have fallen. The military were getting in touch with us at the time and we were succeeding. I would have overthrown Abacha if . . . The civilians alone cannot overthrow government, the military must be part of a revolution. The ordinary man with placards cannot succeed in a revolution, the military must be part of a revolution. Democracy is what reigns now and nonody looks forward to a military revolution anymore. It is global and no reasonable person should call for it. The people at the helm of affairs are also ex military. Whenever there is confusion, the military is split into two, even the June 12 struggle, the military was part of it but these are private things to me which I cannot talk about in the open and it is only the organised labour that could bring such situations to the country. Look at how the organised labour stood up for me during the NSITF saga. I tried to stop them but they refused. That is what Labour could do in a •OBJ, Jonathan bad situation. The oil union was mad at government as in how can you do that to their father? How can Kokori be oppressed at this stage? It’s the Acting President and the President that appointed me the chairman of NSITF, not Wabba. Wabba did not know, yet, he went on air and said what wasn’t true. Everybody wants me to come and talk Abacha died under his circumstances and that is why he is paying. Others who have been indicted are not paying. Nigeria has the highest number of rogue politicians in the world on air, I tried to mount pressure on the organised labour against doing what they did for me so that nobody would say that Kokori at 75 is still fomenting trouble but I couldn’t stop them. I guess, if the dead could laugh, all those who are part of June 12 struggle that have died would be roaring with laughter in their graves... No, they would be crying that after 20 years of democracy, Nigeria is still in mess. They will be happy that June 12 is now Democracy Day but when they see what’s going on in Nigeria, they will cry. Poverty has gone haywire in these 20 years of democracy. The only thing is that they won’t lock you up anyhow anymore and if they did, you would go to court to challenge them. After two or three weeks, they would release you even when you have stolen N20bn or N40bn. But even the dead, like former Head of State, General Abacha is still sending alerts from the grave... It’s not only Abacha that stole money, others did and they need to pay up too. Abacha died under his circumstances and that is why he is paying. Others who have been indicted are not paying. Nigeria has the highest number of rogue politicians in the world. All the people around him, the only person who is not making money is Buhari himself which I think is inbuilt in him. That’s why I said he should shine his eyes or these people will ruin his name. Any president must give security job to his people. You don’t compromise that, some would even put their sons as the head of their security. But he must keep his eyes on them. What’s your thought of the new Democracy Day? I congratulate Nigerians. Most of us who fought for June 12 know what it means. May 29 means nothing to Nigerians. It was a cheap contraption which was promoted by the then President Obasanjo and was reflected in his style of leadership. Obasanjo is that kind of person. Anything he wants is what he does. He doesn’t take counter-opinions from citizens. But you are not saying that 20 years of democracy is a waste? No. I said I’m disillusioned by 20 years of democracy but there is no alternative to democracy. I had expected things to be better in a democracy but unfortunately, they are not.
SATURDAY Vanguard, JUNE 15, 2019—13 •Senate President Ahmed Lawan •Femi Gbajabiamila •Ekweremadu •Omo-Agege Why PDP’s late endorsement failed to deliver Ndume, Bago By Dirisu Yakubu ABUJA- The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s bid to foil Presidency’s choice of the leadership of the 9th National Assembly inaugurated last Tuesday failed woefully, much to the surprise of the two lawmakers they belatedly endorsed less than twenty-four hours to the elections. In the early hours of Tuesday, the leadership of the party issued a statement urging lawmakers elected on its platform to vote Senator Ali Ndume and Hon. Umar Mohammed Bago as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively in a move aimed at frustrating the All Progressives Congress, APC from having its way once again. They were also concerned of what becomes our democracy where the Legislature becomes a tool of the Executive and the Judiciary is cowed. The ruling party as well as the Presidency preferred Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila for the two exalted offices. However, unlike in 2015 when the PDP acted in unison with some aggrieved members of the APC in both the Senate and the House to produce Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives respectively; the plot this time failed as Lawan polled a total of 79 votes, with Ndume garnering a paltry 28. The story was no different in the House where PDP-backed Bago could only manage a total of 76 votes while Gbajabiamila carried the day with a whopping 283 votes. The outcome of the elections, Saturday Vanguard gathered was to be expected following what a chieftain of the PDP who craved anonymity labelled the party’s inability to come up with a Plan B. According to him, the party was all along rooting for former Gombe state governor, Danjuma Goje for the Senate Presidency seat, adding that his late withdrawal from the race left the PDP with little or no time to agree on a consensus. He added that Goje’s decision to support Lawan, left lawmakers elected on the platform of the PDP with no option but to vote in accordance with the dictates of their conscience. He said: “We wanted Goje but he chose not to go into the contest at the eleventh hour. The party quickly called stakeholders’ meetings to determine a particular direction but at those meetings, it was clear a consensus was going to be very difficult. ”Our Senators and House memberselect met with party stakeholders including our governors but we knew we were going into a tough test. “Ndume became the most suitable option after that owing largely to the fact that apart from us believing in his ability to be his own man, he was also our former member. We directed our members and his (Ndume) colleagues in the red chamber to show him solidarity but it is clear now that some ignored this directive. It came too late. They decided to vote for Lawan.” The Money factor Lawan who represents Yobe North at the Senate was his party choice for the exalted seat in 2015, losing however to the sheer political artistry of Saraki who alongside his supporters, left the Remote Sensing Our Senators and House memberselect met with party stakeholders including our governors but we knew we were going into a tough test expert-turned politician in the lurk. It was not unexpected therefore that four years later, President Buhari kept faith in him and urged the party to rally support for him. While the endorsement by the APC leadership may have played it part in the emergence of eventual winners allegations of some kind of inducement may not easily be dismissed with a wave of the hand. As the story goes, Ndume relied largely on his goodwill, unable to match his opponent in other areas critical in winning elections in Nigeria. The rest as they say is history. In the House, Public Relations allegedly mattered in the election too. While there have been attempts at dismissing these claims, images of the said credit cards have since been made public. Omo-Agege’s emergence as DSP It was not only the office of the Senate President that was in contention as the ruling APC also clinched the Deputy Senate President’s seat in style. Few days to the election, Senator Francis Alimikhena (APC, Edo North) was bookmakers’ favourite for the plum office. 24 hours later to the election however, he chickened out of the race due to pressure allegedly mounted on him by party chairman, Adams Oshiomhole who played a major role in getting the party’s choices elected. He was dogged in his roles. The former labour leader turned in the direction of Senator Ovie Omo-Agege who would go on to defeat his only opponent and immediate past DSP, Ike Ekweremadu, despite his alleged role in the theft of the mace, the symbol of the parliament in 2018. Oshiomhole, this medium gathered, was not prepared to gift his detractors more arsenals to continue to press for his removal as party chairman. Thus, victory for Alimikhena would have led credence to the call for his exit as it could raise concern in many areas to have the DSP and chairman from the state of Edo. Ekweremadu again! Until he was nominated to vie against Senator Omo-Agege on the floor of the red chamber that fateful Tuesday, the aspiration (if any) of Senator Ike Ekweremadu was kept close to his chest. He was DSP twice to former Senate President, David Mark and won a third shot in 2015. So, no one was taken aback that Ekweremadu’s name never came up for mention in the race for one of the highly coveted political offices in the land. At the end of balloting, Ekweremadu was shellacked (to borrow the coinage of ex- United States President, Barack Obama) losing to Omo-Agege who polled 68 votes to the Enugu West representative’s 37. The defeat in the words of a PDP chieftain could have been averted if only the part planned in time and acted in one spirit. Coming short of accusing the party of gifting Omo-Agege the seat on a platter despite the credibility burden occasioned by the mace narrative, the opposition figure said he believed some lessons have been learned. “There is a time for everything and this is all I can say concerning the Office of the Deputy Senate President’s contest. We thought we had a chance but after our meetings, we realized we had zero chances because we knew what some of our people were going to do,” he added.
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