Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju, is a former governor of Anambra State between 1999 and 2003. He is a trained journalist cum a lawyer, rising to edit the defunct famous Daily Times of Nigeria. In this interview with ALEX EMEJE, the former governor speaks on some burning national issues including the planned national confab, expectations from PDP under Ahmadu Adamu Muazu, the gale of defection among politicians and also accuses the media of taking sides in the ongoing democracy
PDP under Mu’azu
Former Governor Adamu Mu’azu has gone through the mills. Politically he has seen it all. In terms of governance, he successfully administered his Bauchi state with less acrimony compared with some other states of the Federation. I was his close colleague while I was governor of Anambra tate and we sat side by side at Federal Cabinet meetings. He appeared to be a quiet one but cracked lots of jokes.
Adamu also appeared shy but responsibilities made him look more serious..
My expectations as Adamu takes over the mantle of leadership as national chairman of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), are nothing more than hard work, and lots of political intrigues which he is obviously familiar with.
This is because he knows how many national chairmen had come and gone in quick succession. As chairman, Adamu must also work well with the National Working Committee (NWC) just as he heads the National Convention of the party. This is an enormous responsibility placed on the shoulders of anyone who accepts to be national chairman of the party.
The experience Adamu gathered in office as governor will surely lead him as he begins this arduous journey to bring the party together by applying the usual choruses of democracy, rule of law, equity and fair play to all members.
APC’s directive to its NASS members
The activities and utterances of the newly formed All Progressive Congress (APC) leave a lot to be desired. It is either the group are immature in handling delicate political issues or they are just being naïve or diabolical in their approach to sensitive issues of national importance.
I am happy about the national reactions to APC’s call to withdraw their National Assembly members from further participation in the screening of new ministers and four top military officers as proposed by Mr. President. The APC would not also have their members join in considering the 2014 national budget. It seems too many that the APC’s actions and utterances are just preparation for anarchy in the system. Many do not know which law and constitution the APC derived their power and authority to issue their decrees as in a military fashion.
Having condemned the actions and utterances of the APC in this matter, political pundits are now saying that what is left is for APC is for them to withdraw their party members from voting in the 2015 elections. Could it be that APC has already thrown in their towel even before the game starts? If APC is that afraid of PDP and could not stand ordinary defeat in a National Assembly debate, how then can they stand the PDP’s onslaught in 2015? The die is cast.
Jonathan and 2015
Nigerians were sometimes ago treated to a banquet at the Villa during which President Jonathan showed a mammoth crowd of his supporters a booklet containing a catalogue of his achievements in office of about 2 years out of his constitutional tenure of 8 years. Nobody, since then has gone to court to challenge the contents of the book, or say that there was no truth in what Mr. President told the crowd of people. But apart from what is in the book published, Nigerians are not blinded to see the achievements for themselves. But apart from infrastructural developments achieved in 2 years, what we know that most qualifies the president to contest the 2015 election is the constitution.
The president is entitled by the constitution to have 2 terms of four years each. In Jonathan’s case, the one and a half years he completed of late President Umar Yar’Adua tenure does not count. The Constitution makes it clear that if a President dies in office; his Vice completes his remaining tenure. After that the President, if he wants, can take his first term of 4 years as President (not Vice President). He could indeed go further and seek for another 4 years, to make 8 years in office as president. Nobody anticipated that our late President Yar’Adua would die in office, yes, nobody would have known except he is God.
We really sympathize with the North whose son died in office. But Yar’Adua was not just son and President of the North, he is a product of Nigerian Constitution which it could be anybody from the North or from the South. The North should not take this rotation personal. They should allow constitution to rule and reign. Jonathan, by God’s ordination, may have exceeded his 8 years in office, but we must differentiate between what constitution says about Vice-President, and what it says about President. It is only someone who wants to create confusion they created themselves.
Assessing Obi’s administration
Governor Peter Obi has succeeded beyond the wildest imagination. His successes did not come on a platter of gold. It is not everyone that will have the grace of God to continue with the streams of court cases from tribunals, to High Court, and finally the Supreme Court.
God also blessed him with good lawyers such that without which he would not have gone so far. But God was with him at those initial days when he would not have gone far. But God was with him at those initial days when he was humble and greeted everyone that crossed his way.
But as we know power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, and Governor Peter Obi cannot be the exception. He deals well with friends and Governor Peter Obi cannot be the exception. He deals well with friends and tramples upon his perceived enemies. Governor of a state should be liberal, and should not keep giving those who already have and deny those who are not in his good books. When God gives us he meant we should redistribute what he has given.
Rivers crisis
No, it was not the time Governor Rotimi Ameachi defected to APC that peace eluded Rivers State. It was earlier than that. There was a time Governor Amaechi was trying to snatch from Her Excellency, Dame (DR.) Patience Jonathan the microphone which the first lady was using to speak in a public rally but governor was dragging the microphone with the first lady. The incident created a scene. Another occasion was when Governor Amaechi came together with arrays of colours of chiefs and traditional rulers and elders to meet with Mr. President and to discuss the issues of Rivers oil which Rivers government alleged to have been carved into Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa States.
If this were so, was it impossible for Governor Amaechi to have met with President Jonathan alone to discuss this vexatious oil for possible qui pro quo? In my similar experience at Awka, I took up the same issue of Anambra oil and pleaded with the then President Obasanjo to allow my state explore the oil which is in commercial quantity. He refused insisting that Anambra oil was in the category of strategic reserve.
In any case there is no need to have unnecessarily antagonized a President of a country the way this has been done. The President of a nation must be accorded full respect as the leader and if he did anything wrong and you bring it to his attention he would have obliged to reason together as people with common destiny. I would have urged Governor RotimiAmaechi of Rivers State to approach President Jonathan in a civilized manner and discuss the oil issue with him. This is the type of thing I did in the case of Obasanjo who obviously wronged me and stopped my 2ndterm bid, yet I went to his house twice, and preached the gospel in his Chapel twice, and thereafter we reconciled, hopefully, and avoided further rift.
On defection
This question is purely legal though with political coloration. The law has it that if there is a division in the House, whether Senate, or House of Representatives even in the State House of Assembly, that any defection arising thereof may entitle the aggrieved member(s) to leave the parent party and join another one of their choice, provided that the defecting members must first submit written letter to the leader of the House for their information and necessary action.
But for most things in Nigeria, there are often abuse associated with the exercise. I am not sure that the law contemplated a situation where most of the House members stood up howling, shouting, jumping from one corner of the chamber to another, abusing, ridiculing and near fisticuffs in the hallowed chambers. So far, no defecting House member has satisfied the dictates of the law, and aggrieved members on both sides have gone to court for interpretation in a court of competent jurisdiction. Until that is done, all the talks about defection or non-defection is neither here nor there. They are mere wishes and we know that if wishes were horses beggars might ride. So, we just wait and see what develops.
Personally, I prefer what goes on in the upper chamber, the Senate. There, nobody is stampeding anyone. The atmosphere is serene, perhaps pregnant. The Senate President, David Mark is in good control through his constant admonition and reminding everyone of them that Senate is not like House of Representatives both in style and in dignity.
Some of us have had high hopes regarding the emergence of the House Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal following something that looked like a coup on the floor of the House. It was okay initially, but when it became clear that the Speaker was indeed fueling the embers of defection from the PDP that brought him into political limelight, many who put their hopes on him got demoralized for leaving a giant party like PDP to try to take shelter from an obscure, emergence of a new party called APC, If Hon Tambuwal finally joins APC then we would have known that we have lost a man of substance brought up for high government position under PDP.
In fact, it all started when Governor Amaechi’s plane could not fly in time from Ondo to Abuja, carrying Rivers Governor, Hon Speaker and a few others. Because the plane was not allowed at the very time they wanted to take off, both Amaechi and Tambuwal got so annoyed and concluded that the die was cast and it was an opportunity for them to carry out what seemed like a coup against the PDP. That’s how the two men plus Governor and Wamako of Sokoto, all formed an opposition against PDP. Again we wait and see what develops.
Confab
President Jonathan has shown that his Transformation Agenda is a well thought out programme, and he is a listening President. When the clamour came from all quarters that Nigerians wanted National Confab to allow them debate where they want to anchor their future political association, they had in mind particularly the imbalance of Federal structure. And Jonathan being a listening President decided to satisfy the yearnings of Nigerians.N
It is a masterpiece on the side of President Jonathan. Let there be jaw-jaw, not war-war. Nobody knows the end from the beginning but President Jonathan has produced a good forum for Nigerians to look at each other face to face and tell themselves the truth about Nigeria for the past 100 years.
It is not up to me to say whether the confab will work or not, and whether it will be successful or not. But at least the President has given Nigerians what they asked for, that should be a good beginning. Rome was not built in one day. As a person, I want the confab to succeed, let there be true Federalism based on equality of zones and states and local government areas.
Is our democracy working?
We cannot say that Nigerian democracy is not working. It is working but not substantially as expected. For example nobody knows in Nigeria today when or how election malpractices can stop. The Jonathan administration more than anyone else has fought so many battles of these vices in our system but some of our problems seem ingrained in our lives and our system of living and in doing things. If the National Confab succeeds these problems will be things of the past.
But it can be said that we are still better than many of our contemporaries as nations and individuals. Our leaders will not give up as we urge them to be shining examples of what the younger ones can emulate.
Assessing Nigerian media as former editor
The Nigerian Media have fared well giving the constraints they have in difficult Nigerian environment. It is true I began in time and infused myself into that environment. I began teaching at Iganmu Training School on the area of International Relations, Thought and Defamation and so on. And before long, I got promoted to edit the Times International before Governor Jim Nwobodo appointed me as Chief Executive and General Manager of Star Printing and Publishing Company at Enugu, a Government Parastatal.
The life of a journalist is to achieve perfection to attract leadership. It was from Enugu that I joined the Alhaji Shehu Shagari administration and attached to Chief (Dr.) Alex Ekwueme, the Vice President, and with Dr. Dele Cole (MD), late Stanley Macebuh, Tony Momoh and others I learnt from, and they were good teachers. From the press, I went into writing books, now about 20 volumes of books, but I could not write much from the time I became Governor of Anambra State.
My most favorite newspapers include Vanguard and The Sun and Tribune. However my interest gets diversifying. An important aspect of the media has to do with political coverage of events as they happen. The press should write and ensure that it is the truth, but they should be mindful of our constitutional freedom: freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of religion and others which are free subjects to libel and defamation.
Finally, it is the feeling of many political watchers that the press and the media as they are today, tend to favor some political groups against others, in this case more favours being granted to APC than PDP and others. The media should not tilt to one side as against others.
It is the truth in any issue that should dictate what to publish or not. It seems that right from the time of former President Nixon’s Watergate scandal which led to his impeachment, Nigerian media were influenced as to how the American media reacted to the scandal and obviously brought down the Presidency of Nixon. The American press took credit for pulling down Richard Nixon’s government, so did Nigerian press copy that American precedent. Since that time, the Nigerian media have been looking for opportunity to bring down any Nigerian government that finds no favour with the press.
For example, there was obvious cold war between President I.B Babangida’s regime and the press particularly after MKO Abiola’s victory after the national election was annulled. Subsequent press war against Babangida’s administration brought his government down.
This trend has continued till today as the press and the media choose which administration they would want to pull down so as to take the greatest opposition that President Jonathan has for some time now has to do with the press and the media as if they conspired to bring down the present administration. But while there could be good reason for fighting Babangida’s regime given the annulment of Chief Abiola’s election, there is no such reason for the press and the media today to keep attacking and fighting Jonathan anywhere and in everything, whether good or bad. The press should mind their business, and that business should not include excessive opposition to the government of the day.
President Jonathan deserves praise from the press and even from the opposition for his Transformation Agenda, more so when foreign nations and foreign interests do hail the President more that he receives at home. The press should learn to give honour to whom it is due not minding whose ox is gored.
