By, Daniel Kanu
The presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in the 2015 elections and Head, Policy Positions, Movement for Fundamental Change (MFC), Chief Martin Onovo, has expressed displeasure over Nigeria’s development since independence, saying that at 63 years there is nothing to cheer about in the country.
In this interview Chief Onovo also speaks on other sensitive national issues including, PEPC verdict, assessment of president Tinubu’s leadership, and increased military coup in the region. Excerpts:
Nigeria just celebrated its 63 anniversary…?
(Cuts in) What are we really celebrating looking at the hunger, dispodency in the land. Look at the economy, Naira’s free fall, insecurity, education sector etc, which one can one celebrate? Nigeria was classified properly by Foreign Policy magazine as a failed state. The next and worst classification is a collapsed state. Nigeria is most definitely a collapsing state. The government is illegitimate and corrupt. Public morality is perverted. Some judges issue ‘jankara’ judgments with impunity. The Nigerian Police cannot be trusted, they are corrupt and ineffective. The military is partisan, discriminatory and weak.
Lawlessness is widespread through out the country. Like other development indices, political development has been reversed. Democracy has been replaced with criminocracy. Where individuals with crisis of credibility seize power by violence and electoral fraud. The rule of law is disregarded and the integrity of the ballot is perverted. Nigeria is near a total collapse and may collapse very soon if we continue this way.
The Supreme Court has the opportunity now, to save the country.
What is your take on the tribunal verdict on the suit against President Tinubu filed by the PDP and the LP?
It was apparently corrupt. We saw that the “judgment” had the Tinubu Legal Team’s header from where the panel read from. It was an unpatriotic attack on justice and the Constitution of the country. First, the composition of the panel was skewed in favour of Alhaji Bola Tinubu with three muslims and only two Christians. Also, the panel had a Southwestern Muslim, but no Southeastern Christian. These violate the constitutional principle of ‘Federal Character’. Courts work with facts and the law: res ipsa loquitur – the fact speaks for itself. The PEPC abandoned the facts and the Constitution to hide behind the technical jargon of the Tinubu Legal Team. The same judgment confirmed that Alhaji Bola Tinubu forfeited $460,000 proceeds of narcotics trafficking in Chicago and still failed to disqualify him. The decision that the transmission of results to the IReV portal is not required goes against the ‘INEC Guidelines and Regulations’ for the election. It also goes against INEC published collation procedures. The unjustifiable exclusion of evidence presented by Labour Party; the outrageously illogical requirement for subpoenaed witnesses to submit their statement on oath before they were subpoenaed; ignoring the tacit admission of the respondents of the need for 25 per cent in the FCT etc, all show the bias of the panel. The self-evident cases of perjury and forgery have been with us since 1999 when Chief (Dr) Gani Fawehinmi, SAM, SAN, took the same matter to court. The 18,800 blurred results and the 9,400 unavailable results which affected about eight million voters is tantamount to substantial non-compliance. The decision to ignore that in the “judgment” is perverse with impunity. The decision on the 25 per cent requirement in the FCT goes against the validated interpretation of the Hon. Chief Michael Aondoakaa, former Attorney General of the Federation and also against previous decisions of the Supreme Court. Some of the judges even descended into the arena which is gross judicial misconduct. It is the duty of the Supreme Court to stop our dangerous descent away from the rule of law to the rule of ‘jankara’ judges.
Do you think they can get justice at the Supreme Court?
Yes, Nigerians can get justice at the Supreme Court. The cost otherwise is disastrous. A country is built on its values and its laws. If that is destroyed, the foundation of the country is destroyed and the collapse of the country is initiated. The Supreme Court already has serious problems arising from the Imo governorship case and the Ahmad Lawan, Yobe senatorial case. This presidential election petition can be the final straw from the final court, if it is perverse. The Supreme Court has the opportunity now, to save the integrity and dignity of the judiciary or destroy the foundation of the country, which is its values and laws.
Prof Soyinka said recently that LP is telling lies and deceiving Nigerians that they won the election when they came a distant third position, what’s your reaction to this statement?
According to the fraudulent results published by INEC, LP was third. However, based on the official INEC evidence available to the global public, the INEC results are fraudulent. The international BBC wrote that, “The BBC has uncovered significant anomalies in Rivers State”. Local and international observers condemned the fraud; political parties rejected it; organised labour condemned it; international media also condemned it and Nigerians are mourning. From official INEC results, LP won in 13 states (when you rightly include Rivers and Benue states) and Abuja. PDP won in 12 states and the ruling party won in only 11 states. That shows that LP won the election. How did Prof. Soyinka come to his erroneous conclusion? His judgment may be clouded by his very close relationship with Alhaji Bola Tinubu. It is disgraceful to the Nobel Prize Committee that a Nobel Prize winner serves as an acolyte to Alhaji Bola Tinubu that forfeited $460,000 proceeds of drug trafficking in Chicago.
How will you assess President Tinubu 100 days in office?
It is clearly catastrophic for Nigeria. The lawlessness of the DSS; the abuse of human rights; the terrible take-over of the judicial functions of the PEPC by acolytes of the Tinubu legal team, etc, have been seen. Alhaji Tinubu leadership tragedies are unprecedented. They include; the dreadful devaluation of our Naira and the subversion of national productivity. National unity has been fractured. Hyper-inflation has been forced on us. Unemployment has been aggravated. Mass poverty has been intensified. Crime and insecurity have been increased. National debt has exploded. Every index for development has deteriorated. Specifically, bandits killed 36 military officials and destroyed our military helicopter in Niger State; 19 persons were kidnapped in the FCT. Inflation is over 100 per cent; please ignore the cooked NBS figures. Currently the Naira is exchanging for N950/$ from the N461/$ in Feb., 2023. Gen. Buhari regime was terrible. This illegitimate and incompetent Alhaji Tinubu placeholder-ship is clearly catastrophic.
Military coup seems to have become fashionable again. What do you think is happening?
It is the resistance of Africans to pernicious conditions. We can use the case of our neighbour Niger Republic. Colonised and controlled by France through Alhaji Mohamed Bazoum, it is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. Uranium, its major export, is sold for $200/kg in the international market, but France takes it from Niger at $0.8/kg. So, France steals over 99 per cent of the value of Niger Republic’s export of Uranium. The law of survival states that people will do what they can to survive. So, many Africans are forced to fight for their survival. The ousted government of Alhaji Bazoum was very ineffective and unpopular. The coup leaders have the support of the overwhelming majority of their people. So, if we apply the fundamental principle of democracy, the coup may be democratic. Yes! Democracy is the rule of the people so, if the people want a coup, then the coup is democratic.
The possibility of ECOWAS going to war with Niger Republic. What is your take and the implication?
This is extremely unlikely. The Nigerian Senate has rejected Alhaji Tinubu’s push for war. African Union has excluded the ECOWAS push for war. The Nigerian people do not want any unjustifiable war with our neighbours. Our economy is presently in distress and cannot support a war. The ECOWAS principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of member states is relevant here. We do not see any justification for a war with Niger Republic. Alhaji Tinubu was only responding slavishly to requests from France and other NATO members.
The economy is down despite promises by the Federal Government. Is it a result of poor policies or what?
I believe that this Alhaji Tinubu placeholder-ship is completely incompetent. It repeatedly makes false promises. The current problems with the economy can be traced to incompetence, waste, corruption and senseless submission to inappropriate dictates of international neo-liberal institutions.
Do you think the newly constituted cabinet by President Tinubu will take the country out of the woods?
First, it is a place-holder cabinet. Second, it is led by Alhaji Tinubu with his lawless “Emi lo kan” philosophy. Third, it is dominated by failed politicians, crooks, corpers and champions of corruption. Fourth, their set direction is destructive. Fifth, the composition violates the constitutional requirement of Federal Character.
Assess the success of all international trips made by Tinubu so far.
All the visits have been disgraceful. The visit to France was disgraceful. The visit to India was disgraceful and the visit to UAE was not only disgraceful, but scandalous. Nigeria may have challenges, but we are definitely better than what Alhaji Tinubu represents. The lawless and fraudulent election that brought him to power is well documented by the EU Observer Mission, AL Jazeera, the BBC and the international mass media. It is equally well known all over the world. His forged CSU certificate is already an international scandal all over the world. All the trips have further damaged the image of Nigeria.
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