‘Merger will prevent one-party system’

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) National Chairman Chief Bisi Akande, in this interview with   EMMANUEL OLADESU and JEREMIAH OKE,  explains the significance of the merger and implications for 2015 general elections. 

How did the four political parties come about the name, All Progressive Congress (APC)?

There is nothing unusual about that. I cannot tell you how we came about the name, but coming together is more important to us right from 2005. We made an effort between 2005 and 2006 that all opposition parties should come together before 2007, particularly the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and ANPP, but it didn’t work. We formed the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and went straight to form alliance with ANPP towards 2007 elections. That seemed to have threatened Obasanjo so much that he misbehaved in 2007 elections to the extent that the late President Yar ‘Adua came to say that the election that brought them to power was severely flawed.

Unfortunately, ANPP joined the PDP in their Government of National Unity and that ended the alliance. In 2010, we tried again, but unfortunately, it could not materialise. Some groups joined AD to become the ACN. The ACN has been in the front seat to ensure that all opposition parties work together since that time. Towards the 2011 election, ACN and CPC negotiated the possibility of an alliance till almost a week to the elections, but it could not work. We were not happy; we felt very disappointed. This time around, we thought we started where we ended with the CPC. Fortunately, before we took off, the ANPP decided to come on board and we quickly set up a committee of ACN to start negotiation with them. The CPC set up its own committee and ANPP set up its own committee and we all accepted to work together. I think the APGA does not want to be left behind; that is why they also joined us. We rejoice over this and we have to celebrate it. The committee has not reported back to us, but we are happy so far that they are giving us a symbol of desirability of coming together of all the opposition parties. I think, the situation has been so well received by the country that, before long, we shall be able to establish this party properly and it will be the only progressive party that Africa will be able to witness and before long, PDP will stop calling itself the largest party inAfrica.

What is the significant of the merger of the four parties?

The significance of the merger is to prevent one-party system because one-party system is not good in a democracy. But at the rate we are going, PDP is using the electoral institutions and the police to foist one-party system on the country. Therefore, we think, if the opposition parties can come together and decide to form an alliance, it will prevent one-party system.

How are we sure that there will not be tension between the four parties, if they perceive themselves as the senior or junior partners in the alliance?

If the merger is the alliance of two political parties, you can be talking about senior and junior. But the merger, as we can see it now, is the alliance of four political parties. Ranking will be very difficult in this kind of situation. What we think is that progressives are progressives, no matter where they are, and we should move on because it may not be all the parties that are signing up now that will eventually come on board at the end of the day. We know for sure that more than 70 per cent of PDP will also be coming on board, as soon as the platform is properly laid.

We learnt that ACN is trying to reconcile General Buhari (rtd) with his former party, ANPP. How far has the reconciliation gone?

We have never attempted such a thing. General Buhari has never told us he was quarreling with ANPP; neither has ANPP told us that they were quarreling with General Buhari. General Buhari joined the ANPP and used the platform to contest for an election twice and, if he decided to form his own party, he did nothing wrong. But had it been when he formed the CPC and before too long, CPC is as big as ANPP, if not bigger than ANPP, I can say there is a quarrell. If you plant a seed, it can produce a fruit bigger than the original seed you planted. So, I don’t think they are quarreling with each other, but I think, in a democracy, we try to establish a policy and if it is not possible within the party, you can come out and try your own. Reality has dawned on us today that, unless we come together, there is no way we can be able to have enough strength to deal with the PDP.

Now that the new party has been born, what is the fate of ACN, ANPP, CPC and APGA?

That is the essence of it; it is a matter of sacrifice. We are going to surrender our certificates to the Independent Nigeria Electoral Commission (INEC) and we stop being called ACN. Also, CPC will surrender its own certificate and it will stop being called CPC. The ANPP will also surrender its own certificate to the INEC and they will stop calling themselves ANPP, while APGA will do the same and from there, a new party is born. And nobody will know himself as either ACN, ANPP, APGA or CPC; we will all be known as APC. So, all we need to do is to fine-tune and recognise that APC has been born. And no matter how you look at it, any funny name you may call it, it will cure any type of ache. Some people call it armoured personnel carrier, I will tell you, it is meant to destabiliee enemy at war. So, it depends on the way you look at it. To me, APC is a fighter; either a fighter of an ailment or fighter of war. This is a political war we are going to fight and APC will be handy in getting them down. The moment we fine-tune this platform, which we are building now, nobody will call himself ACN, CPC, ANPP, APGA again. We will all know ourselves as APC and there is going to be equality of membership.

A section of APGA has said that it is not happy with the merger. What is your reaction to this?

In any democracy, there is no way you won’t have a similar thing. Honestly, I was a little caught unaware because we never had prior discussion with the APGA, but because everybody sees the need for it. APGA is also a party of the winners and they don’t want to be left behind; that was why they jumped into the train. Though, it may be a shock to some of the members of the party, but we allow everybody to go back to their various parties and conduct a conference or a convention of their parties and announce to their members that they have adopted a new party and that they are happy with the new party.

What form will the manifesto of the new party take?

The manifesto committee is already working. It is going to reflect what we believe; general development of human being in Nigeria, general empowerment of the youths to destroy unemployment in the country and general development of the atmosphere. All these are what you can see in Lagos State today; neat houses everywhere, good houses everywhere. The welfare of the people will be much more better because the purpose of any government is to take care of the people. It is unlike what the PDP is doing. The purpose of government of PDP is sharing. They must share the money because all of them want to be rich in their party. So, they have changed government to market sharing. But in our own case, we are far different from them and that is why we call it All Progressive Congress. Progressive in our context means don’t govern for yourselves, but govern for the advantage of the generality of the people. That is the manifesto of the party for now.

Do you envisage any hurdle from the INEC?

There is no INEC hurdle other than giving them 90 day-notice that we are coming together before any election. We do that by attaching our name, logo, manifesto, our constitution and to abide by the rule of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. INEC does not have any choice in that matter than to accept and register us. We are coming onboard and, as soon as the platform is ready, INEC will ask us a question according to the law of the land and we will fill a form. That is the law; they don’t have a power on their own. INEC power is base on the law of Nigeria and we are going to create and develop the platform according to the law of Nigeria. So, when we act in accordance with the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, INEC has no option.

How prepared is the new party to withstand any likely intimidation and harassment by the PDP?

PDP is jittery already. PDP is in trouble already. PDP has been sleepless since we announced the new party. I listened to the national chairman of the party in bravado recently, that they are happy about that. I congratulate him for that courage. But with APC, 100 per cent votes in a state will not be possible again because all of us will defend our votes. I am sure we will all be everywhere in the country. Look at the party, look at the structure, and look at how it was formed. APC is everywhere in all the nooks and crannies of the country. It is not a tribal party; it is a national party. And the moment you have everybody in a party like that, voting wrongly with impunity will be checked.

How is the party preparing for the challenge of party leadership composition at the federal and state levels?

Currently, I am the national chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). If by tomorrow you ask me to be a local government auditor of the party, happily, I will take it because the post is not the issue, but the purpose is what we have to contribute to the making of the development of the people of Nigeria. So, I don’t think anybody will be dragging anything. In case you don’t know, we don’t pay salaries to officers, unlike the PDP. So, it makes it comfortable for us to adapt to any situation we find ourselves. As the national leader, if they ask you to go and do local government assignment, you quickly go and do it because no money is attached to it that will make you say you don’t want to leave the post. That was the way we were trained in the UPN and AD and that is the way we have been carrying on in the ACN. That same culture we are going to adopt in the APC We are not struggling for money. At our age, what money do you think I will be struggling for? So, I can assure you that there will be no power tussle in APC leadership.

Observers are saying that the choice of the presidential candidate and his running mate could generate tension in the APC. How would this be resolved?

That will not create problem because we are all having our eyes on the youths for most of our offices. Look at most of our people in the Senate and in the House of Representatives , even governors. They are all young people and I believe that this will be the the case in the APC. We will use the young ones so that they will be able to be the architect of their own future.

PDP said that, by forming the APC, you are heating up the polity. How would you react to this allegation?

If that is the way they see it, then, we are getting at them. They are becoming afraid. They are nervous. They heat is on them. They are already feeling the heat. I think I am proud about that. The opposition is giving them the heat.

Can APC dislodge PDP in 2015?

PDP is already dislodged. The people are angry with the PDP and that is why they are unable to move on. Do you see them doing anything? The economy is in shambles; they cannot even make roads, they can’t build infrastructure, they cannot make peace, and so, they are already in trouble. When you enter an examination hall, and all questions are difficult to answer, you know you have failed already. You look at question number one; it is difficult, two, beyond you, number three also beyond you. There in the examination hall, you have seen your result that you have failed. The paper we put before the PDP is to make peace and create peace for Nigeria, but it is too difficult for them, they can’t do it. Improve economy, they don’t know where to start. They don’t know how to do it. Education is in trouble. Unemployment is rising and many more crises in the country. So, they are confused. As all the oppositions are now together, it’s added more to their tension so, they are in trouble with the formation of APC.

PDP is threatening to capture Lagos, Osun, Oyo and Ekiti in the next elections. What is your reaction?

PDP is fond of boasting. I don’t comment on boasting because PDP lacks ideas and they believe that taking over is a matter of a boasting. Thank God, Nigerians are determined to dislodge them across the country. Tell me their stronghold; I don’t know where in the country that the PDP is strong. I only know that PDP is very strong in the INEC, they are very strong in the police, and they use the combination of the police and the security agents at elections. Apart from that, I don’t know where PDP is strong and I don’t see where somebody will come out in public and say he is proud of PDP, apart from the people who are stealing our oil money.

What is your reaction to the centenary celebration of Nigeria’s amalgamation?

Do we have anything to celebrate? Only the senseless people will be counting age. It is not how old you are now, it is how well. Nigeria is not healthy at 100. So, what are we celebrating? A country is supposed to live for thousands of years and, if it is not healthy at 100, we can call such a country a ‘sickle seller’. That means a country that may not live, and that is why APC is formed so that Nigeria will not be killed by the PDP. They love spending money and celebrating triviality. Centenary or how do you call it? To me, it is a celebration of triviality. So, there is nothing to celebrate in Nigeria yet.

The ethnic nationalities have been clamoring for a Sovereign National Conference for years, but we are yet to see any action in this regard. Does it means that it will not hold in our life time?

Honestly, I don’t believe in a Sovereign National Conferences, but I believe in conferences. You may not understand the difference. Let me tell you, in a Sovereign Conference, whatever you say is law. Whatever you say must be obeyed. So, how do you select people that will sit and decide those things? But I believe in conferences and that is what we have started. There are some fundamental issues that must be resolved before such conference can be held. I believe in conferences so that we can come together to solve those problems and decide on what to do so that no decision will be imposed on the people. Honestly, I don’t really support it.

Now that the National Assembly is set to review the 1999 Constitution, what are your expectations?

I don’t think the National Assembly will achieve much because the bases are just not there. I think what the National Assembly should do now is to look at how to strengthen the electoral system, particularly the registration of the electorate. Anything that will make the votes fraud-free is what should be done. In a country where the population is about 150 million, and we have voters registration of about 150million, we know something is wrong with that. So, I think if they make finger print of the registration biometric, we will have the kind of what we have in Ghana, where they did not finish the voting the same day and they started the following day. Until they make our registration biometric, the review of the constitution cannot take us to anywhere.

Does the likelihood exist that the two factions of Afenifere will reconcile?

I don’t know if Afenifere still exists, but I know of Afenifere Renewal Group. What I mean by that is that the Papa Afenifere is gone and it is gone forever, but the baby Afenifere is growing and that is what I expect in any society. When the elders are old, they encourage the youths to start putting themselves together so as to start where the elders ended. So, the Papa Afenifere is gone and gone forever, but the Afenifere Renewal Group is alive and becoming energetic. They have achieved what the Afenifere could not achieve, in terms of regional integration idea.