Capt. Tunji Shelle, former Lagos State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in this interview with CHIBUIKE CHUKWU, weighed in on the just concluded Edo State governorship election, admitting that democracy in Nigeria is under threat, even as he noted that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) lacked every sense of decency in its state capture. He also spoke on Lagos PDP, the Umar Damagunsaga, chances of the party in future elections, among other issues. Excerpts:
The last election in Edo State has been heavily criticised by so many stakeholders, including civil society groups like YIAGA Africa, as lacking in credibility. What is your take on the election given that your party’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, came second?
I was not physically on ground but I monitored the election from my home. I am seriously disappointed and I’m not happy with the way the whole exercise went. There were lots of inadequacies in the election that stand it out as not credible. First and foremost, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state was sponsored by a well-known politician and a serving minister in the country which all of us know very well and you know the character of the man the REC represents. The man wants to always bulldoze himself to every situation. He wants to take every position and wants to always be in charge. Similarly, the Police Commissioner posted to the state, I have been told, is one way or the other the classmate of Nyesom Wike in school. So our people raised these issues long before the election started and I would have expected the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be sensitive enough to liaise with the police authorities to change the Commissioner of Police and I had also expected INEC to replace the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Edo State. They could have changed him simply because of that gubernatorial election so that people won’tread meanings to having him as the REC. They turned deaf ears to all these issues raised and that is why we find ourselves to where we are today. People voted and there is no doubt about it; votes were bought by interested sellers and interested buyers and I won’t say PDP was innocent. I won’t say PDP were innocent of the same vote buying but people voted also to their conscience. Honestly the mind and feelings of the people of Edo State were towards the candidate of the PDPbecause he looks a clean and responsible person to carry the state alone, well educated, well informed person with a good character above all other candidates that were bidding for the same position. And he looks like someone who was going to raise the bar for Edo State. This is quite unlike somebody who could hardly speak in public; somebody who did his school cert (SSCE) at the age of 36 and the result is there for the people to see. The candidate of the APC (Okpebholo) looks like an incompetent hand and I am sure he cannot handle the affairs of the state. Maybe he can perform as a local government chairman but certainly not a governor of a state. Adams Oshiomhole played a major role in that election and a very disastrous role for that matter. He was the spokesperson and was always speaking on behalf of the party, meaning that he is the godfather and it means when this man gets into office, he will be controlling him just like Wike wants to do in Rivers State. This is also just like someone who has been doing the same thing in his state whom I don’t want to mention; this is not good and once it is happening, it is no longer a democracy.
But Governor Obaseki was also speaking for the PDP candidate at rallies…
(Cuts in) Ighodalo caneffectively defend himself and he canspeak to the audience at any point in time. Ighodalo is well read and well educated, he can communicate effectively. How many times did Obaseki follow him to the stage to speak for him? He spoke for himself most of the time and he has never disappointed. He has been granting interviews on televisions. He has spoken on Channels; he has spoken on Arise TV and so many other television stations before the election. Even I have to tell you plain that Ighodalo is better than Obaseki when it comes to public expression. He is astute and very vocal in issues. He is a man of worth in the politics of this country. You cansee what he’s doing aside the election and politics. He is a brilliant lawyer and a very articulate human being. You just have to be with Ighodalo to understand what I’m saying about him. He is not like the one who cannot speak in public.
Still in the election, given that Obaseki was the first governor that promised to implement the N70,000 minimum wage and they said he has started paying it which should have counted for his candidate, don’t you think that politically, the governor shot his candidate at the foot with his face offs with key political and traditional actors like his deputy, the Oba of Benin and other PDPstakeholders?
I think to a large extent, Obaseki caused issues to himself because he had problems with too many people, especially with the Oba of Benin. However, the Oba of Benin case is the only and major issue I canidentify. For the issue with his deputy, I cansay that Shuaibu is over ambitious and he doesn’t know that power belongs to God. Shuaibu wants to be the governor by all means. As much as I know, Shuaibu is an activists and he started very early in his activism. He began to involve in politics from the university and he feels it is his birth right to become a governor. God made you deputy governor and if you play your card very well and warm yourself into the heart of the governor, he would make you his successor. Shuaibu is too aggressive and he has come on television several times to display same, saying he is the bonafide person qualified to be in that position after Obaseki. As far as Shuaibu is concerned he knows politics more than any other person. He thinks he is a good mobiliser, he thinks he is a youth and as such, it is his birthright to become the governor. But on the other hand, I think Governor Obaseki should have handled the issue mildly and differently, more maturely which he didn’t do. However, it was his issue with the Oba of Benin that touches my heart. Obaseki should have understood that the stool of the Oba is an institution that should be handled with care, caution and respect and not to the extent of going to court against the Oba of Benin. It’s never done. He could have gone behind and not openly to settle the issue and even send people to beg the Oba on his behalf. That would have been a mark of respect and a respect to that throne, a respect to that institution. That is what I had expected him to have done. Those other issues like problem with Shuaibu affected his chances to a very small extent no doubt about it because everyone focused on Ighodalo as a straight and credible person. The emphasis was on Ighodalo. Everyone focused on giving it to a person fitted for the position and not to an incompetent person as they have done. This is a terrible state Edo finds itself now. To the best of my knowledge, that man (Okpebholo) cannot perform and it’s just a matter of time before people will realise the terrible mistake that had been made.
Peter Obi said what happened in Edo is a state capture; do you believe that APC is out on this path to make Nigeria one party state?
Remember Peter Obi had gone there even long before the election and he understood that Edo will be captured. Ondo will be the next and hereafter they will move to Anambra. The APC doesn’t have any sense of decency in the manner they go about all these things. They want to have everything to themselves. They want to win everything and this is despite the fact that they’re not performing. This is despite the hunger in the land, this is despite the terrorism in the land, this is despite the very bad economic posture of the country and they have the mind to want to win elections all over the place; no, people will definitely resist them. We cannot turn Nigeria to a one party state, it is not going to be possible, not even with an underperforming party like the APC.
Perhaps that is why the Senate President and the APC National Chairman reportedly said they would use the same template to win the Ondo election. So what is the PDPdoing to ensure result of Ondo election goes their way and to halt the one party country posture?
Advertisement
To save Nigeria right now is no more about the PDP but about rescuing the country from these anti-democratic elements. It is now in the hands of Nigerians to do something before the country is gone. Everyone has to be involved now, it doesn’thave to be the PDP. The mistake we are making is that everyone is thinking that because the PDP is the main opposition party, it is their duty only to save the country; every Nigerian should be involved, the angry and hungry Nigerians should be involved in changing this scenario. The present narrative is carrying us too far into the pit and we all have to rise up to this challenge of saving the country in order to make Nigeria great again. With the way we’re going, it’s obvious that Nigeria is going to fail unless we all rise up to challenge these people.
Back to the Edo election; PDP has gone to court. To what extent do you have belief in the judiciary given their antecedence in similar situations in the past?
The fact and the evidence are there. If they go by votes obtained at the polling units, if they go by what was the results before they were collated, if they go by what the results were at the local government levels before they were brought to the collation room, the judiciary would have no excuse or choice than to give the mandate back to the person who won it. This is because the INEC Result Verification (IReV) portal was uploading the results as they were concluding the votes at the polling units. Suddenly they stopped uploading, and at the end they left two or three local government areas where they want to do damages. And you can recall that the morning they said they suspended collation, it took them another 12 hours to restart; imagine such delay because of results of just three local government. Then you ask why? Because they wanted to stay and manipulate the results. PDP was already coasting to victory and at least about 90 percent of the results were uploaded before they stopped it. So I think the PDP has a good case in court. I won’t say I have so much confidence in the judiciary and at the smart time I don’t want to write them off. I hope they don’t chose a weakling to be the president of the Appeal Court or the chairmanof the tribunal. I also feel that when it gets higher, a competent judge will be put to determine the case.
As a former PDPchairman in Lagos State, what is the state of the party there?
I have seen a lot of things going wrong because everyone wants to lead the party here at the same time. Where we cannot agree for the individual that will lead PDP in Lagos at different levels, they should allow for formal congress so that we put the best hands in the EXCO. If competent hands are in the exco the party is as good as winning elections. The party is at its lowest ebb in Lagos right now. Leaders of the party in various council areas should sit down and come up with how best to mold the party in the state. And at the end of the day, there will be the advisory body that should be guiding the state exco. That is how it should be rather than imposing individuals. Let the wards have their own leaders chosen by the ward delegates and representatives. Let the local government chose their own leaders and at the state level, let it be collective. Let us identify those who are competent because competence matters. Lagos will stand a better chance to win in the next election if we apply the rules we’re trying to work out now.
Nationally, PDP looks like divided between pro-Damagun and anti-Damagun; which is your position and why?
Damagun is supposed to be a stopgap; he has to leave because he wasn’t meant to last this long. He cannot continue to act as the chairman of the PDPforever because he is there doing the bidding of a particular person, who is regulating him and all that he does. He is succumbing because it is rosy for him. It is like they’re using PDPat that level to do business among themselves. They want to weaken the PDP the way they have succeeded in weakening Labour Party. Labour Party will just fizzle out soon and Obi will stand alone. That is what they’re trying to do but it will be very difficult for them to do that to PDP because PDP is large.
How do you think Wike can be whittled down given that a lot of people are reportedly aligning with him because of his role in holding the party together after the penultimate general elections in 2019?
Well, I expect everyone in politics to be rational, responsible and disciplined. A disciplined man will not want to kill his own party. A disciplined man will not want to go and serve in another party. A true party man will not abandon his own party to go and serve under another party; it is unheard of and very unfortunate. If Wike wants to go to APC, let him go, nobody is stopping him. Let him go because he cannot use money to continue to oppress the leadership of PDP. It is because he is giving them money that is why things are working for him and not because he is of any use to PDP. Those who are aligning with him are like bought overs. He once called APC cancerous party so why will he now be or work with a cancerous party and continue to destroy the party that made him what he is today? If he is disciplined, he should continue to help PDP. It’s morally bankrupt of him to do all that he is doing against PDP.
You said they want to ensure LP dies; do you think there is a deliberate effort at whittling down Labour Party given what it did in the last election?
It’s already achieved if you don’t know. To be frank with with, Labour Party has been there but through Obi, they came to change the scenario of our political system and democratic approach in Nigeria. And the arrowhead of that movement was Obi. God used him to change the political calculation in Nigeria that there could be a different and saner arrangement from the usual norm. God used him to tell us that things can be done differently. He won and defeated APC in Lagos, he defeated APC in Abuja, he defeated APC in Edo, in fact he defeated APC in so many places. The only problem he had was that he couldn’t fit into the political arrangement in the north. He didn’t go beyond Plateau and other middle belt states. He was limited to south and the middle belt. Northern states were no-go area for him. But to be honest, Obi made serious impact in the election. It was a movement centred around Peter Obi and not Labour Party. That was why Labour Party could win only one state, Abia, and a couple of House of Representatives and senate seats in the south and middle belt. If he had remained in the PDP and worked with our presidential candidate, the impact would have been much more
