Hon. Dennis Adikwuru is a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Imo State. Adikwuru a member of Imo State Presidential Campaign Council under Media and Publicity Sub-committee in the 2023 elections and erstwhile State Publicity Secretary, Imo State Professionals for Atiku, is also the State Coordinator, Imo PDP Grassroots Movement. He spoke to EJIKEME OMENAZU on crucial political issues, including the recent Edo State governorship election, the coming Ondo governorship election, the Rivers State Local Government election as well as the politics of the oil sector. Excerpt:
How do you see the just held Rivers State Local Government election and the crisis that followed after?
Rivers state government recently conducted legally backed LG elections. Unfortunately, it did not go down well with agents of destabilisation hence the follow up crises. The Supreme Court has a clear cut ruling on LG autonomy with a deadline for the conduct of LG elections. The governor thus complied with the ruling of the Supreme Court
Would you say the enthronement of the APP in Rivers could dismantle or reduce the strength of the APC and PDP in the state and give Gov Siminilaye Fubara the leeway to govern Rivers peacefully without Nyesom Wike and his supporters breathing on his neck?
The sudden takeover of Rivers State by the Action Peoples Party (APP) is real politics played by Governor Fubara. I give him great kudos for that feat. First is that PDP became the battle field for former Governor Nyesom Wike to launch his unwholesome and prodigious war against his own state. Yet, Wike is holding his grip on APC to upstage PDP. The viable option hence arose in APP and whatever the Governor decides between returning APP to PDP and forging ahead with APP is of political expediency and approved
How do you see the way local government elections are conducted in the country in which ruling parties in the states clear all the seats, leaving nothing for the opposition?
The present conduct of LG elections in Nigeria does not guarantee autonomy for the LGs in so far as there is no competitive electoral process that produces the LG officials. It is practically impossible for any ruling party in any state to record landslide victory at both Chairmanship and Councillorship levels under a level playing electoral set up. So what we have in the present dispensable is LG electoral caricature and appointment rascality orchestrated by the governors.
Looking at Nigeria at 64, would you say the issues that led to the civil war still exist in the country? How could these issues be resolved?
Nigeria at 64 and under the incumbency of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a flashback to and recycling of Nigerian civil war provocations. And I can tell you that we are already in the midst of the war with impoverishment of Nigerian citizens as a paramount mission of the Tinubu regime. Talking about ways of resolving the issues is nothing other than to get all players and promoters of these vexatious anti-people regimes off the stage. This can be achieved through democratic and undemocratic means depending on the level of resistance by these forces
What is your take on the recently held Edo governorship election?
Edo State governorship election recently held is yet another decadence which has visited our democratic expedition in recent time. It is the highest shameful and irresponsible display of the up-twist of the people’s choice by an insane and desperate party which launched itself to governance through undemocratic and unpopular means. It is unfortunate that APC, as the leading democracy oppressor, has taken over the hearts and main essence of the Legislature and Judiciary, hence turned Nigeria into a dictatorship.
Would you say the coming Ondo governorship election will still go the way of the Eco election, with APC winning with alleged involvement of the federal might?
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If nothing is done to checkmate the impunity, rascality and electoral criminality of APC, the Ondo governorship election will also go the way of APC. Already, we have APCINEC conducting the elections. We have APCJUDICIARY at the helm of election petitions and we have APCNASS clapping for APC at the Legislative end. Nigerian democracy has come to the end of total collapse.
Anambra State will hold its governorship election next year. Do you foresee a shift in the voting pattern in the state? Do you foresee APGA still holding on to the state?
For sure there will be lots of scenarios on Anambra election coming up next year. Already, it has started with the partitioning of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) with the intent of dismembering Governor Soludo from the party. Once that is achieved, APGA will cease functioning as a party, but become an offshoot of the All Progressives Congress (APC). I don’t know how the gladiators see it, but it all depends on key opinion leaders of Anambra State to decide.
With hikes in fuel and energy prices as well as high inflation, do you think the citizens still have a hope for a better future?
Hope for Nigeria has collapsed under the watch of President Tinubu. It is unfortunate that he has engaged in deliberate and orchestrated inhuman and oppressive economic policies meant to drain out the remaining blood and life from the masses. It is also unfortunate that democracy has lost its values and essence under Tinubu, destroying the main elements of democracy and concentrating power under his grip and custodianship. Nigeria is heading to a stateless form where life has become hopeless and brutish and man is now on his own while resting his future hope on God. This is not what we bargained for in democracy and 64 years of Nigeria’s independence. I will have this word for President Tinubu and that is for him not to take the silence of Nigerians for granted.
Why have you not yet joined your principal, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, the former governor of Imo State who has announced his leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
I am comfortable in PDP and can only think of joining another party if the need arises. I still see Ihedioha as a PDP member until he defects to another party. The rumours of him joining the Labour Party still remain unfounded. More so the federal might is weighing much on the Labour Party to destabilise it. So, the coast is not yet clear for him to join the Labour Party as much as the Ihedioha phobias are bent on recycling the crises in the Labour Party.
In your view, what would you identify as impediments to good governance in the country?
The impediments to good governance have become a recycled reading. From one regime to another, you record a new phase of corruption; you witness nepotism, religious and ethnic power plays. You see the Executive suppressing the Legislature and Judiciary. You see an inactive military and an entirely corrupt polity. The President has not shown any difference from past governments on extravagant spending and treasury looting. There is no hope from the democracy of the day.
With the controversies surrounding the oil sector, the failed promises over the functionality of the local refineries and alleged huge corruption in the NNPCL, how do you see the continued retention of the NNPCL GMD, Mele Kyari? Should he be sacked by President Tinubu, the de facto Minister of Petroleum?
In truth, corruption has been institutionalised in the country with every sector pushing to outscore the other. In the oil sector, being the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, corruption spans from the Presidency, the National Assembly, the Judiciary and down to the cartel or the cabals. What is witnessed in today’s NNPCL is a tip of the iceberg compared with the Presidency where the President himself is self-appointed Petroleum Minister. Are you talking about the allocation of oil wells? Is it crude export? Coming to the NNPCL, corruption is seen as legitimised, taking the cue from the Presidency, National Assembly and the rest. Are we going to hold NNPCL responsible for the treasury draining through recycled repairs and turn around maintenance of Nigerian refineries? I will not recommend any sack of the NNPCL GMD by an equally corrupt president, but rather there should be total cleansing of the entire system.
Some of President Tinubu’s critics said he lacks the diplomatic finesse of a President. To what extent would you agree to this view?
You know that Tinubu has a local background in all ramifications and because of his records outside of Nigeria, he had no touch with diplomacy or international relations. You cannot expect anything more than what he is displaying.
