PRESIDENTIAL INTERVIEW SERIES (1) How to stop fraudulent elections, by Buhari

By Jide Ajani, Editor, Northern Operations
Pix by Gbemiga Olamikan

For Muhammadu Buhari, this may be the last opportunity for him. Reason: In 2003 and 2007, he sought to become Nigeria’s civilian President but lost under circumstances that he still insists were not normal.

“Fraudulent elections, no more!  I’m sure you have at your archives the report of the international observer teams for the 2003 and 2007 elections, the report of the Catholic Mission which deployed over 30,000 observers round the country to observe the elections, you find out, especially in the South- East and South-South and parts of the Mambilla or other difficult terrains, there were no elections but the results were simply declared.

•Buhari...What happened in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt, against Hosni Mubarak can happen in Nigeria.

“Even in the South-West, may be because of the level of awareness or education, some people just went into their rooms, wrote results and sent them to broadcasting houses and the results were declared. The judgment placed so much doubt on the outcome of that election that it split the Supreme Court into two.

The records are there.  Three Justices said the elections were not held properly and that they had their facts and the others said well we had to stabilise the polity and that conducting another election at that time would not be auspicious. The Chief Justice cast his last vote.”

This time round, Buhari went out to form his own political party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), in collaboration with some others.  That way, he thought he would have done away with the vestiges of and the sordid realities dominant in the Nigerian polity.  Alas, he was wrong:

Hear his confession:  “CPC is relatively new and we decided that we would conduct our affairs according to the rule of law and the first was how to register our members and get delegates at the end of the day. But, what we had was that the people in the field insisted on programming their supporters or themselves in a way that they would be the ones to occupy the political offices.

And, instead of being impartial judges, it became so bad that some of them wanted just their people. When it came to the issue of delegates, the matter assumed such an importance at a stage and we then decided that since the delegates will know better, we had to introduce Option A4, the delegates system, so that we can get the real candidates.”

But, Buhari is not giving up.  The sudden support for his CPC is spreading like wild fire in the North.

He has made it clear that this time round, what happened in Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt, against Hosni Mubarak can happen in Nigeria.

In this two-part interview, Buhari takes on the elites. Rather than bore you with his past which is not new, Sunday Vanguard pursued contemporary issues.

For instance, find out in Part 2, what Buhari intends to do to past corrupt leaders, especially when Sunday vanguard asked him about the fears in some quarters that should he become President and Commander-in-Chief, some people would have to go into exile. Responding to that question, a cynical smile graced his face before he said: “Well, may be they are using their sixth sense.”  Read details of this in part 2.

•Buhari...I hope that Nigerians would eventually be allowed to choose their presidential material

You will also find out how his own All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP),  stabbed him in the back.
Yet, the expected alliance between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and Buhari died on arrival – why was that so.

In this first part, however, Buhari explains the difficulties and challenges of the Nigerian polity and lays the blames squarely at the door step of the elites.

A former military head of state, who spent just about 20 months in office, Buhari was the Chairman of the Sani Abacha’s Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which made some symbolic gestures of rehabilitating infrastructure.
Blunt, but not brash, you will find Buhari interesting. Excerpts:

Between 2003 and 2007 when you re-contested the presidential elections, I’m sure you would have observed some things that did not sit well with you in the polity.  What would you say those things are?

My main observation is that the commitment of Nigerian elite to the polity is not there.

You’re right because another statesman even told me once that the elite class is not committed to the development of the nation that is why we are where we are?

Yes! I would not like to quote anybody out of context but I think politics in Nigeria is too serious to be left to the politicians alone. I think the elite across the spectrum must get involved this time round and I have been saying this many times over and over. Let them go to their constituencies and deliver. There is a grave danger of these so-called career politicians messing up the polity.

How do you mean?

Good! I’ll give you an example. Take, for instance, CPC, our party. The party is relatively new and we decided that we would conduct our affairs according to the rule of law and the first was how to register our members and get delegates at the end of the day. But what we had was that the people in the field insisted on programming their supporters or themselves in a way that they would be the ones to occupy the political offices.

And, instead of being impartial judges, it became so bad that some of them wanted just their people. When it came to the issue of delegates, the matter assumed such an importance at a stage and we then decided that since the delegates will know better, we had to introduce Option A4, the delegates system, so that we can get the real candidates.

What I am saying is that the elite, whether in partisan politics or not, we have to get away from the old way and touch base with our constituencies wherever they are, with a view to educating the people at that level that it is not about money but about service delivery which, at the end of the day, would bring about development.

This is important because unless we get honest people and patriotic people to be in charge, this enormous waste of national resources will continue and it is not good for the nation and it will be at the expense of development.
Touching base with the people!

But that seems very hard because what happens in most instances is that most politicians seen as national champions hardly ever have that real connection with the people at the local level yet, they keep emerging as candidates and also go on to win elections. What could be responsible for that based on your observation?

Well, you’re right, fraudulent elections! That is the only basis of that observation.  Fraudulent elections, no more! I’m sure you have in your archives the report of the international observer teams for the 2003 and 2007 elections, the report of the Catholic Mission which deployed over 30,000 observers round the country to observe the elections, you find out, especially in the South-East and South-South and parts of the Mambilla or other difficult terrains, there were no elections but the results were simply declared.

Even in the South-West, may be because of the level of awareness or education, some people just went into their rooms, wrote results and sent them to broadcasting houses and the results were declared. That is why Nigerian politics is top-heavy because people who found themselves in the position of authority were never elected but appointed.

But there are examples of what the people can do and how the people can achieve their objective of getting the people they want into those offices as we have seen happen before.  Lagos,Kano and Bauchi are good examples. The people voted for the candidates of their choice and the authorities dared not tamper with the peoples’ choice.  We can achieve that and that is, in fact, what we want to achieve in CPC.

Some people look at you and the feeling they immediately get is one of amazement, others express amusement, while some are just bewildered; a few even pooh-pooh your ambition, describing you as a permanent presidential candidate.

There must be a spirit that propels you because having contested twice before and seeing how it went, yet, you are in the race again this time round.  What is that driving force?

I am hoping that Nigerians would eventually be allowed to choose their presidential material. I have just referred you to the reports of the observers who gave their verdict on the (past) elections.  I am going to refer you to the Electoral Act 2003 and 2006 as well as the Electoral Act of 2010 and 2011 as amended. I am also going to refer you to the judgment of the Supreme Court in December 2008 on the matter and you will find out that the way our presidential materials emerged was not the proper way.

The judgment placed so much doubt on the outcome of that election that it split the Supreme Court into two.  The records are there. Three justices said the elections were not held properly and that they had their facts and the others said, well, we had to stabilise the polity and that conducting another election at that time would not be auspicious.  The Chief Justice cast his last vote. For me, it is about doing good and the people give me the drive.

Days ago, in Lafia, Nasarawa State,  the President took a swipe at some leaders, describing them as those who have destroyed our economy and coming out now to complain. You have ruled this country before and one of your economic policies was Counter-Trade. Looking at the economy today, what are those things you would point at that are fundamental to making the economy prosperous?

I am not an economist but, with my experience, it is about the indiscipline and lack of probity of the PDP government because they have been the government in charge in the last 12 years and so let nobody come out and blame others for the woes of their party which they have foisted on the nation.

Whichever leadership the President was referring to could not have been any other leadership but the PDP leadership that is so corrupt and inept and undisciplined. Just go and take a look at our earnings since 1999 and tell me that we have proper records or that we have spent the money judiciously.

Okay, again, take a look at the state of our infrastructure now and tell me that since PDP took over in 1999, things have really been far better than they were before they took over. You are a Nigerian and you know what I am talking about.

You have spoken in general terms but were you to make a presentation to the business community, what are those things you would be telling them about your economic agenda – in specific terms?

First, let us secure our country. It means anything that comes to this country should be secured, but with people being kidnapped, armed robbery, bombings here and there, bad roads, fraudulent practices, nobody would come in and invest in quantum, nobody would bring substantial investment into this country, we are all joking.  Which investor would bring money into the country and then you kidnap his manager and the money you are asking for as ransom is far more than the money he even wants to come and invest in the country, nobody would agree to that.
What the PDP governments in the past ought to have done is to properly manage this country and one of the best ways of doing that is by putting the infrastructure right and which would support the resuscitation of industries – that is power.  Then, there is the issue of roads and making transportation less of a burden for the people.  Between Lagos and, say, Kano, you’ll be surprised that the number of road blocks on the road is as much as 50, with officers and men of the Customs, the police, FRSC, and almost all demanding money – this kills the spirit. PDP cannot escape responsibility for the mismanagement of the country and its economy. Under PDP, everything has been going from bad to worse.
Give two examples?
The crises in Jos and the Niger Delta crises!
What solutions would you proffer?
It is not about telling them what to do which I have as plans but we have to understand how the problem developed.  How did the boys in the Niger Delta become what they are?  Who started by giving them the arms? Who gave them drugs and training to fight their own people just for political purposes?  These were boys who were used.  So, why should the boys, knowing that they could earn as much as $50, 000 in a month, go to school, study for degree programmes that will take years and graduate to a job which would pay them just N100,000 in a month?

It is the failure of the leadership. Now,
we have less power than we used to
have before. We hear that $11 billion – not naira – has been spent so far. The question is where is the money? Where did the money go? And, even if the money has gone, where is the power? The ruling party must first accept responsibility for the failure of the nation before we can even begin to talk about solutions. Let our people be honest about where they have dragged this country to. These are facts.
But apart from the ruling party, the psyche of Nigerians have been beaten so badly that no matter how bad we complain about a government in power, the minute that administration leaves and another one comes in, people begin to say the past administration which they lampooned so much, was even better.  The Sani Abacha government, too, at some point in the life of the Obasanjo administration was beginning to gain primacy.  How did we get to this level as a people, using your experience as a former head of state?
It is a correct reflection. You are absolutely correct; you are very correct and it is a correct reflection of how bad things have become.
Even you were a victim of this same mentality.  During your regime, people started complaining that even the civilians were not as bad as you were but after your government was toppled, and the new regime came and the value of the naira at some stage began to nose-dive, people also said even the Buhari government would have done better.
You are correct. Just go and check the level of decay in the infrastructure and you’ll have a sense of why that observation is correct. Look at power and the money allegedly spent, what can we show for it? Look at the roads; look at water, people buy water in every part of this country. I do not think anybody can factually defend the incompetence, indiscipline and corruption of PDP; I don’t think anybody can defend it with facts.  Nobody can do it. And, it is up to Nigerians to vote the PDP out.
Everything you have said paints a picture of hopelessness and helplessness.  Why is it that the Nigerian people abhor righteousness?  You brought War Against Indiscipline (WAI), which people applauded but, suddenly, you were thrown out and the same people said ‘ah, thank God he’s no more.’  Is there any hope that Nigerians would ever get a leader that would mean well and be allowed to do well by the elite?
That is the point, to the extent that Nigerians have to make the sacrifice of making sure that elections are allowed to be free and fair. Kano, Bauchi and Lagos proved that Nigerians can elect the leaders they want. These states, it happened there. I thank God that, so far, so good. I am satisfied that Nigerians are beginning to demonstrate that they would not allow PDP to steal their votes again.
That way, they can vote into power the people they want and if they are not satisfied with their performance, they can again vote them out at the appropriate time and vote in those who would perform. It is becoming very clear in today’s world that you cannot have democracy on a platter; you have to fight for it.  You have to fight for it.  And, Kano, Bauchi and Lagos fought it without casualties and they proved the point and that is our only way out.
You mentioned only three states. Even in 2003, when Obasanjo came back for a second term, the first thing he did was to increase petroleum products’ prices and just after seven days, the strike collapsed.  Look at what is happened in Egypt.  How would you steel the hearts and minds of Nigerians to protect their votes without compromising the stability of the nation?
By telling them to register to vote and to make sure that their votes count does not tantamount to inciting them against the state. That’s all.  It is just about educating people about their rights. Those states where it happened, the bulk of the people there were determined to have the government they want and they got it.
You exude so much confidence, but some people say you have been shedding political weight.  You left the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and some of your people did not follow you; the expected alliance which would have formed the mega party did not work and some people dropped off; then the collapsed talks of the alliance of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and your party would have caused some people to also drop off, yet you have this belief that you will win the presidential election.
Well, one has to know the details to arrive at your conclusion.
The details are there.  The whole of ANPP membership did not leave the party with you?

Okay, I may have lost some follow
ership in terms of the party peo
ple belonged to, but I can tell you that I have at the same time gained much more followership in terms of the new party that we have floated, put its structure on ground within just a year and we are today contesting for the presidency of this nation as well as other elective offices in almost all parts of the country. Leaving ANPP was absolutely necessary. Let me tell you what happened. After the 2003 elections, can you believe that I spent 30 months in court just to prove that the election was not free and fair? In 2007, again I was given the ANPP ticket, I contested, I lost and I spent another 20 months in court trying to prove again that the election was not free and fair.
In fact, I did not want to go to court but the party said I had to go to court to challenge that election.
I contested on their ticket, so they were right, but I said the party should get its own lawyers while I get my own lawyers. But, you know what the party did? The party withdrew from the case without even saying goodbye to me. For me, the implication of that was much more than what people saw on the surface.
What was the implication?
These people withdrew their case without telling me and went to town to tell Nigerians that I had been settled and Nigerians would love to believe that. But when they withdrew, I continued with my own case. The party was to prove conclusively to Nigerians that there was anarchy in the party.