BY JOSEPH ERUNKE

Dr Benjamin Onoriode Irikefe, National Patron of the National Coalition for Jonathan and Sambo Presidency, a political association that encompasses over 698 other groups rooting for the president’s re-election, in this interview speaks on a wide-range of issues. Excerpts:

Why are you rooting for Jonathan and Sambo?
We decided to root for these two gentlemen because we have looked at their track records and performance and we have looked at the entire polity and people who want to contest for the presidency in 2015 presidential election and we feel that they are the most qualified.

We feel that based on the complexities on the ground and the manner Jonathan has been handling the various sectors of the economy, he is the right man for the job.

For Instance, if he had responded by removing the state governors through state of emergency in the North East, he would have been described as a dictator. But he has been very systematic and the thing is working. I must tell you with all sense of responsibility that if you conduct an election today, President Jonathan would win.

The challenges in the country today were not caused by President Jonathan. These problems have been there. Because of his leadership style which has won the heart of the people, he will triumph over others.

There are people who just woke up and think that they will get popularity by making unfounded criticisms against the president. This is the only country where people will just wake up and begin to abuse the president. And these people were made by the system. I don’t have any doubt President Jonathan will win.

What happens if Jonathan does not win?

If Jonathan does not win, heavens will not fall but his track record will speak for him at the election. Out of 100 percent, he has scored 59 percent. The fact that Nigeria has celebrated its centenary shows that it will not break up. I am not saying that if President Jonathan did not win the election, people will riot. A man cannot go to party A, party B, and party C and you see such a man as someone you can entrust the destiny of the country into his hands.

What can you say about the recent defection of some governors and other chieftains of the PDP to the APC?

I am not bothered about that. As far as I am concerned, that grouping will not last. If you travel to Lagos and suddenly become friends with someone at Ojuelegba, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. You know the antecedents of some of these people. APC is not a threat to the PDP.

What is your take on the National Conference and what issue do you think should be given topmost attention?

The National Conference is a thing we have been agitating for a very long time and people thought that government was running away from it. Strange enough, some people who call themselves elder statesmen, who were at the forefront of demanding for the conference, now that the thing has come, they have started running away, to the extent of even saying that they don’t have hands in it. Nigeria as a country is better united. Every portion of Nigeria is important, every ethnic group is important but what people are talking about is how do people live together?