By Chioma Gabriel, Deputy Editor
John Odiegie-Oyegun is the running mate of Ibrahim Shekarau, the presidential candidate of All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP.

In this interview, the former Edo State governor and current Deputy National Chairman of ANPP reacts to the  impression in some quarters that he has no electoral value in the forthcoming general elections and has not been politically relevant for sometime and therefore, is a liability and not an asset in the coming elections.

Voter registration has just been concluded and many Nigerians are disenfranchised. What has been your experience?

First, I think it is very sad that many Nigerians didn’t get registered and therefore, cannot vote during the elections. My own experience where I registered in my GRA home in Benin City was quite peculiar. There was so question in my mind that even if the exercise is extended again by four weeks, it will not be enough still. Now lets talk about the machines. They were not sensitive enough to capture prints.

Oyegun.

So, I couldn’t register the first time. Later, we were told that the software has been upgraded but if they did, they upgraded it in Abuja and a few other centres because they did not get as far as Benin. As at the time I registered, I got through with my right hand but the machine could not recognise my left thumbs.

Everybody there almost broke my fingers in the bid to force the machine to recognise my prints. It was a very good-matured audience. The people who came to register made a lot of suggestions to get my left fingers recognised by the machines. And finally, I got registered but behind me was my wife and it became an impossibility.

Finally, they had to abandon that machine but thank God there were two points there. She went to the other one and after some struggles, she got registered. That was just one of the problems. Later, one of the machines ran out of power. Somebody had to go and bring his generator. The public was wonderful and so good matured. People bought diesel in my presence, offered to buy ink, bought the small generator in my presence. It took one week for me to get my card but I’m not sure my wife was able to get hers. Meanwhile, some people got three copies of voters’ cards. So, INEC should still give more room for people to register.

People were congratulating those who registered. That shows that a lot of people have been disenfranchised now. I do not consider all these things the fault of INEC though. I accept totally the incorruptibility and the determination of Professor  Jega to give this nation a free and relatively fair election. But look at what happened. I personally said that the exercise was sabotaged. Why did I say so?

Four years ago, we knew there would be an election. We did not start preparing for it. We left Professor Iwu there until the very last minute. They brought in Jega and expected him to work miracles within the space of time available. N94.3 billion was dumped on him but what he had to do should have been done earlier, the machines should have been brought in earlier and fine-tuned but see what has happened. Despite the  extensions given, a lot of people have been disenfranchised. If it will be possible, the exercise should still be given another two weeks.

You are Shekarau’s running mate.

Yes.

ANPP used to be the number one opposition party but the party has deteriorated to having only three governors. So, how does the party hope to win presidential elections?

Deteriorated? I don’t know about that.  That we used to be number one opposition party, we are still number one.

With three governors? ACN has five.

No, we don’t count like that. We count by spread and public acceptance. We are the major opposition party and given the nature of the PDP, the ANPP at that time was the only target. ACN did not exist then. So, the only intent of the PDP was to destroy ANPP. But we have survived. PDP used all kinds of things: threats, blackmail, bribery of all types including giving daughters in marriage to ANPP governors to fight us. So, given the massive attack, some less-than-strong governors collapsed. It was not surprising that some less than-strong governors collapsed under the weight of the bribe, the threats, the EFCC and what ever.

Secondly, electorally, the ANPP was the competition. At the beginning of this democratic dispensation, the ANPP was the larger party in the Northern part and we were in contention in  places like Cross-River and Rivers State. Even in spite of the electoral fraud that affected us, the PDP kept trying to uproot ANPP. Look at what they did in the South-West, the subterfuge with which they took over the South-West. But South West recovered all the states from the PDP. So, that we are today reduced to three governors is not the true reflection of our electoral strength and electoral potentials. That would be resolved. We will overtake and recover what they took from us because we believe that we would have a relatively freer, fairer and more transparent election. If that happens, then, we would be able to see the true strength of the parties.

Do you agree that the PDP has succeeded in making ANPP, a Northern regional party and ACN, a South-West regional party amongst others?

You see, things are not as clear-cut as that. ANPP is definitely not a regional party even though we don’t have governors in the South. It is mainly because of the massive fraud that took place in the past and despite these, we were able to count up to 20%, 40% votes at various levels of elections. I want to assure Nigerians  that if we have  free and fair elections this April, you will see the true strength of the parties. I cannot speak for ACN but as you can see, they are spreading all over the country. So, it is only through an election that you know who truly controls the ground. We have had twelve years of a failed government, twelve years of massive backward slid, twelve years of multiplication of suffering of all Nigerians, twelve years of decayed infrastructure, twelve years of massive, unprecedented, shameful corruption.

It’s because the opposition has ceased to exist.

No, the opposition has not ceased to exist. The opposition has been muscled by the totally abusive use by the federal government, of all the instruments of coercion at its disposal. But Nigerians are fed up. Nigerians want change and my hope is that if they will allow Nigerians to express their true wishes, there will be a different political terrain. But if it is not allowed to happen, then, God help this country, because the downward slide into anarchy will become an unstoppable movement. So, our prayer is that the will of the people be allowed to prevail.

In the South, people hear about Shekarau but he is a Northern figure. Some  people even perceive him as an ethnic leader and religious fanatic. What is the party doing to sell him in the South?

I am totally amazed that you asked this question, that anybody has such an opinion of Shekarau. Let’s look at it this way, the party that is making the most noise today is the PDP and that is because they have total control of the resources of this nation. Shekarau is a modest man who has not been connected with any missing money. He is going to campaign within his means and he hopes that the discerning public will see him as a trusted person to hold the affairs of this nation. We pray that Nigerians will see Shakarau for who he is: a modest man and be able to judge what type of man this country needs at this material time.

The problem is that he has not been one of those jingoistic publicists. His achievement in Kano State has been phenomenal and I will explain. When he came into politics, Kano was a PDP state. he came from a public service background, totally nurtured, totally grounded. He has all it takes and has been able to display it and he was able to displace the PDP administration in Kano State. Secondly, he was able to create a record in Kano of being the only governor that has managed to rule Kano for two terms.

It has never happened before. Kano is a tough place, a disciplined place. It is very highly politically aware. They don’t tolerate nonsense from any of their leaders. But this man was able to prove himself to his people. They re-affirmed the confidence they have in him for a second term. And now, if you cast your mind back, Kano was the hot-bed of ethno-religious conflicts. It used to start in Kano. But today, you don’t hear anything of the sort. Not only does it not originate in Kano. It does not spill over.

That is the man you said people perceive as a religious bigot. No, he is not. He is very tolerant of religious differences, he is tolerant of ethnic differences and that is the biggest commendation a Nigerian can have in that volatile region. If it is not, I don’t know what else can commend him to the Nigerian public. Then, he was the national chairman of Association of Secondary School Principals for many terms. It is a national body and that is not a position you allow anybody to occupy. It was because his colleagues saw a quality in him when he was a secondary school principal and chose him to head that organisation and that is all over the country.

Anyway, he will soon commence his campaign even though he doesn’t have the billions. He will campaign within his means but the Nigerian public will be able to discern the qualities of the man. I think at this stage, Nigerians should do away with ethnic politics and ask the crucial question: Does Shakarau have the qualities to rule this country? Forget the hype of the PDP. They are campaigning. Theirs is a manipulation. Look at how they dealt with Babangida and Atiku. They have a way of undressing themselves in public and Nigerians have seen it all and should be able to make a wise choice.

You are his running mate, what is your electoral value as Shekarau’s running mate? How will your being his running mate contribute to his winning the presidential election?

Now, you are talking about my person and I have seen the analysis done on me by a section of the media. And if you ask me, people who write like that are either doing a hatchet job or they haven’t been abreast with what is going on. I have been in the public all the time since I entered politics. All that happened was that I didn’t envisage that I will once more be in the electoral terrain. I did not plan for that and I did not foresee it but my views on public issues have always been there.

And so, to answer your question, I have electoral experience which is an asset and that experience came in Edo State when I have just retired from public service. I’d not been living in Edo State for up to 30 years but I got back to Benin and within three years, I was able to win the governorship in that state. And I contested with a family that was very well known, well heeled and well entrenched and I won.

Thirdly, the national chairman of the NRC at that time, Chief Tom Ikimi was  from Edo State and he was not able to deliver his state to the NRC. So, anybody who says I don’t have electoral value should look back and ask himself how did I become governor of Edo State. If that is not electoral value, then, I don’t know what electoral value is. Besides, I was one of those who paid the price for the democracy we have today. I was four years in exile due to the efforts of National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, which I belonged to in bringing back democracy and stamping out military rule. I was Executive Secret
ary of NADECO abroad and all the time we were busy broadcasting on radio Kudirat and the rest of it, I wonder where that fellow was.

People should look at the man of my status and my background. I have not joined the bandwagon. I worked with Obasanjo in the past but I did not join his party or work with him when he became president or participate in the bonanza of sharing the money. I have remained in opposition because I am principled, because I believe what is going on is not right, because I believe this country has a better destiny.

I did not take my personal comfort or the possibility of my personal gain into consideration for which I am very highly and very eminently qualified. Audu Ogbe who was the PDP chairman for a while was my minister. Gemade was also well known  to me. They made attempts to get me to join the PDP but I did not. That is called integrity. That is somebody who money cannot buy. If that is not asset in Nigeria today, I wonder what is.

The decision to make me the deputy national chairman of ANPP was unanimous, and so also my emergence as Shekarau’s running mate. I make comments on national issues everyday and so, I bring experience, I bring maturity, I bring integrity and electoral experience. If anybody wants to know if I have electoral value or not, he should come to Edo State and from the motor park ask for John Oyegun, they would bring him to my house. And of course, I have a nation-wide constituency of those who believe in a man of integrity. I have that nationwide. I have followers across the length and breath of this nation, people who would do things because Oyegun is involved. They know the quality of the man. They know the principles of the man and that is what I am bringing into the system apart from a solid public service background.

You are in ANPP. President Jonathan is in PDP. You are both from the South-South. How does that fare?

The PDP is a dying party. It is on the process of imploding. There are so many things happening. People are going to be thinking of the party that destroyed this nation. I am a running mate and people are gong to be looking at a proven man of integrity and not Jonathan and I have no doubt that we will do much better in the South-South than PDP.