Chief Joju Fadairo, the immediate past chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State tells ADELEKE ADESANYA that President Muhammadu Buhari should not claim glory over the Boko Haram insurgency, without reference to former President Goodluck Jonathan. He also declares that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, contrary to general belief, is still an active member of the PDP, even as he advises the Buhari administration to swallow its pride and invite economic experts from the last administration to help put things in proper shape in order to save Nigerians from ongoing hardship. Excerpts:
The All Progressives Congress has promised to turn things around for good in 2017. What do you think should be its focus?
I don’t think we need to teach President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress what to do. These are people that have held the whole country to ransom with their poor performance and lack of vision, because they had continued to blame their inadequacies on the last government.
Now if they say they want to turn things around in 2017, before we can tell them how to run things, if they don’t know what to do, we should give them three more months and if by then they don’t perform, then we will help them, because if you tell them what to do now, they will claim the glory. So let’s see what they are up to in the next three months.
But like I consistently say, they do not have mission, not to talk of vision. They do not have anything for this country, because they have deceived the electorates so much to come into power.
Are you saying Nigerians should fold their arms for another three months with how hard things are?
What I am trying to tell you is that they don’t know what to do. Already, they are confused. They deceived the people to vote our party out of power, now that they are in power, let them do it and let’s see.
They consistently said the last administration destroyed the economy, and put every other blame at the doorstep of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, but now that they have been there for almost two years, do you think they have anything to offer?
They drove investors away from the country. They said Nigerians are corrupt; they didn’t make this country investor friendly. If they can now do things that will make the country investor-friendly, then it will be okay, but instead, they are busy passing blames around, and for that, I don’t see them as a government that has any focus, and I can tell you, they have nothing to achieve before 2019.
How would you rate the performance of the National Assembly in this dispensation?
When they started, there were problems in the National Assembly, because the APC never wanted democracy to reign in National Assembly. The National Assembly was supposed to elect its own leadership, but the party didn’t want them to do that, but thank God they have managed to do that, and I think they are not doing badly.
But recently the Senate refused to approve Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and this has bought them a lot of criticisms…
The Senate said that the man too is corrupt and I don’t think there is anything wrong, if they turn down the request for his approval based on allegations against him. If somebody is corrupt, you don’t expect him to be the one superintending over such task to fish out people who are corrupt. So I stand by them with their decision so far.
But don’t you think the lawmakers need to be properly scrutinised, considering the different allegations of corrupt practices against them, amongst which was budget padding?
Well, on the budget padding, all of them were involved and may be the sharing formula didn’t go well with some and that was why they let the cat out of the bag. The issue of budget padding is not to the advantage of Nigerians, because of the way they were doing it. What happened was that the lawmakers allegedly added to what was proposed by the executive for their various constituencies and senatorial districts.
There is nothing bad in that, but where I have issue is that the added money is not used for what it is meant for, it only ended up in their private pockets.
If they actually spend the money for its purpose, then it will be okay, but for the fact that they put it in their pockets, then I don’t support budget padding and I will say they should be investigated.
The Nigerian military recently overcame the Boko Haram sect in Sambisa Forest and this has earned the Buhari administration a lot of accolades. How do you see this?
This administration consistently blamed the past government for everything. I don’t know, if anybody in PDP had stolen money, let them jail him or her, but for them to say that past administration didn’t buy ammunitions for the military, that is a big lie.
What was the military using when the Buhari government came in? This administration started using ammunitions bought by the past administration, when it came into power. And for this, the glory should not go to it alone. They said they will end the insurgency before December 2015, but they couldn’t, even up till now, we know that we are still having rumours about the Boko Haram killing soldiers and others. But despite that, I want to say that if they had truly conquered the insurgency as they claimed, then the glory should go to both sides, not the Buhari administration alone, because the Jonathan administration was working to conquer the insurgency and Buhari continued from where it stopped.
On economy, people have been asking Buhari to seek capable hands from within the country, no matter where they come from. What is your view about this?
I don’t believe there is anybody who is indispensable. I care less about where anybody comes from. All I believe should be done is for this administration to beam its searchlight and bring in experts who can turn things around in our economy.
Former President Obasanjo has not left PDP. He didn’t tell you he has left the party, he didn’t tell you he has torn his card, somebody did, you too look at the picture when they showed it, he was not the one that tore it.
It may be from the Jonathan administration, it may be from independent people, who are experts that can help the economic team. All we need now is for this administration to quickly look for competent hands, who will help to save our situation in this country.
As a PDP chieftain, what are you and other national leaders of the party doing to bring the party back from the brink before 2019?
As it is, we are trying our best to put our house in order. A lot of moves are going on right now, and we cannot tell the whole world how we are going to do it, but I can assure you that the PDP is coming back united, to fight for democracy come 2019.
You will see that this government has failed Nigerians. During former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime, the Independent National Electoral Commission was very effective and independent, likewise during the eras of the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Jonathan, but today, INEC has been polluted.
The government also use the police, the army and other security agencies to intimidate opponents and rig elections. Look at Edo election for instance, they didn’t allow for a free and fair election, and they devised means to ensure that they win the election, although we have the case in court, and we will reclaim our mandate, because there are strong evidences to tender in court.
Also look at Ondo State, they didn’t allow us to campaign, they sponsored some people to work against us. Look at what Jimoh Ibrahim said after the election, that he had achieved what he was sent to do. And from this, you will see that they are so desperate and dangerous and that is why for now, we cannot divulge what we are doing to come back in 2019, but I can assure you that since people have been clamouring for us, because we gave them dividends of democracy at that time, we are going to come back in 2019 and save the country from problems.
We will make the country investor-friendly once again. Imagine, the dollar was okay during our time, but now, it is more than N400, it is very shameful and all this is because they mismanaged the Nigerian economy, but like I said, we will come back and help the country
Will the coming back be in form of the mega party, because there are rumours that PDP is among the parties to form the coming mega party?
I do not believe in mega party. I believe in the PDP and I will stand by it forever. The way the PDP was formed; I have not seen any other party that is better.
Mega party will not see the light of the day, because is it not the same people who disrupted PDP and APC that are parading themselves that they want to for mega party? How many years will it take them to be effective in this country?
If they had truly conquered the insurgency as they claimed, then the glory should go to both sides, not the Buhari administration alone, because the Jonathan administration was working to conquer the insurgency and Buhari continued from where it stopped
Honestly, I don’t see the mega party standing in this country. I told you, we will continue to work, all the people who had left the PDP will come back, and then people who wants to join will join.
The PDP will come back fully. The mega party is not going to stand, that I can tell you, because it is going to be sponsored by people who are not satisfied here and there
Does that mean we should expect former President Obasanjo back in PDP?
Former President Obasanjo has not left the PDP. He didn’t tell you he has left the party, he didn’t tell you he has torn his card, somebody did, you too look at the picture when they showed it, he was not the one that tore it. He didn’t say he is in APC. Obasanjo is an elder statesman. He is a man that all the parties run to. He is an institution. You cannot say he has left PDP. He is an institution that God created Himself. So don’t worry about him, he is my uncle and he is still with us. The way we will come back; we will take all by surprise.
