Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former fiery general secretary of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) speaks on the cashless policy and the attendant challenges in this interview with EBENEZER ADUROKIYA:
What do you have to say about the scarcity of cash and the violence that has resulted from it?
The cashless policy came at the wrong time because of the suffering of the people. We’ve seen it and it’s also difficult for me to get cash. How can somebody take transport to queue up in the bank for 10 hours and you give him only N3000? So, I don’t know how this thing will work because it’s very tough.
How have you been coping as a person?
Of course, it is difficult for me. The petrol stations were initially not taking transfers, but now they are and that stopped me from going out frequently these days. I have stopped my campaign with Senator Ovie Omo-Agege. Since we’ve finished Delta Central Senatorial District, they only come to my house for the meeting.
You want to described the situation…?
I’m not happy with what is happening in Nigeria normally. The petrol and Naira scarcity have given so much pain to the masses and I feel this is being done at the wrong time. I’m beginning to wonder how Emefiele became so powerful over Buhari. With everything that is happening, the president should have been sacked because the masses and even his own party, the APC are not happy. How can you say you are neutral? You can’t be neutral, so it’s unfair. People brought him to power, people like Bola Tinubu brought him to power and others who sacrificed so much to put him in power. There was no way Buhari would have come to power without people from the South led by Tinubu helping him. We were very much involved in the primaries in Lagos.
But didn’t the president say it from the beginning that he is for nobody and he is for everyone?
He didn’t say so when he was campaigning for the presidency, it was after he was voted in that he had to do that.
Isn’t it contradictory that an APC that is in power is churning out policies on how to better the economy; it’s the same APC that is acting as an opposition against its president and policies?
There’s no contradiction there; this is democracy and in a democracy, there must be disagreement. Look at the Republicans and Democrats in the US. Many Republicans disagreed with Donald Trump in his time and many Democrats are disagreeing with Biden now and that is democracy. Why did we fight for democracy in this country? It was because of the rule of law. You don’t just sit down with one president who was appointed and is now putting the whole country into mourning. We are mourning at the moment.
Were you not one of those that were clapping for Buhari when security operatives were invading the homes of judges and justices in the name of fighting corruption in the early days of this regime?
I’ve always been an anti-corruption man in this country. I’m a fighter for freedom and justice; I’ve always been a fighter against tyranny in any form right from my student union days. You can’t expect me to support a friend who changed overnight. When he came in in 2015, he was fighting corruption. Buhari came into power on the mantra of anti-corruption and that was why we supported him. The people crying on the streets are they politicians? It’s Godwin Emefiele who is the king of CBN that is causing this thing. He wanted to be president, but he could not. Have you seen a Central Bank governor that wants to be a president and the president could not fire him? Emefiele is working for a cabal. The cabal prevented people like us from holding positions.
Are you referring to Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige? Is he part of the cabal?
Abba Kyari was the head of the cabal and Chris Ngige is part of the cabal and others. We know them; they are the inner circle people.
So, what do they want to achieve with the cashless policy?
They’ve enjoyed power for eight years. They were the ones that enjoyed the power and not the real loyal APC people apart from the governors. We the loyal APC people never enjoyed anything in this regime. They don’t want Tinubu to win the presidency.
Are you saying that APC doesn’t want APC to win?
Of course, because they don’t even belong to APC. Who told you they are members of APC? That is the debate all over the place. It’s not a new thing. I’m the leader of the party. APC is not divided the cabal has always been there. When I was appointed in 2017, I made it clear to the whole world that there was a cabal there.
In your opinion, do you think there will be an election this week?
There must be an election and Tinubu must win. I’m following the trend and I’m a political strategist and key observer of politics. I knew who would win in every election that has been in Nigeria and the people won.
What do you think will happen if he doesn’t win?
Nothing will happen, but he will win. All this one they are shouting “doom, no doom,” Who will win will win. The civilians will cause a little confusion, but the Nigerian military and security agencies are up to the task. Nothing will happen, somebody will win and Tinubu is that person.
Is it true that the president in particular does not want Tinubu to succeed him?
He goes about raising his win that he should win. The president is a curious man that even his family doesn’t understand him. He gives so much power to certain people who are not real leaders of the party. When you are a president, you take your party into confidence in anything you’re doing; Buhari has never done that for eight years.
Are you saying Buhari is weak?
He is not weak; he knows what he is doing and there’s no doubt about it. He has his inner circle and that’s all. With all the suffering that is happening in Nigeria, he went to the African Union (AU) conference. What is he going there to do when people are suffering and burning banks because of hunger? A man ran mad in the bank saying that he has N500,000 in his account and his pregnant wife is at the point of birth and needed surgery, he wanted to take N100,000 from his account to save his wife and they refused. They were giving him N5,000. Is that the Nigeria we laboured for?
What are you telling the youths that are getting angry by the day?
They should be calm because Tinubu will win the election. When the pound was changed to the Naira in 1971, there was no hassle.
If you were in the shoes of Buhari, what would you have done?
I would have listened to the masses and Emefiele would not have been able to deceive me when he has not printed money. Emefiele said the money in circulation was up to trillions and he printed only N700 billion that was not properly distributed.
Is the cabal you so much talk about rooting for Atiku’s presidency?
Atiku and Obi don’t want Tinubu to come to power and they made the whole thing to be tribalistic in the country that everyone in the Southeast supports Obi.
The cabal may be supporting Atiku because they are very ruthless; they don’t want to leave power and want to remain there permanently.
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