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Nigerians want to take back their country from corrupt people -Onovo

Chief Martins Onovo, the presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in the 2015 elections and the Head of Policy at the Movement for Fundamental Change (MFC), in this interview with BIYI ADEGOROYE speaks about some political and security issues ahead of the 2023 elections

 

How do you see the current massive interest of Nigerians in the voter registration exercise?

 

It is very commendable. It indicates hope. The previous apathy was because votes did not count in the past.

 

Consequently, many saw it as a waste of time registering or voting.

However, with the new Electoral Act, the leadership of organised labour in their move to the Labour Party and the popular campaigns driven by our people for registration, many have been convinced to register. They now see an opportunity to take the country back from the old, corrupt, failed and recycled rulers of today.

Are you satisfied about INEC’s deployment of its machines for this purpose?

 

No. INEC has shown sluggishness in its response to the demand for registration. This is not strange as the performance of INEC has remained poor, corrupt and unacceptable since 2014. We must remain vigilant against INEC and all other enemies of democracy in Nigeria.

 

What is your view about allegations of underage registration in some parts of the country?

This is one of the several corrupt games of INEC. We have seen videos and photographs of these children that are registered and allowed to vote by INEC.

This must be stopped using a multi-directional approach. INEC can easily check this with basic age verification using government issued identification documents before registration and for accreditation.

Security agencies can also be directed to arrest under-aged persons with a PVC. Party agents can alert INEC officials and security officials if they notice such deviations. The recent Ekiti election witnessed massive vote-buying. What does this portend for the credibility of the election? It was not the first time.

INEC has in the past pretended to condemn vote-buying but takes no action to stop it because INEC has remained partisan in favour of the current ruling party since 2014. Vote-buying can easily be stopped if we take steps to prevent vote-buyers from verifying that the voter actually voted for the buyer’s party. This can be done by enhancing the secrecy of the secret ballot.

Also, security agencies can be directed to arrest vote-buyers and confiscate the funds. Party agents can also alert INEC and security officials when the see such deviations. Vote-buying must be stopped. Otherwise, public office will be for corrupt persons with slush funds to continue looting.

For Nigerian elections, the arrangement is very simple. Basically, corrupt politicians steal public funds and deploy it for vote-buying to take over power or to remain in power. Using the Ekiti governorship election as an example, INEC claimed that the winner got 187,057 votes. At N10,000 per vote, only about N1.87 billion was required to buy the governorship of Ekiti State.

This amount is too small to many corrupt politicians that wish to seize the governorship of a State. In this way, what we have is a vicious circle of corrupt politicians that steal public funds and deploy it for vote-buying to get to office to steal more and deploy it again for vote buying to return back to public office.

Similarly, if you have N600 billion, you can buy 20 million votes at N30,000 each to become the President of Nigeria. We must break this vicious circle.

How can this be prevented in the Osun elections coming up in the next two weeks?

We must use a multi-dimensional approach. INEC can launch a campaign against vote-buying. INEC can also enhance the secrecy of the secret ballot.

This will prevent the vote-buyer from knowing which party a voter voted for. Party agents can alert INEC and security officials if they notice such activities going on. Security officials can arrest the vote-buyers and confiscate the funds as evidence for the criminal prosecution of the suspects.

How do you assess the recently concluded primaries of the APC and PDP, especially with the massive monetary influence?

The APC and the PDP are two sides of the same corrupt coin. From the cost of their nomination forms to the corrupt screening of candidates, it was a celebration of corruption.

 

The source of the funds used for these political activities are obviously from corruption as the candidates have been in public office and have many corruption cases against them. Leadership is for service. It is unlikely that an honest person will pay you to serve you.

The direct use of money to influence delegates confirms that these candidates are corrupt, unpatriotic and plan to loot the national treasury. We must stop them for the security and welfare of our people. Our current campaign slogan is; say no to APC, say no to PDP.

What is your view of the discordant tunes in the PDP over the choice of VP candidate?

 

The PDP is dying; the APC will scatter. The discordant tunes in the PDP are not only about the choice of the VP candidate. It is rooted in the obvious use of slush funds by an irregular candidate to hijack the presidential ticket of the party contrary to the power rotation and zoning requirement of the PDP Constitution. The choice of the VP candidate is an additional complication of the issue. His Excellency former Governor Fayose is very clear that he left the party because of the violation of the zoning and power-rotation requirements of their Constitution. Again, the PDP is dying and the APC will scatter.

How do you see allegations that both VP and Presidential candidates of the APC are having certificate issues?

That is expected. The ruling party was founded on forgery, mass deceit and corruption by obviously corrupt persons. We are not surprised. The party is dominated by corrupt persons. Even their National Chairman was charged to court by EFCC for N15B fraud while their presidential candidate has a N100B money laundering petition against him at EFCC.

 

They have run the most corrupt regime ever in the history of Nigeria. We have lost more money from more MDAs and have got our worst ranking in Transparency International’s “Corruption Perception Index” during this regime. Their leaders have certificate issues, forgery issues and corruption issues. This is expected from such characters.

 

How do you see the followership Peter Obi is currently receiving throughout the country?

It is powerful because he has the sympathy of many over the violation of the powerrotation and zoning principle in his former party.

 

The Labour Party also has the support of organized labour and many CSOs. It is a movement of the people. The people are the sovereign and they cannot fail. They have decided to take back their country from the failed, corrupt and recycled rulers that have held the country down. With the expected political realignments, we will build the first force that will take over the leadership of the country in 2023.

How can Nigeria get out of this leadership quagmire?

In an authentic democracy, it is simple to get out of a leadership quagmire but here in this our pseudo-democracy; a little more effort is required. In an authentic democracy, we will simply cast a majority of votes for the best candidate and our votes will count.

Now in Nigeria, we must cast our votes and in addition, we must prevent abuse of incumbency, check vote-buying, stop underage voting, prevent rigging and ensure full compliance with the Constitution and the Electoral Act.

Currently, we have over 15 presidential candidates for the 2023 general elections.

That is a wide array from which we can elect the best using the universal standards of vision, integrity and competence. Competence has to be comprehensive including moral, mental and medical fitness. With these, we can have a world-class leader that will remarkably improve the security and welfare of Nigerians.

How do you react to the security situation in the country, especially the killing of 30 soldiers in Niger State of Thursday?

We have previously concluded that the ruling party is the direct sponsor of insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria.

 

The evidence for this is overwhelming. It includes the confession of former leading chieftain of the ruling party Alhaji Kawu Baraje; the consistent support of the presidency for the terrorists; the support of the armed forces for the terrorists; the payment of ransoms by the government to the terrorists; the refusal of the government to take appropriate security action against the terrorists.

We also have the evidence of the complicity of high level government officials in the Dubai Court that convicted six Nigerians for terrorist financing; the reports of victims of terrorism; the public positions of retired military officers indicting the government; etc.

 

This matter is complicated because it is the ruling party that is the direct sponsor of the insecurity and terrorism in Nigeria today. We must take constitutional actions against the Buhari regime to stop this genocide. Impeachment is an option especially after he has ignored very popular calls for his resignation. A government of national unity is another option. Independent security actions by the federating States in their territories is another option.

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