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Nothing wrong with Muslim-Muslim ticket, says APC chieftain, Umoye

Kukei Umoye is a chieftain of the All progressives Congress, APC in Edo State. He spoke on a wide range of issues especially, why the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar can’t win next year’s election. He spoke with OJIEVA EHIOSUN. Excerpts…

As chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), What is your take on the decision of your Presidential Candidate to pick a Muslim as his running mate?

When it comes to political issues in Nigeria, people come with emotions. We should be able to distinguish the relationship between politics and religion. We have also forgotten that the basis of our existence is the constitution which is our ground norm. The constitution does not provide for religion, the only thing about religion is the fundamental right that is freedom of worship.

Nigeria is a secular state, so if the party decides to take somebody, it is left for you to disagree. There is actually nothing wrong with the Muslim/Muslim ticket. If you are looking at it from a political angle, you should look at the pedigree of the person involved, his capacity, ability, competence and the kind of population he will control when it comes to the election itself. Mind you the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar is coming from that part of the country too. Politics is a game of numbers and strategy. APC needs bloc votes from the North. So for me it is about the exigencies of the time.

Are you not worried about being in opposition, because Edo State is PDP despite the division in the party?

Politics is not about you being in government, it is about people hearing your voice and making people feel your impact positively in the system you believe in. When you talk of opposition, my party is at the national level. Top APC members know that they must work hard to keep the party in power.

But we are talking about your local politics, what gives you the confidence that you will defeat the PDP candidate in the election?

We in Igueben Constituency have never been lucky with those that have represented us at the State House of Assembly. We have never had quality representation and I think it is time to put things right. Talking about opposition, I’m an APC candidate; I have no fear about the opposition. We will start from the top. That is why I’m working round the clock talking with my people and with my experience in politics I know I have an edge over my opponent in the PDP. I don’t believe in failure and am always very positive about things. As regards the state you will agree with me that the driver of the ship of the state was an accidental mistake made by some leaders and very soon we would get over it and APC would bounce back to position.

Experience has shown that it is always very difficult to defeat a political party in power…

When you say that PDP has a strong hold in Edo, yes I agree with you to some extent, all the issues that culminated in Governor Godwin Obaseki leaving APC for the PDP and the choice of Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu had a ripple effect on the APC. PDP right now in Edo is in disarray, especially in my local government where you have the obidient group, the rebel group and the authentic PDP group. APC is coming as a formidable team; we had our issues which we have dealt with recently in our Senatorial meeting. The man that lost the ticket to me went to court but the party has given him a directive to withdraw the case. So, as far as we are concerned in Edo APC we have no problem.

Do you think Nigerians will vote APC back to power in 2023 based on the lingering crisis of insecurity in the land?

Yes!

The issue of insecurity is a general thing in the land; it is also the responsibility of all. For instance in Esan land, some of us came together to form a group and we have been funding the Vigilante group with over N120m to see how we can secure our enclave. That is not our responsibility that shows that the Governor of the State had also failed in his duty.

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