From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Martin Agbaso has no doubt built himself into a household name in the Nigeria political space as a godfather and a sound political strategist with heavy financial war chest.
Speaking to Sunday Sun in Abuja recently, he argued that despite winning senatorial and governorship elections in his home state Imo, without actualising his mandates, politics have impoverished rather than enriched him.
He addressed several issues especially the unending leadership tussle in the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), his short romance with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the clamour for restructuring and the way forward to take Nigeria out of recession.
Why did you visit INEC headquarters recently?
As you are all aware, the High Court in Enugu under Honourable Justice Ozoemena on May 22, 2017 gave an order of Mandamus, compelling INEC to recognise me as the Acting National Chairman of APGA. When that order was given, a letter was duly written by our lawyers comprising a compendium of what transpired in the court and sent to the INEC.
Prior to that time, on October 5, 2016, the National Working Committee (NWC) had suspended Dr Victor Ike Oye, then National Chairman of APGA for various offences he did not have answers to. A seven-man committee as stipulated in our party constitution was set up to investigate the matter further but all efforts they made to sit with him and address most of the issues proved abortive.
APGA now took the matter to court in Abuja asking INEC and the police to stop Oye from parading himself as the national chairman of the party. Oye petitioned that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the matter. The court ruled that it had validly dealt with APGA matters in the past, adding that it is in the same court that Victor Umeh and Chekwas Okorie’s case was decided.
Oye challenged the decision of the lower court at the Appeal Court which was adjourned to December 14 this year. Shortly after the case was instituted, the then acting national chairman, Ozo Nwabueze took in with a colon cancer, and eventually died on January 8 this year, myself who was the acting National Deputy Chairman, by our constitution, made a transition to the acting national chairman.
Under APGA constitution, given the demise or suspension or expulsion of the national chairman, the next highest officer from the zone he came from replaces him. That was what I did. All these documents were sent to INEC for information and recognition.
After waiting for over one month for INEC to react without hearing from it, the APGA vice chairman in Enugu where I was nominated as the acting national chairman of the party, went to court in Enugu, praying the Court to compel INEC to recognise me since we had given INEC the documentations of the series of meetings and the party processes we followed to arrive at nominating me the acting national chairman.
The court went through all the paper works and the processes before issuing the Order of Mandamus asking INEC to recognise me immediately. It also ordered the police and the IGP to do same. We expected to get reactions from INEC within 48 hours, but unfortunately it never reacted.
In the main time, the parties had gone to the Court of Appeal in Enugu to vacate that Order of Mandamus, the court sat on July 10 and upheld the order of the lower court which compelled INEC to further recognise me. It is those documents for the rulings that we finally took to the INEC headquarters to do the needful.
The good thing is that we had very fruitful meeting with INEC but I don’t want to pre-empt the action the Commission will take. I want to emphasise that I am very satisfied with the meeting. We will wait to see what action INEC will take in the next couple of days. However, INEC does not have to give us a letter since an order of the court has been given. Our action is just to put INEC on notice.
What is the arrangement for the party’s primary and congresses or will you give automatic ticket to Governor Obiano?
We issued 21-day notice to INEC to conduct our party primary and congresses on August 17 and I can assure you that we are ready to kick-start the processes leading up to the Anambra governorship election.
The speculation of a plot to stop Governor Obiano is absolute rubbish. How can we plot against a governor who has done very well, a governor we are all proud of? There is no truth to such rumour and propaganda.
Asking whether we will give automatic ticket to the incumbent governor is a question I cannot deal with now. However, all I can tell you is that our party will showcase internal democracy. That question was an unfair one to me.
Confirming that the party will give the governor automatic ticket means that we will be very unfair to other five to seven aspirants contesting for the position. All we can do is to ensure internal democracy. However, when you have a sitting governor who has done well, there is nothing to worry about on whether he will be nominated again.
Let me add that the dreams and visions of the founding fathers of APGA is to build a party that will give impetus to those that don’t have the opportunity to partake in the governance of this country and to also take advantage of the widespread Igbo residence in other ethnic groups.
We want the downtrodden and the very poor in the society to look up to APGA as a party with full of opportunities, a party to fulfil the yearnings of the people to provide good governance. These exactly are the visions of the party for the country.
What has happened so far in Anambra with the governors under APGA really met the vision of the party. The eight years of Peter Obi set Anambra miles away from other governments in the region with fiscal responsibility which saved much money.
There was provision of infrastructure, rebuilt education sector, overhauled hospitals, created due process in every aspect of governance and made governance open. He ensured level playing grounds for those who have the capacity to perform. In reality, it was eight years of successful administration.
We have now had three and half years of Obiano who has continued with the template set up by the Peter Obi administration. He has equally done reasonably well. Anambra under APGA is a model case for other states in the southern regions.
APGA has no fear in the forthcoming Anambra governorship election because it will be a testimonial for the good work the party has done. Given the fact that APGA has done well in Anambra State, we have so much to take to the electorate and expect that the party will sweep the votes by November.
How would you describe your relationship with Gov Obiano and other major stakeholders in the party?
APGA has become a major institution yet Nigerians have continued to talk about individuals. We are still struggling to build an institution which should last beyond and above individuals. We cannot be talking about Victor Umeh for instance whose tenure expired after serving as the party’s national chairman for almost 10 years.
APGA as an institution remains strong and my responsibility is to make it stronger when I leave in the next four years or so. What should be our concern should be what the institution stands for, the template we have offered to the people, opportunities we created, how we put Nigeria back to work and how we can restore the confidence Nigerians had in the country.
We should not be talking of individuals but how to put Nigerians back to work. Labaran Maku who joined the party few years ago does not even understand the DNA of APGA and it goes beyond him.
Is your leadership concerned about the statement by IPOB that there will not be election in Anambra state?
I thought we should rather be concerned about the welfare of Nigerians instead of bothering ourselves with the declaration of IPOB on whether there will be election in Anambra State or not. People always try to put the cart before the horse.
The position of IPOB is dynamic and open for discussion. We have heard many coming up with pronouncements but why should people hold on to what IPOB said about Anambra election. We have many life-threatening situations we ought to be concerned about.
Do you share the sentiment that you made a political miscalculation leaving APGA for PDP?
I don’t actually see it that way but even if we assume it that way, I am a human being. I may have made the calculation then thinking that it was the right decision, the best for me and my people, but that calculation may have been wrong now.
Should I be hanged the rest of my life for that singular mistake I made when we have made many mistakes as individuals on a daily basis. This may not even be the last mistake I may make or either one of us will make.
The truth is that I left APGA in protest then. It was in protest of poor leadership, protest of leadership without integrity, commitment and leadership which put APGA nomination ticket on sale to the highest bidder.
In 2003, I won elections for APGA; in 2007, I won 26 out of the 27 House of Assembly seats in the state; I won two senatorial seats and four House of Representatives seats for APGA. Of course, we all know what happened to those victories and I was in court for four years fighting that injustice.
In 2011, I was not going to run for governorship or even go for elections again having spent all my life savings in court. Rochas Okorocha approached me for my blessings and support to contest for governorship. I initially refused but as situation got clearer to me that he was the choice of the same group of people in APGA leadership then, I accepted because I cannot make a forest as a tree.
I went ahead to help Rochas become the governor. Under my watch, we also got a senator and many members of House of Reps elected and 18 House of Assembly members elected. In 2015, they played hanky-panky and put up APGA for sale. I left the party in protest and APGA for the first time in Imo state went into election without winning a single ward. That should tell you something about who is the real grandmaster of APGA.
When I finished the protest, I called my ward chairman two months after to return to the party because APGA is in my DNA. I have become synonymous with APGA that many have come to identify me with the party.
Do you regret making Rochas the governor of Imo State?
By my nature as a Christian and as a Catholic, I always put most of my actions before God. I won’t tell you whether I regretted any action I took in making Rochas the governor because at the time I took the decision, it was the best. Some people have expressed disappointment that I should support an Orlu man instead of an Owerri man.
But the reality was that no Owerri man informed of his interest to contest. I stand to be challenged. Rochas was the only person who asked for my support in a most humble manner.
How do you intend to restore the confidence of your supporters especially your state chairman who has declared loyalty to the Oye faction of the party?
I want to remind you that each time a man’s position is threatened, he fights fiercely. It is the situation facing my state chairman because he must have seen the tsunami coming to blow his position away.
I am not going to join issues with him because I was very instrumental to that seat he is occupying now including paying for the office complex and the furnishing. However, I am not coming to sack anybody but to heal and unite people.
I don’t hold any animosity or anger against him because I know he will change soon. Anybody still in doubt whether my people are solidly with me should make reference to the reception given to me in Owerri recently.
What is your assessment of the threat from other political parties for the Anambra state November 18 governorship election?
I don’t see the challenge from other political parties as threat because there is no state in Nigeria where the incumbent is allowed to contest election alone. Candidates must jostle for political positions during elections. Again, you know that Anambra is a very dynamic state full of many people with the capacity and eminently qualified to contest.
What is going to be standing out is each person’s antecedent. I want to however add that APGA has done incredibly well with Peter Obi laying a solid foundation.
What is your assessment of the APC-led government?
This interview is not about the achievements or failures of the APC-led government. I am concerned about how APGA will take over Nigeria’s political space and provide opportunities to Nigerians.
As an economist, what is the solution to take Nigeria out of recession?
We are over 170 million people economy; we need over 17 million skilled persons to drive an economy of this size. Lamentably, we don’t have up to one million skilled persons in medical science, ICT, commence and industry in this country. Our education infrastructure is in comatose.
These are the concerns of APGA as a party. We must do something to improve the curriculum we teach our children and the level of encouragement and remunerations we give to our teachers.
It is true that people still die of malaria, a disease that can be cured with just N1000 in this country. This means that there are people who stand between them and death because their lives are not worth N800. We have 65 per cent of Nigerians operating under zero economy, meaning a situation where a man does not have N1000 income in a month.
To come out of recession, we must begin to look at our receivables and payables. How much is our income, what do we have to spend to run government, provide infrastructure to the people, and how to plug the huge gap of our reliance on oil and oil related transactions.
Government must quickly look for ways and means of generating additional income to cushion the effect of the income and expenditure gap. Yes the first approach would be to tighten the loose ends and leakages in the system, but we must find a way of earning additional income.
We have to also add value to those other avenues of earning income so that we can create jobs that will lead to disposable income. When many have disposal incomes, consumer confidence will rise. There will be capacity to buy and be able to pay. We must understand that it is a cycle that keeps recreating and regenerating money.
We must have skilled, young, dynamic, proactive workforce to create the wealth. We have many gifted young Nigerians. Look at what is happening at the computer village and job centres like Aba, Ibadan among others where young Nigerians are creating all manners of technologically driven businesses.
We are in this mess because we are in a country where no bank funds businesses. There is no bank in Nigeria that can provide a €20 million bond to finance any investmen; 95 per cent of them cannot provide a €10 million denominated bond.
This makes it difficult to inject money into the system and this makes the recovery from recession a bit difficult especially as the dynamics are not there. We don’t have instrumentalities to create quick recovery. The options are to fall back to agriculture and solid minerals to generate jobs, income and foreign exchange.
There is no magic or shortcut to our coming out of recession other than doing the right things and taking the right decisions. Government must cut the fats in the expenditures like blotted salaries, allowances among others which we can no longer afford. We must also look into contract pricing for roads, bridges to save cost and allow somebody to make 10 per cent profit.
Would you prefer continuing as APGA national chairman in the next four years to contesting a political position in 2019?
The first time I presented myself for political position and actually got elected as a senator was in 1992, 25 years ago. I was a 32 year old young man then. But I am not going back to that again. I will be 60 years in the next two years and I am not going to be running round asking the electorates for vote. I did it 12 years when I contested for the governor of Imo State and I don’t have the stomach to do that again.
My concern now is to build a robust party that will be professionally run to become an institution other political parties will envy. I want to build a political party that will win elections using the young people locked away in this country.
We want to turn APGA into a true national party to address the disappointments of Nigerian youths. That is the opportunity I am looking for and the capacity I am bringing to the table. My plan is that APGA will be become a national party to win elections in any part of this country.
What is that political position you dreamt of which you will regret not getting?
There has never been any political position I dreamt of becoming. All I have done in the last 25 years is looking for opportunities to showcase the talent God gave me, display the energy I have and the brilliance endowed to me and the experience I garnered over the years.
My target has always been to use political position to impact the lives of the ordinary people. I had wanted to put Imo on the map because I know I would have been a good governor. I know what it takes to be a money manager and what it takes to manage human resources. Since that opportunity did not come did I regret it, the answer is no.
What is your take on the clamour for a new Nigeria?
For APGA, it is not about new or old Nigeria but a country that has opportunity for all, full of hope for all and where every citizen will feel the impact of government, feel the provisions from the resources of our nation and a country with unlimited resources.
We have everything in this country yet people are poor because of corrupt and poor leadership. We must address those things by building strong institutions. APGA, which means opportunity for all, is the new Nigeria. Everybody desirous of good governance and believes in equity and fair play is an APGA person.
What is your stand on the agitation for restructuring of Nigeria?
I earlier said that when people clamour for control of resources in their area, they are signs of inadequacies, or denials, deprivations and neglects. If everything is working as it ought to, I don’t think anybody can agitate for restructuring or for state police. We must expect agitations because the youths are facing difficult situations.
As for Senate demanding for CONFAB report, I want to say that they have the right to do so but the question is what are they going do with it? It is a fairly reasonable document but how does the report fit into the realities of today considering the dynamism in this country where things are changing by the hour. Are the circumstances still applicable to the realities of today? The answer is no in my opinion.
What do you think of Owerri zone producing the next governor of Imo State?
Victory is for the most organised and wishful thinking cannot take a man anywhere. They desire and hunger for it but are there competent men or women of Owerri extraction to rule Nigeria, the answer is yes. But we must get our ass together. We must stop picking at each other and pulling ourselves down.
In 2007, I won the freest and fairest election; it was indigenes of Owerri zone with interest in running for governor in 2011 that scuttled my mandate. In their thinking, my becoming governor in 2007 would eclipse their chances in 2011.
Despite fighting fiercely, some of them lost woefully in the 2015 elections. Today, we have great opportunity for Owerri people and for APGA to produce the next governor but nobody is going to throw it at us easily. If they do the right thing, it is almost impossible for Owerri to lose.
As an economist and politician, which of them is more lucrative?
What worked for one person may not work for the other. Somebody could be a lawyer, engineer, a theologian or an economist with better opportunity. But I enjoy being an economist; I also enjoy the opportunity being a politician provided to me to help people, to be the voice of the voiceless and intervene for the downtrodden. I am not driven by any pecuniary consideration.
I have never knelt down all my life to pray to God to make me a rich man. Such aspirations for wealth never cross my mind. If I make money in the course of the venture, so be it but I have not made penny in politics. In fact, I made 98 per cent of my money from businesses not politics.
I am a free enterprise person, a demand and supply guy; I was not deep into government contracting. I never made money in government. In fact, I have invested 98 per cent of the money I have made in politics. If I was not involved in politics, I would have been a damn wealthy man because I know the act of making money and I know what needs to be done.
I understand pennies because we do penny business in my family. The income stream is regular and steady in my family even though I am not hoping to become Dangote or big oil magnet because it does not mean anything to me. I respect the prowess and achievements of those that have done very well but I am not inspired by that.