By Kareem Islamiyat
Dr Yunusa Tanko is the National Director of Media and Publicity of the Labour Party. In this interview, he speaks on the Supreme Court confirmation of Senator Athan Achonu as the governorship candidate of the party in Imo State and his chances at the poll, among other issues.
The Supreme Court has affirmed Senator Athan Achonu as the governorship candidate of your party in Imo State. Do you think he stands a chance in the election?
First of all, we are happy that peace is gradually returning to the party from interest groups which are normal in a political setting. At the same time, we are confident that Imolites will come out enmasse to vote for Senator Achonu and the reasons are very clear. Imolites have forcefully been governed for a very long time by legalizing illegality. At the same time, most Imolites are yearning for genuine leadership which Senator Achonu will provide.
I was at the primary election and I saw his level of commitment and he said something that really endeared me to his ways and style of politics. He is actually connected to the people at the grassroots. The fact remains that Imo State is under siege and the people are looking for emancipation in terms of security and economic empowerment. And there is a connection between Achonu and the people in that regard.
So, he would be able to march on straight to Douglas House because the mandate that will be given to him will be a mandate of the people. It will not be a kind of manipulated or legalised illegality that will put him into position of power. So, the people will be willing to work with him and when they work with him, Imo State will be much better.
With regard to the party, we are grateful that a lot of people who have seen seriously through the challenges that we had over the past months clearly showed that there has never been a faction in Labour Party. Many people may not understand but let me give you a very clear demarcation of what I mean. There is no single court or any National Working Committee (NWC) that has pronounced anybody as the chairman of the Labour Party apart from Julius Abure.
If there is, I challenge anybody to produce one document even from the court. What really transpired was that there was an individual who felt that his rights had been impeded upon and then he took the matter to court and did not allow the court to do justice as regards what the matter was. He now got into the office of the party and pronounced himself as national chairman. That did not stand.
As we speak, that particular case is already suspended more or less, like proceedings have been stayed on that particular issue. Now, this same group of people has challenges within themselves after conducting an illegal primary. It is within them that they are having challenges and the gentleman, who took his case to the Supreme Court has now been told that he has no locus standi. He cannot stand on illegality and he cannot stand on anything.
In that case, they do not even exist and they are not known by the law. That of course gave Julius Abure the full backing as the truly known national chairman of Labour Party. The primary that took place in Owerri, which I witnessed was monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and I didn’t see any other primary that INEC monitored.
So, in that case, there has never been a faction but what I will appeal to our colleagues is that Nigeria is in dire need of collective responsibility. We don’t need different groups fighting unknown causes because it is about getting Nigeria back on track. We are under siege as a people. So, Labour Party has provided a platform for them to come and say what their grievances are. These grievances would be looked into and we will find a way of reconciling our differences and march on.
Everybody in this country knows the challenges we are facing. Is it in terms of the issues of light or the issue of palliatives that have not got to the people or the level of forgery that is being legalized? We need to come together. It is my appeal to those who feel aggrieved that they should come in within the fold because we need everybody to fight this battle.
What are the strategies of Senator Achonu and the issues he must address as the campaign intensifies?
The major issue in Imo is that one part of the state, which is the part Achonu comes from has been yearning for leadership for quite a while now and that gives him a little edge over others. Looking at the other side and picking a deputy that will come in from a more populated area in Imo State will add to the strategy we are putting on the ground. But most importantly is appealing to Imolites who have been under siege for a very long time.
You will agree with me that Imo State has suffered because of insecurity. In fact, you would be afraid to go into Imo because you are not sure of coming out because of the level of manipulation and the kind of insecurity in the state. So, first of all, the target is about getting security for Imolites, so that they can come out and do business. You know that the people of the state are into trading but when there is insecurity and they are not sure of their coming out to do business and make sure that their state is doing well, they will have a problem.
What we want to assure them is that there will be concerted efforts to work with all the security agencies to ensure that their security is number one and paramount. Achonu’s governorship manifesto tried to look into the issue of youth, not this particular issue of guaranteeing or giving job opportunities to Imolites abroad. That is total deceit because how many of them have you employed back home to build the state before telling them that you are going to give them tickets to travel abroad?
Imolites are people who want to build their state, they don’t look for handouts, they are looking for how to build their state not to become a refuge in another man’s country. First of all, we want to ensure that we bring dignity and integrity to Imolites, making sure that they have job opportunities within their own enclave to build their state. In that regard, there will be a concerted and political responsibility to move the state forward.
As you go into the Imo election, are you confident that INEC will conduct a credible poll?
I won’t say yes but I’m hopeful. Why I said I’m hopeful is that INEC has a lot of issues to clean up. They need to show that what they did to Nigerian people in the 2023 general election, especially the presidential election, was a mistake and that they are willing to correct that even though we are still hoping that the Supreme Court will right the wrong. We hope that INEC will learn a lesson coming from the fact that ab initio, the same INEC almost messed up the same election that brought the present governor into power.
Imo State cannot afford to have a kind of disjointed election. The election must be seen to be free, fair and credible and the people must have their voters’ cards, so that they can be able to vote. The voting units must be provided and all the electronic machines must work, otherwise we would have another terrible situation on our hands. So, hopeful yes, trust no.
With the growing popularity of the Labour Party, what does the future portend for it?
If I could go back a little bit of history, yes, I agree with you that Labour Party was relatively unknown but you will agree with me that the party has existed and that is the reason they were able to survive the hurricane of registration by INEC. In Labour Party, what we have is that we have the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Despite the disagreement, the majority of the NLC and the TUC are with the Labour Party.
If we finally connect the way we want to, the structures of Labour Party will cut across every nook and cranny of Nigeria, and that is a huge support. Secondly, the Nigerian youth has found favour in the leadership of Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed and that gives them hope because there is a connection. About 12.5 million Nigerian youth registered before the general election just because of one person.
Yes, we may have little challenges in terms of connectivity at the moment but I can assure you that the party is putting up structures and the national convention will come soon. When it does, a lot of people will join the party and we are ready to take the mantle of leadership. I must say to all our brothers and sisters in the human rights circle that it is not time to sit down and look.
It takes the connectivity of everyone who believes that Nigeria can be better and all you need to do is to come into Labour Party and help in strengthening it. The platform is open and we can build it together and make Nigeria a better place. This is what I believe and I know Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed are ready to champion this cause.
Do you think that the outcome of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal has slowed down the momentum for Labour Party?
The outcome of the tribunal has not affected the party at all. The judgement and some of the rulings you have seen coming up have kind of re-awaken the inner minds of Nigerian youths. There is danger looming ahead because the majority of the judgements are being seen to have been one-sided because of the interest of those in positions of power and it is not going down well with Nigerian youths.
So, if you think that their spirit has been damped, the answer is no. In fact, they are regrouping and rethinking that if they cannot find justice in our judiciary, then there must be an alternative solution to our problem. My fear is this, we cannot continue to legalise illegality at the level it is going on in the country. That is dangerous and I can tell you that the youth are ready to challenge the establishment.
With regard to this particular government; with all due respect, it is suffering from the issue of legitimacy and it is already making catastrophic mistakes. The catastrophic mistakes showed that they were ill-prepared. There is a saying that when the head of a fish is rotten, the whole body becomes rotten. I will give you an example. We have a president we are challenging his legitimacy as we speak but our president is pleading and begging for his certificate which he is supposed to flaunt should not be disclosed to Nigerians.
That is very challenging and I find it very demeaning to Nigerians. Those intellectuals and lawyers who are defending him should think about the effect of this particular attempt they are trying to institutionalise in this country. And that of course has dovetailed towards the ministers; one of them is still serving as an NYSC member yet that person is a minister. What that simply means is that if I have money, I can manipulate my way, buy up the system, buy up INEC, buy up a certificate from any university.
It means that I can do all I want because I have money and I can institutionalise it to become the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This means that education does not matter anymore, rule of law and order does not matter anymore and that means anybody who has the capacity to manipulate himself into power can do so. The danger here is that continuously, Nigerians are arranging themselves in that order and that puts our democracy in danger.