Chief Tobby Anumaka, patron, Okpoko Igbo, a pan Igbo socio-cultural organization and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said he is not surprised at the defection of Igbo politicians into the APC. He said the Igbo should bury their political differences and unite towards actualization of Igbo presidency and also advised Nigerians to pray for quick recovery of President Muhammadu Buhari.
A member of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu has condemned the recent cross carpeting of some of his party members in the South-East to the APC, describing them as unserious politicians. What is your take?
Iwuanyanwu was among the founders of All Peoples Party (APP), but later crossed over to PDP immediately the party won the presidential election and he was made member of the BoT of the party. So, he has no moral right to condemn those towing the same path. It is a good development that Igbo politicians are joining the APC to boost our chances of clinching the presidency in 2023. Our democracy rotates around ‘the winner takes all’ mantra and we must be part of the winners. Those that are criticizing this government should realize that APC is on a rescue mission because Nigeria was gradually sliding into complete collapse before President Buhari showed up. So, if we had planned well when we had the oil boom, by now we won’t have this economic crisis.
You can’t write-off the PDP especially now that one of the factions has been declared as authentic by the court. Don’t you think power may change hands in 2019?
They will do everything possible and impossible to bounce back, but in the case of PDP, it is too late for them to dethrone APC in 2019. Who is its national chairman? Who are the state chairmen? The party is yet to get a structure both in the federal, state, local government and ward levels as the case of who is the authentic leadership of PDP is now in the Supreme Court. So, let them put their house in order first before talking about 2019 which is around the corner. It is a wishful thinking for anybody to imagine that PDP will clinch power at the centre in 2019. They should stop day dreaming, PDP will not bounce back in 2019 because it’s not ready.
Are you saying that with the hardship in the country, Nigerians will vote for APC again?
Yes, I acknowledged that there is hardship in the land and there is no doubt that Nigerians are suffering but we must also realize that President Buhari is not the cause. It is as a result of many years of lack of planning of which he was not a part. We did not plan well during the era of oil boom and we are facing the consequence now that the price of oil has gone down. Our past leaders lacked vision, hence we have nothing to fall back on. A lot of laudable projects that would have sustained the economy such as the Ajaokuta steel, Kaduna and Aba textile mills, just to mention a few were abandoned. If these multi nationals companies that folded up were in operation, they would have employed over 300,000 Nigerians.
Are you implying that the failure of Nigerians to hold their leaders accountable is the reason for the recession?
Yes, to a large extent. Take a look at how much stolen funds the anti-graft agencies have recovered so far from former public office holders, if not for a man like President Buhari who has the guts, these monies would have been in private pockets, while the Nigerians continue to face hardship. This is why I said the masses should take more blame for the present state of the economy.
What would you say about the unrevealed state of health of the president?
Only the president has the right to declare his state of health. Moreover, the presidency told us that Buhari was not feeling fine and doctors advised him to stay for a while, so why the apprehension?
Isn’t it necessary that he speaks to Nigerians at least to douse speculations?
It is not necessary because he told us before travelling that he was going to get medical attention. He also wrote to the National Assembly transmitting power to the Vice President, so, what is the essence of talking to us? We should allow him to get enough rest. Most rich people switch off their phones when they are on vacation, so, if Buhari told us when he was leaving for treatment abroad we should wait and pray for him. The governors of Imo and Anambra had a misudnerstandng recently and it seemed the Igbo were divided politically due to a recent statement by former President Olusegun Obasanjo who said that the Igbo could produce a president. Governor Rochas Okorocha then came under attack by some people from the South-East for saying the region should wait till 2023?
It is shameful for the two governors to wash their dirty linen in public. They should settle their differences amicably without involving the Igbo in whatever guise. What we should be after is how to actualize Igbo presidency and that can only happen if we unite. Okorocha’s advice is a political statement and should not have attracted verbal attack. Okorocha is a member of APC and believes that Buhari may seek re-election. So, he gave the president the right of first choice. But if Buhari says he won’t run again, Okorocha will be among those that will contest for the position having attempted several times to be president. He should not be crucified for advising the Igbo to be timely towards achieving our political aspiration.
‘Nothing wrong with mass movement of Igbo into APC’
