Captain Tunji Shelle is a former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State. In this interview, he speaks on the state of the nation, crisis in the party and insecurity in Nigeria, among other issues
You were sometimes quoted as say- ing that you never supported Asiwaju Bola Tinubu contesting for president. Do you still hold that view?
I don’t hold anything against Tinubu or anyone in power; my interest is to ensure that things work in Nigeria. I was not speaking to worship men but I want a good country for everybody. My own is that I will criticise any policy that is anti-people but if there is anything they leaders do that is worth commending, I will also commend them. The essence is to ensure that the actions and policies of the government align with the interests of the people. That is the way I see governance. I am not a sycophant and I won’t be one forever.
All we are asking for is for the country to be well and l want our resources to be spent well and spent in such a manner that it will be to the benefit of the people. That is the way I will contribute. But for someone to be spending our money anyhow and I will join others to be praising him or her, no I won’t do that because I cannot be anti-people. So, I honestly have nothing against the President.
As a member of the opposition and a former chairman of the PDP in Lagos State; do you think the President has done well given his policies so far and what Nigerians are going through this time?
It is very tough right now and Nigerians are going through hell. This is even made worse as the leaders don’t show any sign of having the situation in their hands. They have not shown any sign of making things work for Nigerians, rather they think about themselves alone and how it would be better for their families, which is very unfortunate. Cost of living is up and it continues to go up. The exchange rate is high and there are no jobs.
If they can fix all these things, Nigerians will be happy. However, I may not want to fully criticise for now because six, seven months in the saddle can be tough for any leader but after that or thereabout, they will hear a lot from us.
What do you think has made the PDP to be almost comatose and not playing strong opposition to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state?
I am not an idle mind; if I am in office I will ensure that I play a role. When I was the chairman, it was like I had a shadow cabinet. But now that other people are managing the party in the state, I leave them to use their discretion as much as they can. At the national level, the party has been doing some- thing because from time to time, they churn out press releases to criticise the actions and activities of the federal government.
But I expect that from time to time, state managers of the PDP from Lagos to Oyo, to Ogun, in fact everywhere to do the same and continue to look at what and what is going on and also condemn what is not going on well with governance in their states and even the region or nationally.
Do you mean holding the ruling party to account?
They should be able to criticise the government based on things they promised. For instance, they promised restructuring but we haven’t seen anything. The documents for restructuring are there and it is just to sign them and gazette them but they are not doing any of such. They have been commissioning projects, which are not working. They promised us that Port Harcourt Refinery would start working but as of today, I am not sure anything is happening there. They promised that the value of naira will be enhanced but today the naira has continued to get worse in terms of value.
Virtually all the roads in the country are bad and people are dying on the highways because of bad roads. However, people are criticising, not only the opposition but Nigerians are speaking from all parts of the country but it is like they have developed thick skin to listen to Nigerians and this is very unfortunate.
You said you don’t want to speak much given that there are other people leading PDP in Lagos State but don’t you feel that given the kind of opposition APC mounted in 2015, leading to their victory at the poll, PDP is not doing enough now that it is in opposition. Does it mean the PDP is not serious about playing the opposition?
In 2015, the APC was out to ensure they won the election by hook or crook and because of that, most of the things they said were not true. They didn’t provide any solid opposition but used propaganda and hammering on insecurity every now and then. They dwelt on propaganda. Even after Muhammadu Buhari took over, APC resorted to propaganda. Not everyone believes in propaganda as a tool to achieve something.
They made insecurity the cardinal point of their propaganda but today, you can agree with me that insecurity is worse as more and more Nigerians continue to die virtually every day. People still died on Christmas Day. So, that was what they capitalised on, not that they did anything special as an opposition then. They were lucky that in Goodluck Jonathan as the president then, they had a very simple individual who did not believe in clamping down on opposition. He allowed everyone to say whatever they liked but posterity will judge everybody. Jonathan didn’t believe in lies and propaganda. He believed in doing things the way they should be done.
They accused his regime of corruption but corruption is even widespread and worse today. Jonathan’s regime didn’t clamp down on the opposition as they are doing today because they are clamping down on the opposition and using money to suppress information. That is all that they are doing. They are using money to buy the space and misinform the people on the true nature of things happening in the country today. It started right from the time of former President Buhari. Look at the rubber stamp National Assembly under him.
What did they achieve rather than sharing the money? If such kind of National Assembly was under Jonathan, they would have cried foul but they were and still good in only clamping down on organised labour and students union and ensuring that activism dies in the country, so that no one challenges them. Some of the activists have been bought over. This is what they know how to do and nothing more. Buhari is today out of office but everyone knows the kind of damage he did to this country and particularly the electoral system.
What kind of changes do you want to see in the electoral system to enhance our democracy?
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is working hand in hand with the executive arm of government but a thing like this did not happen before. INEC should be restructured and refined, same with the judiciary. There is the need to look into them for restructuring. Look at the last eight years; how many elections were concluded in the polling units and how many were concluded in the court of law? Now, we resort to the courts to determine who wins an election instead of the electorate determining who wins. Look at what happened in Kano and Plateau states.
Those governors won convincingly. Did PDP do such a thing during its own time? It’s very unfortunate that under the APC, the judiciary and the National Assembly have been cowed and they cannot check the excesses of the executive. It is not as if the opposition is not talking and like I said earlier; even individuals are talking but the excesses under the APC is much. Until the electoral process and system is reviewed, the APC will continue to do what they know how to do best and until Nigerians wake up from their slumber and demand that justice reigns with equity and fairness, nothing will work and this is what this government is not going to do to make the electoral process to work.
This is what is going to happen in Rivers State. The plan is to turn the state into an APC state. They will so much traumatise Governor Simi Fubara; they will intimidate him to the extent that sooner or later, he will be forced to join the people defecting to the APC, so that it will be another APC state. Look at the government accepting another party man to damage the PDP in the state. Somebody is being used to damage the PDP there. If you are the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, concentrate on your area and don’t come and help another person to govern his state.
Because somebody has done that in his own state doesn’t mean he can do it in Rivers. But we are watching and we will see where it will lead Nigeria to.
Given the judgements of the Court of Appeal Court on the Kano and Plateau gubernatorial election petitions, some opposition members are accusing the APC of attempt to muscle the opposition and turn the country into one-party state. What is your take on that?
Truly it is like they want to turn Nigeria to a one-party state and there are so many examples. First, the election that took place in Imo State was not an election. It was forcefully rigged in favour of the APC. The PDP actually won the election. They did an election in which the results were manipulated and it happened both in Imo and Kogi states but they couldn’t do anything in Bayelsa State because PDP also won very well. They even attempted to upturn it but it didn’t work.
So, the case of Plateau State is just like somebody wanting to take an undue advantage because when they are in power and at the centre, they think they can go to any state they want and claim victory in such state. In the case of Plateau State; how do you determine who is not sponsored by a party? You are not sponsored by a party and INEC allowed the election to take place and it took place and people came out, voted for an individual who was declared the winner and now you come out to talk about party sponsorship.
This is the same thing in Kano; they feel these states are states with high population, so they have to capture them ahead of their 2027 election plan, forgetting that God does not work that way. The judgement of God over injustice is heavier. I won’t do anything that will make me lose my soul and I can tell you that some people have no business being in politics in the first place. You may be in politics but because of evil minds, you have no business being in government. This is very necessary. I pray that this evil reign will one day leave Nigeria, so that the rule of law will take its full course in the country.
Recently, members of the opposition came down hard on the President Tinubu for nominating alleged card-carrying members of the APC for confirmation as Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs). What is your take on that?
Well, that is a breach of the constitution and if they are actually flouting the constitution and some people are recommending them, that is their own business. The constitution is very clear on this; if you are a member of a political party or you have allegiance to a political party, you are not supposed to be appointed and even when you are nominated by the President, you go through the National Assembly for vetting but do the members of National Assembly even know what they are doing as lawmakers? They are killing this country by their actions and inactions.
They are undermining democracy and democratic process by their actions and inactions. The RECs might have been appointed for reasons but the National Assembly members are the ones I have my blame on. If they don’t know their work or the job is much for them to do thoroughly, they can think otherwise.
