Dr. Bitrus Pogu is the National President of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF). In this exclusive interview with CEPHAS IORHEMEN, he speaks on the recent call by former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on other parties to form a viable opposition against the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), his comments that the Nigerian courts are being manipulated by the APC, the excruciating economic hardship being experienced by the citizenry and the crisis in the PDP among others
What is your reaction to comments by former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar that the APC led government is manipulating the judiciary?
To some general extent, one would think he is right, given the funny judgements that are coming out from the courts. You see, our judiciary today is no more what it used to be, but you don’t do anything in isolation. Why have I said this? We don’t have strong institutions, if it (the courts) is a strong institution, even if the Executive tries to manipulate it, it will not succeed. Look at what happened in America.
When Donald Trump tried to challenge, manipulate or do whatever with the election in Georgia, and because the American institution is a strong institution, he didn’t succeed. But in Nigeria we don’t have strong institutions. The police can be manipulated; the military can be manipulated, the DSS can be manipulated; the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) can be manipulated. Every institution including now the judiciary that we are complaining about and even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). INEC laid down it’s rules, rocked the same rules and nothing has happened.
With weak institutions, there is no business going to court if a contestant knows that this election is transparent, it’s clear he will not go to court. So the issue here is, yes, the former Vice President and presidential candidate of PDP has reasons to say what he said, and that whether or not the judiciary is being manipulated is another thing but that judgements are not consistent. Judgement which you think should follow a particular direction is taking another direction. People who have not contested or gone into primaries are today leaders of the Senate and they are in the Senate and people who participated in the primaries are out and the Electoral Law says that shouldn’t happen, the courts allowed it to happen.
So whatever is happening, whether Atiku accuses the Federal Government of manipulating the system or not our institutions are weak, that’s why they can be manipulated if they are strong, the executive cannot manipulate them. So the issue is our institutions have to be strengthened, laws have to be unambiguous. You know when you have ambiguity in law then lawyers and judges will manipulate them but if laws are firm this is it. You don’t say the election should be electronic then INEC will do whatever they feel like.
So these things have to be corrected, institutions have to be strengthened and people of credibility should head and lead our institutions whether it is Police, Army, NSCDC, Judiciary or whatever, they have to be headed by people of credibility who will stand firm and said we are serving Nigeria and our ground norm is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not the President, not the Governor not whoever is there that will give order and the law guiding you should be the Constitution. Our governing laws have to be unambiguous so that you can have strong institutions producing leadership that have integrity.
The fight against insurgency was one of the issues President Bola Ahmed Tinubu promised Nigerians. Would you say much has been done in that regard so far?
So far, I think the political will seems to be there more than when Buhari was there and to the extent that yes, military officers seem to be doing a bit better but I don’t think they have the total free will to do what they are supposed to do. Yes, there is a lot we are hearing happening in the North-West and other areas, but we say no. As I am talking to you I am from Borno State, the operational headquarters of Boko Haram is still there, nobody has gone there. In fact, the road between Biu and Damboa still remains the Boko Haram territory.
Nobody follows it unless you are willing to go to Boko Haram checkpoints. That means we have another country within Nigeria. People who have their authority, they collect tolls on the roads and nobody does anything to them. Up till now, there is still much to be done unless the President comes and says ‘look go and pound that Boko Haram headquarters and let’s have Nigeria take over all ungoverned lands.’ At least, Tinubu’s appointment of Service Chiefs is quite reasonable and it appears they have started working but let the political will be there giving them directives and giving them the right equipment to do the job, our soldiers can do the job.
I am telling you, give our soldiers free hands within a few weeks, it won’t take them up to a month to eliminate insurgents in the bushes. They have the capacity, unfortunately it is the political will we want him (President Bola Tinubu) to muscle. Nobody should deceive these boys in the bush to come out and fight, nobody will come out and say they have been fighting. It is all political battles, using religion to deceive poor children in the bush to do their bidding for them so that they can impose themselves on Nigerians. It is all political.
What is your view on the excruciating economic situation that has given rise to high prices of petroleum products among others?
It is an unfortunate situation and I think Tinubu’s Advisers didn’t advise him well. He came in and threw the hammer right on the day he was sworn-in, on removal of petroleum subsidy and slammed it on Nigerians without preparing. I have a Tundra Pick-up vehicle, and luckily I can use it today because I quickly rushed to Nigerian Independent Petroleum Corporation (NIPCO) and introduced the use of Compress Natural Gas (CNG) which I can buy.
Unfortunately, the CNG is now supplied in the North only in two or so locations: one in Abuja one location and Lokoja that’s what they told me. What Tinubu would have done was to as- sure that he was going to remove fuel subsidy, meanwhile he would ensure CNG was supplied and that we have CNG locations in all the 36 states of the federation, so that Nigerians can have a substitute for PMS. And within a month or two, these companies would roll out including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) CNG filling stations all over and he subsidies conversion kits and before long there will be CNG in all the states.
And in more than one location in a state and then conversion kits will be all over the place people will start converting and then he introduced removal of fuel subsidy. I am telling you prices of goods and services wouldn’t have skyrocketed the way they did. Or, by the time the policy had started there would be alternative fuel that is still cheap which will now affect transportation and other commodities be it consumables or whatever.
So, his advisers I think didn’t do a good job, we pray that they learn from their mistakes and correct them so that Nigeria will be better for it. Today, one Dollar is exchanging for over N1,000 and it went up to even N1,300. It’s unfortunate but it is just because of one thing.
Atiku had called on all opposition parties in the country to come together to form a formidable force against the governing APC. What’s your comment on this? Would you say he was right in saying so?
If they want a formidable force, that is the way forward. It was because of injustice partly caused by him, Atiku. Peter Obi wouldn’t have left the PDP but you see when in 2014, he discovered that Goodluck Jonathan was going to run again, he went and mobilised people in the opposition, that is, people who were in the APC who undermined the PDP and took over government and Muhammadu Buhari came in. Buhari, to me, is the worst thing we have had in Nigeria. Today, because Buhari was in power, APC is still in power. Now, after his tenure, the presidency should have rotated to the South since there is rotation in PDP.
The same Atiku who undermined PDP, came and said there should be no rotation and he took it because he had the means. Fine, he took it but look at the result. Obi left PDP, Nyesom Wike felt disappointed and fought to ensure that the presidency returned to the South, and of course PDP lost. So the issue is yes, if there is going to be a formidable opposition, the parties need to merge to form a credible opposition otherwise those people in the Labour Party who are looking for better Nigeria will take people from PDP from APC to congregate in Labour and constitute what is a credible opposition in Labour in future.
So, yes it is a good thingfor them to come together but it is not coming together. Opposition should serve as opposition. When the policy of government is not right the opposition should speak out to checkmate the government and then we have a healthy democracy. But when the opposition just sits down and its members continue to look for opportunities to be part of the government then we don’t have any opposition.
