Prince Tony Momoh, a former Minister of Information and one of the national leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, speaks on latest developments in the polity. He also warned anyone planning to disrupt President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration on May 29 to perish the thought. Excerpts:
The Federal Government, through the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said there is evidence that the opposition is planning to subvert President Muhammadu Buhari’s inauguration on May 29. What do you make of this claim?
Politicians are always talking and all the words they use come from the dictionary. That is the area of exercise of free speech. The fact is, when it gets to free speech plus, which means more than free speech, then in a division of labour setting, those who have the responsibility to bring order to the system will step in and bring sanity to the system. In other words, anybody who wants to disturb the order and peace of the polity will have his or herself to blame. Be it political party or any set of people, anybody who wants to disturb the peace in the country, including swearing in ceremony of the President will have himself to blame. It is only the person that is ignored that will think he has what it takes to be disobedient by undermining the system. Nobody, however powerful they think they are can undermine an established order. It is impossible. Whether PDP or any other persons that willfully test the ability of government to instill order and discipline will have themselves to blame. They will realise that government does not just have teeth, it can also bite.
As a national leader of APC, don’t you think Governor Nasir El Rufai is courting controversy over his comments on ending godfatherism in Lagos, a state controlled by APC?
That is why I said there is free speech. Why are Nigerians afraid of free speech? What sustains a democracy is free speech. Let me tell you, if you say you want to end godfatherism in a particular place and you are directing the statement at a particular person, or a particular person identified himself as the one being targeted, that particular person can attack you from all barrels which has been happening. So, what is the big deal? The weapons of war in a democracy are words. The things said are safe as long as they do not go beyond the use of words which I called free speech plus. In other words, instead of using words, you now carry a cutlass and start attacking another person, then that is freedom of expression taken too far or free speech plus.
Some people believed El- Rufai’ statement is targeted at Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and that he is only voicing out the feelings of some people in APC who are unhappy with Tinubu’s rising profile. Do you think this is true?
So, the meaning of godfatherism in Lagos is Tinubu? People are reading too many interpretations into issues. But one thing I know is that Tinubu is more than equipped to respond. He has an armoury bigger and stronger than any other individual armoury in APC. He has the media and followers everywhere. So, there is no need for worry because Tinubu can take care of himself.
There are already talks about the 2023 Presidency already, with people saying Tinubu and El-Rufai are desirous of succeeding President Buhari. Don’t you think it is too early?
It is very easy to become the President of Nigeria. If you are qualified educationally, mentally, you belong to a political party, if you are a citizen of Nigeria and you have the support of Nigerians. The criteria are listed in the constitution. The prayer for winning elections is in the votes. You must be voted for. When I was talking about Buhari winning the 2019 presidential elections, a lot of people were criticising me. I said the problem is that we have the above-the-radar situation and below-the-radar-situation. Above the radar situation is the noisy and cantankerous social media. Below the radar is the 65 percent people who doesn’t belong to any such body. These are the market women, rural dwellers and so on. I said these 65 percent are the most enlightened, especially these Hausa mai-guards because they have a listening radio where they listen to news. Before the elections, they know where they are voting and they will all move to that direction. I said that is where the strength of Buhari lies. He got 10 million votes in 2003. They said he has 6 million votes in 2007. In 2011, he had 12 million votes and in 2015, he had 15 million votes. This time around, he has 15 million plus votes. All these votes come from the below the radar situation. Some people who were shouting on social media that they will win, at the end of the day, they got all their votes on facebook and twitter but lost woefully on the election day.
But some Nigerians are of the view that President Buhari should handover to his vice, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo in order to ensure continuity. What is your perspective on that?
That is their opinion because it is not compulsory he hands over to his deputy. As far as I am concerned, he will hand over to the person who will win. Buhari cannot impose anybody on Nigerians as his successor. Whoever he will handover to will be the person who wins the presidential election in accordance with due process in the constitution and the Electoral Act.
We have the South- West, South- East and South-South-South. We even have the North. That the presidency is in the North now does not imply that the North will not be interested in the presidency of 2023. That will be the shock that Nigerians will have in 2023. There are 90 political parties and anybody who thinks he has the support can get up in the North and mobilise support among the political parties and contest and possibly win, irrespective of his political party. So, we are in a democracy. Anybody who is qualified to contest can do so and if he gets the support of Nigerians will win. Even when we zoned the presidency to a particular region, some people still got up and contested because they have the constitutional right.
(Daily Independent)
