…Says 99% of Tinubu’s ministers don’t have electoral value
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yekini Nabena, is known for his bluntness in appraising the political situation in the country.
Speaking to Sunday Sun in Abuja, the Bayelsa-born politician commented on various political issues in the country, including the consequences of his party turning Nigeria into a one-party state, the possible implosion due to the volume of politicians defecting into the party, his fears for the APC in the 2027 presidential election and the unfortunate situation of the current serving ministers, who he said lack electoral values.
Nabena, equally advised the duo of the 2023 presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi respectively not to re-contest in 2027 because they will not win against President Tinubu due to some reasons.
Are you surprised with the level of one party state your party is turning Nigeria into judging by the level of defections into the ruling party?
I am really surprised with the volume of defections in our party, the APC, but the truth is that these people joining our party will cause more problems for the party. I will give an example of the most recent one happening in Delta State. I don’t think our party’s National Chairman knows what he is doing. This is the point our party can decide whether we want someone or don’t want them. In Delta, we have the state governor and the former vice presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa, yet the state lost to the LP. As they are defecting, the biggest question is whether they are with the masses. They cannot claim to be defecting with the people. There is a difference between the masses and the people. When they defect with the people, political appointees to the APC, will they bring them to the APC? That means they are going to sack some of the Commissioners, leaving them unhappy. They will now form the opposition. Some of them will return to the PDP, because they didn’t get what they were looking for. I don’t know why APC is happy that the whole Delta State is joining the party yet this is a state that lost woefully to the LP. I personally don’t understand this whole joy about them defecting to the APC. The unanswered question is whether they are also defecting with the masses. As PDP, the people were not even able to feel them properly, is it now that they are entirely with the APC that Delta State can feel them? You will find out that Delta State defection will bring a lot of crisis to the ruling party. The power blocks are all from one Senatorial district, Central, comprising Omo-Agege, Chief Ibori, the State governor, Festus Keyamo among other powerful individuals are from that axis. It is the same thing with what is going to happen in Rivers State. The state used to produce 1.6 million votes previously but could only produce slightly above 200,000 votes. It is wrong to think that the people will not count because many of them are not defecting with the masses. APC should come up with a strategy on how to approach election differently than banking on the people defecting into the party. It is not about the names of the people defecting into the APC. We should learn from our loss in Lagos State despite all the big names we have there. The party leaders must think beyond those defecting.
What is your advice to the governors leaving their parties to join the APC?
Only the governors knew what is pursuing them. They are the ones wearing the shoes that know where it is paining them. We can see that they are always on the run to Abuja. May be they will open up one day to tell us their problems.
What is your advice to your Bayelsa State governor?
It is obvious that my governor has been knocking on the door but it seems the door has remained closed against him because he is a pathological betrayal. He betrayed the APC, betrayed Nyesom Wike, and betrayed his predecessors, including Seriake Dickson. He was among those that joined some APC members to fight us, the founding party members then. There are real and fake people in the APC. I don’t have any problem if my governor joins the APC. Since he is not going for another term, it makes it easier for our party to win the next governorship election in the state. There will be less election expenses because Bayelsa will become a one party state.
Will the defections help the APC win the 2027 presidential election?
That will be an erroneous impression and assumption because politics is not played that way. The 2027 presidential election will not be about those that defected into the APC because the defectors have various reasons for joining the APC, particularly for favourable selfish interest like securing political appointments or the other. The defections will not guarantee APC victory in the forthcoming presidential election. The question begging for an answer is the calibre of persons defecting. Are they not the same governors that lost to LP in their states during the 2023 general elections? What it means is that if LP can still replicate its magic in 2027, it can still win in those states. For example, the governor of Delta State is running away from his shadows having seen that three of his senators are already with the APC. The calculation is certainly not in his favour. The governor defected purely for selfish reason of his second term ticket. He won’t care about anything and will be ready to sacrifice his political appointees.
How do you feel watching almost all the opposition political parties engulfed in endless crises?
It shows that every political party has its time to experience implosion. It will certainly happen in the APC and the time will soon come. I am sure that APC will implode when the fight over sharing formula in the party starts. The founding members of the party who know the internal intrigues will wait for the new entrants trying to hijack the party.
Do you feel disturbed that PDP as the main opposition party can no longer organise itself?
Part of the problems of the party is the greed of the PDP governors. They cannot talk now because of the kind of funds they are receiving as federal allocations since the removal of the subsidy. They cannot fight or criticise the Federal Government because of the volume of funds given to them. That was why they could not put up strong resistance when Governor Sim Fubara was removed. Apart from being afraid of what will happen to their states, they also know that they are not representing the people but their own selfish interest. If they are doing well in their states they will not be in such a hurry to join the APC. Look at Anambra holding on to the APGA structure. LP still won Abia despite the power of incumbency against them. There are also many APC governors who lost the ticket to represent their people at the National Assembly. It is even going to be worse because they are not carrying the people along.
What do you think will play out in Governor Fubara’s case after the six-month period and why didn’t Ijaw ethnic nationality fight for him?
I don’t know what will finally play out, but I think they will definitely provide a soft landing for him. The Ijaws did not throw everything into the rings to fight for him because we were not there when they agreed. We are tired of involving ourselves in the fight we don’t know where it started. We won’t do so again. They cannot continue to deceive us with engaging in ethnic battle. The Ijaws were not there when Fubara signed agreement with Wike, but he wants the Ijaws to join him in the fight. Has the Rivers Ijaw ever supported Bayelsa Ijaw in anything or challenge they had previously? They have never supported Bayelsa Ijaw in any struggle even when we have supported them always. When they demolished Bayelsa Ijaw Lodge, no Rivers Ijaw said anything. It was the same Governor Fubara who commissioned the building for judges which replaced the lodge.
What are your fears for the APC not winning the 2027 presidential election?
My main fear is all these characters coming into our party now. I am afraid of these political vultures coming into our party and the effect it will have on the internal combustion of our party. My party needs to re-strategise ahead of the election. We won the 2023 presidential election without them, why do we think that we need them to win the forthcoming poll? Why should we allow them into the party without scrutinising them to know their electoral value? I think we are neglecting the masses and concentrating on these political vultures without much electoral value. We need the masses who can vote and protect their votes more than these so-called heavyweight politicians who have only one vote.
Are you expecting any party or candidate to spring up surprises in the 2027 presidential election as Peter Obi did in 2023?
My party should be ready for surprises based on what is happening and the situation in the country. Many people are not happy, many are suffering and many are unhappy with our party. Incidentally, some of the current Ministers are just deceiving Mr President about the reality of the situation in the country. About 90 to 99 per cent of the Ministers don’t have any electoral value and cannot even convince their people to get their votes at the grassroots. Apart from the former governor of Rivers State, Wike, who has actually transformed the FCT Abuja, and perhaps the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Ojo, his counterpart in the Ministry of Works, Dave Umahi, which other one can we single out as a performing Minister? How can they win the election when they arm themselves to the teeth while visiting their states? If they are on good terms with their people at home why should they visit their constituencies with a truckload of security agents? Many of them don’t relate with the people in their states and don’t even have electoral value at all. These sets of Ministers cannot bring electoral results to Mr. President.
What is your take on the anger of the northern region against President Tinubu?
It is their cup of tea. Why should they be angry just a few years of leaving office after eight years of being in charge? They don’t have any reason to complain. As a Niger Deltan, I can tell you that we did not benefit from the regime of Muhammadu Buhari and we are not benefitting from the leadership of President Tinubu. Since it is the constitutional right of every state to produce a Minister, don’t tell me you have done us a favour by giving the states in the South-south their statutory ministerial slots. Some states even produced two ministers but no state in the Niger Delta produced two Ministers since Cross River did not get a replacement after the sack of Beta Edu. Some statutory positions and appointments must come from the Niger Delta too. NDDC, Amnesty, for example, must be given to the Niger Delta not a northerner. Now, apart from that which other appointments did they give to the Niger Delta people? What happened to other appointments like the GMD NNPCL, which ought to be given to the Niger Delta that produces all the oil and gas? Why are they not the heads? And don’t even tell us that we held the position of Minister of State for Petroleum Resources previously and now, because the President is actually in charge as the substantive Minister. No state in the Niger Delta has been in charge instead they brought someone from Kwara State or the North. Nobody is doing the Niger Delta any good by giving us the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources. The appointments they are giving to the Niger Delta are only the statutory ones. Pipeline surveillance, for example, must be given to the Niger Deltans. If not to Tompolo, then to Asari or others because they know where those pipelines are buried.
Did El-Rufai leaving the APC surprise you?
Why will I be surprised? When you have people that are not stable, you cannot get less. He was in power under Buhari, dictating the shots, but just a few years down the line out of power, he is already agitating. He was the one who even announced that everyone should step down for President Tinubu. But, why is he then worried now? At what point did they fall out or is it because he did not get the ministerial appointment? I have asked this question repeatedly without getting an answer. If he was appointed the minister, Chief of Staff, or the SGF will he be agitating as he is currently doing to the point of even leaving the party? If he did not attack the Buhari-led government with all these criticisms from him now, why should he do it under President Tinubu? Does it mean that the North cannot wait and support others? Curiously, they are angry with this government that is not even up to four years. They dictated the shot for eight years under Buhari, the gods of the land should be angry with them for this agitation.
As an APC member, are you aware that Nigerians are angry?
I am very much aware because I am still on the streets. I am not APC on the top; I am more of APC on the ground. I should know that Nigerians are angry and bitter because there is poverty in the land. The mistake we make again is to blame the situation on the Buhari-led government, forgetting that it is the same government under the same political party. In fact, some persons like Keyamo even served under the two administrations.
Will you advise Atiku or Peter Obi to contest the 2027 presidential election?
I will advise them not to contest. Atiku, for example, has tried his best and more importantly, he should know that it is not yet the turn of the North. If he had listened to the advice to him not to contest previously, he would have been in a better position to contest. One of the biggest mistakes they are making is thinking that the North holds the ultimate power to decide Nigeria’s political future. It is not true. They kept brandishing the erroneous impression that the North had population strength. That impression has lasted because when they were busy manipulating the figures, the Southerners were busy sleeping. But now, they are all awake and it will no longer be business as usual. They told us that Kano has 42 Local Government Areas (LGAs) but how possible is that and from what population? They should even be grateful that the LGAs are receiving allocations from the Federal Government based on that LGA numerical consideration. I have suggested that the Federal Government should give the funds to the states to disburse to whichever number of LGAs they claim to have. That is the best thing to do instead of people creating a large number of LGAs to use it to collect funds from the Federal Government. That is even part of the reason the governors don’t want to let go of the LGA administration. It is for that simple reason that they collect all those funds from the LGAs. How can a state like Bayelsa, Delta, and others be producing the oil sustaining the country only for almost all the funds to be given to other states based on the fact that they have more LGAs? As for my advice as to whether Obi should contest, I will say that having missed that shot in 2023, after doing all they could, he should not contest again because he may not be twice as lucky. His party didn’t have the real politicians to finalise the election for them. The experience of the APC members was his greatest undoing. He now understands that it is more than bringing forensic experts from the USA and Europe. Every election is local, and those foreigners cannot come and change anything in Nigerian politics. They can only observe, make noise, and write reports, but they can never change anything. There is little or nothing they can do because Nigeria is a country. Incidentally, we saw what happened even in the American election concerning the speculated involvement of Russia in their recent poll.
(Sunday Sun)
