By Christy Anyanwu (The Sun)

Veteran journalist and Publisher, Ovation Magazine, Chief Dele Momodu, is a former presidential aspirant and a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). He has been one of the consistent voices against what he terms bad policies and actions of the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview, he spoke on the Tinubu administration, the opposition ADC, the 2027 elections and other issues of national importance.

What are your concerns about the 2027 general election? Do you have any fear?

I have no fear whatsoever, though there’s a bit of agitation everywhere. If you ask most people, they would tell you, Oh, Asiwaju will rig the election. They are sure Tinubu will do this and that. He has the power of life and death and so on and so forth, but I’m not bothered. As you get older in life, you begin to understand the God factor better. I believe that whatever APC likes, let them do. When it is God’s time, he will push them out and I think, this 2027, we are closer to it than ever.

You are in the ADC, and your party says the challenges and troubles in the party were created by the ruling party. Could you explain that?

I said APC, whether they like it or not, the whole world knows that they have failed. And now the people are thinking it is political parties that chase away government? No, it is not parties; it is the people. When the people rise up and say it was the people that chased away PDP that time, it was the people. In this case, those who will chase Tinubu and APC away are not just members of ADC. They are Nigerians who are fed up, completely fed up, who will look back at the last three or four years and ask pertinent questions like, Was my life better in 2023 than it is in 2027? Was security much better in 2023 than it is in 2027? Was electricity better? Was water better? Was infrastructure better? Was our foreign policy better? Was the quality of ministers better? When you answer all those questions, you will see that the majority of the answers will be no, no, no. And that is what will determine why people will vote them out.

Whenever you talk about voting APC out, voting Tinubu out, many people are like, Dele Momodu was very close to Asiwaju. What actually happened?

Nothing is happening. It is nothing personal. I love Asiwaju as a person but I have always maintained that I do not like dictatorship. And that is the main issue. I wish he would just perform well, instead of wasting money up and down, chasing shadows and all that, instead of just settling down to work. If he works well, it will be palpable. Everybody would see it. And Nigerians are not expecting miracles from Asiwaju. They just want the basic necessities of life. If he works, you will see it. Go to other countries in Africa and see how they are making progress. Here, we are just wasting money. Today, it is City Boys, tomorrow, it is City Girls. The profligacy is horrendous. You asked me, is Asiwaju not my friend and brother and everything? Yes, he is. I will never deny him. He is a good man. He is a nice man. But that does not make him a good leader. He is a great politician who knows how to manoeuvre his way and everything, but that does not make him a good leader, because leadership is not about politics. Leadership is about managing people and resources. And I don’t think he has managed our resources well. That is the truth. Only a true friend will tell you the truth. Everybody goes to him because their lives depend on him. They need one thing or the other, they will tell him lies. When tomorrow comes, they will dump him. When Buhari was there, when he was in power, everybody, including Tinubu, was praising him. After he left, they started blaming him for handing over a useless government to them. That is what they will do to Asiwaju whenever he leaves. I don’t know when, but he will leave one day. And you will see the true colour of human beings then. They will say the most horrendous things about him. I have no doubt about that. That’s when you will hear that EFCC is chasing him, chasing his family, chasing everybody. Why don’t you end that rat race? Just end it. Don’t victimize anybody. How could Nasir El-Rufai have done all he did for Asiwaju and the guy today is being harassed, and they pretend they know nothing about it? It’s because he committed an offence. When they put his name among nominees for the cabinet, you know, he was supposed to be a minister. He went for screening, then, suddenly, they said he wasn’t cleared by the security people. Who is fooling who?

As the 2027 elections approach, more problems are emerging in the ADC. Some people are claiming ownership of the party. There are issues of recognition by INEC and so on. Are you people going to merge with another party or what?

Let me tell you, I’m very worried about media coverage in Nigeria, especially political coverage. Because the questions you are asking me, I believe, should not have been asked. There are more issues within APC than you have in ADC. But because APC is in power, you all tend to pamper them and focus all attention on the opposition. In my own generation, journalists were more for opposition, for the betterment of the country. But today I don’t know why. And I will now give you a reason I am saying what I am saying. APC has problems everywhere. If you go today to Benue State, they are fighting in the party. APC members are fighting all over. In fact, in Ogun State, just yesterday, they locked out Otunba Gbenga Daniel. They were having a stakeholders’ meeting or whatever they call it and they locked him out. A former governor. Is that not APC? In Lagos State, nobody can utter a whimper. In Lagos right now, nobody is secure in the party. Those who were hoping to contest, the former governor, Akin Ambode, we were hearing he wanted to come back. We were hearing that even Gbajabiamila wanted to contest. We were hearing all sorts of things. We were hearing that Alausa, Minister of Education, wanted to contest. The President just gave an instruction and, right now, nobody is able to pursue their own ambition.

In Ogun State, the Lagos style has crept in. Suddenly, the President has chosen one man for Ogun State. I have nothing against the man. He’s my friend. He’s my brother. I have nothing against him but that system is tyrannical, where one man takes every decision. They have issues. People are grumbling. People are fighting. Some people have even taken APC to court in some states. So, I dare INEC to derecognise APC leadership. Some people even took the chairman of APC to court. Have you heard anything about it? No. Every day, what I hear on television is, ‘ADC, you have too many internal problems.’ Who doesn’t have problems? In the case of ADC, one man, or, maximum, three men, from nowhere, said the party belonged to them. So, right now, in order to kill any political party in Nigeria, all it takes is to raise one disgruntled man and say he’s a faction, and journalists, too, will start addressing him as a faction. Where on earth can one man just stand up, because he’s angry, he’s disgruntled, he’s bitter, he’s enraged, and then you call him a faction, a factioner? PDP, factions. Labour Party, factions. ADC, factions. And that’s how journalists have connived, by using these descriptions and adjectives, to justify murder in Nigeria. When we all kill this democracy, history will remember all of us, because journalists are the ones who should educate everyone. When did one man become one faction in a party? And, we all promote it.

When they talk about zoning, and it’s the turn of the South, when, tell me, when in Nigeria was it written in the Constitution of Nigeria that it’s the turn of the South? Tell me, I’m asking you, when? You cannot answer. In eight years of the North, whether the President passes or not, whether we have better candidates from other regions or not, no, now the only qualification is where you come from. So, if a man fails the exam, you will promote him because he’s the only southerner in the race. He has spent four years, let him finish his remaining four years; why are we so stupid? Why are we so docile? Why are we so backward? If you don’t agree with that, then they say, one man is too old, it doesn’t matter if the President is older or not, or if he’s healthier or not, we should beg him not to contest. When did we get to that level where you discourage people from pursuing their own dreams in life? I’ve never seen anything like this.

Joe Biden was much older than Barack Obama, he served under Obama and, later, at his age, he was in his 80s, he was President of America. It’s the same thing today with Donald Trump. Trump was removed in 2020. He’s back today. Now, people say Atiku should not run, he’s old. When did age alone become a crime? Are we not all wishing to be old one day? If God has blessed you with good health, will you kill yourself? Something is wrong with us, some people are manipulating our brains and we’re all behaving like ‘mumu’. Let everybody run, that’s democracy. I don’t care who gets the ticket of ADC. I swear to God Almighty, I don’t care. But let everybody go and fight for it and then tell us your qualifications, why you think you are better than the other candidates. It’s as simple as that. It is not just about, oh, this is where I come from, oh, it is the turn of the South. It is stupidity of the highest order that we are displaying, and the whole world is so ashamed of us, that Nigeria has not gone beyond this level of ethnicity and religion.

Now that you have mentioned Atiku, it’s a known fact that your preferred candidate in ADC is Atiku…

There’s no question about that: he’s my preferred candidate. But I don’t care if someone else might beat him. I don’t care. That’s why I’m different. I like Atiku for his credentials, for the things I have seen, for the things that I now know about him, I have followed him since when he stepped down for Chief Moshood Abiola in 1993 in Jos. I have followed him with keen interest. I don’t see any politician at his level who is able to manage his own business without living fat off Nigeria. Atiku left power in 2007. Have you heard that he controls any state in Nigeria, where he can go and take money like some people are doing in some states? These are little, little things that we should appreciate. He is not desperate, you will not find a vault in front of his house, you will not hear that he’s planning to go and rig at INEC. Why don’t we appreciate good people in Nigeria? Must we waste and sacrifice all our good people on the altar of greed, nepotism and all that? What is his offence? In 2019, Atiku gave Peter Obi a national platform. Bloggers kicked against him, they fought him. Today, some people say they are supporting Obi, abusing, attacking and insulting the man every day. I can never support that. Never!

I don’t have more than one vote but when people do what I feel is beneath us, we speak up. The same way I am complaining about Tinubu today, about the dictatorship, about everything, if I see the same thing with Atiku in the future, I will talk.

Really?

Did I not talk when Buhari’s people were misbehaving? I was one of those who supported Buhari but, within two months, I tendered a public apology. I will never support tyrannical behaviour and say, because I like Atiku, Atiku can say anything and do anything. Not me. If you ask him, he will tell you that Dele respects himself. I respect myself. I don’t follow people blindly.

Some people say you’re with Atiku because of his money…

Does Atiku have one per cent of Tinubu s money? Why do we talk this way? Go and ask Atiku, if I’m one of those scavengers who will beg Atiku. What money has he got more than the federal government, more than the state governments, more than all the governors in Nigeria? So, because of Atiku s money, that’s why I’m following Atiku? (Laughs) Oh my God!

What’s your assessment of Tinubu’s fight against corruption in Nigeria?

The only thing I’m interested in about Tinubu is the condition of the people. Whether he is fighting corruption or not, when tomorrow comes, you will see the truth. Every government comes and they say they are fighting corruption, when, at the end of the day, the majority of the fight is about witch-hunt. I am not interested, please. I don’t follow pretence and I don’t enjoy it.  There’s nobody in Nigeria who does not know those who have unlimited or unrestricted access to the resources of Nigeria but they are untouchable. That’s fine.

Let’s talk about the insecurity confronting the nation. People are still dying every day. What’s your advice?

What advice can I give when all the governors are there? They just killed someone, a driver, around Edo State. Did Edo not promise to deliver three million votes to those who cannot protect lives and property? So, how do I talk about such things? Look, when we are ready, we will know what to do. We all know that we are not ready. Nigerians are not ready, especially our leaders who are desperate only to remain in power. They are not interested in anything else. How many people have you heard that Tinubu sacked in the military or in the police for incompetence?

What’s your take on Tinubu’s recent state visit to the UK?

In terms of sound and fury, it was okay. That’s what they wanted. They wanted people who would validate them and they got a willing partner in our people in England. That’s okay. Congratulations to them. But I don’t think that will change anything back home. They came back with more debts. Congratulations.

What do you mean?

Is that not what they reported? Did you not read about it?

It is said that Nigeria will gain a lot from that visit…

You can put out that you ‘think’ Nigeria will gain something. I told you they gained more debts. Is that not good news?

Culled from The Sun