Chief Olu Falae, a prominent member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) during the quest for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria, in this interview with KATE ANI, throws more light on how he contested the 1999 presidential election on the joint platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the All Peoples Party (APP) against Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He also speaks on other national issues. Excerpts:
Do you think the 1999 presidential primary wherein you were voted as the Alliance for Democracy (AD) presidential candidate contributed to the demise of the party?
The process of forming the alliance between AD and APP (All Peoples Party) was rather contentious. It became contentious when it became clear that the alliance partners favoured me to be the joint presidential candidate. There were people who were not happy about that, like the late Chief Bola Ige and some party supporters. From that moment, there was insipient disagreement within the party. Chief Bola Ige was at the very centre of the negotiation for the alliance. After I was released from detention, I went abroad for medical check-up and Chief Bola Ige and others started the alliance discussion. Of course, the presumption was that it would favour him. I decided talking to the alliance partners and after they indicated their preference, things were not what they should be. At the end of the day, it was agreed that the alliance would zone the presidential ticket to the South-West, in consideration of the June 12 crisis.
Afenifere had to organise a South-West primary to pick a candidate for the alliance which took place in Ibadan (Oyo State). There were 23 elders elected by the Afenifere leaders to take decision as to which of us would be the candidate. When Afenifere leaders were composing the committee of 23 that would do the selection, Chief Ige was present and he participated in the meeting. At some point, he was challenged by Bola Tinubu who felt that since he was a contestant, it was not proper that he participated in the selection of those who would vote for either him or me, but he insisted that as the deputy leader of Afenifere, he had the right to attend every meeting, regardless of the purpose it was convened for. So, he stayed on and joined the other leaders in selecting the 23 people that became the electoral college to pick either me or him as candidate. Some names were mentioned as possible participants in the electoral college, Ige objected and the leaders dropped those names. He said those people were opposed to him. In other words, he only supported those who he thought would vote for him, but the deck was clearly loaded against me and I was not at the meeting. But despite that, the men voted by 14 to 9 to nominate me to be the consensus candidate. Ige didn’t take kindly to it at all. I made overtures to him. I went to his home in Ibadan, accompanied by some leaders and friends. I appealed to him to accept the outcome of the electoral process and he said he would work with me but his resentment never faded. Many things happened.
Even after the election, the resentment continued and eventually, he was offered the post of minister under (former president) Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, but he was advised against it; that it meant him going into a government made up of people who had been our traditional political opponents and that it would not be a happy experience for him. This was at the Afenifere meeting, held in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State. I was not at the meeting, but I was briefed. He insisted that he had the right to accept any job he wanted. He accepted the job and after a year or two, he saw the light and decided to resign but, unfortunately, he was assassinated before he could do that. Afenifere leaders made efforts to save the party. They held meetings, apart from the one I initiated at Ige’s house in Ibadan, to persuade him to accept the outcome. There were other meetings in Ijebu-Igbo to bring the party together, but he was implacable because he felt he was more qualified than me. Even after his death, a new polarisation surfaced when two good friends, Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Mojisola Akinfenwa, wanted to be chairman of AD. Afenifere leaders advised them not to hold separate conventions because once they did that, there would be two parties, and that was what happened. We didn’t go to any of the conventions that produced two excos. After doing the damage, they came back to Afenifere to say ‘please, link us together.’ I can count 12 meetings which I participated in to bring the two sides together. Today, they would say, ‘yes, whatever you decide, we will agree,’ tomorrow, they would say no. Finally, the former governors led by Tinubu pulled out of the party altogether and formed what they called Action Congress of Nigeria. At some point, the Afenifere leadership had to take a stand after six years of fruitless mediation. Elections were pending and INEC said at that time that it was Senator Mojisola Akinfenwa’s faction that they recognised as the official AD. Now, for those who wanted to contest the election, they needed a platform recognised by INEC and for that reason, Afenifere endorsed Akinfenwa’s platform since that was the platform recognised by INEC. That was the breaking point. The other side said to hell with us. They went ahead and formed their own party, ACN.
In fact, at one point, Afenifere leaders want to Mrs HID Awowlowo and asked her to intervene and she agreed. She gave both factions the date and time to come to Ikenne. We, Afenifere leaders, went to Ikenne and Mama said, ‘Oh! Bola Tinubu and his people came yesterday.’ I said, ‘Mama, did you give them a different date?’ She said no. I guess they decided to come before us to avoid meeting us and they told all kinds of lies. They couldn’t face us because they were coming to tell lies. We were upset about it because we wanted the two factions to be present. Apparently, for them not to appear to disobey Mama, they came before us to sabotage the meeting. After some time, they turned against Mama, got someone in their paper to write trash against her and the rest is history. We tried but, you see, Tinubu is not a team player, he is one of these younger generations of politicians who want 100 per cent and when you deal with a man who wants 100 per cent, there can be no negotiation. Negotiation means give and take, but when a person does not give at all, not even one, there is bound to be a misunderstanding. In summary, we were dealing with people who didn’t give. They wanted to take and take. The last straw was the aborted meeting which they arranged at Premier Hotel, Ibadan. They used the late Lere Adebayo to arrange the meeting. We went there but five of them, including Tinubu, Chief Olusegun Osoba, Lere Adebayo were not there. It was only the late Alhaji Lam Adesina that was present. That was a big insult to us. At that point, we said, ‘enough, you can’t force people to play politics with you.’ They think they can do it all by themselves, that they don’t need you, your wisdom, your credibility, or whatever.
What is your relationship with Tinubu now?
We were not friends; it was politics that brought us together, so, I have no relationship with him now. The last time we spoke was about four years ago, when he sent two people to me, including former governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi, to appeal to me, that he respected me. I told him I had no problem with him. They called him and they gave me the phone, and I told him, ‘Bola, I have no problem with you.’ I think he wanted to be vice president to Buhari at that point. I think he went to Buhari and Buhari asked him, ‘have you cleared this with Chief Olu Falae?’ He said no and he told him to go back home. That was why he sent those two people to me. I told him that I won’t stand in his way, that I didn’t have any problem with him. In fact, I used to like him very much and he knew it. You know, I was one of those people who God used to make Tinubu governor of Lagos State. The AD primary of 1999 produced the late Chief Funsho Williams as candidate, not Tinubu. There were disruptions in two local governments, Mainland and Ikorodu, which made the result a bit contentious and Afenifere set up a panel to know what happened, but somehow, Papa Abraham Adesanya presented Tinubu as the candidate but clearly, it was Funsho who won. I drove down to Lagos, saw Papa Adesanya and offered to intervene and he agreed. So, I invited Tinubu and Williams to my house the following day, but that evening, I called Funsho to see me alone and he came and told me that he won the election. I said, ‘yes, you did, but our leader, Papa Adesanya has already presented Tinubu as our candidate.’ The Yoruba say that Awo lo n gbe awo ni igbowo. Ti awo o ba gbe awo ni igbowo, awo a te… Papa was our leader during the crisis and struggle, assassins fired nine bullets at him but none hit him. For most people, that would be the end of the struggle, but he stood his ground and stayed with us till the very end. I thought that a man like that should not be embarrassed or disgraced, having presented Tinubu. I persuaded Funsho to accept that and he agreed. The following day, both of them came with their supporters. We spent an hour in my living room in Victoria Island and Funsho agreed to step down for Tinubu, unconditionally. They went outside. The press was waiting. They announced to the press that we had resolved the matter and they asked who would run. Funsho answered that Tinubu would run. It was on the front page of every newspaper. So, I believed the Lord used me because Funsho was far more popular than Tinubu, better liked and more accepted in Lagos. But when he became governor, he turned his back on everybody.
The shadow election in which you defeated Chief Bola Ige was controversial…
It was not controversial…
How much did you pay each delegate?
This is the most insulting question I have ever heard. Who could you pay in that panel? Was it Papa Solanke Onasanya, who was 85 years old, or Odebiyi, who was minister when I was in secondary school, or Senator Ayo Fasanmi? I have never given or taken a bribe all my life. Everybody knew that no money changed hands. Even when I was contesting, I sold myself and my programme, not one naira. It never crossed my mind. Like I said earlier, Bola Ige took part in choosing the 23 people who would vote for us. It was unfair, to me, but he did something which I did not do: he took everybody for granted. He had been in partisan politics longer than me. He thought because of that, they would vote for him, but I took nothing for granted. I went to each and every one of the 23 people to woo them, to explain why I was running, why I thought I could make a good president. I told them about my programmes, sector by sector, from education and health to industry and agriculture, what I would do if I became president. And I think I was able to convince most of them that I would make a better president than Ige. In politics, you don’t take anybody for granted, not even your wife. In that enclosure, she is free to vote for whoever she wants. We are in a democracy. I even went to those who I knew would never vote for me, like Papa Alayande. He was the principal of Ibadan Grammar School. He admitted Bola Ige to that school and taught him. I knew he was Ige’s man, but I still went to him and said, ‘Papa, mo mo pe omo yin ni Bola Ige. I am one of your children too. My wife attended Ibadan Grammar School. You taught my wife. My brother-in-law was your staff member. I too have had a personal relationship with you over the years.’ My agenda would be a Yoruba agenda. I had no personal agenda different from what we all wanted. I knew he won’t vote for me, but as a sign of respect and recognition, I still went to see him. Apart from my campaign and his refusal to campaign, he lost the contest 20 years before. I will explain that to you: In 1979, Papa Obafemi Awolowo wanted Alayande to be governor of Oyo State, to reward him for the many years of loyalty and hard work in the Action Group, but Ige refused to step down for him. He could have stepped down out of respect for Chief Awolowo, who wanted Alayande. He could have done that in response to the committee of elders sent to plead with him, but he stood his ground. They organised the primary and Ige defeated Alayande, became governor and appointed him (Alayande) as his adviser.
I have been in politics since 1999 and I never worked for returns. I had my own personal business. I sold properties in Lagos and Abuja. I was into real estate. If I was looking for returns, I would have withdrawn long ago. I ran for president. I won. They gave it to Obasanjo, but my commitment goes beyond holding an office.
You just said you won the election but they gave it to Obasanjo?
Yes, indeed
What happened?
I have said it before and I will say it again. The election took place between 1983 and 1999, during 16 years of military rule and Nigerians were sick and tired of them. Wherever you went, people were shouting, ‘no more soldier, no more army’ all over Nigeria. The early result of the election was sent to me and I was leading in every part of Nigeria. It wasn’t close at all. For example, Imo State had 22 local governments then and before I went to bed on the day of the election, the result of the election in 16 local governments had been declared and I won in all of them with a wide margin. If Obasanjo got 50 votes, I got 200. That was the kind of margin we had; it was not close at all. But when I woke up, Obasanjo had ‘won’ in Imo State. He had ‘won’ every vote cast in all the remaining six local governments. He ‘won’ more votes than the number of registered voters in the six local governments. In fact, in other states, he scored more votes than what was registered. I went to court and G. O. K. Ajayi presented the case, that in places where more votes were recorded than the people that voted, the results should be annulled. My votes were manipulated. For example, they would say Olu Falae’s result in figure is 17, 500 but in word, it would read, one hundred and seventy-five thousand and the two were on the same piece of paper. They showed it to the court. G. O. K. proved to the court that I won by 1.5 million votes. Also, he argued that the Electoral Act had a provision that anybody who canvassed for votes on the day of election would stand disqualified. On the day of election, Obasanjo advertised in Vanguard newspaper for votes. I called the chairman of INEC and drew his attention to it. He said that would be a legitimate ground for election petition. I cited all this in court, but the court said there was no evidence that Obasanjo benefitted from the advertisement. They were scared of me and were not sure I would not probe them. They thought only a soldier could guarantee their safety. Ambassador Dehinde Fernandez persuaded me not to go to court and let it go. Many of those in government then apologised to me. They said they thought Obasanjo would be a different kind of person. I told them to be sorry for Nigerians. Obasanjo wasted our slot fighting imaginary enemies. What can you point as his permanent contribution or legacy? They said he brought mobile phone. Mobile phone was a private investment and what enabled him to allow service providers to come in was the adoption of a privatisation and commercialisation policy of General Ibrahim Babangida, which threw open the economy. Before Babangida came, we had only one airline in the country, the Nigerian Airways; only one telephone company, NITEL. General Babngida said, ‘Let’s throw it open. Let’s have a private provider of telephone, airlines, etc. That was the policy that enabled Obasanjo to let those people to come in. Even the policy decision was not his, it was that of the Babangida’s regime, in which I was Secretary to the Federal Government. That is the only thing they say he did.
Where does your political allegiance lie presently?
I am the national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), late Chief Moshood Abiola’s party.
Is the party still in existence? Most people think the party died when Abiola died?
We are contesting in a local government election on Saturday (today). I just came from Warri, Delta State. We don’t have billions to throw around and make a lot of noise on television, but it is the party of Nigeria tomorrow. It is the only party that has a defined ideology. We recently formed an alliance with other progressive individuals and deregistered political groups and parties. We want to make a point that the political game in Nigeria does not start and end with PDP and APC, that there is a credible alternative and alliance made up of SDP, National Conscience Party (NCP), Fresh Party, DPP and leaders like former governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa. We want to give Nigerians an alternative to these two corrupt parties. They rig elections when they are in control. When you rig election, it means you have no respect for the people. In other words, the people’s political decisions mean nothing to them.
Should President Goodluck Jonathan run in 2015?
If he wants to, why not? It is his constitutional right to seek a second term. If he decides not to run, that would be his decision. To become president is the decision of the people, but he has the right to run if he wants to. Why do you think he should not run?
Some would say Afenifere, to which you belong, has been bought by President Jonathan, that you have been too pro-Federal Government?
Me or Afenifere, because we were not pro-APC? APC broke away from us. They rubbished us. Bola Tinubu came here during the last governorship election and insulted me and Papa Fasoranti, the leader of Afenifere, for supporting Mimiko for second term. First of all, we are not members of his party. We never promised to support him or his candidate. We took no money from him, so, there was no basis at all. We criticise government policies whenever there is the need to do so. But when you do so, you offer a positive alternative. I have never indulged in a constructive criticism of any party. I don’t even talk about the opponent; I talk about myself and my programmes. Olusegun Agagu was governor of PDP for six years and I never criticised him once. Did that mean I supported him? No. Some of us, you have to look at our status, what we were. I had the privilege of being the SGF (Secretary to the Government of the Federation), Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Federal Permanent Secretary for five years, Director of Economic Planning for Nigeria, Managing Director of Merchant Bank, the first and only Nigerian to be sponsored for presidency by two political parties. In the light of all this, I can’t behave like any rabble on the street, making frivolous comments and criticising people. If I feel unhappy about a government policy, if I had a channel, I would reach out to the government, whether it is of my party or another party and advise it.
Given my age and my status. I am a traditional ruler of Ilu Abo. I am an oba but I don’t wear the regalia. I am also 76 now. So, in the light of all this, can I afford to be shouting like any other person? I can’t. If Jonathan does something wrong and I have to react to him, I have many channels through which I can reach him to advise him rather than go to the newspapers. You see, many of those statements in the newspapers are self-serving, designed to publicise the speaker rather than correct a wrong policy. The fact that we don’t abuse the Federal Government does not mean we are pro-Jonathan.
What do you make of Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s defection to PDP?
He has exercised his personal prerogative. Every Nigerian has a right to belong to the party of his choice. But I have never defected from my party and its generic successor but others are free to do what they think is right for them. It makes no difference to me who is ruling and under which party, as long as they are doing the right thing.
You were Secretary to the Government of the Federation during General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime and known to be very close to him. How did you meet him? What or who was the link?
I had been going to meetings of the Federal Executive Council with my permanent secretary, when General Yakubu Gowon was head of state, in 1969. At some point, after the death of General Murtala Mohammed, Olusegun Obasanjo became head of state and Babangida would come into the ruling council, so, we knew each other from a distance. There was no close relationship, but we knew each other in that official setting. When Alhaji Shehu Shagari became president, within a year, I decided to retire from the civil service because I was not satisfied with the post I was given. I am a professional economist. I have a BSc degree in Economics from London University, England, Master’s degree in Economics from Yale University, United States of America. To be sent to the Ministry of Environment to train typist, to me, was the limit, so, I decided to retire. I retired and became the Managing Director of Nigeria Merchant Bank. When I was at the bank, Babangida became head of state. Someone named Tunji Olagunju, whom I knew when I was working with Obasanjo, came. By the way, when Obasanjo was military head of state, I was his permanent secretary, working with him on the economy. We quarrelled most of the time.
Over what?
Over policy matters. If you advised him and he didn’t like the idea, he would want you to change it and I would tell him, ‘No, if you don’t like it, give me your own directives and I will carry it out. You are the boss.’ But that story is for another day. Olagunju was then working with General Babangida as one of his aides. He came to the bank where I was working and said the president had mandated him to offer me the post of Secretary to the Government of the Federation and I rejected it. I had retired from the civil service and was enjoying myself in the banking sector and the bank was doing very well. I was being paid five times more than what I was earning in the civil service. I consulted a few friends and they told me to be very careful with the military. They felt that if you don’t work with them, it means you don’t like them and the bank was owned 60 per cent by the government. So, after their advice, I accepted on the condition that I would not resign from the bank; that they should approach the board of the bank and persuade them to release me to them on secondment. I told them that I would not like to be paid by the government, stay in government quarters or use any of their vehicles. They got my bank to agree to that and I joined them. The five years I was with Babangida, I was not paid one kobo by the government, by choice. I thought I would not last more than a year because we might disagree on matters which might force me to resign on principles. If I resigned, I wanted to go back to my banking job, to continue living in my own house. One of the things that can prevent someone from resigning is the thought of what to do the following day, where to go to from there to earn an income. If you are living on government income and you are shown the way out, where would your wife and kids go? I decided to stay in my own house to guarantee myself independence. I was given an official residence in Ikoyi, Lagos, which I didn’t use. I could have moved in there and leased my properties in Victoria Island which was worth N10 million for five years in those days. But I sacrificed that income to be able to resign if I had to. So, working in Babangida’s government didn’t give me any financial reward whatsoever. When you work for them, you would be tied down. When principle demands that you go, you won’t be able to go because of the money they are giving you. Most Nigerians didn’t know that some of us made that kind of sacrifice out of choice. I refused to accept salary due to me, is there any likelihood of me stealing what does not belong to me?
So, what was the experience like working with him?
Very rewarding. Babangida is one of the most interesting individuals you can work with. He is a military man, but very civil. He respects people. He is the best listener I have ever met. IBB would listen to you for two hours without interrupting you, unlike other military officers who would shout and bark at you. He never raised his voice in anger. He never said one rude word to me in five years. He was polite but very sharp. He saw quickly, the heart of the matter and he was very appreciative of services rendered to him. He never failed to say thank you. What is more? His public relations was first class. More than one occasion, he reminded me of my wife’s birthday and he would have a present for her. I may not even remember, but he would remind me. That was very touching and civilised. If you gave a proposal to Obasanjo and he didn’t like it, he would shout and scream at you but Babangida would rather not do anything about it; he would just leave it on his table to perish there or call me and say, ‘Olu, what you proposed is quite right, but I have a problem and I intend to solve it by doing something different and I want you to agree with that.’ I prefer that. The only drawback was that he could quickly change his mind. He would agree on something tonight and the next morning, something else would be done. He listened to too many people and tried to please them. That sometimes got him in a corner and it was part of my duty to assist him get out of there.
What do you think Jonathan is not doing right in tackling security challenges in the country?
They should have launched a full-scale war on the insurgents long ago…
That means you don’t believe in the Federal Government’s decision on granting them amnesty?
Who are they? Do you know them? You give amnesty to those you know, to those whose grievance you are aware of, who are ready to negotiate with you to come to an agreement. But those who say education is evil, a sin and we say education is the way forward to our future, where is the meeting point? It’s like negotiation between darkness and light. In the absence of light is darkness and vice versa. So, by definition, the two cannot coexist.This is not like the Niger Delta problem where people were agitating for a greater control over their resources. These are political matters that can be negotiated. What are the issues that Boko Haram is putting on the table?
So, what are you proposing?
They should fight and destroy them. That is what I would have done from day one if I were President Jonathan. When your dog goes mad, you shoot it. Your dog is your best friend, but once it goes mad, there is no communication between you and that dog. You either destroy it or it will destroy you. I would have finished this long ago but sadly, al-Qaeda has bought into it. What started as a local thing in Borno State to intimidate people to get political advantage over opponents has now been internationalised. They are now more equipped, armed and connected with the international terrorist organisations and now more difficult and complex to deal with. I would have declared war on them. After fighting them, if they then express the wish to negotiate and come back home, I would gladly agree. Fighting and negotiation must go together.
But don’t you think when you declare full-scale war on them, the military might end up killing innocent civilians in the process and Jonathan could be accused of extrajudicial killing by the international court?
Americans are bombing ISIS people in Kobani right now. There are no civilians being killed but the insurgents. Of course, in any war, there would be unfortunate deaths, what they call collateral damage. Look at the number of people that have been killed by the insurgents since then – bomb blasts, going to villages and killing people, going to schools in the night and shooting people in their beds, taking girls and raping them. I mean… excuse me! Is this a better option? They should have fought them and ended the whole thing within three to six months. I am convinced that a serious military onslaught would have finished the thing within six months, before they started getting help from abroad. As long as they get help, they can resupply themselves and continue to kill people.
Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose, has been in the news lately. What advice do you have for him?
I will advise him when next I see him. He has been here before. If he comes again, I will advise him, but I won’t do that through newspaper, because it is not the way I advise politicians. The last time he came to see me as governor, I advised him and he accepted and worked on it. So, I am waiting for our next meeting to advise him.
Your critics would say that the Structural Adjustment Programme you midwived actually destroyed Nigeria’s economy. What can you say to that?
Anybody who says that is an idiot, who doesn’t understand what it was all about. First of all, what made the Structural Adjustment Programme necessary? Shehu Shagari’s government piled up trade arrears running into tens of billions of naira, between $25 billion and $30 billion in four years. We imported more goods into Nigeria whose value was 30 billion higher than the total amount of anything we were earning. We could not pay for the goods we brought in. Those were the people who called the Structural Adjustment Programme to become inevitable. It was like you are overdrawing your account and your bank manager says if your salary comes in, you won’t be able to withdraw because you haven’t cleared the debts. That was what happened to Nigeria under Shagari. General Muhammadu Buhari came and reduced the value of licence we were issuing in order not to add to the debt and this was debt that was not negotiated. They said they couldn’t ship any more goods to Nigeria because debtors couldn’t pay and if they can’t pay, what do you do? Could Nigeria afford not to import anything anymore, including wheat to make bread, medicine, clothes, engines, spare parts? No. Our brothers on the streets could no longer import anything from abroad, including rice. Those who we owed then said they could resume doing business with us again provided that IMF guaranteed international liquidator, which guarantees that we promised to pay the debts over the next five years, that they needed a guarantee as they didn’t trust us anymore. But Babangida said he didn’t want IMF guaranteeing us because, according to him, if they guaranteed us, our credit source abroad, they would reduce us to almost colonial status that we would discipline ourselves and that we would introduce our own structural adjustment programme to save our honour and respect as a nation. This was broadcasted six weeks before I resumed work with Babangida. It was not my policy, it was a government policy. Because I was director of economic planning for Nigeria years before, I had deep understanding of the factors it entailed. I took pains to explain to the public what was going on at that time. Those illiterates said it was my policy because I explained it to them. I defended the policy because it was the right thing to do in that situation where we were already bankrupt and owed heavily. The only thing that gave SAP a bad name was the exchange rate.