Dr Victor Ikechukwu Oye is currently the national chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). He has been holding the position since June 2015.
The party’s chairman in an exclusive interview with Naij.com’s Olajide Adelana spoke on issues ranging from APGA’s chances at the upcoming Kogi and Bayelsa polls to the failure of the president to release his ministerial list. The leader of the party made some interesting remarks regarding Imo state Governor Rochas Okorocha’s recent outburst concerning the APGA.
Read the excerpts below:
Naij.com: How has it been leading the APGA since you were elected as the chairman of the party?
Dr Oye: On the 6th of October we will be 16 weeks in office and that is four months. The journey has been very interesting despite all the problems we encountered at inception. The journey has been quite interesting and revealing. I also want to put it on record that we inherited a strong political party and that is why I commend my predecessor for a job well done. We are unfazed by what happened in the past. I am a man of the future. I look at the future and see what I can do to make the party better than I met it. And that is what we are doing. Today, APGA is a truly national party as there is no nooks and crannies in this country that you won’t hear the name APGA. We are looking forward to more prospects because it is a mass movement. Of all the political parties in Nigeria, APGA is the only party that has viability and credibility and does not have baggage of recycled politicians.
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I have always said that while the Peoples Democratic Party is haemorrhaging and the All Progressives Congress is asphyxiating, APGA is the only political party that has a clean state of health. That is why people are continually being attracted to the party. Less than 16 weeks in office we have been able to re-establish APGA has a veritable brand with an exceptional and unique service proposition that places it high and above other political parties in the country. APGA is not a small party.
Dr Victor Oye speaking with Naij.com in Abuja
The party for instance, just won one seat in the House of Assembly in Bayelsa state bringing the ratio to three to five. That is APGA controls three members while PDP controls five. There is no APC member in Bayelsa out of the eight members of the House of Assembly. In Anambra, we have 30 House of Assembly seats, APGA controls 27 out of the 30. APGA also controls two House of Representatives seats in Anambra state. Then in Taraba state, we have one member of the House of Assembly and one member of the House of Representatives. In Abia, we have 34 seats in the House of Assembly seats where APGA controls 11 while PDP controls 13. APGA also have one House of Representatives seat in Abia. So, it is a very big political party.
I’m not talking about us having a governor, we have one governor already. Within the next 48 hours we will be wining Nasarawa governorship and I am confident about that. And by next month we will be wining Abia state governorship seat and that will be our governorship seats to three in Nigeria. So we are heading somewhere and we are confident in what we are doing because we are God as the leader of this struggle. And if we are working with God we have nothing to fear or worry about.
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Naij.com: Talking of inheriting an APGA with a strong political, are you saying you do not see events and controversies of the past affecting the party again?
Dr Oye: I mean it and I’m sincere that we inherited a strong political party. If I had inherited a fractured or factionalized party what we have been seeing today we would have had it. We are building on an existing structure. What I have done is to look at the structure I inherited and see to areas in need of some push, some overhaul. We have done that and we are fine today. There is continuity in APGA because the executives who handed over to me did very well. Remember they faced to many litigations, over 43 of them and they won all of them.
“I am a Christian and I want it to reflect in everything I do. Rochas is our brother, but a prodigal son,” Dr Oye says.
Naij: (cuts in) 43?
Dr Oye: Yes, and they won the whole 43, telling you that some people just ganged up created frivolous situations to torpedo the party. We are confident in what we are doing. In fact since we came into office since the 6th of June this year, we have tried as much as possible to bring everybody on the same page and reconcile those who feel aggrieved in any form at all. Those that are genuinely aggrieved were brought to the round table so that we can discuss with them and reach a compromise. We don’t have to fight after all we are all one united and one Nigeria. So we will need to come together to work for the interest of the country, bury our selfish interests and work for the common good. That is what we are doing and that is why our party is selling.
Naij.com: What is your take on recent comments credited to the Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha that APGA is not a political party?
Dr Oye: Let me tell you something, how could you say a party that have won so many seats in various states is not a political party? I would not want to respond to that statement. I have an attitude towards such things. If you know me I don’t like insulting people and calling people names. I am a Christian and I want it to reflect in everything I do. Rochas is our brother, but a prodigal son. He is a prodigal son and I believe that when we pray for him and treat him well, he will find his way back to the party. It was APGA that made him governor in the first place, it is contestable. Moreover, political associations do not make people governors in Nigeria if you look at the electoral law and the constitution. So the statement was reckless and made out of context. Probably he was misquoted, I am sure nobody in his right senses would say that APGA was not a political party. It made no sense to me.
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I know Rochas Okorocha very well. He started as governor and I believe he could have done better if he didn’t engage in shenanigans and inanities as he continually done in recent times. He is taking his luck too far by referring to APGA as an association and not a political party. If not that you asked me this question I would not have said anything about him. One, you don’t respond to nothing, his statement lacked truth and fact. Do you respond to something that has no fact? He was just carried away by his office as the governor forgetting that the office is ephemeral. He is not going to be there forever.
“For me Buhari has not done anything extraordinary by not releasing the list before now.”
I believe that life is transient. My life will end someday and that is why I am always conscious of my actions. There is nothing in life I have held with both hands, everything is with one hand. I can always let go and that is the attitude we should apply to politics in Nigeria. We should forget ethnocentric sentiments, forget parochialism and clannishness and look at issues that will promote national unity and development. That is my attitude to politics and how I wish our politicians will imbibe this culture. Why should we be killing ourselves in a life that has end time? Why do we fight over vanity? In fact Nigerians accumulate wealth they do not need and that is why they die working and suffering for money forgetting that the Bible I read said we should eat our food and be happy drink our wine and be cheerful, enjoy life with the woman or man that we love for that is what we get in this useless life that God has given us in this world. Enjoy every bit of it for the world we are going, which is the land of the dead there is no action there, no wisdom and no knowledge there and that is where we are going.
If you have that picture continuously in the back of your mind, you will not harm another person. You will not accumulate vain wealth and not waste time on inanities. You will love one another and live an upright life.
Naij.com: What’s your take on your party’s chances as Kogi state gubernatorial election draws near considering those that have emerged from the APC and PDP are prominent politicians?
Dr Oye: Our party is a party to beat in Kogi. Quote me anywhere. You will see what will happen. You see, I like the way people treat APGA like an innocent child, like a child that cannot harm a fly. But the chips are down you see a different picture. I have told you here that APGA is the only political party in Nigeria that has a clean bill of health. There is no other party. The rest are haemorrhaging or asphyxiating. Now, it is a matter of time water will find its level. In Kogi, we conducted our primary successfully without any violence and our candidate emerge to the astonishment of our political adversaries. They know that in Kogi, Kogites will not vote for Audu neither will they vote for Wada. They will vote for our own candidate because these two guys that we are talking about have been tested and what have they been able to achieve for the Kogi people? Nothing. So APGA is the party to beat in elections in Kogi and am sure of what am saying.
Naij.com: What is that major thing in APGA that makes it a party to beat as you have said?
Dr Oye: Our manifesto is very simple. One is to promote national cohesion and unity, promote brotherhood, enthrone justice, and create room for internal democracy to thrive in our party and create space for people to grow. If you want to grow politically, come to APGA. We create a level plain field for everybody because we do not attach too much importance to money. We attach more importance to human capacity and skills. What can you bring to the table? What impact will you election have on the people? That is what we consider not money. Money cannot buy you any seat in APGA in any election, you can try and see. We are looking for quality people, people with credibility and candour who will advance the cause of the party and promote social harmony and national integration. That is what we want and that is exactly what we are fighting for in APGA and also promote. Thank God we are achieving that.
“We are not pushovers in Bayelsa election. While the PDP and the APC are squabbling, the APGA is digging in.”
Naij.com: What should we expecting from APGA as other political parties have conducted their primaries for the upcoming gubernatorial election in Bayelsa state amidst controversies and crises?
Dr Oye: Our candidate will emerge tomorrow (September 29). We are having our primaries tomorrow morning. The Independent National Electoral Commission, the police, everybody are on full alert and we are working very hard to choose a credible person. We are not going for money bags. That is why I said when you come to APGA you can become anything you want in APGA. You saw how the governor of Anambra state emerged, Willie Obiano. That tells you what APGA can do. We looked and saw that in Governor Willie Obiano, Anambra will have peace and progress and we went for him. Today, Anambra is enjoying both. Anambra is the safest state. I was there in the presence of the governor two weeks ago, when a group of investors came from Cambridge University came to invest in Anambra state because they believe there is security of lives and property in Anambra. For them, that was the major attraction. When many states are grappling with issues of security Anambra is already riding high. Anambra is the only state when salaries are paid every 25th of the month. As I speak to you, all the workers in Anambra state have been paid for September. They were paid before Sallah, and that is Obiano’s magic in Anambra. That is the same magic we want to replicate in any other state that accepts APGA. We are ready for elections in Bayelsa, anytime and any day. Since we control three seats out of the eight in the state house of assembly it tells you that we are a party to reckon with.
We are not pushovers in Bayelsa election. While PDP and APC are squabbling, APGA is digging in. And before you know it, while they are fighting we are being sworn-in in Yenegoa. That is exactly what happened in Lagos during the SDP and NRC era. Dapo Farounwi and Prof Femi Igbalajobi both came from Epe and none of them agreed to step down for the other for the SDP governorship ticket in Lagos. While they were squabbling, they were distancing themselves from the people, the voters. The voters got fed up and went for a dark horse, Pa Michael Otedola of the NRC and that was how Otedola became the governor. I predict the same situation in Bayelsa. While APC and PDP will be squabbling, they will not agree on who to win, APGA will come in and take the thing.
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Naij.com: How will you rate the administration of President Buhari, so far since he was sworn-in on the 29th of May, 2015?
Dr Oye: If you talk of APC, they have done nothing but Buhari is the man I am watching because Buhari is APC and APC is Buhari. Remove Buhari from APC and it will crumble. It’s the truth I am telling you because APC have no agenda for Nigeria. For goodness sake, this is 15 weeks into the tenure of this administration, what have they done? Buhari is the man doing the globetrotting and in fact by the end of his administration he will be ‘ajala-travel’. He would have visited every nation of the world and I don’t blame him, at his age he needs to enjoy himself before he packs up. So I commend him, let him keep travelling making new friends for Nigeria waiting for APGA to come in 2019. We are taking over from him in 2019. One thing I am sure of that Buhari will be able to achieve before the end of his tenure is that he is going to bring corruption to the barest minimum and that is what we need. That is why I am rooting for him any day. The next thing he might be able to achieve is that he may give Nigeria some focus in terms of infrastructural development. He is going to try but he’s not going to achieve too much because of his age. Remember that this man was a soldier, ordinarily he should not have been stressed. In America if you have to vote someone with military experience, you have to watch his age and vote for young, retired generals in their 50s and early 60s not 70s and 80s. What are they going to offer at that age? Why Buhari is even surviving today is because of his military training and again his physique, very beautiful physique. If he was obese, he would not have coped. Generally, we are watching but I want to tell you that I repose immense confidence in Buhari not to fail. It will be a disaster if he fails in the end and I don’t want him to fail because we need to give Nigeria a secured future. As it is now, as we speak, Nigeria has no future. None until Buhari has succeeded in fighting corruption and insecurity.
Naij.com: Talking of corruption, many have argued that Senator Bukola Saraki is being persecuted and not prosecuted, what is you take on this and do you think we have taken this too far for a sitting Senate president to be tried?
Dr Oye: What this shows is that nobody is above the law. Look at America, Bill Cosby after more than 30 years that he committed rape and all that, the matter is being tried this time. Remember, there is no hiding place for any evil man. Am not saying Saraki is guilty or not guilty. That is not what I am saying. Some people said the trial is coming after 12 years. What is 12 years? What about Cosby’s case that was discovered 30 years. What is important is that the law is taking its full course. That is my own interest and nobody can persecute anyone under Buhari’s administration. I am very sure of that. If in the end all the allegations against him are tromped-up charges, he will be discharged and acquitted and it will add to his integrity and public rating.
If he feels he has no skeleton in his cupboard, then why not face the law. That was why I said all the shenanigans he was doing before is only to box himself to a corner. The best thing to do is to come out clean, debunking the allegations by producing evidence that you are not guilty. What he should have done in the beginning is what he is doing now after he has stirred the hornet’s nest causing himself unnecessary trouble and creating unnecessary furore. For me, let him face the law and prove his innocence. That’s all.
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Naij.com: The president has promised that he will appoint his ministers before the end of this month, are you anticipating that there will be people of questionable character?
Dr Oye: For me Buhari has not done anything extraordinary by not releasing the list before now. There is no way in the constitution where are timeline is given as to when to release the list of ministers. He has contradicted any law. So what is the big deal?
Let me tell you something, one of the problems past administrations have had is the politicization of the list of ministers. Remember it was always easy to form a cabinet in the past. Why? Because the president will just ask state governors to send list of their candidates and he will just type the thing and submit to the national assembly. Most times he will be meeting those people to be sworn-in for the first time on the day of swearing-in. In this case, Buhari said no he wants to do a thorough search on every nominee. He wants to play his human part and leave the rest for God. That is what he has done, he has conducted search on them about integrity, search on them about their capability to deliver, he has conducted search on them on security and their background. To know if they are from the family of mad people. If they are from the family of people who are deranged, why should I appoint you when you will behave like a mad man. He went as far as conducting medical search on them to know those of them who are mentally and physically fit. If you put a deranged man as minister, he will exhibit signs of derangement. Let me tell you now if you don’t know, this country is going to have the best set of ministers since it was created. The man has put the cards on the table asking them if they can perform and to sign an undertaken. If they go contrary to what they have agreed to, they are finished. That is commitment. You don’t go there and mess up. If you go and mess up, you will face the music. If that is what it will take to make Nigeria better, let’s do it. You do not treat people with kid’s gloves, you are not going to get anything out of it. What Nigeria needs is iron fist. Somebody that will drive them and that is what Buhari is doing. It is a pity that age is telling on him but I know God will give him the strength to succeed.
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