Okonkwo: Region Doesn’t Matter, ADC’s Priority Is Ousting Tinubu

Member of the newly established coalition and former spokesperson for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council is Kenneth Okonkwo. In this interview, CHIBUIKE CHUKWU discusses the measures being taken to end President Bola Tinubu’s rule in 2027 after he claimed that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration had subjected Nigerians to “extreme hardship.” Extracts:

Can you clarify your statement that Tinubu’s government will terminate with the arrival of the ADC coalition party?

In order to prevent Tinubu from having a powerful platform that may be used against him in 2027, the APC has, as of right now, planned to weaken all opposition groups. However, you are aware that men with low intelligence and strategy make up the APC. Because they have been a corrupt and inept party, all they know is how to spend money to buy people and purchase places. Thus, I explained that this was a surprise that they had not expected. The opposition, they were forecasting, would never be able to unite. All of the opposition members have now united, indicating that they are certain that their predictions and theories about the opposition are not accurate. I know that Nigerians are suffering, and so do you. Nigerians are experiencing a level of agony they have never experienced before. I’ll give you an illustration. I was interested in going to Enugu State to begin constructing the ADC’s infrastructure. Upon asking my protocol officer, I mentioned that I would be spending two days there. He then replied, “I should be required to retain N800,000.” The journey is too much. Looking at it, the one-way flight costs over N250,000. If you go into a hotel that seems decent, they might tell you that the rate is 100,000 per night. If you look at the food, airport tax, and everything else, is the money still there? Does it no longer exist? Tell me, for example, who will pay N800,000 to vote for Tinubu at home in 2027. But despite all of their suffering, adversity, starvation, and the dehumanization and degradation this APC has inflicted upon them, Nigerians would be powerless without an alternative platform. For this reason, I am stating that Tinubu is no longer there because they have a strong alternative.

I am aware of the work you and other attorneys put out to ensure that the Appeal Court, which reports to the Supreme Court, gave careful consideration to the claims of election tampering in the most recent general election. Is it not concerning to members of the ADC alliance that the same Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would preside over the 2027 election and that the same court will handle any further disputes of this nature? Why does ADC have faith that Nigerians’ votes would be counted in 2027 if there are no adequate election reforms?

Well spoken, good question. It is for this reason that I initially supported the alliance. As you may remember, when I initially brought up coalition, I was called a lot of dirty names. I was called names by many when I argued that any new candidate would serve one term. However, they have now tapped into it. Why had I mentioned coalition? You can picture Tinubu as an incumbent if he’s able to overwhelm the system when he’s not in charge. How do you compete with an incumbent like that and remain ununified when you know they will rig if given the chance? This is because, to my satisfaction, no one has yet to define what a technological fault is. And because no one has given my sahis an explanation My personal definition of a technical bug is as follows: Put a halt to the electronic transfer and transmission of results so that people are unaware of them. This will allow you to create your own results and force them on others. In my opinion, that is what a technical issue is. INEC purposefully delayed the announcement and results transmission in order to falsify the results. Not a single other technical issue exists. In the event of a technical malfunction, it will resemble the JAMB. The man emerged when there was a technical issue with JAMB. Indeed, he added, observe the location and the area. Keep an eye on the affected centers. In those centers, we will retake the exam. Did INEC hold a duplicate election? The answer is no, as there was never a technical issue. In other words, President Goodluck Jonatha stated that if a man is truly asleep, he will awaken if you wake him up. However, you can’t wake a man who is acting like he’s sleeping no matter what you do. You will never be able to find out which polling stations were impacted because that technological issue was a ruse. You will never be told why they ought to hold another election at those polling places. And why? because that is untrue. There was no issue with the technology. In JAMB, however, you saw how they explained the technical fault. She was crying, Oloyede. Was Mahmood Yakubu crying as you looked at him? Yakubu instead advised going to court. They ran the test for Oloyede and proceeded after listing the locations where the issue occurred. Since I mentioned all of this, let’s band together to combat these individuals and the rigging. In light of what transpired, have they changed the electoral laws? As of right moment, they haven’t. After six months have passed, they will start citing international law to support their claim that you should not make any changes. As you can see, a massive strategy to rig the election has already been developed. The opposition, however, cannot stop them if they unite with the plight of Nigerians. People in positions of power will never be able to overcome the power of the people. At the time of Goodluck Jonathan, weren’t we in Nigeria? It was Jonathan who lost. He lost that election, albeit it wasn’t flawless at the time. Some might argue that Jonathan is not Tinubu. Tinubu’s Nigerians are not Jonathan’s Nigerians.

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Given that Amaechi and Atiku have both run for president and Obi has also done so, political analysts have voiced concern that personal goals could destroy the coalition. Is there any guarantee that this kind of anxiety is unfounded?

An extremely important question. The essence of politics and elections is ambition. Therefore, avoid getting involved in politics if you’re afraid of elections and ambition. That’s typical. I warned that the coalition is dangerous even before it was formed. I can’t promise that we won’t have disagreements as our separate ambitions start to emerge, though. Therefore, the goal of each candidate or contender is to establish the party in their locality. Make sure you inspire your supporters to join the party so you can run in the primary election. You should have known that everyone else would be on your side. Since we are against zoning the tickets to any area of Nigeria, I oppose it. You don’t enjoy the same privilege as the dominant party since you are the opposition. The party in power is the incumbent. Letting the South finish its years is what they will try to convince you. From the bottom of hell, it is the lie. A president’s tenure is four years, not eight. That’s the first thing to note. At the beginning of this four-year period, in 1999, it was planned that each geopolitical zone would last for just four years before moving on to another, so that the geopolitical zones would be reduced in 24 years. Olusegun Obasanjo claimed to have a four-year pact, which is why Alex Ekwueme ran against him in 2003. Since he has programs and will serve his eight years, Obasanjo, using his position as an incumbent, has now said no. The eight-year agreement for the north and eight years for the south was a result of this. But take a look at what happened. Yar’Adua took office in 2007 and went on to die while in office. We have eight years; let’s get through them, the north urged. Subsequently, some individuals argued that any time something occurs that goes beyond those eight years, you cannot claim that you would finish it in that time frame. Instead, you can divide it up between the north and the south for four years in order to do the task. This was due to the fact that they learned that the constitution stipulates that in the event that the president passes away, the vice president will assume the presidency. The argument was that it was now a joint ticket when Goodluck took control. Let Jonathan complete Yar’Adua-Jonathan’s united ticket. Jonathan was originally from the South. There was no insistence that the north must remain unbroken for eight years. Now that the north had united and held a primary among themselves, they involved Babangida, Atiku, Gusau, and Saraki, claiming that it was their turn. They then decided on Atiku. The South disagreed, though. They entered the primary with Jonathan Goodluck. Jonathan was the winner. In 2011, Jonathan defeated Buhari in a race. For four years in the north and four years in the south, tenancy was carried out in this manner. Goodluck Jonathan wanted to run again even after those four years in the South, but the North didn’t agree, saying that here is where injustice will start. That’s how Jonathan got taken out. And it had been shared by North and South for four years when Jonathan was taken out. After eight years, it went back to normal, and Tinubu’s rule is now irreparably awful. In other words, that intervening event has occurred. Either you agree to let Tinubu complete his eight years, or you agree to let anyone or any party run for the remaining four years, giving them the opportunity to do their best to challenge Tinubu. So that the north and south share it for four years, as was the case during the times of Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, whoever wins there today, whether from the north or the south, will do so for four years before it returns to the eight-year cycle. It would be unfair, in your opinion, if we introduced a different candidate. If the northerner will serve four years, then no, that is not unfair. Furthermore, since 1999, no one has been successful in defeating an incumbent by running a new candidate from the same section. They employed Atiku against Buhari in 2019, but Atiku was unsuccessful because they wanted to bring in another Northerner after Buhari had served four years. At that time, Obi was his choice for vice president. However, they fell short. Since I believed that the southeast will turn in 2023, I opposed it. On the other hand, they would spend a another eight years, or twelve years, if Atiku and Obi arrived at that time. So, all these folks are arguing that they don’t want a Northerner to succeed a Northerner, but wouldn’t that have happened if Obi and Atiku had won in 2019? I declined. Buhari for the Ndigbo, 2019; Buhari for the Ndigbo, 2023. I did that in 2023 because I wanted my people to be president as well. But you need a solid plan to be president. Are you of the opinion that Tinubu did not want to be president in 2015 when the APC won? Knowing that he would lose if he had run against Goodluck Jonathan, he went ahead and brought a Northerner who he was confident would have the support of the whole North. And he put himself right by using the Northerner to annoy Goodluck Jonathan. Thus, after the Northerner finished, Tinubu entered the race when the incumbent was no longer present. Now I am giving my people advice. They need a new plan. This time, no Ndigbo will shatter a coconut with their skull. In Nigeria, if you are a new contender without the incumbent’s support, they would take it away from you even if you win. This is why the Southwest has been successful since 1999 and haven’t run against an incumbent since. Because we lacked the support of the establishment, I think we won the 2023 election, but they stole it away from us. The southwest is acting strategically, though. Only when they are confident of the establishment’s support do they contest. Also, they triumph. And that’s the tactic I wish to use. There are repercussions from elections, and some people may complain about being marginalized if we don’t plan. No, we are not being marginalized. Since we haven’t done so, I’m bringing that strategy. Since the incumbent was not supporting us and there was no incumbent running, they stole our election, and Ndigbo have never had the same impact as they had in 2023. I’ve since learned from it. When the Ndigbo arrive, I want to plan for it and make sure the establishment supports them.

It seems from what you’ve mentioned that you would want a Northerner to be the ADC’s 2027 candidate if you had your way.

I’m speaking from a personal standpoint, not the party’s. Whatever the individual receives from the south will push them over if the entire north can stand behind one candidate and support them, like they did in the 2015 election. This is due to the fact that I wholeheartedly endorse any plan that would eradicate Tinubu. Tell me whether you believe someone would come from another region of Nigeria and go on to win Tinubu. You can’t. That will be challenging. If God says it, it’s nearly impossible. Thus, if you claim to be running against an incumbent and you are from the South East or the South South, you are actually indirectly supporting Tinubu. It will be difficult if only a candidate from the South is running and no one from the North is.

Do you believe that the president’s frequent attacks on the coalition structure since its inception are due to fear?

Like I said, it’s a sign of low IQ. Low IQ because, if I were in their shoes, I would focus on administration and sway Nigerians. But the reason they are anxious is because they have nothing to offer. As a result, they fear their own shadow. As they say, “When no one chases him, the wicked run.” Additionally, ADC is shaky and has yet to release a manifesto or anything else. And why? Due to their evil nature. The Bible claims that when no one seeks the wicked, they run away. Even ADC isn’t going after them.

What steps is ADC taking, though, to find probable APC moles?

I can assure you that moles will be present during the celebration. I can assure you of that as all Nigerians are welcome to join the political party. Consequently, you would have your constitution. Whether in public or private, make sure you’re abiding by the provisions of your constitution. So, if there is a mole among you, the mole will go back and inform them that this party is serious and that their public statements mirror their private ones. They can’t do anything about it after that. There is no denying the truth. The truth is unavoidable, according to the Bible, which is why I am telling it to you now.