Engr Martin Onovo was the presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in the 2015 general elections.
In this interview granted to Daily Trust, Nigeria, he discussed a range of issues affecting Nigeria.
Daily Trust (DT): Some politicians have begun scheming ahead of the 2019 general elections, including expressing interests for elective positions. Don’t you think it is too early?
Engr. Martin Onovo: It is too early to begin scheming for the 2019 general elections. Elections are to select leaders, elections are expensive. They are clearly a distraction to governance. It is very unfortunate that politics in Nigeria is dominated by unpatriotic and corrupt persons. INEC must first publish election timetable before politicians can responsibly start scheming for elective positions. The electorate must be aware and alert to their responsibility to choose good leaders. The electorate can and must correct this problem. We must identify these unpatriotic and desperate politicians and checkmate them democratically. The Nigerian electorate must not remain complacent. The consequences of bad leadership have been grave since independence. We have suffered corruption, unemployment, poor housing, bad roads, poor healthcare system, weak education, poverty and low life expectancy as a result of bad political leadership. We must vigilantly pressure the present APC government to take the right decisions for integrity, justice, security and national development. So, early scheming will most definitely affect the business of governance negatively as politicking will distract politicians in government and may push them to pursue political schemes to protect their own political interests from being compromised.
DT: Most state governments have failed in their responsibility of paying workers’ salaries. Will you say the state governors are guilty?
Onovo: The facts show that such state governors are incompetent, ineffective and most probably corrupt. With all the federal allocations and internally generated revenues, every state government can easily pay the salaries of its workers if it is competent. The EFCC can commence the investigation of such governors now and prosecute them later after they leave office. Then, they would have lost their legitimate constitutional immunity.
DT: INEC has confirmed that it has more than 20 political associations seeking registration as political parties. Do you subscribe to registration of more parties?
Onovo: INEC should register only parties that meet all the entry requirements. INEC must conduct a thorough scrutiny of all applications and verify all claims prior to registration. All applications that meet all the requirements must be approved to ensure that no one is unlawfully excluded from the political space. The Nigerian constitution requires that the political space be open to all qualified Nigerians.
DT: The FG has increased the pump price of petrol from N86.50 to N145 per litre. What is the implication of this?
Onovo: With this unpatriotic increase in the price of petrol, and the large scale national borrowing to fund the wasteful budget deficit, the ruination of the Nigerian economy is in top gear. The consequences include hyper-inflation, further devaluation of the naira, unemployment, increasing poverty, increasing inequality, increasing crime and a looming debt crisis.
DT: What would you have done differently if elected as the president?
Onovo: The National Conscience Party published a clear leadership and economic direction for Nigeria. We would have boosted integrity, justice and national cohesion. We would have announced our cabinet within 72 hours. The cabinet would have been made up of ethical and competent patriots. The new direction would have been officially published for all sectors. The draft budget would have been submitted by August without padding, missing budget, etc. We would have balanced the budget without any deficit. We would have avoided borrowing and the looming debt crisis. We would have drastically cut the recurrent expenditure. We would have increased the minimum wage by decreasing the maximum wage. We would have neutralised Boko Haram easily using a multi-dimensional strategy. Herdsmen would have had confidence in our government and not get violent. We would have maintained the price of PMS without any increase. We would have started maintenance and upgrade of refineries. We would have started our power supply improvement projects. We would have defended the naira using extensive protectionist policies. We would have initiated robust economic diversification programmes. Our fight against corruption would have been strategic, strong and transparent; not selective.
DT: What is your own assessment of the Prof Mahmud Yakubu-led INEC?
Onovo: Some people have published that INEC now means ‘Inconclusive National Electoral Commission’ so I think that is what I can also say.
DT: Do you advocate independent candidacy in our electoral system?
Onovo: No! The constitution does not allow that nonsense.
DT: Will you contest for a second time in the 2019 presidential election if given the ticket?
Onovo: Only God, the Almighty, infinitely Holy Creator of heaven and earth knows what, where and how any of us will be tomorrow.
DT: Has your party, the NCP, started preparing for the 2019 elections?
Onovo: No. We promote the rule of law which Chief Gani Fawehinmi, our lead-founder, fought for. Right now, we are focused on improving our role as the leading opposition party in Nigeria.
DT: What do you think the federal government should do to stem the killings under different guises in the country?
Onovo: Promote integrity, national ethics, justice, rule of law, national solidarity and improve the entire law enforcement process starting with a reform of the ineffective, unprofessional and rascally Department of State Security.
DT: What is your assessment of the APC-led government at the centre having contested with General Muhammadu Buhari in 2015?
Onovo: Catastrophe! The constitutional purpose of government in Nigeria is the security and welfare of the people. If a new government cannot improve the well-being of Nigerians, it must not degrade it further. The APC federal government may be the greatest threat that has confronted Nigeria since independence. It appears that the APC government is completely committed to the destruction of Nigeria in line with the previous prediction of some foreign security analysts that Nigeria will break up in 2015. The APC is destroying public morality by making deceit and false propaganda the policy of their government. The APC federal government reported that it had technically defeated Boko Haram and driven them away from Nigerian territory, but APC Senator Garbai of Borno State countered that only three local governments in Borno State were free from Boko Haram. Thereafter, American military authorities gave a similar report that Boko Haram was still in control of significant territory in Nigeria and offered to assist Nigeria in the fight. Also, a few weeks ago, it was reported that the General Officer Commanding the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Borno State was ambushed by Boko Haram insurgents and a soldier was killed. A few weeks ago, Boko Haram suicide bombers attacked a mosque in Maiduguri. The deceit has continued on the issue of the selective ‘anti-corruption’ war with outrageous partisan allegations followed by media trials and mob convictions. The deceit has also continued on most national issues, including the fuel scarcity, the state of our refineries, the unpatriotic and dictatorial increase in the price of petroleum products and the deteriorating power supply situation.
The APC is lawlessly subverting national unity by dividing Nigerians along regional, religious and class lines. The lawless schemes for a northern Muslim Senate president is a clear violation of the constitutional requirement of ‘federal character’ and very insensitive to the diversity and heterogeneity of Nigeria. It is also aggravated by the exclusion of a section of the country from high command positions in the national security establishment. The same section is also excluded from key positions in the presidency. The worst is the unconstitutional proclamation by Buhari that: “The constituents that gave me 97 percent cannot in all honesty be treated on some issues with constituencies that gave me five per cent.” This clearly violates the constitution of Nigeria and the oath of office that Buhari swore to by the Qur’an.
Insecurity has increased since the APC came to power. Kidnapping has also increased across Nigeria. Even a Colonel was kidnapped and killed in Kaduna. Robberies have increased. Violent crimes have increased. According to the UK Independent, “Global Terrorism Index: Nigerian Fulani militants named as fourth deadliest terror group in world.” The same index ranks Nigeria as the third most terrorised country in the world and we have a Commander-in-Chief that is outrageously over-paid and yet ineffective.
Martin Onovo, a public figure and eminent consulting engineer. He was the 2015 Presidential Candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP)
