Election shift has enhanced APC’s chances — Moghalu

George Moghalu, APC National Auditor, in this interview says the shift in February polls has enabled the party to do more, among other issues. Excerpts:

Wpolity? hat will you say will be the impact of polls shift on the

First of all, let me say that you can only delay a funeral, but you cannot wake a dead man. This is to say that the shift in the dates of the elections, to be honest and sincere with you, created a dent on the integrity of the electoral process. We are now confronted with new dates. Everybody is now working with the new dates in mind. The first question to ask is, why and how? Why the postponement? It initially started by a kite flown by the National Security Adviser and the reason given then was that PVCs were not sufficiently distributed. While we were grappling with that, the issue of security was thrown up. If you look at the two points raised, you are bound to get worried. When you place this side by side, the question is what percentage of PVCs was distributed when the Ekiti and Osun elections were conducted? In these two instances, it was less than 55%, and still we have government in place. All of us will now go back and start telling our supporters that ‘please go and collect your PVCs if you want to play a role in the democratic process.’ So when that was still hanging, the issue of security came up, we know that security is a very sensitive issue. We will not want to conduct an election where there will be no police at the polling units. Nobody will also have an election with no security to escort both the sensitive and non-sensitive materials that will be used in the election.

-How will the APC utilise the period of the polls shift to its advantage, because some see Jonathan’s visit to some captured areas as a plus to his campaign?

We decided to utilise the time to do what we should do or what we didn’t do well. We have continued to sell our manifesto and our presidential candidate and other candidates for other positions like governorship and the National Assembly and the state houses of assembly to the Nigerian people. So, we are doing what we should be doing. The truth about it is that Nigerians desire change.

-But some said it has weakened the opposition, may be because it has been made to overstretch its resources. Do you agree?

No. Nigerians are not for sale. That is the truth. What you must understand is that there is a general desire for change. We think the Nigerian state is going adrift if something drastic is not done, and that is why we want to bring change and brought our agenda and manifesto to the Nigerian people and they key into the change programme. We are very confident that even if they postpone the election to December, if the extension will be for one year, Nigerians will still speak with one voice, the voice of change across the country.

Prior to the February date, APC was optimistic of winning. Are you not afraid that the postponement may affect your earlier confidence?

Not in any way. The world is changing. Those window dressings cannot work. The reality on the ground is that Nigerians desire change. The reality on the ground is that the Nigerian economy is not improving. We have security challenges, and the country’s infrastructure has totally collapsed. Nigeria is not moving forward.

Buhari recently said in his Chatham House lecture that the achievement of this government is only on paper. Do you agree?

Yes, I do.

Is that to say that the PDP administrations have not achieved anything in all these years?

No, we cannot say they have not achieved anything. At least, they are still running the government and blowing sirens. It is an achievement. But the point is that the challenges facing the nation, are they being addressed? What happened recently by the exploits of our military goes to justify the position we have taken in the past, that the problem with our military is not that the soldiers are not competent but it’s because they are not properly equipped. The issue of their welfare is not being addressed. But with the little that was provided within these few weeks, look at the ground they have covered. The

problem is with the leadership.

Jonathan seems to have more support in the South-east more than the South-south. How do you relate this with the position of people like you in APC from that region?

I think that used to be in the past and this election will prove it.

Are you saying that APC will win in some states in the Southeast?

Just wait and see what will happen. I keep asking the question about what have we benefitted as a people for the massive support that was given to the PDP in 2011? What do we have to show for it?

But the Ohaneze Ndi Igbo has adopted Jonathan as its candidate. How about that?

Who are the Ohaneze Ndi Igbo? Do you know the Ohaneze Ndi Igbo you are talking about? You see, when some people who call themselves “leaders,” who are confronted with the challenge of the possible loss of patronage from a source that has consistently patronised them, what do you expect? Desperation will set in. That is what is manifesting. For those you called Ohaneze Ndi Igbo leaders, this is the situation. And you don’t blame them for their reaction, because they have seen the possibility of their loss of patronage staring them in the face. What have they attracted to the South-east to justify the position they have taken?

What is the APC’s point about not wanting the military to participate in the elections?

The point is that we don’t want the PDP to politicise our military. Why do we have to politicise our military? Why do we want to drive them away from their constitutionally specified responsibility? The constitution is quite clear about their role. A high court of competent jurisdiction has ruled against it (military participation in election). Another court has also reaffirmed that position. So, why do we want to politicise them? Why don’t we insulate our military institution from politics and allow the police and the civil defence to do their work? If we think that the police are not strong enough, why don’t we empower them? Why don’t we strengthen the hands of the police and the civil defence as a nation?

Are you taking that position because you want to protect the integrity of the military or you are afraid the military will favour a particular party?

No, no we have to protect the integrity of the military. Look at what happened in the case of the Ekiti tape. Are you not embarrassed? We are talking about a General being involved. We are talking of a captain, officers of the Nigerian military. These things are avoidable. Why don’t we avoid them? We must protect the integrity of the Nigerian military. We must not distract them. They should be allowed to exercise their constitutional responsibility.