Chief (Dr.) CHEKWAS OKORIE is the founding national Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and presently, the National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP) under which platform he vied for the Presidency in 2015. In this interview, he speaks on why the UPP adopted President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2019 presidential election, including the chances of the UPP.
The United Progressive Party (UPP) is one of the parties that recently adopted President Muhammadu Buhari as a Presidential candidate in the coming elections. Does that mean your party is going to form a government of national unity with the All Progressives Party (APC) assuming the President is reelected?
Usually when political parties come together to cooperate during elections just like we have done now, there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that is reached. Part of the contents of that MoU are not written down, though there are conditions that would be spelt out that forms part of this. Before a party decides to form a coalition during an election it must take certain things into consideration including the strength to go alone or whether the coalition would best define and aggregate its ideological leanings; whether it is the best way to solve its problem and whether its values and approaches are best suited and shared.
Some of these issues cannot be discussed in the open; they are not meant for public consumption, but the most important thing is that UPP’s adoption of President Buhari is in keeping with our promise to continuously explore the possibility of constructive engagement with a political party or parties through alliance for enhanced advantage in democratic contests, particularly for a party or candidate that believes in progressive ideology and is ready to hearken to the yearnings of Nigerians on the many national issues that are critical to our nationhood at this time.
“Since 1999 when Nigeria returned to democratic rule, this pattern of rotation has assumed the status of a convention rather than the rule. The expectation of shift of power from South to North and North to the South has some soothing effect on the perennial agitation for power shift, especially during each general election.
Of all the Political parties that have adopted President Buhari, the UPP appears to be too confident that he would be re-elected. Is there something you know that some of us do not know?
There is nothing hidden about this or that we know and you don’t know. As someone in the media, I expect you to do a critical analysis of the coming elections based on the statistics and other variables that are before the public domain and then decide for yourself whether the President does not stand a better chance to be reelected.
First, let us consider the statistics of the number of registered voters according to geopolitical zones for the coming elections. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the figures on voters’ registration, as at January 2018 show that the North Central geopolitical zone has 10 million voters; the North East has 9 million, the North West has 18 million voters; the South East has 8 million, the South-South 11 million voters while the South West has 14 million voters. We are talking about distributed Personal Voters’ Cards by INEC.
Now the shocking facts about this breakdown are that the number of distributed PVCs in five States in the Northwest (Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi and Jigawa) 10 million is equal with those distributed in the entire eleven States of the South-south and the Southeast geopolitical zones. And you know that the Northwest is President Buhari’s strong hold. Now assuming Atiku wins the entire Southeast and South-south votes and President Buhari wins the entire Northwest, his win in only one geopolitical zone has wiped out the win Atiku would secure in two geopolitical zones,.
The south west which is a fertile political ground for President Buhari, has 14 million registered voters and this has technically wiped out the entire vote of the southeast and south-south. Now there are 18 million voters from the Northwest and if you combine this with that of the south west you are having 32 million voters.
That is not to say that Atiku will not get chunk of these votes from the north. But you should also take into cognizance that the South west and the South-south are the ones leading the campaign of the reelection of President Buhari. So in merely considering these statistics, you will find out that already there is no magic the PDP will engage to dislodge President Buhari. In fact his reelection will assume a national consensus.
Again, we should not lose sight of the unforgotten looting of our national treasury for 16 years by the PDP. No discerning or patriotic Nigerian would wish the PDP to come back after 16 years of wasted opportunity. What are they coming back to do, to continue the looting?
“Under the PDP, there was massive rigging of elections and the amount of money that went into rigging and buying of votes was very atrocious. It was only under President Buhari that votes began to count. Under PDP votes never counted.”
I have often repeated this each time I have the opportunity to say that for the sake of national stability, cohesion and unity, that four more years of President Muhammadu Buhari is far more reassuring and beneficial to Nigerians than then possible eight years of Atiku Abubakar government which will be a sad reminder of the 16 years of nightmare Nigerians lived under the PDP government in Nigeria.
Under the PDP, there was massive rigging of elections and the amount of money that went into rigging and buying of votes was very atrocious. It was only under President Buhari that votes began to count. Under PDP votes never counted.
Again, did you read the breakdown of the analysis by the Central bank Governor on the economic growth achieved less than four years of President Buhari? I was excited to hear him talk about the revolution in agriculture which has boosted the capacity of local farmers to produce as well as cut down on importation of good. Why would anyone want do away with a government that is delivering on the dividends of democracy and take the risk of going back to a government that put us at this precarious position we have found ourselves today?
In the event that President Buhari does not win this election, what would be the fate of UPP?
Don’t forget that the UPP is a registered political party. Without given to self-glorification, it is a fact that I have been the most consistent person in opposition. So if he doesn’t win, we find ourselves in a familiar terrain. But I tell you, it would be a wishful thinking for the PDP to think that it would win this election, and I don’t imagine anything in the victory that would become the subject of unnecessary litigation and distraction. So the UPP is equipped to face any challenge that would arise in the face of his defeat. But I tell you, this would never happen.
What are the chances of UPP in this election?
Our chances are bright. UPP will do better than we did in 2015. Today we are a bit more prepared than we were in 2015. In 2015 funding was a major factor for us and are other issues that affected us. But today, we have better off. Remember we are the only party that first implemented the not-too-young-to run policy of the government. This attracted a lot of youths to us and we have seized that opportunity to concentrate on areas where we think we have some strength and we are confident that this would automatically lead us to victory in those areas. After the election, we will take stock, redefine our strategies and build the necessary bridges. I am confident that UPP will do better in 2019 than in 2015.