• Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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The new APC executive will resolve all disagreements – Basorun

Olorunfumi Basorun, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) and former secretary to Lagos State Government in the Second Republic, was the pioneer Lagos State chairman of the People’s Democratic Party. In this interview with AUGUSTINE ADAH, he speaks on the recently concluded APC national convention and other issues. Excerpts:

The National convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was conducted recently amidst protests by some groups; are you satisfied with the conduct of the exercise?

I participated in the convention because I went to Abuja on Friday and we all took part in the process that led to the emergence of the new national executive on Saturday and I left there.  But apart from the pocket of protests before the convention, I did not witness any protest during the convention. The whole exercise was celebration-like. Apart from some national officers that were returned unopposed, we queued to vote. We voted according to states and the Lagos queue was led by our governor. Everybody that queued to vote must show his accreditation card which was punched at the point of commencing the vote and the point of voting for the last office because there were different boxes for the different offices.  I remember that I did not vote for Adams Oshiomhole who is now the National Chairman of the party because before the convention, all his opponents withdrew from the race. In that case, some of us felt it was needles to waste our time and effort voting for him since he is the sole candidate. However, we still voted for those that even came to the rostrum to announce their withdrawal from the race for their opponents. The whole exercise went on smoothly; I don’t see any reason why some people should complain about that. One thing that the convention has shown is that if not all, about seventy percent of the grievances in the party were resolved. You know that Asiwaju was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to reconcile all aggrieved members of the party before the convention and both of them did not issue any press statement to that effect. There was a situation where a particular woman came to the rostrum and announced her stepping down for the opponent in due respect for the national leader of the party in person of Bola Tinubu. I also want to mention a particular case here, the south-west vice chairman of the party is a close ally of Asiwaju, but when he discovered that the choice of Ondo State governor where he comes from is different, he withdrew from the race to allow the emergence of the governor’s preferred candidate. It is part of the things that those outside would not see but pointing to the fact that the party is solidifying its base. If there are pockets of disagreements within the party, what happened that Saturday was a stepping stone for the party to go round and resolve every disagreement.  Even in Ikorodu, we have pockets of disagreements, but with what happened at the convention, there is indication that the party is moving to great heights and we must give the necessary support for the party to grow.

Leaders of Miyetti Allah claimed that the recent killing in Plateau State was retaliation for the missing cows, yet they were not arrested for questioning by security agents.  As an elder statesman are you not worried over the spate of killings in the country which the government appears to close its eyes over?

I want to begin with the issue of arrest or no arrest. I think those in charge of the security in the country understand when it is appropriate to arrest and not to arrest. You may arrest and aggravate the situation. But I am in total support that government should get those involved and prosecute them. What we are seeing in this country is not a new thing. I have been in this country for a long time now. What is happening now is like what happened in Benue State before the 1966 coup. The killing that took place in the fight between the Hausas and the Tivs at that time was one of the major causes of the 1966 coup. The late J.S. Tarka was alive at that time. He was on one side and the people were on the other side during the crisis. I am not citing the instance to justify the killings, but there may be reasons for the escalating nature of the fight going on. The one in Plateau State has been going on for a long time between the Hausas and the Berom natives; the same thing in Adamawa State. You find little of such killings in  the southern part of the country but the common boundary clash between Ebonyi and Cross River states, recently turned into a bloody one and a lot of lives were lost. There is nothing new about the whole thing except the weaponry used which has become more deadly. In the one before the 1966 coup, bow and arrows were used. But in recent times, deadly weapons in most cases, the one procured by government machinery. I believe government should tackle the issue of new dimension introduced to the violence clashes in the country. Some are alleging that opposition politicians are encouraging the festering of the whole matter, I believe it is the duty of the government to investigate the whole matter, identify those involved and nip it in the bud. It is an embarrassing to the country if allowed to continue. These crises have become a distraction to Mr. President in whatever strength and experience he has for the growth of the country. For instance, Monday after the incident, the Vice-President had to abandon whatever job he had in Abuja to visit the people involved. So, I support the clamour that those involved should be identified and dealt with accordingly. Don’t forget, we have the problem of Boko Haram facing us in the country. These ones people call herdsmen we know in the past, only carry sticks to direct their animals, but now carting guns, some people said that they are carrying guns because farmers are also carrying guns to attack them. Whether it is true or not, I think the government should investigate the matter so that we don’t have a situation where another group is emerging like Boko Haram disguising as herdsmen. For a long time, throughout my stay in some parts of the north like Kano, Jos and Maiduguri. I don’t see herdsmen as posing any threat or danger, they go about with their cattle but now that they constitute threat, government should investigate the new dimension in order to know if the people that want to achieve a motive are masquerading as herdsmen. If it fails to do that, they would continue to kill innocent people.

Do you think political parties are getting set for INEC’s guidelines on 2019 general election?

They don’t have option, they must get ready if the umpire has set timetable for the election. But INEC also gave sufficient time for parties to prepare for primaries slated between August and October this year. Some parties may not hold their own primaries in August or September but in October. Like APC, I don’t see us holding the primaries in August or September because we just finished holding our national convention. The new national executive has to settle down and get their bearings. They may even propose an amendment to the party’s constitution. If they do that, we may have to wait, but that may not stop from the party from fitting into INEC’s time table, especially as we have a very fast and dynamic man heading the party as chairman.  I describe Oshiomhole and fast leader which other people must run after him. I have a great confidence in him leading the party very well, taking into cognizance anything that may distract him.

How do you think the party can resolve the crisis in some state chapters of the party before election?

The new national executive would set up a body to address that. Most of the problems came out of self-interest. Some people want to be in-charge in order to serve their personal interest. I saw an interview granted by President Buhari to the SUN Newspaper in 2012 and I decided to print it out. In that interview, he said that it is God that gives power and that interest me most. He has been in the race since 2003 until he got it in 2015, so people should know that power belong to God.

How do you feel when you heard that June 12 was made Democracy Day instead of May 29 as was the case before? 

When former President Olusegun Obasanjo declared May 29 as Democracy Day I felt it was done as a result of the advice he got from his advisers. What is the idea behind May 29, the date he was sworn in instead of October 1 when we got our Independence. However, in the wisdom of the present administration, it believes that the date which MKO Abiola won the election with an overwhelming support of the people should be the ideal date. I participated in that election and our voting centre was the secondary school close to my house here. We did not thump-print, we all queued and with the exception of one person who declared for Bashir Tofa, all of us were for Abiola. The day of that election is best to be declared as Democracy Day.