APC is as corrupt as PDP –Sonibare

In politics, they say, you cannot predict beyond the next fortnight. Even as close as the next general elections are with all the preparations and po­litical shenanigans that have been taking place within the parties, some state actors still believe that emergence of a third force can change the bal­ance of political equa­tions in the country. In this interview, the Lagos State Chairman of Af­enifere, Chief Supo Soni­bare, holds a strong view that a third force can, in­deed, win February elec­tion and effect the de­sired change depending on how readily Nigerians are willing to buy into the idea. Excerpts:

Watching the re­cent drama that took place at the National Assembly, what does this portend for the future of democracy in this country?

The entire episode and events that we witnessed in Ekiti, the events that are happening in all parts of the country, it appears the rule of law is being totally aban­doned. People are willing to embark on an illegal act mindful of the fact that the ju­diciary has been almost inef­fective in performing its roles as a body that is supposed to ensure fair play. If everybody is sure that judiciary will be a fair arm of government, then any one that is carrying out impunity, you know that you can go to court and get a re­dress. I am quite convinced that it is lack of confidence in the judiciary that has led to this self help attitude on both sides-the two ruling parties and almost a determination to pull the entire polity down. I think self interest is overrid­ing the need to ensure a stable polity and it appears we’ve not learnt from the unfortu­nate experiences of the First Republic, where politicians had disregarded the notion of rule of law and resulted into the field of combat without any decorum. Both sides are to be blamed. Both political parties have not done this Republic any justice. They have not behaved like leaders who understand the essence of democracy. If you look at the state level, whatever you fault the Federal Government of doing or not doing is also what states are doing. The en­tire polity has been corrupted. There is corruption, both at the state and federal govern­ment levels. There is no rul­ing political party in Nigeria either at the state or Federal Government level that you can say is not corrupt.

How then can we rescue the country from being a failed state?

One would have thought that the position would have been an alternative, but in most instances, what they are doing is often worse than what the Federal Government is doing. For instance, none of them has ever lost any local government election that they conducted themselves in this country. Even the few ones they lost, they upturned them. The desire is to control the entire polity. It is unfortunate that the rulers we have now are rulers who are not deep in the practice of democracy. Most of them got to position of leadership by chance. Whatever Obsanjo says now, he did more than while he was the President. He used extra constitutional means to do several things. With great respect to him, I think he laid the foundation for states and Federal Government to use extra constitutional means to address issues they face. I think he should be the last person calling one person to go. While he was in government, people were removed from position in the states with minority mem­bers of the state assembly and nothing happened. And the judiciary didn’t live up to ex­pectation. That is why we had a case of someone who did not contest an election and was declared the governor. I won­der how the Supreme Court came to a conclusion that the internal arrangement of the party supersedes the mandate of someone who went for an election and was voted in by a majority of people across party line. With great respect, I don’t know how an argument that somebody who didn’t cam­paign for an election should be swore-in as governor can stand. At worst, you call for a fresh election.

Is there any pos­sibility of a free and fair election in 2015?

Both sides do not want to play by the rules. The lead­ing parties in Nigeria have not shown the propensity to play by the rules. If the two lead­ing parties have no intention of playing by the rules, how can we have a free and fair elec­tion? And it is unfortunate that we always throw everything at INEC. But INEC has a limited capacity to monitor elections in all the constituencies in Ni­geria with its own full-time staff. Even its full-time staff, are Nigerians, so you cannot expect them to behave differ­ently from the way politicians are behaving because they are Nigerians. In some neighbour­ing states like Benin Republic, even police do not intervene in the conduct of their elections. Political parties monitor the elections themselves and elec­tions are generally free and fair.

You spoke about the need for a third force. How will such force emerge within the short time to the next general elec­tion?

In some other countries, people have formed political parties that have taken over within weeks. When people look at the option on the ground and see that the option will not change the status quo, a third force will emerge. But the question is whether or not the third force will consist of people that really bring about the desired change. Those who are dominating this polity, those who are controlling the resources for their selfish in­terest are less than one percent of this country. They take our collective wealth and flaunt it at us, while majority are watch­ing. If a third force evolves, a change will be effected. Every­body complains about the rot in the system, but they are not encouraging men and women of goodwill to go into politics. If we can have a third force in place; Nigerians are not fools, they will readily support. A country cannot survive on predatory politics indefinitely. The question is whether or not we change the direction of the nation state before the system itself collapses on its own.

The threat of im­peachment against President Goodluck Jonathan is coming as a smokescreen from the National Assembly. Is that in the national interest or the interest of the members of legisla­ture?

I don’t know what they hope to achieve by that with­in two months to the general elections. It would have been better to wait for two months except otherwise the opposi­tion itself feels that it could not win the election. For those in PDP, it could be as a result of their dissatisfaction with internal politics of their party. It goes back to show that those we have there are predatory politicians who are only concerned about their selfish interests and not the interest of the nation. There is no reason for anyone to insist that only one senator must be returned to the senate when there are several millions of other Nigerians who are equally qualified.

Credits: The Sun