Deji Doherty, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, is oiling his machines to run for the chairmanship of the party in January. A former governorship aspirant of the party in the state, Doherty believes that with cohesion, the PDP could give the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the Centre of Excellence a run for the control of the state. He also believes that the attitude of Nigerians collectively is responsible for the backwardness of the country in terms of development. When he met with GEOFFREY EKENNA in Lagos, he said it is the wrong time to think of fuel subsidy removal by the PDP-led Federal Government.THE local government election has come and gone. Your party was unable to win one chairmanship slot. How do you feel about it'Well, you know that the local government election was mainly conducted by the state. They are the ruling party. Definitely, they will put procedures down for the election that would only favour them. However, the people of Lagos have spoken in the last election. The last election shows that it is the beginning of the end for the ACN. People are tired of the same thing all this while. That is what was showed at the polls. Even though, most of the results that were in favour of the Peoples Democratic Party, were most blatantly, fraudulently overturned by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, definitely, they know that this is the last time such a thing will happen in Lagos and it will be taken lightly. We are pursuing this one now through the law, trying to make sure that we seek redress under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We don't mind that the court we are in is being controlled by the state government. We don't mind if the reality of what happened at the polls is not shown; we will go from the tribunal to the High Court; we will go to the Appeal Court and even to the Supreme Court and we will continue to pray that God in his infinite mercies, hears our prayers.What makes you think the people of Lagos State spoke at the election' Well, I am a politician, I was here. Before the election, I campaigned with some of the candidates and we saw what happened. Definitely at the polling stations, our agents and party representatives came back from the booths with result sheets signed by INEC, signed by the representatives of ACN at the polling stations, signed by LASIEC and the PDP agents, signed by the police and the SSS. In some local governments, the results were announced but turned down when they got to LASIEC. Definitely, you don't need a soothsayer to tell you what might have happened. Why do you think the ACN did not want you to take one local government' Does it have to do with sharing of revenue allocations to local governments'I think it is just greed and blatant disrespect for democracy; blatant disrespect for the people of Lagos; blatant disrespect for the rule of law. And it is sad, very sad.Do you think that council elections should be left in the hands of the states, considering that in all the states, the ruling party there takes everything'To be quite candid, I believe that INEC should conduct all the elections we have in this country, not the states. We can see that to a certain extent, we still have a more transparent INEC. It will be in the best interest of Nigeria, if we have INEC conduct local government elections. This election also shows the rigging ability of the ACN. They have perfected it at all level as it takes a genius to really counter their logistics, both financial, political, propaganda and socially. Their engine room is a garrison where all procedures of electioneering could be easily dealt with and look for lope holes where they can rig. This is what we have found out and what we are not going to allow happening in the next election.Coming from that is the Constitution review that is coming up. People are talking of removal of the local government from the states, just as the states are autonomous from the Federal Government. Do you think actually that the local governments should be on their own'I believe that there should be checks and balances on the local government. However, the check and balance can be created by a body that will be used for the monitoring and execution of projects that are created in the local governments. The big problem there is that when you have a state, where the ruling party is also the one controlling all the local governments, definitely, there is not going to be any check and balance. But if there is a constitutionally constituted organ that will monitor the activities of local governments, then, you will see projects going on, infrastructural projects and various dividends of democracy will be given to the people. Democracy is about the delivery of dividends of democracy. And that is the reason why politicians should learn to think of their duty in their various positions as a debt they owe to the people. If they look at it and are educated enough to see this, the delivery of the dividends of democracy to the people is the same all over the world; no matter what party you belong to, you want to give good roads, quality education, health and basic infrastructure. Some politicians come without doing it. Some politicians come, say it, do it half way and jettison it while others come and deliver. That is where we are going. The people of Lagos, the people of Nigeria are going to start asking their candidates about the delivery of democracy. That is what is going to overturn the fortunes of the ACN.Still on Constitution review, many people are agitating for fresh states, while the Senate is saying that many of the current states are not viable. Do you actually believe that there are needs for more states'The agitation has to do with the geometric increase in the population of states. For instance, in Lagos State, we are talking of a state with a population of about 20 million. That is almost the population of some African countries put together. So, the creation of states could come as way of management of the country. But I believe that we need to get right some democratic processes before we talk about the creation of more states. We still haven't got to the point where we are running a good democratic government. Infrastructural wise, we are not yet there. In terms of dividends of democracy, we are still not delivering them. By now, I believe we should be having at least, 20 hours of electricity in Nigeria, at worst, 15 hours. As at today, I believe we should have one of the best international airports in the whole of the West African sub- region. As at today, I believe we should have some of the best railway systems in West Africa, I believe we should have one of the best few hospitals, hitech in the whole of the West African sub- region. I believe we should have moved on democratically. We have failed short of average and I believe that we need to work harder to make sure that that the right people are democratically elected into positions and are able to deliver democratic dividends to the people of this country. This is what I am thinking.It goes back to your party, the PDP. For 12 years now, the PDP has failed to deliver on very critical areas. The President is talking about removing fuel subsidy, when we are importing fuel. The federal roads are bad and everything federal is comatose. Then, the question is, does the PDP have any need to continue beyond 2015 for us to develop'It is quite unfortunate that a lot of people tend to blame all negative things on the PDP. It is quite pertinent that people understand that the snail speed Nigeria is moving is a collective negative attitude of all Nigerians- civil servants, politicians, media, private and public sectors, adult, young, artisans, military, ethnic, religious. Everybody has contributed negatively to the backwardness of the country called Nigeria. In the private sector, evasion of taxes, duties and concessions here and there to the detriment of the country; in the financial sector, the same thing- running banks aground, creating and nationalising banks overnight, changing of bank managements overnight. That ruined the financial institutions. There is no correct monitoring. There is massive bribery, corruption from the highest level to the lowest level. So, what are we talking about' there has been a system in Nigeria before the PDP came in. that system has been on over the past 35 years. Right from the cleaner in a federal ministry up to the director-general, have all been built to think alike; with the same approach, education and drive that was detrimental to the country. That is what the PDP inherited, right from the drivers through the cleaners and the sweepers. The PDP is the only party that has started internal cleansing of itself. That is the reason you see the EFCC running after PDP governors, PDP chairmen, running after PDP top shots. Have you seen the EFCC lock up an ANPP governor' Have you seen the EFCC run after an ACN governor' That has not happened. That is the difference between the PDP and any other party. The party is cleansing itself of the rot that has occurred in Nigeria over a period of time. That is why you have a president under the PDP revolusionalise the telecom industry, dissolve the ineffective Nigeria Airways, shut down the Nigerian Railways to revamp and restructure it, restructure the entire NIMASA and the water transport ways, revolutionise the entire education and health sector by bringing in the UBE. All these processes, bringing in BPE, Due diligence sectors, are deliberate steps to create progress even though it has been slow. Why is it slow' It is slow because of our collective attitude. Right now, we have Boko Haram. Where is it coming from' What do they want' Do they want an Islamic state' if they want an Islamic state, Zamfara State is an Islamic state. then pass a memoranda in the states they want it and have it. They don't want education' Let them pass it in their House of Assembly. What do they want' We don't know. Do they want to cut Nigeria into two' It is not acceptable because the unity of this country is sacred. What does Boko Haram want' It is our people that are behind Boko Haram, probably with someone in the international community. It is just used as a diversion of progress for this administration.How long is it going to take the PDP to fix the country'It is what it takes Nigeria, you and I, not the PDP. It is you and I. the journalists that we have today, are they playing their roles well' Some are, some are not. What part are we playing in the progress of Nigeria' That is why it goes back to the leadership'The followership determines the leadership. It has influence on leadership. There is always a giver and a taker. That is what is important. So, as Nigerians, our first test towards the right direction is to force Nigerians to learn not to sell their votes. You get a disorganised state, local government or country by you selling your votes. Once Nigerians learn that it is wrong to sell your votes because of a pot of rice or because you have been given N10, 000, or to sell your votes because of what you are going to gain, it is at that time that we will begin to make progress in the country. But first do you believe there is fuel subsidy' The refineries are not working; we import fuel which we produce at home. Do you think it is wise to talk about fuel subsidy removal now instead of fixing the refineries'I believe that the fuel subsidy came' remember that we started producing oil around 1956. At that time, there wasn't a refinery in Nigeria. I believe that a couple of years after that Nigeria didn't build a refinery. I would say that it was a bit of shortsightedness at that time, when we knew that we were a leading exporter of crude oil, not to invest in refineries. As at today, Nigeria can only boast of three or four refineries, whereas we should have high capacity refineries in excess of 10 or 12 to sustain the local demand for petroleum products, both now and the future. I believe that fuel subsidy was put in place at that time just to cushion the expensive petroleum products that was coming into the country, being a crude oil producing nation. However, I believe that since there has not been any accountability or respect for rule of law, respect for honour and a lot of corruption, the fuel subsidy that we talk about, has not been well implemented or disbursed proportionately to give the full benefits to Nigerians. I believe there is fuel subsidy. How that is translated into cushioning the effects of high cost petroleum products due to the fact that we are not refining here is what has brought us to this particular point and time. However, my take on the removal is that the social and economic environment at this time, with the exposu-re of government officials that have been corrupt, with the exposure of the EFCC on a lot of fraud that has happened within the government, all these have created an environment whereby the removal of fuel subsidy en block is creating a negative ripple within the society, even though the removal of the subsidy will benefit Nigerians in the long run more than the subsidy being there. Now, I believe that the only way Nigerians can be pacified and accept the fuel subsidy is for the government to bring out a fuel subsidy removal plan, which should be in stages. Apart from that, simultaneously, there must be an infrastructural development plan to go side-by-side with it. 20 per cent of the fuel subsidy could be removed and reciprocal infrastructural development should be made known to the public to show that this is where the money has come from to execute this particular project. It is just like the PTF of those days. That way, the people will feel the crunch on one side and the relief on the other side and they will be able to match the two. Once that is done, the sincerity of the removal will now be accepted by the people. Remember also that the cost of crude is A; the cost of petroleum product is A+B+C+X. If we are to see that Nigeria produces petroleum products, definitely, the private should not see the industry as an unprofitable venture for them t invest in it. If they see that the calculation of investing in the refinery, getting the crude and processing it, selling it to the market is profitable in the long run, then private investors will invest in the refineries. At this point in time, the template does not show profitability at the end of it all. It does not show profitability because of the fuel subsidy. In other words, while we are looking stage two of the removal, the government should be looking at making refineries interesting for the private sector to invest in. Why do you want to run for the chairmanship of the PDP in Lagos State'First of all, I believe I have the passion for the party at heart. Two, is that I believe I can work with the state, the party members and the stakeholders to win elections from this time to 2015. I also believe that we will be able to build a vibrant and active party and bring in all factions in the party together. I believe that I have what it takes to lead the entire state towards victory in future elections. I believe that I have the drive to create empowerment project within the party, work with the youths and elders of the party towards achieving a better acceptable party within Lagos State. How convinced are you that you can win Lagos, given the fact that for 12 years now, the party has not been able to win anything substantial in the state' That is the reason I am stepping in. definitely, the party hasn't won past elections. There is a strategy for winning elections and we would not divulge that information here. With hard work, perseverance and being proactive, we will be able to give the incumbent or the ruling party a good fight at the polls.
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