Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) governorship candidate in the April polls, Alhaji Balarabe Musa spoke with SAXONE AKHAINE in Kaduna on the behind the scene campaign in the North for the 2015 Presidency. He also spoke on the anti-corruption crusade of President Goodluck Jonathan and the fresh economic challenges he faces. Excerpts:THERE are suggestions in some quarters that the North has started the push for 2015 as some political groups and supporters are urging Vice President, Alhaji Namadi Sambo to contest'Well, we have to understand the reality of Nigerian politics. Whoever is the vice president has to campaign for the presidency. If he doesn't, his supporters will do it for him, whether he is interested or not. The nature of our politics is that of politics of grandstanding. If as a vice president he doesn't do this or this is not done for him the impression is that he is irrelevant. So, some pretence must be made. He may not really be interested in the position, but in spite of that, this can be done for him and he cannot reject it because as I said if he rejects it he will be regarded as a vice president who is spineless. In Nigeria you have to demonstrate power and relevance even if you don't have them, particularly in politics.How do you think a northern presidential candidate will emerge in 2015'The nature of the politics of incumbency in Nigeria is such that the PDP will find it very difficult not to present him in 2015. For the rest of Nigerians, of course, will not be and continue to be in despair as they are now. The state of the nation is negative in all respects, anything can happen and the most logical thing is to expect a change from PDP leadership to another leadership, which is more relevant and progressive. If things continue as they are now and if Nigerians continue to be informed, I don't see any chance for the PDP in 2015 no matter whom they present.The problem would be if the other parties continue to be irrelevant as they are now. Today, the other parties do not exist. The only strong party now is the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) because they control an entire zone. And they are the second largest party in terms of representation in the executive at the state level and in the legislature, both national and state levels. The ACN remains the only party that can challenge PDP effectively and even defeat PDP with the support of the other parties that control a state. But the question is whether the ACN and the other parties or at least two of the relevant ones can come together and with the inspiration of Nigerians defeat PDP. It will be a tragedy for Nigeria if the PDP continues after the 2015 election.Can you expatiate on your earlier statement that the state o f Nigeria is negative in all aspects'Well, the President himself has said it and nobody can say anything more than that. He said that every public institution in the country has collapsed, and this to me includes the presidency. He said organs of government, and by this he means the ministries, cannot take decisions on issues they ought to and are legally authorised to take decisions on, without referring to him. Is there anything anybody can say more than this with regards to the negative state of the nation' No one can say it better than the President has.Apparently you don't much belief in the current campaigns'It means nothing to me. I think this is a function of money power. The people involved in the campaign are trying to grab as much as possible for themselves. There is a pay-off for all these activities. I mean people who engage in this sort of activities are well paid. The correct person who can promote the deal can be paid a billion naira to campaign for a course or person. There is a lot of loose money in the country and this loose money is in the hands of elected and appointed leaders and they use it mindlessly.For example, I believe that one of the reasons the government is insisting on the withdrawal of subsidy is that the withdrawal will mean that there will be more money available to the government to be shared between the elected and appointed leaders of the government for election campaign in 2015. This is how it happens in all capitalist countries, particularly semi-colonial capitalist countries. They use public funds massively and mindlessly for the purpose of contesting election and maintaining political leadership.How would you rate the anti-corruption crusade of the Jonathan administration, in the light of the arraignment of some former governors by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)'As far as I am concerned, the anti-corruption campaign has completely gone. It doesn't exist anymore because of the actions of executive arm of government, judiciary and anti-corruption agencies. What is going on now is a contemptuous pretence and in the course of it, there is a systematic destruction of credible evidence against the looters so that when eventually, a genuine anti-corruption campaign comes about, there will be no credible evidence to pin down any thief.The anti-corruption campaign of Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was systematically destroyed immediately Buhari was overthrown. Before Buhari the same thing happened to the anti-corruption campaign of the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed and when Gen. Ibrahim Babangida came on board there was no pretence of an anti-corruption campaign. In fact, all those indicted and convicted were free to do whatever they wanted and some of them are leaders now. Some of them were immediately pardoned and they became free to contest elections. This is exactly what is going on now, even at a higher level. Yes, people are being arraigned and convicted, but these are the unlucky ones. And there would always be unlucky people. They might be people who have confronted those in authority. For example, the former governor of Lagos State, just like Buhari, is now a problem for the PDP government. The PDP government will be even more exposed and alienated from the people as long as these two people are relevant, whether as individuals or as party leaders. But if they can undermine these two, where will their party be' Would there be any opposition'Kaduna is one the states that recently declared themselves not viable of carrying out development projects'Corruption has a disabling power and we are at that disabling level of corruption, stealing and criminal waste of public resources. The level of corruption, stealing and waste has gone so far that it has incapacitated government. Government cannot function and that is why we have the situation in some of the states, and I am quite sure it is the same situation at the Federal level. The safety valve is the oil, which is under the control of the Federal Government, and it does what it likes with the money. In spite of the revenue sharing law, the Federal Government does what it likes with the nation's wealth. It can spend any part of it at anytime without necessarily obtaining authority from the National Assembly. The government may not even budget for it as there are ways where the oil money will not go into the budget. The oil will be stolen, shipped to the high sea and from there sold and the money disappears. Government agents and agencies do this through organised crime. The day we will have a credible public organisation that can examine this industry and who benefits from it, that day we will know the truth.With over three years to the next election in 2015, what kind of changes do you expect in the economy, and is there hope'We should have hope in God; it is only God that can do anything. God can change anything for the better. Besides God, what hope do we have when the President says every institution of government has collapsed. And nobody in government can take a decision without referring to him. Now, what more do we need to know' How can he also change the situation after making that statement' Up till now he has not said specifically what he will do to change the situation of things in the country other than things that others who dare not say as much he did. Previous governments accepted the problems but didn't do anything; Jonathan explained the negative state of the nation but he has not explained how he is going to deal with the matter in a way that is different from the methods used in the past. And he is still there in office. would the people tolerate the situation in some other countries' Nigeria is different.A lot of people have admitted that there is a remarkable improvement today in the power sector'Really' It is still epileptic in my area in Kaduna, and that this is the urban area of Kaduna called the GRA. The unsteady power supply is seen everyday. There are others in urban areas that don't even have a blink of electricity for a whole day.The Vice President is directly supervising the execution of the contracts with power companies'Contracts today are awarded to business partners. This is what happens at the council, state and federal levels. And even with public institutions. This is what is happening and it is what is called the disabling level of corruption. And nothing will change this other than a change of the socio-economic system controlling all development and the political leadership produced by the system, which is based on self-interest as opposed to public interest. The moment the system is changed in favour of public interest, we will see the difference. We have had this experience before. During the colonial times and the first republic, the guide was public interest first, enlightened self-interest second. That was why we had relative development. But, from the second republic, it changed from public interest to self-interest and that is why we have this survival of the fittest syndrome today among public officeholders.
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