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We must not ignore the allegations that Alex Ekwueme is dishonest to other Igbo people. Ike Nwachukwu has said that Alex Ekwueme lied to him about his intentions to run for president. Nwachukwu's charges against Ekwueme have been corroborated by Chekwas Okorie, the APGA Chairman, who said that four times, Nwachukwu went to Ekwueme, and four times, Ekwueme told Nwachukwu that he, Ekwueme would not run for president and even supported Nwachukwu's candidacy. The legacy Alex Ekwueme is leaving behind is one of an elder Igbo liar who deceives younger Igbo men and takes political advantage of them. Nwachukwu may be an evil man, but, it is not on those accounts that Ekwueme lied to Nwachukwu.
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It is ironic as in Alex Ekwueme's presidential bid to find out how confused and bellicose the Igbo Diaspora has been ever since the aging Ekwueme had been dragged into the political arena again by his Northern ruling elite friends, who at all cost would put the Igbos into a divide, a tactic to destroy whatever plans Igbos might have as a strategy to bring them back to the mold of the good old days of oneness and growth.
The "mad-dogging," which is now commonplace in all Igbo-related forums is a clear sign Nd'Igbo has not learned their lessons from the past. Why is Ekwueme's candidacy a big deal, anyway? That of all the Diaspora Igbo who run their mouth on a daily basis in Yahoogroups as if they have nothing else to do, that none of those so-called intellectuals and politicians can come forth and take up the challenge of Igbo leadership and presidential bid other than Ekwueme whose age should be of concern in our choice for a presidential candidate? That Ekwueme is all we've got to offer? That, because we are desperate for a "national" president, therefore Ekwueme having "leadership capabilities" and an old dem political class, we must back him to fill the void? Give me a break. Ejikwam ogu-oh!
For you blind Ekwueme followers and ugly political salesmen, first of all, you must ask yourselves what Ekwueme did for the Igbo nation when he was vice president in the Second Republic. Also, weshould bear one thing in mind: Ekwueme has not spoken for the Igbos under any circumstances, in time of political distress, civil unrest, wantom killings of Igbos and vice versa. So, what guarantees he is going to be a changed man, this time around?
Before we dabble into this recklessness of Ekwueme's popularity in defeating Olusegun Obasanjo in the fortcoming PDP primaries, let us look back and recall how all the brouhaha began. The same political gimmick is bound to repeat itself again, and do not say I did not tell you.
That's my word!
Posts: 479 | From: The Universe | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote: Chief Alex Ekwueme's chances in the primaries appeared slim, since the nine aspirants, except incumbent Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju, who had earlier declared support for Obasanjo, are from Anambra State.
quote: In a statement in Enugu, the governorship aspirants further asked their supporters to move to Abuja from today to ensure that the President was elected
May I say that next time that this fools want to make such joint statements, they go to AWKA and do it. Do not drag my home state into your shameless self hate and power aspirations in the backs of your fellow Igboman to the benefit of another tribe and one that is known to subjugate the Igbo Nation and Igbos in general. A person that told the Igbo elite here in the USA to go to hell, what a bunch of shameless men and woman. Please all take a note these names and commit them to memory. Dr. Raymond Okechukwu Odunze, Jerry Sony Ugokwe, Chudi Offidile, Philip Obiora Agbasi, Ikechukwu Abana, Chukwuemeka Okeke, Mrs. Chika Ibeneme, Dr Chris Ngige and Benson Nnamdi Nnoruka.
020103 today: Aspirants in Anambra urge delegates to vote Obasanjo From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu PRESIDENT Olusegun Obasanjo's bid to secure victory at the People's Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primaries slated for Abuja this weekend received a boost as the nine governorship aspirants who participated in the botched election in Anambra State yesterday directed their delegates to vote for him at the convention.
In a statement in Enugu, the governorship aspirants further asked their supporters to move to Abuja from today to ensure that the President was elected and thereafter to return to the state immediately for the governorship primary.
They also urged their supporters to be "law abiding, peaceful and to go about their normal businesses, while awaiting further directives regarding the governorship primary election."
Adding that the primaries would definitely hold after the national convention, the aspirants restated their commitment to peaceful primaries.
The signatories to the statement include Dr. Raymond Okechukwu Odunze, Jerry Sony Ugokwe, Chudi Offidile, Philip Obiora Agbasi, Ikechukwu Abana, Chukwuemeka Okeke, Mrs. Chika Ibeneme, Dr Chris Ngige and Benson Nnamdi Nnoruka.
The aspirants expressed "total confidence" in the Lt. Gen. Salihu Ibrahim-led State Electoral Committee for Anambra State who, according to them, "through its transparency, saved the party from a blunder that would have destroyed the strong party in Anambra State through the use of an illegal and expired list of delegates presented to them by the state chairman, which contravened Section 14(10) of the PDP constitution."
They added: "This was against the prescribed list of delegates that emanated from the just concluded state and National Assembly primaries, and which was endorsed by the chairman of the State Electoral Committee, Lt. Gen. Salihu Ibrahim."
With the development, Chief Alex Ekwueme's chances in the primaries appeared slim, since the nine aspirants, except incumbent Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju, who had earlier declared support for Obasanjo, are from Anambra State.
Ekwueme and Ike Nwachukwu are among the six persons cleared on Tuesday by the PDP to contest the presidential primaries of the party slated for Abuja at the weekend.
___________________ Feel me? Ofu onye ana asi unu abia go. - Ednut Igbo-American . www.airamericaradio.com visit her. Posts: 2447 | From: Mother Earth | Registered: Mar 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Ednut: Does lying to Nwachukwu make one a liar? Do you have a link to where Vice President Ekwueme lied to the General?
Ide Alex Ekwueme is a credible candidate but I believe he should give way to young politicians like John Nwodo.
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I just spoke to people involved in the primaries in BiafraNigeria. It looks very bleak for Ekwueme. Enugu State governor, Chimaroke Nnamani, openly supported Obasanjo. Obasanjo has the backing of almost all the northern governors. It seems that it will be a lopsided defeat of Alex Ekwueme.
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quote:Originally posted by Patrick: I just spoke to people involved in the primaries in BiafraNigeria. It looks very bleak for Ekwueme. Enugu State governor, Chimaroke Nnamani, openly supported Obasanjo. Obasanjo has the backing of almost all the northern governors. It seems that it will be a lopsided defeat of Alex Ekwueme.
Although I prefer John Nwodo, I would be very happy to see Ide defeat Obasanjo but the way things are turning out, I doubt if that is likely. I must note with sadness that I am disgusted with the attitude of igbo politicians like Chimaroke. If we fail to actualize our bid, we cannot hold anyone responsible but ourselves.
Imagine Peter Odili whose campaign was heavily funded by the Igbo saying that his people would not want Ekwueme because he is Igbo. Do they want a yoruba man who will deny them access to their resources
[ January 06, 2003, 12:30 AM: Message edited by: II ]
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WT: Your Excellency, you have raised certain objections with respect to the just concluded Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) convention where the 2003 presidential flagbearer of the party emerged. Even before then your campaign organisation made it clear that it was not comfortable with some of the arrangements made. Could you expatiate more on some of the objections you raised?
Ekwueme: Let me say right away that when I first discussed with the National Chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, about my interest to join the presidential race, I told him that I don’t want him to favour me because he was a minister in our government (during the Second Republic) and he was quite close to me. And during my last attempt to run for the Presidency, he was the Director-General of my campaign. So naturally people would think that he will be supporting me. So I made it quite clear that I don’t want him to favour me but to create a level playing ground. And the best way to create a level playing ground is to invite all aspirants to make an input and be informed of what plans have been made for the convention from December 19, the same day I formerly declared.
A short while after that, just as I was reading the papers I saw in The Punch, a reference made to Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun, the Deputy National Chairman of the party for the South group of zones, as Chairman of the National Convention Planning Committee. I was disturbed by this development because I remember that when I first indicated interest in contesting for this election somebody asked Oyedokun, as a deputy national chairman of the party what my involvement in the contest will make? And his answer which was reported and I have the papers was that oh! you shouldn’t mind Dr. Ekwueme. That at the end of the day he (Ekwueme) will come and hug President Obasanjo the same way he did in Jos. Now, this is a manifestation of very deliberate and deep support for one of the aspirants. This was really reported. Now to put such a person as head of the convention planning committee was totally unacceptable. And it didn’t show good taste on the part of the chairman of the party who took that decision. My campaign organisation protested. And all that we got as a response was that oh! You shouldn’t worry so much, that Oyedokun is a man of honour, and that he will act fairly and justly. But in this kind of situation you don’t just act justly but justice must be shown to be done.
Then shortly after that we heard again that Chief Olabode George who is the National Vice-Chairman of the party for the South-West has been made head of security for the convention; which is a very sensitive position. As you may have known Olabode George is the arrow-head of Obasanjo’s campaign in the South-West. And he has been saying it that he is going to take over the South-West on behalf of Obasanjo. Now to put him in that position, I think deliberately, is totally insensitive to the feelings of the other aspirants.
Also, shortly after that we saw Mr. A. K. Dikibo, the National Vice-Chairman for the South-South, who again is a proclaimed Obasanjo supporter and he said so several times. He was put in charge of accreditation of the delegates. Now this was about the limit.
So we wrote to the chairman of the party and said this was not acceptable. And so he called us to a meeting and there and then we were told that Tom Ikimi was going to be the Chairman of the Electoral Panel. Tom Ikimi who just a few months ago left ANPP! And we are looking for people who are founding members of the PDP who are not suspect in any manner. But you leave them and pick Tom Ikimi? You see, Tom Ikimi is a personal friend of mine and he’s a professional colleague, an architect. But that’s beside the point. So with these series of arrangements it was clear that there was a rigging plan. And I had to ask pointedly, the national chairman: Are you planning this convention with a view to establishing a level playing field so that delegates to the convention will freely choose who they want as their candidate? Or, are you running this convention to anoint the incumbent President, Olusegun Obasanjo as your candidate? I asked him these questions pointedly. He told me he was going to provide a level playing field. Fine. We came to a meeting and these arguments were canvassed. They said ok rather than upset the arrangements made you (aspirants) will nominate one person each to the various committees. Well, we went along with this hoping that there will be a faithful adherence to this in the whole process.
First, the venue decided for the convention was the Eagle Square. But the National Working Committee (NWC) without reference to anybody did change the venue to the International Conference Centre (ICC). I have the guidelines for the convention which says the venue must be announced at least 30 days before the primaries. And we discussed in an expanded caucus that the venue should be in Abuja and that it should be the Eagle Square. But without reference to anybody they wanted us to go to the International Conference Centre. They said that the Eagle Square was very porous. You mean you are going to host about 3,000 to 4,000 delegates with so many observers, and you are going to put so many tables, and you want all that confined to the International Conference Centre?
And I told him (Ogbeh) point blank that if you are going to have this convention at the International Conference Centre I will not be part to it. I’m not going to commit suicide because that is a coffin. Anything could happen there. And there is no way you will cast your vote there without everybody seeing what you are doing.
And then they agreed to bring the convention back to Eagle Square. I’m just giving you these examples as part of the background to this.
Again, we asked Dikibo, how do you plan to do this accreditation? He said oh, that he will package the list of delegates state by state and give them to the chairman of the party in each state who will then in turn give the accreditation materials to the delegates from each state. So I said what this means is that you as chairman of the accreditation committee of the convention you are handing over your assignment to the chairmen of the party in the states. If that is the case why do you need two days for accreditation?
I said accreditation means that you should see the delegates one by one and give them accreditation materials to go ahead and vote.
I said what if the state chairmen decide to run away with the accreditation forms? They said no, no, no. But that was eventually what happened. Some of the chairmen, including the chairman from my own state (Anambra) carried the documents to a businessman who had no stake in the party who carried away all these documents. And nobody could find him to get these. He gave those whom he wanted to give.
So the whole accreditation there was a farce. There were people there who voted but were not originally elected as delegates. Those people were only handpicked here in Abuja and given the cards to go and vote.
But all these I disregarded because I thought once the election was properly conducted with the level of disenchantment people have for the incumbent president in every part of this country there was no way he could win against me in a free and fair election.
But the final straw that broke the camel’s back was in the matter of the ballot papers. The chairman himself, Chief Innocent Audu Ogbeh, told me earlier on that he was going to personally handle the matter of the ballot. Because I told him that I’ve heard of the stench and corruption in the National Secretariat of the party. And he himself confirmed that he found it difficult to trust anybody with the ballot papers. That he will not present it to the electoral panel until an hour to voting so that the integrity and security of the ballots would not be compromised. I said fine. And then I asked him two days to the convention where those ballot papers were? He said he has printed 10,000 ballot papers. Five thousand will be used for the first round and the remaining 5,000 will be used for the second round if there is going to be a run-off. But he didn’t expect more than 3,500 delegates in any case.
So we said what does the ballot paper looks like. He described it. At no time did he tell us that the ballot papers will carry serial numbers. He never mentioned that.
Meanwhile, the president’s handlers were telling delegates that whether they voted for the president or not it would be found out. I didn’t know why they could be too sure. And two of the governors who spoke with the BBC said that there was an agreement with the president that they would support him. And that they will make their delegates vote for the president.
How can a governor tell BBC, in effect the whole world, that he was going to make his delegates vote for a particular candidate when the delegates are expected to exercise their franchise through secret balloting? That was obviously wrong.
I still felt confident that once the delegates were allowed to vote secretly they would not vote for the president because if you conduct an opinion poll across the country, even in the South-West where the president comes there is a great disenchantment with him. And that is why we have an incumbent who because of his handicaps had to appoint ambassadors and chairmen and other aides to vote for him to ensure that he wins the election by any means.
But coming back to the matter of ballot papers and the pressures brought to bear on delegates. I thought there was no way they could enforce that pressure. That they were just bluffing. So I didn’t worry about it until voting started.
Abia was the first to vote. And when it finished its own the chairman of the (electoral) panel announced that 100 people were approved as delegates for the state but only 95 of them actually voted. And he announced to all of us there that the ballot papers they used were 0001 to 0095. That was the first time that I knew that the ballot papers were serially numbered. So I got up from my seat and went to the (national) chairman and said what do I hear now?
I said so these ballot papers were numbered serially and you just announced that Abia had one to 95? So you’ll know how Abia voted if you look at these ballot papers later? Then the integrity of the whole process is finished. There is no secret balloting here!
And then he said no he was just trying to be transparent. I said no there is no any transparency here. So state by state you will know which ballot papers were assigned to a state. And, therefore, the threats to the governors and delegates who did not vote for Obasanjo were there. You will easily know that majority of Abia delegates did not vote for Obasanjo. So I was not left in any doubt by then that the whole exercise was a farce.
I read ThisDay’s editorial where they were saying my agents were right there so what was I complaining about? They missed the point. The ballot was not secret. Should I go and state it there and then that I don’t accept it? I said let them go through the charade. And when the results came I made it clear that I couldn’t accept the result of the election because it was not based on secret balloting. And the guidelines for the convention prescribes secret balloting.
WT: Now, are you regretting that you didn’t walk out when you saw those signs?
Ekwueme: What would I have achieved by that? First of all I was at the presidential compartment watching that. You expect me to walk down to the rostrum and say give me the microphone and disrupt the whole convention process? That’s not my style.
WT: Beyond what you have said there were allegations that the governors, and even the Presidency were going round with money. Have you tried to gather conclusive evidence that money really exchanged hands, beyond what people are hearing as rumours?
Ekwueme: There is no question of money exchanging hands being a rumour. It was so open and so brazen. We just set up a committee in my organisation to document all the facts of the matter. And we’ll make them available in due course. Ask anybody. It’s not a secret.
WT: During the convention most delegates interviewed said they voted for continuity and stability. We interpreted that to mean a vague reference to your much talked-about position paper about restructuring during the constitutional conference of 94/95. Do you feel that in anyway affected your performance during the election?
Ekwueme: That is a very blatant disinformation. I presented a minority report at the 1994 Constitutional Conference. Nowhere in that report was reference made to confederation or secession or all these things people keep saying. It’s a clear story that some people felt threatened by my popularity. And they had to start coming out with scare stories. I have a book published entitled: Whither Nigeria? You go and read a keynote address I once delivered at a pre-conference seminar at Enugu Hotel, which has been published therein. I analysed the political developments in Nigeria and what are the options available to us. First, a break-up of the country? Secondly, a confederation? Thirdly, a federation? Fourthly, quasi-unitary government which was practiced then under the military? And fifthly, unitary government.
After analysing all those five options I made it clear that what our founding fathers negotiated and handed over to us was federation. It took them 10 years and several meetings some of which took place in London to come up with that form of government.
That’s what we inherited. And in my view no one has the right to change it without sitting down together, reviewing it and saying yes we want to change it.
But the military because of their long stay in government had eroded that federal structure. They brought us almost to the brink of having a unitary government which I refer to as a quasi-unitary government.
Even now the power at the centre is not what obtained when we had the regions. But people who want to come up with scare stories would say oh! Ekwueme wants to start Biafra again. He wants to do this and that! And I look at them and laugh. In fact, I saw one article written by Abubakar Jika (now late) who is an academic where he was referring to my position as one supporting confederation….I decided to send him a copy of my book. Let him read it and tell me where I advocated for confederation.
So these are really scare stories and I don’t take them seriously because anybody who is intelligent and educated will not heed to that.
WT: You may not have taken them seriously but they were used against you.
Ekwueme: Of course, anybody can use any story against me. And it shows you the kind of desperation they have to conjure up these stories just to frighten people.
WT: Sir, there were indications that your campaign organisation may not have reached out to even some of the governors in the South-East. Don’t you see that as part of the problems you had?
Ekwueme: Well, if reaching out means giving each governor N100 million then certainly we have not reached out to them. Because we don’t have N100 million to give out to everybody. I’m not saying that anybody gave out N100 million. But that if it means giving out N100 million we have not reached out. If reaching out means that all the governors know me and I know them; and I know that they are all basically disenchanted with what is happening and that we need a change, then I’ve reached out to them. You mentioned the South-East in particular, yes. I talked to every governor in the South-East. First on the telephone; secondly, one-by-one.
WT: Apart from the South-East there were some delegates from Kebbi State who said nobody went to them from your campaign organisation to say these are what this man plans for us if we vote for him.
Ekwueme: Well I don’t know where you got that information because we have a coordinator for that area. And a day before the convention I saw them personally and spoke to them.
But clearly, if giving out money was the criterion I was in no position to compete with an incumbent president. And I don’t think giving out money should be the criterion. Anybody who is running a campaign may give out N10,000 or N20,000 to help with hotel bills and transport. I don’t regard that as indecent. But when you go out to give a delegate N100,000 or N200,000 or N300,000 then it means that you are deliberately trying to influence the person by buying his conscience. And when you compound that by telling some of them to swear that they must vote and even threatening that if you find out that they didn’t vote for you…! Then it is taking another dimension.
WT: People are increasingly becoming worried over the involvement of retired military generals in politics. And just before this convention you have been associated with former military President, Babangida. May we know if he supported you in anyway?
Ekwueme: I don’t know what you mean by my association with him. I mean he was my neighbour when we were in government. And I know him very well. But we are not politically associated with him in anyway. I don’t even know if he is a member of our party. He has never attended any of our party meetings.
So that again is part of the scare stories. But even if we were associated with him he is an influential Nigerian. Anybody who is in politics would want to contact influential Nigerians. In one breath you say I’m not reaching out and in another you say I’m associating with somebody whom if I reach out to him I can never win. So I don’t know….
WT: Well, the way in which you first mentioned your intention, at least to a large extent was seen as symbolic when you did that in Minna. And this gave rise to some of those speculations.
Ekwueme: That is a coincidence which I must explain. The expression of interest form (for the presidential race) was collected from Hallmark Bank in Abuja here by a certain gentleman on my behalf because I was in the East. And it was well publicised that I collected the form. When I got to Lagos, Babcock University in Ogun State which had given me a Doctorate Degree at their very first convocation got in touch with me and said: You celebrated your birthday and we didn’t know. And we are now hearing that you are Chancellor of the University of Ado-Ekiti. And we who first gave you a Doctorate Degree didn’t know about your birthday, ok we are now having our matriculation on so so date, we want you to come. We are going to have a birthday party for you. I accepted. And I was there on Thursday. After the event there was the birthday party and I went to commission their water works. A very beautiful project.
And after the whole event pressmen came as usual to ask some questions. And they said what about politics? What are you doing? We hear you are coming out.
I said look we are here in a university environment why don’t you ask me about what we come here for? Then as a parting shot they said what about your coming out? We read that you have collected the expression of interest form. I said I read it too. But I shall make a statement on this in due course.
Now The Guardian was there they reported this accurately as I said word to word. But ThisDay had a reporter who came from Abeokuta to this function. And Tribune had a reporter there. Both of them put on their headlines "Ekwueme Denies Presidential Ambition." This was wrong and a very disturbing thing for my supporters. This appeared on a Friday paper.
And I had an invitation from the Niger State Governor (Engr. Abdulkadir Kure) to see him on Sunday, just two days after. I thought it’s a private visit. I went. But he took me to commission some hospitals about 80 kilometres away from town. And eventually we went to his place and we had launch. But I didn’t know he had press corps of Government House there. And as usual the first question they asked was: Are you running for an election? If I said I wasn’t sure that would confirm the earlier reports.
So I said yes it’s true I’m running. That was the circumstances. And my formal declaration was on December 19 here in Abuja. But everybody said Ekwueme declared in Minna. And as it was Minna that must be IBB. I didn’t see IBB on that occasion.
After the event I asked the governor if IBB was in town. He said IBB wasn’t there but General (Abdulsalami) Abubakar was there. As an old friend I went and saw him for about 30 minutes. We went back to the Government House and had launch and I left for Abuja.
WT: (Cut in) Quite exciting! (General laughter)
Ekwueme: Yes! But it was what everyone was saying that he went to Minna to declare. Why didn’t he declare in Enugu? Why didn’t he declare in Lagos? Why didn’t he declare in Oko? Or wherever. I have to declare somewhere anyway! And I declared in Abuja eventually.
WT: But let me make reference to one other speculation that people are making which you have made reference to here actually – that Babcock University has given you an honorary doctorate. That you are in a secret alliance with the South-West. That you are the Chancellor of Ado-Ekiti University; that your daughter is an adviser to President Obasanjo; that you are a beneficiary of this administration looking at the consultancy you have gotten with respect to the Abuja Stadium. That all you are doing is playing a role scripted for you by the South-West from which eventually you will retire. How does all this sound to you?
Ekwueme: (Laughs) Babcock University. I didn’t know them from Adam. I didn’t know their chancellor, their vice-chancellor or any other person there. But when they felt that I’ve made some remarkable contributions to the nation they asked me whether I will be willing to accept an Honorary Doctorate Degree and I said I would. And I was one of the four they gave the first honorary degree. Of course I got an Honorary Doctorate Degree from Bayero University, Kano; I have from Federal University of Technology in Owerri. And I have one from Abia State University in Esulu; also from Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka.
I’m not arrogant or immodest or proud. But I don’t think any university in Nigeria that decides to give me an honorary degree they will be suspecting that I have an alliance with that. I think I deserve it because I have made contributions to this country. Some of the universities we are talking about I laid their foundations – Akure, Yola, Owerri, Bauchi and so on.
University of Ado-Ekiti. The governor of Ekiti State is Niyi Adebayo. They were looking for somebody to be chancellor. Someone came and asked me: Would you accept if they appoint you? I say why me? He said they want somebody who has that stature. And mind you the Chancellor of Enugu State University of Technology is Ernest Shonekan. It’s not because of any relationship he has with the South-East. They wanted somebody from outside that region. So that was the arrangement and I accepted it.
Now, my daughter was made a special adviser to the president. And for record purposes I was not consulted when that appointment was made.
WT: Would you have objected?
Ekwueme: Well, I can tell you that the president wanted to make my wife a minister from day one and I objected. He was not doing that in good faith. And it wasn’t politically wise. We have a lot of people who had worked with me during my campaign for the Presidency last four years. Many of them had not been looked after; many of them had been sidelined! Then the first appointment the president would make is to appoint my wife a minister? That will be a political suicide.
So again he decided to make my daughter a special assistant. What is a special assistant? I wasn’t consulted. My daughter has a Degree in Law from the University of Welsh. She has a Master’s Degree in International Law and Diplomacy from University of Lagos. She has a Master’s Degree in Administration from Peking University. She is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at the University of Central Florida. So she’s not a pushover.
So if she is made a special assistant that’s not a big deal. Of course that’s a good job for her. And even if I was asked and I give my consent that couldn’t compromise me.
Now, the big story about this stadium. I’ve read it so many times. And it’s amazing that in spite of press interviews I gave about it people still raise it. The first time I read it was in Newswatch, about four of five weeks ago. That I benefited from this government. That I was given the contract for designing the stadium. And that I was paid N800 million for it. And I laughed.
Of course the truth of the matter is that the project was designed by Julius Berger. And it’s being built by them as a turnkey project. But the government decided to appoint Nigerians to supervise certain aspects of the work so as to have Nigerians’ inputs, however minimal. And 18 firms were appointed for different aspects of that work. It just happened that one of these 18 firms is a firm of which I was executive chairman before 1979 when I became vice-president. And that firm is really a consortium made up of five different organisations.
Now when I cease political activities a few years ago I became chairman of the company again, but non-executive. I don’t work there I don’t go to the office. I’m just like a Chairman of Board of Directors. And the total fees paid to all these 18 firms were not anywhere near that N800 million they are talking about. And this firm they are talking about in which I have minimal interest is one of these 18.
But the story is that I got N800 million contract; which is ridiculous! But even if I got an N800 million contract don’t I deserve it? Those who are given N2 billion or N3 billion contracts are they more competent professionally than myself? Are they more capable? Or, have they made more contributions to the nation than me?
Some people even said I control oil blocks and export crude oil and whatever. I have never seen any oil block and I don’t control any. But the question is: those who control such are they not Nigerians like me? Are they more deserving of it than myself?
But even if I’ve gotten all that do you think I will be settled? Let me tell you the person who can settle me has not yet been born.
WT: Sir, you may have been traumatised in 1999 when you lost to Obasanjo. But in widely acclaimed show of true sportsmanship you embraced him. Now, on Monday morning when this convention’s results were announced how was your own psyche?
Ekwueme: In February 1999, we organised an election process. By the time the ballots in the first ballot box were counted and we know the results, because my agents were there, I knew I had lost. Because all other boxes that were to be counted will follow the same pattern.
WT: Why?
Ekwueme: Because each box had the same pattern of voting from the states. For instance, by the time they finished counting the ballots in the first box on Monday, my wife was sitting next to me and I told her my votes will be around 650. And the result shows it was 651.
And so because I know what the results will be in Jos I had to decide how to react to it. First was to say: sorry, I don’t accept these results for the following reasons. The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party had on November 26, 1998 before the local government elections of December 5, made a provision that anybody who wanted to contest for the presidential election must win his ward and local government. The minutes of the NEC meeting are still here with me if you want to see them. And therefore because Genaeral Obasanjo did not win his ward and local government then he was not qualified to be our presidential aspirant. And these minutes were confirmed at the fourth meeting of NEC on December 10, 1998. The reason for this was that local government election was the litmus test which would decide whether our party will be registered fully or it will be dropped. So everybody was enjoined to go back and make sure he won his ward and his local government. And that was why it was made a precondition for every presidential aspirant.
Now with that background I had the minutes of the two meetings in my pocket (during the Jos convention). I would have gotten up and said ladies and gentlemen, if you think you have voted for seven aspirants, the fact is that only six of us are qualified. Because the minutes stated it clearly that you must win your ward and local government. And Chief Obasanjo had not won his ward and local government.
And of the six of us that were qualified, my votes were more than those of all the other five put together. And so I expect you to put my name forward as the candidate of the party because the decision of the NEC had not been amended or reversed.
And I would have stood on very strong legal grounds to enforce that. That is one option.
The next option was to say: I’ve seen what happened; I will think about it and I will make a statement in due course.
And the third option was to say: yes, it is part of the problems with the processes. I accept this and will endorse this candidate and I will support him. And I chosed the last option. I knew if I did otherwise that would have been the end of the party because the atmosphere was charged. There was tension even in the stadium and around the place.
So I said having sacrificed everything- the G34 and this and that, and the All Politicians’ Summit to make sure that we have a transition to democracy, it will be a selfish thing for me to set the country on the path of fire. This thing would have delayed the handing over (of power) because the list of candidates were to be submitted within 48 hours of that our convention.
So, I considered all these things and felt the interest of Nigeria was paramount and that I should do everything to maintain Nigeria’s stability. So I took that decision for which I was blamed by many people. Oh! You just sold out without any consultation or negotiation or anything. Now, that is one.
This one (the recent convention) I’ve already told you that there was no election. There was no secret at all. The election was not by secret ballot. If it was done properly without numbering of ballot papers, and people freely voted in spite of intimidation, inspite of procurement, inspite of gratification, inspite of blackmail, but atleast they voted freely with the assurance that nobody will be able to find out how they voted, I would have accepted the results.
But here, they (voters) were told that whichever way they voted would be found out. And that they will pay for it if they didn’t vote in one way. And it turned out that it was pre-planned that the ballot papers were numbered to achieve that result. So I told you that there is no way I could accept that result grounded on such patently fraudulent mechanism as I said at the Eagle Square. I’m trained as a good sportsman right from childhood in school. And they told us that the important thing is not the winning or the losing but the playing of the game.
WT: From all indications this matter has not ended. Now people are waiting to see what will be your next line of action given the fact that perhaps if you decide to pull out of the party you may go out with a lot of supporters. What exactly are you considering doing now?
Ekwueme: Well, first and foremost I’ve explained at the end of the convention that I didn’t accept the results because they were not arrived at through the method stipulated by our party. So the onus is on the party to do something about it.
They will go ahead of course, the way I look at them, to submit Chief Obasanjo’s name as candidate of the party. Which means that they are building their structure on very weak foundation.
My organisation met this morning (on Tuesday) and set up a committee that is documenting all the issues that were raised. And we’ll consider it and then decide on what action to take. We haven’t come to that stage yet.
WT: Will you eventually consider joining another political party?
Ekwueme: We haven’t gotten to that stage at all and that is not in the cards at the moment. But it will be based on the report of the committee and the consultation we’ll make with our supporters all over the country.
WT: How do you look at the future of democracy in this country? Do you foresee Nigeria sustaining this democratic project given most of these happenings?
Ekwueme: I’ll tell you frankly that I’m worried for the future of democracy in Nigeria. I’m really worried. Because the trend over the last three and half years has been rather ominous. It hasn’t been right a trend. And if we can go through most of the things I’ve just mentioned in an intra-party convention process, one fears what will happen in an inter-party competition where we are competing with a lot of parties.
And when you think of what have happened in the National Assembly in the past three and half years where there have been a styled interference in the work of that institution as to how they select their leadership - we have three presidents of the Senate in three years and we would have had more. We had two speakers of the House of Representatives and we would have had more. Even when the constitution stated clearly that the Senate shall elect its president and the House shall elect its speaker as well. And then somebody elsewhere wants to be interested in who occupies those positions. It’s a dangerous trend for the party.
It was a normal run off during our time. Shagari was the President but Akinloye was the chairman of our party. And even though we are at the head of the government we submitted ourselves to the decisions of the party.
But now we had three chairmen of the party (PDP) in three years. That style, infact, is a dictatorial style. So I’m worried. I just pray that democracy will survive in Nigeria. But the symptoms or signals are not rather encouraging.
WT: There is this problem, imagined or real, that the South-East and the South-South have fundamental differences. Do you think this has affected what have happened both at the PDP and the just concluded ANPP conventions?
Ekwueme: What fundamental differences exist between the South-East and the South-South? None! All the four states in the South-South today were part of the then Eastern Nigeria. It’s only Delta and Edo that were part of the then Western Nigeria. So effectively the South-East and South-South are the same. And all the 11 governors from these two geo-political zones are from PDP.
And just a few days before this (PDP) convention there was a meeting of COSESS (Confederation of South-East and South -South States) in Umuahia, Abia State. And they put out a resolution that they want the next president to come from either South East or South-South. For reasons of equity and so on. So, this so-called difference is being exaggerated. Infact, it’s being whipped up by people who don’t want us to work together. Like the president himself when he went to Bayelsa on a visit, can you imagine the president of our country, went to Bayelsa and told them that they were able to talk because he saved them from Igbo people. Is that a healthy thing to say? So that’s the type of things that cause tension.
WT: Sir, who would have been your running mate?
Ekwueme: That hasn’t arisen. Of course, there was a proposal putten up by the governors that first, from their analysis there wasn’t any iota of support for the incumbent president. And they said that if we wanted any level of continuity the best thing will be for the vice president (Atiku Abubakar) to work with me.
Well that was one option. But it is not up to me to choose my running mate. It’s up to the party. For instance, Shagari didn’t make the decision to pick me as his running mate. He was nominated by the party on the 10th of December, 1978. But it was not until January 23, 1979 that the NEC recommended me and I was presented with a view to optimise our electoral advantage. So you look at how a ticked is balanced; who will bring the largest support to the ticket so that you shall win. That’s what parties are about.
WT: By 11th of this month all parties are expected to submit the names of their aspirants. Sir, don’t you think any action you may take should come before that time?
Ekwueme: What action?
WT: With regards to the result.
Ekwueme: No, no, no! I’ve already made my statement. I will not go to court to get an injunction to stop my party from presenting a candidate. Or, try to frustrate the situation so that our party wouldn’t have a candidate so that other parties would walk in. You know, I have a spiritual and philosophical attachments to this party. Because I know what it took us to form it from day one. It is people who jumped in that have no such attachments. And by their conduct they do things which would disrupt the party and they are not worried about it. If the party feels what they have done is correct they can present the name of the incumbent to INEC.
Posts: 22 | From: Germany | Registered: Nov 2002
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Nwagu: Thanks for posting that interview. Now that we have heard from the HORSE'S MOUTH, its obvious that the Yoruba press have as usual feeding their readers NONESENSE about Ekwueme's person. Unfortunately, Ekwueme's "style" and the gullibility of an average Nigerian has not helped his case.
All, Coming back from Nigeria this afternoon I must say that I am shocked at the party some fellows on this board have been having just because Ekwueme "lost" what every honest Nigerian agrees was a FRAUD. The reality some of you refuse to acknowledge is that no matter Ekwueme's political failures, vis-a-vis the Igbo nation, he is one Igboman which EVERY Nigerian who appreciates CHARACTER respects and to some extend WORSHIP. And that alone is something EVERY Igbo should be proud of.
For other than what some of you have been fed that Ekwueme "failed" because he did that or did not do this, the truth of the matter is that Ekwueme's anti military position even before he became Nigeria's Vice-President in 1979 has made him one person the military establishment and those who gained from their largess have loved to hate. To add salt unto their injury, Ekwueme formed the G-34 that frustrated Abacha's dream of transforming himself from a military dictator to a "civilian" president. How did any of you think Ekwueme would have won the PDP ticket with the combined team of the likes of Tom Ikimi (Abacha's foreign Minister), Tony Anenih (Abacha Ambassador-at-Large), Emmanuel Iwuanyawu (Abacha's "million man march" organizer), Jerry Gana (Abacha's Minister), etc working together to do what they do best: RETURN EVERY SITTING GOVERNMENT TO POWER?
Though as one who strongly believes in putting his money where his mouth is, I did and still do contribute my money and time in rallying support before and while i was in Nigeria for the APGA (because of its pro-Igbo manifesto), however, with every due respect to the party for chosing Ojukwu as its Presidential candidate, I am afraid its same fear for PEOPLE WITH CHARACTER (be they Igbo or not) that will make the Ojukwu candidature a NO SEll beyond Igboland.
On our part, it is UN-IGBO for some of us to always show our frustration with the Nigerian state by raining abuses on the likes of Ekwueme. For whether we like his politics or not, one thing we can honestly agree is that Ekwueme as a person got the basic of what forward-looking societies (unfortunately from what I knew and saw Nigeria is not one of such nations) appreciate in people, i.e CHARACTER.
That is what the Obasanjos DO NOT have and CANNOT boast of irrespective of how many centuries they rule Nigeria. Luckily, money CANNOT buy one NAME!
As things stand now, it is people with the latter not the former Nigeria badly needs for it to join the FORWARD-LOOKING nations of the 21st century.
For those who are against the Igbo Presidency project, let me on behalf of all who have contributed their time and resources to the effort tell them that the project was NOT a do or die affair. It was to tell Nigerians that THERE ARE IGBOS WHO CAN GOVERN NIGERIA AND GOVERN WELL.
And from the unbelishable PERSONS OF CHARACTER ranging from Ekwueme to Nwodo and up to Ojukwu, we Igbos have proved that point beyong REASONABLE DOUBT to Nigerians and non-Nigerians alike! So to that extend, the "Igbo Presidency" project is a HUGE SUCCESSS which every Igboman and woman should be proud to have been part of.
There's no doubt in the mind of every PERSON OF CONSCIENCE that the Igbos have set the STANDARD. It is not left for other Nigerians to follow the GOOD EXAMPLE by voting their CONSCIENCE in April; or alternatively their heart and that of their children unborn will fail FOREVER.
Posts: 997 | From: Germany | Registered: Mar 2001
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The trouble with Alex Ekwueme is that he waited until the twilight of his life to start saying that there are problems with the way things are done by the people he had always worked with. That suggests that he had hope that his silence would bring him a great deal of personal benefit, namely, the presidency.
Now that it appears clear that such benefits would not be forthcoming in his lifetime, Ekwueme is crying foul. It would have been better for him to cry foul for his people instead of crying foul for himself alone. His complaints are making him look like a pathetic figure. He, quite frankly, is now a disgrace, and he should quietly go away.
[ January 12, 2003, 01:46 PM: Message edited by: Daud ]
Posts: 449 | Registered: Mar 2001
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Nwa aro, Wellcome back to the forum, I hope you brought good tiddings from home. Daud, You said well, Ekwueme is tired and should get retired, by reading that interview, I do understand that he is runing away from the accusasion that he demanded for regional autonomy during the consituent assembly, this whold have been his best time to demand even Biafra and not to deny what is the general Igbo demand.
___________________ He likened the second coming of Christ to the realisation of the Biafran dream, stating that at a time people least expect, the much sought Biafra would be a reality..Rev. Fr. Cornelius Ezeiloaku Posts: 622 | From: santiago, chile | Registered: Jan 2002
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" Now that it appears clear that such benefits would not be forthcoming in his lifetime, Ekwueme is crying foul. It would have been better for him to cry foul for his people instead of crying foul for himself alone. His complaints are making him look like a pathetic figure. He, quite frankly, is now a disgrace, and he should quietly go away. "
Daud I agree completely with you, he cannot cry foul for his people because it's all about himself and his opportunistic cronnies. He should cry fould to Shagari and the caliphate.
Posts: 1532 | From: USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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