Professor Ango Abdullahi, a former minister and Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and currently Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum in this interview took a look at the President Muhammadu Buhari five-year government and concluded that it has failed to meet the yearnings of Nigerians. He also asked Nigerians to forget about rotational presidency among other national issues.

Nigerians recently celebrated Democracy Day on June 12. What is your reaction to the celebration? 

(Cuts in) The only Democracy Day, for me, will remain 1st of October, our Independence Day. I have looked at all the elements that have gone into the sentiments of creating Democracy Day whether it is 29th of May or June 12. I see no justification for the sentiments expressed by those who really created the names or days because the days were not created by Nigerians. The days were created by political leaders looking for greater foothold in the polity, wanting to have a little more space in the political history of Nigeria.

We are also celebrating five years of Buhari’s government in power and…

Who are those celebrating? Let them celebrate.

The impression of most political analysts I have spoken to is that…

(Cuts in) You see I have always said that the biggest criminals against democracy in Nigeria are journalists.

Why, Prof.?

Because you are not helping democracy in Nigeria, but in other parts of the world, it is journalists that are helping to develop democracy. You are singing your master’s voice all the time and not the people’s voice. That’s all. If you ask me to differentiate between the current administration and the past presidents…well, I worked with only one president, Obasanjo and I will state clearly that Obasanjo was by far a better president than Buhari. That is my position.

Some political analysts have walked on the same path you are walking now because their conclusion is that in all indices of governance, this government has failed and they also talked about the hues and cries everywhere…

(Cuts in) You want me to celebrate failure? Why should Nigerians celebrate failure because you have said we are celebrating five years of Buhari’s government and you have just said people said in all indices this government has failed; why should we celebrate failure. If you are a student, who failed your exams, do you celebrate with other students who have passed?

Prof. if you just allow me to conclude my question, you probably may see my line of thought. It’s not true that journalists are supporting government although where there is the need why not? But what I meant was that the government is celebrating its five years in office. Now…

(Cuts in) Aha! Then say you are celebrating because I thought you said you are celebrating. Then say the government is celebrating five years in office or is observing or whatever it is; then it is government. The question that would follow would then be would people join in this celebration? Then the people you sample will tell you their feelings just like I told you that there is nothing to celebrate.

Prof. I told you the reaction of some people who feel that the masquerade can no longer dance because those beating the drum, including those who thought that the package of change that the APC sold to Nigerians are laced with gold are beating their…

(Cuts in) In fact, they cannot beat the drums anymore because they are hungry. Well, I will be 82 sometimes this year and I still want to celebrate my well being as a student, as a worker starting from 1960 when I went to the university in Ibadan and up to the time I came to start work in Zaria, the two governments that I have enjoyed and I believe Nigerians enjoyed are the first republic government, their leadership style, their sacrifices, their honesty and so on and the government that followed even though it was a military administration. The Gowon government is the best military government this country has ever had if you are talking of military administration. So, well, you have to write something anyway so that you can sell your papers.

Prof, what do you think of the five years of the Buhari government?

You know I have been insulted and abused when I came out before the 2019 election to say that Buhari should not be elected because he has failed in his first four years of his administration. I have granted your paper interview several times and my conclusion was that Buhari was a failure. That was why we elders, Afenifere, Ohaneze and so on said that Atiku should be elected. We said so. It was in the open. So for us to say that Atiku should be elected, it means that Buhari has failed in our view and we didn’t hide it. You tell me what has changed since he came again. Since after the 2019 election we have had more problems; killing of people all over the place, hunger is everywhere. So, you Nigerians, that is your ‘wahala now’. The problem with Nigerians is that they don’t seem to learn anything from history. So, when perhaps in another one year or two the politics begin, you see them dancing around the same people who have failed them, who have stalled this journey of 60 years. So, what can you do? For me now at this stage, it is ‘sidon look’ .

You have painted a gloomy picture of Buhari’s government and rather unfortunately, some Northerners are insisting that the presidency should reside in the North in 2023. Would it be morally justifiable for the North to come again after Buhari?

Who will be in power in 2023? Buhari would have run his tenure of eight years so you don’t expect him to say that he is coming again.

I am saying after his tenure in 2023

No, no, no. But the failure of Buhari is not the failure of the North. You have to make that distinction very clear. Buhari’s failure is not the failure of the North. Or are you saying because Buhari has failed, all of us Northerners are failures? No, we don’t agree.

In that case, are you also saying it is the turn of the North in 2023?

No, no, no; there is no such thing as turn because this thing now has to die. The question of my turn today, your turn tomorrow must die. What should be alive is: where is a good Nigerian who will run this country efficiently and effectively? All this bojuboju must stop. I was in PDP. I was one of the people who formed PDP and we inscribed this rotation, but we saw that it was wrong and is still wrong. So, I think that Nigerians of future generation should forget it and begin to search for people who will run the country more efficiently and effectively, whether from north or south; even if it is gotten from the sky, but I am sure we have plenty of them in the country.

As you are aware, the Senate has set up a Constitution Review Committee led by the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege and they would want inputs from stakeholders like you on some of the…

(Cuts in) My view is that the country should return to parliamentary system of government. That is my position. The presidential system has failed. We didn’t give the parliamentary system a chance. We practised it for only five years and now we have tried the presidential system for 20 odd years and we are getting into worse situations and so on and we are getting into problems politically, economically, socially and so on because we have chosen a system that doesn’t fit a poor country like Nigeria and a diverse country like Nigeria. So, parliamentary system of government is the solution in terms of government. Now, we are talking about system, a system where we can have accountability, discipline, law and order, your courts are functioning; parliamentary system is it. It is better than the current presidential system that we are running. The National Assembly is not thinking the same with 99 percent of Nigerians. They are very comfortable but 99 percent of Nigerians are not comfortable. They are not on the same page with Nigerians.

Do you trust the National Assembly members to really deal with this issue of constitution review? I asked this question because some watchers of the National Assembly say we now have a National Assembly that has a stamp like NIPOST.

All we want is a resolution from the National Assembly that there should be a referendum allowing a period to campaign for the pros and cons of the parliamentary and presidential systems in the country after which we should have a referendum to go back to parliamentary or retain a modified system of presidential system. That is it.

Having spent about N7 to N8 million on the National Conference of 2014 with about 600 resolutions at the period, is it not important to just look at the resolutions in order to bring out the important provisions that were debated and agreed on instead of spending money and time on another get together that…

(Cuts in) It was all self serving. I argued against it. I argued against even my seniors like Nwabueze because we saw what was behind it. We were consulted and we said we were not participating because it was not a representative conference. It was a selective conference to serve an agenda and that is why we refused to attend and participate and we will continue to refuse to accept its recommendations.

What would you say about the management of COVID-19?

I think the Almighty has been very kind to us because if you see what this virus has done in developed countries like America, UK, France, Italy, you must kneel down and pray for God’s mercies because we are totally ill-prepared, unprepared, disorganized in terms of dealing with this kind of emergency. The only thing we are able to do now is just to count. Even the counting is not correct. I am sure it is not correct. There are so many people who have died without being accounted for. We hardly have a functioning health service in this country. You go to any Teaching Hospital today and ask how many dialysis machines do they have for people with kidney problems? Go to all these places; there are no services. But you can imagine what is happening in countries like UK where the services are there, National Health Institute; but all the same, you can see the bashings they are having from this virus. So, we thank God for His mercies for sparing Africa or Nigeria for being low in the counting but whether we are counting accurately is the question I raised a few minutes ago. We are in trouble. You know this virus is not gone and the experts around the world are saying the virus is still up there. What they are battling now is to see whether a vaccine can be developed or therapy for people afflicted by the disease in hospitals. None of them is available even in the developed countries, let alone here.

Edo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Mr Tony Aziegbemi, has confirmed that Governor Godwin Obaseki and other top officials of the All Progressives Congress, APC would soon join his party.

Aziegbemi, however, said the governor would not be given an automatic ticket to fly the party’s flag as other aspirants had shown interest in the same position.

The PDP has fixed its governorship primary for June 19 and 20.

Obaseki was disqualified from contesting the governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress slated for June 22.

Read Also: “We’re Robbing Our Children To Pay For Our Greed” — Atiku Tackles FG On Rising Debt

In a telephone interview on Monday, Aziegbemi said Governor Obaseki would have to go through the laid down rules of the party when he eventually defects.

He said, “There is nothing like an automatic ticket for anybody; it is like that in any democratic environment, and there is a process as laid down by the constitution of the party and that we will follow.

“But I can confirm to you that the governor, his deputy, and the entire APC structure in the state will be joining the PDP soon. We have been in touch in the last few days; by tomorrow (today), I will be able to confirm the exact date he will be joining with his team.”

However, one of the PDP aspirants in the forthcoming primary, Mr Ken Imasuagbon, said he would resist any attempt to hand over the party’s ticket to Obaseki ahead of the state governorship elections.

Marilyn Amobi may now serve out her tenure as the Managing Director of bulk electricity trader, NBET, following a letter to that effect conveyed to her late Monday by the finance ministry, a few moments after power minister, Saleh Mamman, had announced her removal “with immediate effect”.

The counter actions of the finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, and her power ministry counterpart, Mr Mamman, underscored the confusion and power play in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The two ministers separately said Mr Buhari authorised their opposing actions.

In a statement on Monday evening, Mr Mamman said Mr Buhari had approved the removal of Ms Amobi, asking her to proceed on terminal leave and hand over to NBET’s General Counsel and Secretary, Nnaemeka Eweluka, as the new substantive boss of the agency immediately.

That was five days after PREMIUM TIMES exposed Ms Amobi’s continued violation of Nigeria’s code of conduct for public officials as she runs a private company, ESL Economics and Management Limited, and operates foreign bank account in the United Kingdom.

Mrs Amobi’s four-year tenure is to end July 24 this year.

Top government officials said our report on Ms Amobi’s abuse of code of conduct, indeed a constitutional breach, angered Mr Buhari who immediately ordered her removal.

However, shortly after Mr Mamman announced the removal, based on Mr Buhari’s approval, it emerged the president had earlier, through his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, given an instruction that Ms Amobi be allowed to serve out her tenure.

The approval to serve out her tenure was given in a June 8 memo, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES late Monday. That memo was then attached to a June 15 letter from the finance ministry to Ms Amobi asking her to serve out her tenure ending in July, thereby countering Mr Mamman’s earlier announcement.

The finance ministry’s letter was signed by the permanent secretary at the finance ministry, Mahmoud Isa-Dutse.

Although the correspondence gave Ms Amobi a temporary reprieve, it, nevertheless, asked the embattled official to hand over to Mr Eweluka at the completion of her tenure in July. But Mr Mamman’s instruction was that the replacement should take place immediately.

Insiders said the clash on the fate of Ms Amobi between the two ministers was indicative of the confusion in the administration of Mr Buhari, said to have a way of giving conflicting instructions and approvals to his officials on a single subject.

Regardless of the approval of June 8 to allow Ms Amobi serve out her tenure, the president gave another instruction that the official be removed immediately PREMIUM TIMES’ report of June 11 and previous reporting by Leaks.ng on Ms Amobi’s abuses were brought to his (president’s) notice, insiders said.

The finance minister, Ms Usman, is the chairperson of NBET board but the company is a major player in the power sector overseen by Mr Mamman, the power minister.

In the power industry, NBET is the “manager and administrator of the electricity pool.” It has been covering the market shortfall using public funds to shore up the revenue of the electricity generation companies to prevent the collapse of the system that is perpetually afflicted by liquidity crisis.

In 2018, N701 billion was released for this purpose from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the 2017-2019 period.

After becoming a public official as the chief executive of NBET, a wholly-owned Nigerian government company, Ms Amobi did not withdraw from running ESL in the UK, management and accounting filings obtained by PREMIUM TIMES from UK authourities showed. This was first reported on June 10.

But during the weekend, she distributed a statement trying to deny this newspaper’s report. She said her company had become inactive and thus she was not running it.

She lied. According to records the UK authorities hold and which PREMIUM TIMES still accessed Tuesday morning before this publication, ESL, with company number 06413894, still holds an “active” business status and Ms Amobi’s running of the company remains “active”.

Also, several accounting filings, including yearly balance sheets, including the latest, submitted in 2019, were signed by Ms Amobi as the sole director of the consultancy firm.

Ms Amobi wholly owns ESL, which she registered in 2007 in London. But she did not withdraw from the running of the company as a director, after her appointment into public office in Nigeria as the country’s law requires.

She said she had resigned from the Nigerian version of ESL. PREMIUM TIMES cannot verify this claim immediately although records suggest her claim needs to be authenticated.

However, we can authoritatively report that she remains active running the private firm, ESL, in the UK and the firm is not inactive contrary to her claim.

The development on Monday evening is a new chapter in Ms Amobi’s controversial stint at NBET. She has variously been accused of abuses, including misuse of funds and maladministration.

On December 24, Ms Amobi was suspended by the power minister, Mr Mamman, who claimed that the move was in continuation of the government’s effort to reorganise and sanitise the Federal Ministry of Power and its affiliate agencies.

Consequently, a five-member investigative committee was constituted to probe the myriad complaints leveled against Ms Amobi.

The suspension, last December, of Ms Amobi came after PREMIUM TIMES reported how she instigated the arrest and detention for several hours of nine top officials of the bulk trader by the State Security Services (SSS, also called DSS).

The embattled MD had been accused of abuse and intimidation of employees in recent time, with concerns over workplace safety and failing teamwork protocol among staff members.

But in January, Mr Buhari curiously overruled the minister, reinstating Ms Amobi despite indictments by anti-graft agencies — the EFCC and ICPC.

Marilyn Amobi may now serve out her tenure as the Managing Director of bulk electricity trader, NBET, following a letter to that effect conveyed to her late Monday by the finance ministry, a few moments after power minister, Saleh Mamman, had announced her removal “with immediate effect”.

The counter actions of the finance minister, Zainab Ahmed, and her power ministry counterpart, Mr Mamman, underscored the confusion and power play in the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The two ministers separately said Mr Buhari authorised their opposing actions.

In a statement on Monday evening, Mr Mamman said Mr Buhari had approved the removal of Ms Amobi, asking her to proceed on terminal leave and hand over to NBET’s General Counsel and Secretary, Nnaemeka Eweluka, as the new substantive boss of the agency immediately.

That was five days after PREMIUM TIMES exposed Ms Amobi’s continued violation of Nigeria’s code of conduct for public officials as she runs a private company, ESL Economics and Management Limited, and operates foreign bank account in the United Kingdom.

Mrs Amobi’s four-year tenure is to end July 24 this year.

Top government officials said our report on Ms Amobi’s abuse of code of conduct, indeed a constitutional breach, angered Mr Buhari who immediately ordered her removal.

However, shortly after Mr Mamman announced the removal, based on Mr Buhari’s approval, it emerged the president had earlier, through his Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, given an instruction that Ms Amobi be allowed to serve out her tenure.

The approval to serve out her tenure was given in a June 8 memo, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES late Monday. That memo was then attached to a June 15 letter from the finance ministry to Ms Amobi asking her to serve out her tenure ending in July, thereby countering Mr Mamman’s earlier announcement.

The finance ministry’s letter was signed by the permanent secretary at the finance ministry, Mahmoud Isa-Dutse.

Although the correspondence gave Ms Amobi a temporary reprieve, it, nevertheless, asked the embattled official to hand over to Mr Eweluka at the completion of her tenure in July. But Mr Mamman’s instruction was that the replacement should take place immediately.

Insiders said the clash on the fate of Ms Amobi between the two ministers was indicative of the confusion in the administration of Mr Buhari, said to have a way of giving conflicting instructions and approvals to his officials on a single subject.

Regardless of the approval of June 8 to allow Ms Amobi serve out her tenure, the president gave another instruction that the official be removed immediately PREMIUM TIMES’ report of June 11 and previous reporting by Leaks.ng on Ms Amobi’s abuses were brought to his (president’s) notice, insiders said.

The finance minister, Ms Usman, is the chairperson of NBET board but the company is a major player in the power sector overseen by Mr Mamman, the power minister.

In the power industry, NBET is the “manager and administrator of the electricity pool.” It has been covering the market shortfall using public funds to shore up the revenue of the electricity generation companies to prevent the collapse of the system that is perpetually afflicted by liquidity crisis.

In 2018, N701 billion was released for this purpose from the Central Bank of Nigeria for the 2017-2019 period.

After becoming a public official as the chief executive of NBET, a wholly-owned Nigerian government company, Ms Amobi did not withdraw from running ESL in the UK, management and accounting filings obtained by PREMIUM TIMES from UK authourities showed. This was first reported on June 10.

But during the weekend, she distributed a statement trying to deny this newspaper’s report. She said her company had become inactive and thus she was not running it.

She lied. According to records the UK authorities hold and which PREMIUM TIMES still accessed Tuesday morning before this publication, ESL, with company number 06413894, still holds an “active” business status and Ms Amobi’s running of the company remains “active”.

Also, several accounting filings, including yearly balance sheets, including the latest, submitted in 2019, were signed by Ms Amobi as the sole director of the consultancy firm.

Ms Amobi wholly owns ESL, which she registered in 2007 in London. But she did not withdraw from the running of the company as a director, after her appointment into public office in Nigeria as the country’s law requires.

She said she had resigned from the Nigerian version of ESL. PREMIUM TIMES cannot verify this claim immediately although records suggest her claim needs to be authenticated.

However, we can authoritatively report that she remains active running the private firm, ESL, in the UK and the firm is not inactive contrary to her claim.

The development on Monday evening is a new chapter in Ms Amobi’s controversial stint at NBET. She has variously been accused of abuses, including misuse of funds and maladministration.

On December 24, Ms Amobi was suspended by the power minister, Mr Mamman, who claimed that the move was in continuation of the government’s effort to reorganise and sanitise the Federal Ministry of Power and its affiliate agencies.

Consequently, a five-member investigative committee was constituted to probe the myriad complaints leveled against Ms Amobi.

The suspension, last December, of Ms Amobi came after PREMIUM TIMES reported how she instigated the arrest and detention for several hours of nine top officials of the bulk trader by the State Security Services (SSS, also called DSS).

The embattled MD had been accused of abuse and intimidation of employees in recent time, with concerns over workplace safety and failing teamwork protocol among staff members.

But in January, Mr Buhari curiously overruled the minister, reinstating Ms Amobi despite indictments by anti-graft agencies — the EFCC and ICPC.

Apart from the two main antigraft agencies, (EFCC and ICPC), Nigeria’s auditor-general also found Ms Amobi culpable of maladministration.

Earlier in February 2019, PREMIUM TIMES reported how Ms Amobi controversially paid at least N2 billion to two power generating companies and made controversial payments to law firms and other consultants.

Documents obtained by Leaks NG – a coalition of Nigerian newsrooms and civil society groups – revealed that Ms Amobi, was also involved in a series of alleged corrupt acts such as subversion of board approvals and infraction of procurement laws. She had denied all the allegations.

Dr Ogah while remembering with nostalgia when he watched Amobi grow to maturity expressed gratitude to God for giving him a brother and friend in the person of Amobi.

He described Amobi as a pillar of support and a lovely brother everyone will wish to have.

He said, “Like yesterday, I watched you my flesh and blood brother grow to adulthood in wisdom and knowledge. A brother who will stake his life in defence of his own brother is an asset everyone would wish to have.

“God’s love has never run short in your life. His kindness and hand of protection are never far from you. You are a replica of character, strength, resilience and doggedness.

“I am happy for the husband you have become. I cherish to see you become a responsible father. I bless the name of God for giving you as a brother to me.

“You shall wax stronger and actualize your dreams. You shall become a model to many and a source of light your peers.”

He prayed to God to bless Amobi with abundant life and all good things of life his heart desires.

A former House of Representatives candidate for Ikwuano/Umuahia federal constituency Abia state under Labour Party, Charles Nzechi has felicitated with the chairman Pauli Mama Oil and Gas Ltd, Chief Amaobi Ogah on his birthday.

Nzechi described Ogah as a man of good heart who has demonstrated uncommon zeal in the service of fatherland and humanity.

He extolled Ogah’s contribution in the area of economic and manpower development among the youths of Abia.

According to Nzechi, Amobi Ogah’s success in business as possible as a result of hard work and discipline, commending him for affecting his community in different positive ways.

He prayed to God to give him a long life, good health and prosperity.

A former House of Representatives candidate for Ikwuano/Umuahia federal constituency Abia state under Labour Party, Charles Nzechi has felicitated with the chairman Pauli Mama Oil and Gas Ltd, Chief Amaobi Ogah on his birthday.

Nzechi described Ogah as a man of good heart who has demonstrated uncommon zeal in the service of fatherland and humanity.

He extolled Ogah’s contribution in the area of economic and manpower development among the youths of Abia.

According to Nzechi, Amobi Ogah’s success in business as possible as a result of hard work and discipline, commending him for affecting his community in different positive ways.

He prayed to God to give him a long life, good health and prosperity.