Prince Richard Ozobu
A chieftain of the Enugu state Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Richard Ozobu, says that disagreement is normal in any political party setting, but stresses that dialogue is necessary to resolve areas of disagreement. The US-trained chartered accountant, in this conversation with MIKE UBANI, dismisses claims by some party members that Barrister Ugochukwu Agballah, is no more the state chairman of the party. Prince Ozobu also absolves President Bola Tinubu, of blame over alleged non-appointment of party bigwigs from some parts of the state to juicy positions at the federal level.
EXCERPTS
It seems the leadership crisis in the state chapter of the APC has continued to linger to the extent that some party members in the state do not recognize Barrister Ugochukwu Agballah, as the state chairman of the party? What is your position on this issue?
Leadership crisis is not peculiar to Enugu state chapter of the APC. You find out that there is crisis of this nature in every corporate body, and when you talk about political parties, I always tell people that what brings people together is their common interest, otherwise they are strange bedfellows. In the case of Enugu state, I understand that some people were aggrieved over the way the party was being run at a time. I travelled overseas then, and when I returned, I heard that some people had been expelled from the party. I would have preferred a different kind of approach to the problem on ground. Those that were said to be aggrieved would have been given an opportunity to express their areas of disagreement with the party leadership, and I believe those areas would have been looked into before arriving at the point of expulsion. Naturally, when you say some people are expelled, they will find a way to still remain in the same platform they feel they contributed in setting up or building. My position has always being that internal problems in the party should be resolved by the majority, who will always have their way, while the minority will have their say. Whether the minority agree with you or not, that should not lead to expulsion, unless you find out that their continued membership will cause extensive damage to the party structure. I don’t know if that was why those guys were expelled, but there is still time for the two parties to be brought together to resolve the matter amicably. I recall that when one American President was putting his cabinet together, there was one particular man who takes an alternative view to every issue, and it was this same man that the then president wanted to bring into his cabinet. I was in American then, and I recall one man asking thus: “Mr. President, this man you want to make a member of your cabinet is a ‘pisser,’ so will you be able to contain him? And the president said: “Very good. He is a pisser right. That’s why I want to bring him in. I better have him pissing inside where I can control him, than allowing him to piss outside, where I won’t be able to control him.” And that has been the approach adopted by some successful leaders, including the current US President, Donald Trump, He has brought into his administration some people who hitherto were terribly against him. So, I think that what you called leadership crisis in Enugu APC can be properly handled; and the two parties brought together for amicable settlement.
Which of the two factions do you belong to?
I am a member of the Enugu state APC recognised by the NEC of the party.
So, which one are you referring to?
I am referring to the Enugu APC led by Barrister Ugochukwu Agballah. He is the duly elected APC chairman, Enugu state. He remains the chairman of the party until we hold another convention where he is either re-elected or displaced by another person. That’s what happens in a democratic setting. It’s unfortunate that many people don’t understand how the presidential system of government which we borrowed from the US works.
But the other faction claim they also have an elected leadership. How do you react to that?
Okay, if that’s what they are claiming, let them tell you who is occupying the state secretariat of the party. Have they taken over the state secretariat? Do their leaders attend the NEC meeting of the party in Abuja. Are they recognised by the ruling APC government?
You must have heard that some leaders of the APC from Enugu North Senatorial Zone(Nsukka political zone) have been complaining that President Tinubu has not rewarded the zone with federal appointments despite voting massively for him during the last general elections. What’s your take on this.
You see, there are lots of job seekers in the system. We should be concerned with how to assist the president in tackling the growing youth unemployment instead of complaining about political appointments.
Historically, some people had in the past been given juicy appointments at the federal level, and once they got their they forget the people at home. Even those that were elected usually forget those who elected them in the first place. We have a situation where elected National Assembly or House of Assembly members come before their constituents to account for their stewardship.
Now, talking about appointments, you cannot blame President Tinubu for not giving federal appointments to our party men and women.
Who does one blame?
You should put the blame squarely on those who submit names of those to be given federal appointments to Mr. President. Nsukka people cannot say they have been neglected regarding federal appointments. There are so many areas that have not gotten federal appointments. For instance, no single person from Ezeagu Local Government Area where I come from, has been given any federal government appointment. But like I said, the blame should go to those who submit names to the President for appointments.
And who are the people you are referring to?
The party executive do submit names of those to be given appointments at the federal level and there is always no indication what part of the state the prospective appointees come from.
However, it is good to make noise over the appointments, because when you do so, those making the appointments will be more careful, and ensure that areas like Eziagu LGA where nobody has been given federal appointment are taken care of.
Are you saying the President is unaware that the CBN Governor, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Finance, the Inspector General of Police etc are from the Yoruba ethnic stock?
Are the people you mentioned going to hold their respective positions forever? When Ibrahim Babangida was military president, we had about 41 army generals, and 21 out of the 41 generals hailed from Niger state. Not even that, 12 out of these 21 generals hailed from the same local government area of Niger state. Has Babangida not left office? Are those generals still there?
Are you saying that those complaining about lopsided appointments should wait until a president come from their area before they can get their fair share regarding appointments?
What I am saying is that this pattern of appointment where you have majority of top-notch positions being held by persons from the same geographical area is not peculiar to our country. Former US president Jimmy Carter, now late, was the first Southerner to become American president in 100 years after the American civil war. Most of the people he gave top jobs came from Southern America. However, after being criticized by those opposed to that mode of appointments, he broadened his horizon to appoint people from other parts of the country to top positions. What we need is the existence of strong institutions that will act to checkmate excesses of government officials when they occur, instead of bordering ourselves over where these officials come from. We should be concerned with the humongous amount of money consumed by the executive arm of government at both the state and national levels. A large chunk of this money should have been used to solve some of our economic problems such as unemployment, poor power supply, poor health facilities, and poor road infrastructure. There was a time I cried aloud that federal lawmakers were consuming one quarter of our national budget. Did any of the lawmakers dispute that? Do they have the right under our laws to consume that huge amount of money? These are the kind of issues we should be talking about, instead of belaboring ourselves with the issue of appointments at the federal level
If we’re complaining that the south east is not favored in the president’s appointments, we forget that the region was largely favored by Presidents’ Obasanjo and Jonathan’s administrations. For instance, Jonathan appointed a chief of army staff from south east. We had senate presidents from south east when Obasanjo was president. We had ministers of finance, education, and governor of the Central Bank etc.
Are you then saying it’s the turn of people from South West to clinch top positions in government?
No. No. No. But let me ask you: What did the South East benefit by having one of their sons as chief of army staff? Did the number of unemployed youths in the South East reduce simply because the then chief of army staff hails from the South East? I am not concerned over appointments, rather I challenge federal lawmakers from this zone to ensure that we get our fair share of federal government’s allocations to states. We should learn from history. Some of our people who had held positions in the past are today facing EFCC probe. You can see what’s happening to the former CBN governor Godwin Emefiele. I know you’re aware of the mind boggling property being recovered from him? While he was there, most of us were rejoicing that Igbo man is the governor of CBN. Every year, a national budget is drawn by the executive; approved by the National Assembly, and signed into law by Mr. President. You should be able to ask yourself whether the South East is getting it’s fair share from the budget.
