In this interview, activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, explains why the All Progresives Congress are only interested in power for the sake of power, and speaks on possible outcomes of current political crises.
He speaks on differences between the APC and Peoples Democratic Party:
For
now, the difference between APC and PDP is like the difference between
six and half a dozen. Frankly speaking, serious political parties are
not built around big names or personalities but on the platform of
ideology.
From the look of things, both
APC and PDP subscribe to the dominance of market forces, currency
devaluation, privatisation of the nation's resources and the
commercialisation of education, health and other social services. The
leaders of both parties who have been in government at one time or the
other in the past 30 years or there about believe in the neo-colonial
capitalist system.
Essentially, both APC and PDP are two sides of the same coin.
In
bourgeois politics the ongoing development is called "realignment of
forces". In the process, those
who have been excluded from the "come and
chop" policy of the PDP are being asked to choose their place at the
table in case the APC takes over power in 2015.
The
PDP has started to fight back ferociously and violently because the
stakes are so high. Already, huge funds and weapons of mass destruction
are being assembled for the mother of all battles. Money, religion,
ethnicity and other primordial sentiments are being deployed to confuse
the electorate.
Did you not read in
General Obasanjo's letter that snipers are being trained where the late
General Sani Abacha trained members of his killer squad? Have some
militants not threatened to declare war on the country if President
Jonathan is not re-elected by Nigerians? It is not that they believe in
the PDP. They too want to protect their newly found wealth acquired
through pipeline contracts worth several billions of naira.
The
members of the ruling class of all extractions have continued to
display sheer contempt for the Nigerian people. Hence, the people are
not being mobilised to defeat the PDP in the polls.
The
APC has no plan to woo the youths who constitute more than 60% of the
voting population. It is the belief of the leaders of both APC and PDP
that the 2015 general election is going to be fixed by the traditional
manipulators of elections. This is the basis of the ongoing mobilisation
of PDP chieftains including those who cannot win elections in their own
wards. By wooing discredited military and civilian despots who have
destroyed the country since 1966 the APC has shown that it is only
interested in power for the sake of power.
I
understand that one of the retired generals is going to become the
chair of the Board of Trustees of the APC! This is a case of alienation
from the people. How can APC leaders believe that Nigerians want
Generals Obasanjo and Babangida to be rehabilitated after destroying the
country? The duo ruled for 20 years and ruined the country in the
process. General Obasanjo has just confessed that he has been installing
incompetent leadership since 1979. And he is not ashamed to make that
provocative disclosure. Has he offered public apology for his maxima
culpa before wooing him?
The situation
is not different in a number of states and local council areas where the
new PDP is busy taking over all the structures of the APC. Since the
APC is positioning itself to retain the status quo it cannot become a
truly progressive party.
The
statement has confirmed that the Independent National Electoral
Commission has been hijacked by the most reactionary segment of the
political class. In order to frustrate the emergence of a truly
progressive political party in the country the highly incompetent INEC
has conspired with the ruling class to narrow the democratic space. It
has just requested the national assembly to give it the powers to
proscribe other political parties and ban their candidates.
As far as INEC is concerned, the APC and PDP are the ideal political parties for the country.
By
saying there will be no elections in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states
controlled by the APC has INEC not started rigging in favour of the PDP?
Was there any incident when President Jonathan paid a 2-day visit to
Borno and Yobe states a few months ago? Are elections not held in Iraq
and Afghanistan which are waging serious wars against terrorists? Is
INEC going to appoint sole administrators for the three states at the
end of the tenure of the governors and other elected public officers?
Apart from conducting flawed elections why is INEC not interested in
promoting civic education which is one of its core statutory duties?
It
is high time the APC and PDP were stopped from further confusing our
people along ethnic and religious lines. The media must help by forcing
candidates to come up with concrete solutions to the crises of under
development in all its manifestation. Therefore, all genuine progressive
forces in the country should come together with a view to ensuring that
future elections in the country are contested and won on the basis of
the commitment of political parties and their candidates to implement
the provisions of the Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of
State Policy contained in Chapter II of the Constitution.
The
socio-economic rights guaranteed in the Constitution have to be made
justiciable in the interest of the masses. This must be accompanied by a
commitment to address the challenges of poverty, insecurity,
unemployment, corruption and infrastructural decay. For instance, since
1999 the Federal Government, with 52% of the nation's resources, has not
completed any new road or hospital in any part of the country! Is it
what the APC wants to continue by wooing the PDP leaders who unleashed
unmitigated disaster on our people? Or are we to believe that these
characters have committed class suicide?
Instead
of waiting for 2015 we call on all our oppressed people to learn from
the Academic Staff Union of Universities by resorting to strikes and
other forms of civil disobedience to force the ruling class political
parties to make funds available NOW for education, health, housing, job
creation and poverty elimination.
In
2011 President Jonathan was pitied by Nigerians when he said he had no
shoes while growing up. But he has refused to buy shoes for millions of
other children. The UNICEF says 15.5 million Nigerian children are
roaming the streets. What has the President done to ensure that those
poor kids are enrolled in schools? Having regard to the N5 trillion
given to AMCON to bail out banks run down by the comprador bourgeoisie,
the missing $50 billion from the Federation Account and the
unprecedented looting of the treasury by the political class have
confirmed that the country is sufficiently endowed to make poverty
history. The struggle to end poverty in the land cannot afford to wait
till 2015!
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READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/54828.html