PDP should concentrate on playing opposition well – A’Ibom Rep, Luke

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary and former member of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke, tells LEKE BAIYEWU about the ongoing leadership tussle for the 10th National Assembly and the crisis in the Peoples Democratic party

Y ou are in the PDP and Senator Godswill Akpabio is in the All Progressives Congress. Are you supporting his emergence as the next President of the Senate just because you are both from Akwa Ibom State?

I play bipartisan politics. When I became a member of the House of Representatives in 2019 and prior to the election of the Speaker, I was the spokesperson for all new the members who adopted Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker for the ninth Assembly.  I was a PDP member then and I am still a PDP member now. I believe that when elections are over, the next thing we should look at is governance. So, in looking at governance, you must be able to do stakeholders’ mapping. Who are those that can help, or that you can join hands with or that will join hands with you to move a geographical entity forward, whether it is a ward, local government area, federal constituency, senatorial district, or a state? Once I am able to identify such individuals, I will go and partner with them. That is what made me speak publicly, even when my party had asked us to go and support another candidate.

Which candidate did your party ask you to support?

 It is not for mention here. (The candidate was) in the APC. That was in 2019. I said, ‘No, allow me’. That was why when the PDP wanted to sanction us for anti-party (activities), I said the party should sanction themselves because the highest anti-party activity was done by the party’s hierarchy by asking us to go and vote for an APC candidate. So, what happened to us? What would have happened if we had brought out a PDP member to contest that election? I said they should allow us to go and support the candidate that we knew would best serve the interest of Nigerians, the interest of the legislature and the interest of humanity. In that same vein, that is why I am rooting for Senator Godswill Akpabio to become the Senate President.  Ahmed Tajudeen Abbas as the Speaker of the House.

 Do you have any regrets for going against the PDP to support Gbajabiamila of the APC?

 I don’t have regrets. There was a certain governor in my region who, up till today, is not happy that I supported Gbajabiamila, but he is best friends with Gbajabiamila today. They dine together. What we saw then, they have come to see it now. Gbajabiamila has not disappointed Nigerians. He has not disappointed me. He has been able to even act beyond the traditional responsibilities of a Speaker to solve Nigeria’s problems. Take for instance when we had the ASUU (eight-month strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities) crisis, he intervened even at the risk of being accused by the executive of meddling in that affair.

When we had the strike by (resident) doctors, he intervened. When we had the aviation issue, he intervened personally. And he made those interventions without any of the chairmanship of the respective oversight committees feeling that their jobs had been usurped; he carried them along. He has been able to lead an Assembly that has brought reforms: electoral reforms, reforms in the private sector like the Business Facilitation Act, judicial reforms, security reforms leading to the enactment of the Police Act, 2020, reforms in the National Human Rights Commission, reforms in the agricultural and health sector through some amendments in the Primary Health Care Development Agency and the National Health Insurance Scheme bills.

In the security sector, for the first time, we had a situation where the Speaker convened a national summit on security with the security agencies, and was able to come up with a document that served as a basis for the reforms we have had in the security sector. Since that summit – I am not saying that it is the sole reason- with the efficiency of the security agencies and other factors as well as the bold steps of Mr President (Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)), we have been able to see a reduction in insecurity in the country. Though we still have security skirmishes in Benue State and other places, we have had a reduction in kidnapping and banditry. So, I have no regret.

You are also calling for support for the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, because he is from the South. He is of the APC but your support for a southern presidency aligns with that of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and other members of the G-5 PDP governors. Is this a coincidence?

I supported the candidate of my party, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, in the general elections. However, a  President-elect has emerged. The parties are in court. Only God that knows the outcome. My position is that a President-elect has emerged, let us join hands with him; let us allow him to be sworn in and do our best for him to take off smoothly and get things working for him. For the fact that the process has been concluded and he (Tinubu) has been declared the winner, the next phase is that they (his opponents) are before the tribunals, let us follow the process as it should be.

 Minority parties led by the PDP will have a significant number of members in the 10th House, but it appears they are now divided over the contest for leadership positions. What do you think opposition members should do to get a good bargain with their number?

 I can only speak like an outsider; like an observer because I am not going to participate in that. No matter what it takes, as the divisions go on, there is something about us (Akwa Ibom) as a state; we are always at the centre trying resolve issues. So, if there is a division, for me, I have an agenda too – a personal agenda though – I will be putting up Unyime Idem for Minority Leader. He is intelligent. He has had a number of bills. So, assuming two individuals or candidates are fighting, let them come to Akwa Ibom, which is the right state now that should get the Minority Leader of the House.

  There are aggrieved governors in the PDP known as the G-5. Has that not created factions?

 I refuse to say they are aggrieved governors. They are not aggrieved. They know the reasons why they took the decision they took. Politics is more like a game of personal interests. I used to think that politics was more of a game of collective interests, where you can sacrifice your personal interest for the generality of the people. That is how I have been operating in my politics right from when I started. But it seems that personal interest is the order of the day,

I am not talking about the G-5 governors; it is about the generality of politicians and the political class. What I am saying is that people have reasons why they took certain  positions. The G-5 governors had a reason why they took that decision. Others had reasons why they did what they did. But I believe that in the days ahead, the true position will emerge and things will begin to take shape. But, for me, they are the leaders of our party and   I refuse most times to make scathing comments against leaders and elders generally, whether in the religious or political spheres.

I believe they will come back for us to (re)build the party, and look ahead towards electoral fortunes in 2027. In my party, this is not the time for us to dwell on the crises of the past. What we should do now is to come together, build the party and see how the party can plan an effective opposition role; like the APC played for years, and from opposition it has become the governing party. That is what my party should be thinking. Unnecessary comments and bickering should not be the order of the day. We should talk about healing. In the days to come, I am going to be leading young minds in the party to call for reforms in the PDP. I am going to be very brutal about it because I started in this party as a student leader, so we are going to challenge the leaders of the party on the need to do well.

 Some prominent lawyers have called for determination of post-election cases by courts before the declared winners are sworn in. Do you agree that this will allow only the true owners of electoral mandates to get into public offices?

 The sole essence of the Electoral Act was to cure this defect that we have seen. Let us start with the pre-election cases. Thank God that we were able to do that. Now, we do not have the legal framework that mandates the determination of these cases before inauguration. So, you cannot hold the courts to do that because the legal framework is not in place. And for the elections as they were conducted, we started the elections on February 25, and then we had an election in March, another one in April, and the swearing-in is on May 29. That’s a space of how many months? And you want a court to determine those matters within that period? It is not possible. Let us take the case of pre-election matters. We had primaries in May last year and the cases dragged on. Elections took place in February. Even some of the (pre-election) cases were determined as late as January and early February this year. So, how many months? If you use that as a basis, then it is not possible for you to demand that the election petitions be determined within the timeframe of the election and inauguration. Until we have a legal framework that says that should be done, then we can do that. Yes, there is always the fear of maybe overbearing influence of the executive on the judiciary on such matters.

 What are the factors that the relevant stakeholders must consider in the election of leaders for the 10th National Assembly, especially as the president-elect and the vice president-elect are Muslims?

 First, I don’t like making religious comments publicly, because religion is a very sensitive issue in this country. But as someone of the Christian faith, who respects the faith of others, I think it is fair and just that if we had a Muslim-Muslim ticket, the position of the Senate President should go to a Christian. Why am I saying so? I did not accept that Muslim-Muslim ticket (of the APC) as a person because, for example, during the Independence Day anniversary or national events, while President (Muhammadu) Buhari will go for Jumaat service, we the Christians will gather with Vice-President Prof Yemi Osinbajo in the chapel at the Presidential Villa. Like when he invites us for Christmas concerts, or Easter service, that gives us a sense of belonging in our national polity. Now, if we do not have that in the emerging political scenario, let us have the Senate President that will be a rallying point for Christians.

Who should be the next Speaker of the House?

 Those contesting for the speakership are bringing good credentials to the table. Is it the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase or (Aliyu) Betara? Good credentials! (Yusuf) Gagdi, good credentials! The ones I have interacted with have good credentials, including Tajudeen Abbas. The man towering with the credentials for the dynamics and complexities of the 10th House of Representatives is Tajudeen Abbas.