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Comrade (Engr) Igbini Odafe Emmanuel was Delta State Chairman and twice the Governorship Candidate of Peoples Redemption Party, (PRP) in 2007 and 2011 elections. He later accepted an appointment from PDP, then the ruling party in the state under Governor Uduaghan to become the 5th Director General of Delta State Direct Labour Agency, (DLA); an appointment which provoked anger amongst some PDP Chieftains against the Governor and also condemnations of Igbini as having betrayed his party and the opposition political parties he once led in the state. In this interview, Comrade Igbini insists that INEC and the Federal High Court lack the constitutional power to deregister the Nigeria Democratic Congress Party, (NDC). He also revealed how he did not pay a kobo to become the governorship Candidate and State Chairman of PRP, during the period, 2007 – 2016. He lamented that sadly after the death of the National Chairman of PRP, late Alhaji Balarabe Musa, PRP has become commercialised like other political parties where huge sums of moneys are demanded from people as nomination fees for general elections.
Excerpts:
First, may we know your view on the recent INEC’s deregistration of Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) which has Peter Obi as its Presidential Candidate?
I prefer you don’t bring in the name of Peter Obi into this question so that it does not give the wrong impression that my answer is to favour or not to favour him. I am not one of those who support his aspiration. You know that since year 2022 I have been an unrepentant supporter of Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu to be Nigeria’s President till 2031. Having made this important clarification, I will now answer your question straight on by saying that with due respect, both the Federal High Court, Lokoja Division and INEC, are wrong to attempt to deregister NDC or any other new political party that has just registered with INEC for the forthcoming general elections in Nigeria. Neither the Federal High Court nor INEC has such constitutional power donated to it by the Nigerian Constitution to deregister a political party that has not yet participated in any general elections organised by INEC and failed to win even one ward in a local government chairmanship election in any state of the federation or failed to win one local government in any governorship election or failed to win one seat in a House of Assembly election. The actions of both the Court and INEC can be likened to a school management withdrawing a student on account of poor academic performance when the school has not even conducted an examination let alone that the student sat for it and failed beyond tolerated limit. Section 225A of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, as altered, states clearly the only conditions under which the constitution empowers INEC to de-register a political party and these conditions are activated only after the political party had participated in elections conducted either by INEC or States Electoral Commissions for local governments and performed abysmally.
Therefore, NDC remains a constitutionally valid political party in Nigeria for the forthcoming general elections. Any attempt by INEC to exclude NDC from the forthcoming general elections will automatically lead to invocation of the relevant section of the Electoral Act that will nullify all results and candidates INEC declares, elected. I don’t want this to happen to my expected re-election of President Tinubu.
But the reason given by the Court and INEC is that NDC used the logo of another political association, PMP. Is this not legally valid reason to deregister NDC?
No! Not at all! It is not valid legal reason. It is trite law that in principle of interpretation of law or statute, whatever has been expressly stated excludes all others not stated. No Court or INEC has the constitutional power to add what the Nigerian Constitution excludes, doing so will amount to an attempt to amend the Nigerian Constitution through the back door. Even the Nigerian Supreme Court has strongly condemned such act by INEC in its Judgement of year 2002 instituted by the late National Leader of my Party, Alhaji Balarabe Musa against INEC on similar matter. The Nigerian Constitution deliberately did not include as condition for deregistration of a political party, the use of logo or motto allegedly belonging to another political association that is not even a registered political party at INEC. Let me even state further that the logo adopted by NDC is not in any way the same as the logo of PMP. I can prove this in many ways.
Now, let’s turn our attention to you and your political journey so far. Why and when did you join partisan politics knowing you to be a very vocal human rights and good governance activist and a labour leader at TOTALENERGIES EP Nigeria Limited for many years?
Yes, you know me very well and gave correct description of me except that you did not add that I was also the President of National Association of Delta State Post Graduate Students at University of Port Harcourt between year 2002 and 2004. I never loved partisan politics because it was played so crude, dirty and bloody in Nigeria. Many of those who participate in it are too desperate for political power that they do anything to get it. I disliked them and never loved getting even near politicians and Government Houses. I saw them as the enemies of peace, unity, progress and development of our beloved country, Nigeria. But as I continued to get involved in monitoring and analysing global politics and critically observing similar dirty games played in some developed western countries like the US, UK, Italy and France, I began to change my mind. I then realised that what I needed to do to help fix the problems in my country is not only to continue to criticize and condemn Nigerian politicians who do wrong and fail to be patriotic but to get involved with a view to proving to them that I can do what I advise them to do and that it is possible to make Nigeria great again as it was before 1960. More importantly, to act as a peacemaker where bloody clashes are likely to occur among politicians. In fact, you will be shocked to hear from me for the first time that I played the most critical role in preventing violent political clashes in my Delta state when I became the Governorship Candidate of my party in 2007 and 2011. Only Governor Uduaghan can tell you how I was so helpful to him and our state. I joined partisan politics in year 2006 when I chose only four registered political parties as good enough for my kind of ideology and mission. May it shock you that I deliberately did not considered PDP, APP and the other so-called big moneybags political parties. I did not also consider Labour Party even though I am a veteran labour leader. I carefully read and analysed the principles and ideologies of all political parties from which I chose PRP and three others. After doing this I drafted four letters, addressed to the parties indicating my interest in them and my desire to vie for the Governorship of my Delta state the next year being the year 2007. Of course, attached to the draft letters, was a brief citation of my person, my ideology and my lawful activities in Nigeria and beyond. I then traveled to Abuja where I posted the letters at the General Post Office so that it gets early to the Head Offices of these political parties. I never knew where their offices were located in Abuja let alone met any of the national officers.
After this, I returned home to my base in Warri. Few weeks later a man who introduced himself as Mr. Moses of PRP called me on phone to inform me that the National Chairman of his party (Alhaji Balarabe Musa) instructed him to quickly get in touch with me, and to inform me that PRP is in receipt of my letter and happy to have me as its Governorship candidate for Delta state. About two Weeks later I got replies from the other three political parties also informing me that they accept to have me as their Governorship candidate for Delta state. At the end, I settled for PRP because of its inherent enviable records derived from the Integrity, patriotism and humility of late Mallam Aminu Kano and Alhaji Balarabe Musa who were founding fathers of PRP.
I then traveled to Kaduna to meet first time with Alhaji Balarabe Musa at his private residence. He was indeed a very humble man, very intelligent and patriotic. After our discussion he decided in addition to appoint me the Delta State Chairman of PRP. So, I was simultaneously the Governorship Candidate and Delta State Chairman of the Party from year 2006 to 2016. Later he elevated me to be the South-South Leader of our Party, and made me one of his close confidants. He always sought my views on very critical decisions he takes and when I disagree with him, he sometimes adopts mine and drops his. One case was when I advised him to pull out of a planned alliance of political parties that was being formed in 2013/2014 against the ruling PDP. We were so close. He was a great Nigerian I am missing so much.
Wao! Interesting indeed to hear this revelation. You were two times Governorship Candidate of PRP in 2007 and 2011 and also the State Chairman of your Party during this period. You must have spent so much as nomination fees and other fees that PRP demanded. Can you let us into an estimate of how much you paid PRP?
My Answer will shock you even more to hear. I never paid one kobo to my party, PRP or to Alhaji Balarabe Musa. Instead, he gave me money for transport each time he invited me and my EXCO for a meeting in Kaduna and he also personally sent me original groundnut Oil made from Kaduna. My Nomination Forms were sent to me free of charge. My duty was only to complete and send back to him in Kaduna through Courier Service. He then travels to Abuja to submit same to INEC. Even when I became the Director General of Delta State Direct Labour Agency (DLA) in August 2011, after the Governorship Election he still will not allow me make financial contributions to our party; he gave me transport fares when he officially invited me to meetings.
But we hear that your PRP now sells its Nomination Forms to Aspirants for huge sums of money though not as high amounts as those of APC, PDP and others. What caused this change?
His sad death caused this unfortunate change which deviates completely from the principles and ideology of our party founded even before 1960. We now have people who don’t believe in the Ideology of PRP. They have taken over and run our party as they wish. In fact, this problem began even before the death of Alhaji Balarabe Musa when under pressure he appointed someone as Interim National Chairman of PRP to replace him. That was the big mistake he told me he made and regretted it till his death. Even while he was having health challenge he battled to rescue our party from the man he appoint and this lingered till his death. I won’t be wrong if I say this battle also contributed to his death earlier than it may have occurred because on one occasion when I called to speak with him on phone, he told me that he was on his way from Kaduna to Abuja to see the Chairman of INEC in order to get him to stop recognizing the man he appointed as an Interim National Chairman. While he was talking he was constantly coughing hard struggling to talk. I was so pained that I advised him not to stress himself any further concerning our party but he said he can’t allow the man destroy our Party. Not long after, I was informed that he died. Since then, I have distanced myself from the activities of our party, till date. He once told me that Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, now our President and Comrade Senator Adams Oshiomole were his very close political friends and associates for a very long time. They were close till his death. May his Soul continue to rest in Peace. Amen