Posted by Ben Agande on
Interview with Hon. Jerry Ugokwe, member, House of Representatives, on the remarks by Dr. Usman Bugaje on President Obasanjo.
Interview with Hon. Jerry Ugokwe, member, House of Representatives, on the remarks by Dr. Usman Bugaje on President Obasanjo.
Some persons have alleged that the attack on the Vice President by President Olusegun Obasanjo amounts to biting the fingers that fed him. Do you think so?
Your question is assuming that the President wants to rubbish the Vice President. I want to correct that impression. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not in the business of rubbishing anybody how much more his Vice President. I hate to hear this phrase 'biting the fingers that fed him" as it concerns the President. I still want to know what you mean by the fingers that fed him. The President, granted, was released from prison just before the democratic process started. A number of people approached him. If they did not have confidence in him when he had the opportunity to rule Nigeria as a military president when he introduced a lot of innovation including the local government reform, they would not have supported him. It was because these people including the Vice President felt that he was the person to do the job at such a critical point in time for Nigeria and he graciously accepted to come back to serve again. The assumption from your question is that the Vice President voted him into office.
The President's decision was not a one-man show. It is important for people to know that Obasanjo was begged to come and run at a time that Nigeria was at a crossroad and we needed somebody who could keep the military in check. He campaigned, was nominated and he won squarely. He decided against so many other competent people like Abubakar Rimi and Prof Jubril Aminu to pick Atiku Abubakar as his Vice President. Once he took him as the Vice President, it meant it was one ticket, Olusegun Obasanjo. People did not vote for a Vice President. They voted for Olusegun Obasanjo. Vice Presidents do not run their elections, so the issue of reference by some of my colleagues that the President was an ingrate was an insult to the President and Nigeria. We cannot sit down and tolerate the abuse of language. It is irresponsible to say that a former head of state, a general in the army did not have the sagacity and name recognition to campaign. That is ludicrous and irresponsible.
Would you say that the President has treated his deputy fairly?
This is the most powerful Vice President we have ever had in the history of this country. If you are a student of history and you check the history of the Vice Presidents of Nigeria, you will agree that nobody in the history of Nigeria has ever had the free hand to influence the Vice President has wielded. When people talk about being fair or not, I think it is a question that should not arise because the Vice President has been left by the President to handle a lot of sensitive assignments including privatization. It has never happened like that in this country. I wonder why anybody would say that the President has not been fair to him. I think this stems from the illusion that the Vice President is the President. There are no two Presidents in Nigeria but one. Once you elect a President, the bucks stop at his table. It does not matter whether you put him there. In any case, there is nothing like one person putting the President in office. As a Vice President, you ought to be absolutely loyal to the President and I mean 110 per cent loyal not 100 per cent. You must be loyal at all times, otherwise you just pack and leave.
When people talk of the President making a wild allegation that is far reaching. The Vice President should be loyal to the ticket under which he ran. He ran under the ticket of President Olusegun Obasanjo and what that means is that loyalty to the Constitution is predicated on loyalty under which you came top where you are. It also means that as the Vice President you must continue to work with the President to actualise what the Constitution says and you cannot work with the President if you are not loyal.
Sometimes people do not put this logic in place. Let me explain again. the Vice President swore an oath to be loyal to the Constitution. The reason is simple. You have sworn to be one unit and now you have disintegrated from that unit. That is not the whole unit that is loyal to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Let nobody deceive you by saying that he should be loyal to the Constitution. It is condition precedent.
Don't you think that Nigerians deserve to know the degree of this disloyalty?
I am a supporter of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and I owe no one any apology. I think this is a time that if we want this country to move ahead, we need to stand up to be counted. Even before the President openly declared his support for me on national television, I have never hidden my likeness for him. I made it clear that I have seen a President who has the interest of this nation at heart because I have the privilege of working with him closely over a period of years and I know that he is determined to take Nigeria to the greatest height. For me to see somebody like that and see somebody who wants to distract him and not talk, then something is wrong with me. I stand for President Olusegun Obasanjo and all his programmes. If I get his support in return that is excellent.
What do you see as the role of the party in the scenario?
The party is like a father and it has a role to play. It can decide to talk to the Vice President or reprimand him
Do you see the President and his Vice working amicably there after?
Well, in politics, nothing is impossible. The only way out is for the Vice President to be loyal to the President 100 and 110 per cent. The President is somebody who is accommodating and compassionate and wants somebody that believes in his vision for Nigeria. Anybody that is loyal cannot be hidden. If he cannot be loyal, then I do not see why he is still there. He can decide to do whatever he wants to do but the position of the Vice President is only supportive.