» ''Stone Us If Buhari Fails To Deliver On Electoral Promises'' – Ex Minister, Momoh «

Prince Tony Momoh, is the former Minister of Information
during President Ibrahim Babangida’s administration. In
this media interview, the APC stalwart speaks on President
Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, recovered looted
funds and sundry issues. PATRICK OCHOGA was there for
LEADERSHIP Weekend.
How would you assess President Buhari’s administration,
particularly on the economy?
You have heard the President said he is the one that
Nigerians voted for and he is responsible to them not to
me or you. He is not owned by anybody. He was there
between 1983 and 1985, he has experienced it, he is the
only one who came since independence to be President of
Nigeria and succeeded. No other one, Tafawa Balewa
wanted to be a broadcaster, he became Prime Minister,
Alhaji Shehu Shagari wanted to become a Senator, he
became President; Olusegun Obasanjo was in prison
praying to be released, at the end of the day he became
president, Late Yar ‘Adua wanted to retire to lecture in
Ahmadu Bello University, he became President; Jonathan
was taken from Bayelsa to Abuja and made Vice President
and them later became Acting President and President.
Buhari went into politics and wanted to be President in
2003, he failed, 2007 he failed and 2015 he succeeded. Do
you think that this type of person will be rushed into doing
things he don’t believe will make Nigerians grow? I can
assure you No. There are three steps in Buhari’s scheme,
S+S=P that is the equation. S is for security, he will
secure Nigeria, the other S is for stability, he will stabilise
Nigeria through infrastructural development and the
outcome of security and stability is Prosperity and Nigeria
will prosper. At the end of the day, if Buhari doesn’t
perform, stone us because he is going to perform.
When people begin to appoint ministers for him,
programme economic measures for him, begin to tell him
what will happen in education and other ministries, you
give the impression that he came to be President without
preparing. I can assure you he is prepared to hold office by
coming out with a book called project Nigeria and that
book he has always had
since 2002 when he entered politics and he is going to
implement this program.
He has a contract with every Nigerian, all the ethnic
groups and I have said it, the South-East will be more in
his party than any other group. Why? Because he is going
to develop their area more than PDP ever did. Buhari
knows where he wants Nigeria to be. We are talking of four
years and it has not gotten to one year yet and people are
saying he is very slow. One thing people don’t know is that
those who are corrupt, those who did money laundering,
those who diverted all sort of things, they know where the
heat is. This BVN I don’t know how it works but it is
revealing a lot of things, if you have one bank account, the
thing will reveal all the commitments you have. I don’t
know how it works but the government seems to be finding
out where people have hidden money more than any other
time in our history. I am not in that group, I am not carry
out any investigation but a lot of things are coming out
and a lot of things have been done.
He believes that anybody who took Nigeria’s money must
return it, and should be punished for taking the money and
denying the people of facilities they would have had if the
way the money was used for them. Look at what is
happening with arms, people went and collected billions of
dollars and sat down to share the money and people where
dying in the North-East, those who had no arms with them
ran into Cameroon, they put them under court marshal and
sentenced them to death and they didn’t give them arms.
When they are dealing with such people, Nigerians are
saying it is because they are in government. Those in
government are the ones stealing the money, those in APC
had no access so will you say because there was no APC
among the PDP that had the opportunity to serve Nigeria
that pocketed the money should not be dealt with. Buhari
has said he is not against anybody but everybody must
bear the consequences of their actions and when things
are happening as media men find out why it is affecting
your friend or colleague.
We read in the paper that the federal government have
received some stolen funds from looters. Don’t you think
giving credibility to the anti-graft war Nigerians deserve to
know those behind the funds?
Government doesn’t talk, it is the media that talks, and
you are given the responsibility to monitor governance on
behalf of the people. Sovereignty belongs to the people of
Nigeria and through the constitution, the government
generates its power and authority. The motto of
government is keep our secret, secret and the motto of
the journalist is publishe and be dammed but to publish
the truth. If government has been talking about people who
have returned looted money, find out because you have
protection. It is not the duty of the government to start
publishing anything, what if what they publish other is
wrong? They can be sued. The point I am making is that
yes, the people have the right to know and the people have
the right to be told who does the telling.
The current government in Edo will be rounding off next
year and there will be primaries in both parties soon, what
advise do you have for your party in the state to ensure
rancour free primaries?
There will be rancour free primaries in Edo State, APC
doesn’t impose candidates and nobody is going to impose
any candidate. Anybody who wants to be governor in Edo
State should go to the delegates who will vote. Voting will
be free and fair and nobody will be forced to vote. I have
heard that the governor wants to impose candidate, but he
is not going to impose any candidate and nobody has the
right to impose any candidate. He will ensure a level play
field and the party will also ensure it.
It is not the governor who will conduct the primaries, some
people so preoccupied to rundown Oshiomhole. He will not
impose a candidate and if he does, we have the right to
vote our choice candidate because voting will be free, fair
and secret so why will anybody think the governor will look
at his shoulder while voting. He is only exercising his right
as a person not as a governor to force you to do what you
don’t want to do.
You said Nigeria has a special anointing to be united,
reconcile this statement with the agitation in the South-
East that they want to go.
What of North-East, you know, where God has a
programme, Satan is always at work, darkness is always
at work but the work of darkness is always temporary and
God’s anointing is permanent, you can delay it but you
can’t subvert it. When America said Nigeria will collapse, I
said Nigeria will not collapse but they are correct in their
prediction but in God’s anointing Nigeria is the only county
packaged in the first half of the last century that has not
collapsed. All other federation worldwide has collapsed,
USSR, Slovakia but Nigeria has not collapsed because
Nigeria is packaged to help grow the earth and the young
ones will be the ones to do it. Nigerians are knocking on
the door of paradise only them are in the forefront of going
so.
What is your take on the agitation for the sovereign state
of Biafra?
They have the right to protest as any other group has the
right to protest because that is their own reaction to what
they considered as injustice. But the fact is that protest
has a limitation, there is what they call free speech plus, if
in exercising your freedom to speech you punch my nose,
that’s where your freedom ends and if people say they are
expressing themselves and start destroying people’s cars,
there is a body set up to ensure people are free. So in
doing that, ensure you do it in accordance with the law. I
myself will rise to my feet to sympathise with them, that
is freedom of expression they are exercising but when it
reaches plus destruction, then it will not be allowed.
What is the hope of the APC Edo in the winning the 2016
election?
We will work hard and win the election and if we don’t, it
means we didn’t work hard but no rigging. Nobody is going
to rig election any more, look at Kogi and Bayelsa, the
President has said there must be fairness and INEC should
do the right thing.