Senator Athanasius Achonu of Imo North Senatorial District, whose election to the Senate was recently nullified by the Court of Appeal, in this interview, speaks to Fredrick Adegboye on the ruling, his next plans, his take on the current administration and the place of Igbo in the scheme of things in Nigeria. Excerpts
FURTHER to the court judgement that nullifies your election, what’s your reaction sir? Well, you know it is a shame that we live in a country where you look at an innocent man who is your enemy, and you frame him for murder, bribe police, then they take him to court, then you buy a judge, and the judge will sentence him to death. That’s the kind of country we live in but, I also have the belief that there are a lot of men with integrity who are both in the police and the judiciary. I’m a very proud Nigerian. I contested election in this country that is supposed to be so corrupt. I didn’t give anybody any transport money, I didn’t share any pure water throughout my campaign; I didn’t buy any votes on Election Day. I can’t imagine myself telling the judge to change the judgment so that I will win; if I didn’t win the election, I wouldn’t have contested it in court, I would have congratulated the winner, that’s the example I tried to show.
Could there have been a connivance with the political hierarchy, thus influencing the appeal court’s judgment?
Even members of my own party were against me, members of the opposition were against me, but I had fun, I enjoyed it so much. I had fun in that people are always saying that Nigerians are corrupt, Igbos are corrupt, the electorate is corrupt; you just give them money, they will vote for you. On the day of election, we broadcast the results from every polling unit in Okigwe zone, so the whole world knew who won the election, so I’m very proud. Honestly, I feel a sense of fulfilment.
What are your plans now going forward?
First of all, I’m going to rest as I’m really tired. I really need rest, and my business has suffered, so I’m going to stay with my wife and my family. We have put this behind us, definitely, we are marching forward. So, I’m going to focus my attention on how to help government. I’ll let government know how to improve the country.
Your party is still engulfed in crisis, despite the recent peace moves that have been made, especially by former President Goodluck Jonathan. Do you think there’s still hope that the crisis will be resolved?
Honestly, I don’t know what is happening in PDP now. I’ve been embroiled in my own fight, trying to recover my mandate that was stolen by the APC. My party is the strongest party in Africa. And let me tell you something, I like what Magu is doing. They should allow Magu; I have come in contact with EFCC. They are very thorough in their investigation, but I like the fact that they are concentrating on PDP. It is not a bad thing, that’s what I tell people; it is very good for the party. There are so many thieves within our party, let them take them out, clean it for us. Most of them have gone to APC, and they are being shielded and protected; fine and good. So, by 2019, we know that all those who remain in PDP are men of integrity.
What’s your position, sir, on the silence of House of Reps to uncover the menace posed to security by herdsmen?
I don’t understand it, herdsmen carry arms, go somewhere the first time, attack and they don’t arrest them; nobody catches them. So if government has not done anything about it, they should protect their lives for God’s sake. That’s my take on it. People come with AK47 and attack you. You look for knife, dagger, bow and arrow, so that you can protect your community. People should rally round and protect themselves, that’s my take on it.
There’s this position that Igbos in Nigeria feel unwanted, is that true?
Of course, Igbos are unwanted. You can imagine, during the civil war, the Igbos were able to build refineries behind their houses. The Igbos were able to manufacture Ogbunigwe, manufacture rockets, manufacture arms, bomb. When they destroyed the airport, within 48 hours, it was repaired; planes were landing on it. You can imagine the technology, the extent the Igbos went. Immediately after the war, voice was lost in Igbo land. Nigeria lost that advantage, because it came from the Igbos. Since Buhari came, how many Igbos have been elevated everywhere? In fact, they were sacked. The Igbo perm secretaries, where did they put them? They should listen to Sanusi, the Emir of Kano; he’s a very intelligent man. They should listen to former Governor Murtala Nyako; those are very intelligent northerners. Baba Obasanjo, of course, he’s something else.
Finally, what’s your viewpoint on Governor Rochas Okorocha’s largesse to a policeman?
I don’t understand it, in a state where they have not paid pensions, where they have cut money from pensioner’s 60percent, where teacher’s salaries have not been paid for months, where they are retrenching every day, where there are no infrastructure, you now give a policeman N5million naira. But, normally, under the law, the policeman cannot take more than N100, 000 as a gift, so the rest will be paid into the coffers of the Nigeria Police in Owerri for staff welfare and other things, and the land will also be collected from him and sold, and paid into the coffers of government. You don’t do that; you can’t give a serving police officer such largesse. If he was retiring, it’s a different ball game. But he’s still serving, so he’s not entitled to it. We are going to monitor to make sure he obeys the law, he knows the law himself.
You know my election has just passed, but maybe it’s a way of saying thank you for the role he played in the election or whatever, but the policeman knows the law, he knows that he can’t keep the money. He’s going to return it to the coffers of the Nigeria Police Force and
The Nation