•We will go into action before we are sworn-in
•‘Our priorities on security, economy, unemployment, corruption’
•On indiscipline: People are more prepared to behave than in 1983
If statements from the president-elect, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, are to be believed, the incoming administration, to be inaugurated on May 29, will hit the ground running. Buhari says he intends to put together a small cabinet that may go into action even before the swearing-in. In a nutshell, he speaks on the shape of things to come in this interview.
By Levinus Nwabughiogu
There has been an influx of defectors from the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to your party, APC, since after your victory at the polls. Many think the development may destabilise the APC. How do you intend to manage the situation?
I think this is a question meant for the party. I wish John Oyegun was here to answer you because we have a system. Just because I am the presidential candidate and the president-elect, I don’t think the system has allowed me to usurp the power of the party executives. But, certainly, in a multi-party democratic system, fundamentally, it is the number that matters for the people. But for the party, what matters is the ability to manage the number so that the majority will have its way and there will be justice. No matter what happens to the PDP by May 29, I assure you or I assure them through you that there will be justice in the APC.
A new government, which you will head, will soon be inaugurated. Can you tell us what criteria you will be using in selecting those who you will work with?
It is a difficult time for Nigerians as you all know. I have said it in the past that, in the last 16 years, Nigeria has never realised the amount of revenue it received. The price of a barrel of crude oil rose to about 140 dollars and then crashed to about 50 dollars. During the 16 years, we know what happened to some big companies that employ a lot of Nigerians and give them training facilities like the Nigeria Airways, Nigeria National Shipping Line.
Even Nigeria Railway is managing to be on paper with some refurbished engines moving from Lagos to Ibadan and a few other places. If you go to their stations all over the country, you will realise that they are in a terrible shape. The important thing in a country with a huge population of youths with more than 60 percent of them under the age of 30 who are unemployed is that you need these institutions to give jobs and training to them. It is very disappointing that the PDP government virtually failed to use those resources to grow the economy.
I think the worst thing is the lack of accountability and the terrible budgetary system. Imagine that over 90 percent of Nigerian budget is on recurrent. How can you sustain development in a country like Nigeria with only about 10 percent of your income? Things just have to change. There must be more money available for infrastructure, for investment in getting the factories back, employment and getting goods and services for the population. I think the sins of PDP will be coming out for several years to come.
Do we expect a government of national unity?
Again, you want me to encroach on the party’s main power. Even if I, as president-elect, want to form a broad based government, I think that the executive of the party will have some influence on that decision. So, for me to maintain a good rapport with the leadership of the party, I want to keep your question in abeyance until further notice.
The 2015 elections did not go without pockets of violence here and there. Does that strike you in any way?
I think there are less disruptions in the second leg of the general elections on April 11 than we had during the presidential and National Assembly elections. I hope it was as a result of the bandwagon effect because APC had the upper hand during the first leg of elections. But what happened in the South-South and the South-East cannot be compared to what happened on April 11
•‘Our priorities on security, economy, unemployment, corruption’
•On indiscipline: People are more prepared to behave than in 1983
If statements from the president-elect, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, are to be believed, the incoming administration, to be inaugurated on May 29, will hit the ground running. Buhari says he intends to put together a small cabinet that may go into action even before the swearing-in. In a nutshell, he speaks on the shape of things to come in this interview.
By Levinus Nwabughiogu
There has been an influx of defectors from the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, to your party, APC, since after your victory at the polls. Many think the development may destabilise the APC. How do you intend to manage the situation?
I think this is a question meant for the party. I wish John Oyegun was here to answer you because we have a system. Just because I am the presidential candidate and the president-elect, I don’t think the system has allowed me to usurp the power of the party executives. But, certainly, in a multi-party democratic system, fundamentally, it is the number that matters for the people. But for the party, what matters is the ability to manage the number so that the majority will have its way and there will be justice. No matter what happens to the PDP by May 29, I assure you or I assure them through you that there will be justice in the APC.
A new government, which you will head, will soon be inaugurated. Can you tell us what criteria you will be using in selecting those who you will work with?
It is a difficult time for Nigerians as you all know. I have said it in the past that, in the last 16 years, Nigeria has never realised the amount of revenue it received. The price of a barrel of crude oil rose to about 140 dollars and then crashed to about 50 dollars. During the 16 years, we know what happened to some big companies that employ a lot of Nigerians and give them training facilities like the Nigeria Airways, Nigeria National Shipping Line.
Even Nigeria Railway is managing to be on paper with some refurbished engines moving from Lagos to Ibadan and a few other places. If you go to their stations all over the country, you will realise that they are in a terrible shape. The important thing in a country with a huge population of youths with more than 60 percent of them under the age of 30 who are unemployed is that you need these institutions to give jobs and training to them. It is very disappointing that the PDP government virtually failed to use those resources to grow the economy.
I think the worst thing is the lack of accountability and the terrible budgetary system. Imagine that over 90 percent of Nigerian budget is on recurrent. How can you sustain development in a country like Nigeria with only about 10 percent of your income? Things just have to change. There must be more money available for infrastructure, for investment in getting the factories back, employment and getting goods and services for the population. I think the sins of PDP will be coming out for several years to come.
Do we expect a government of national unity?
Again, you want me to encroach on the party’s main power. Even if I, as president-elect, want to form a broad based government, I think that the executive of the party will have some influence on that decision. So, for me to maintain a good rapport with the leadership of the party, I want to keep your question in abeyance until further notice.
The 2015 elections did not go without pockets of violence here and there. Does that strike you in any way?
I think there are less disruptions in the second leg of the general elections on April 11 than we had during the presidential and National Assembly elections. I hope it was as a result of the bandwagon effect because APC had the upper hand during the first leg of elections. But what happened in the South-South and the South-East cannot be compared to what happened on April 11
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