One of the official spokespersons of the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, Mr Kenneth Okonkwo, alleges that the presidential candidate of the Ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, are using ethnicity and religion as political tools in the forthcoming election. In this interview with Channel TV transcribed by Linus Aleke, the LP spokesperson, who is also a veteran actor, talks about how LP’s Peter Obi plans to run his government if elected.

How did the news of the endorsement of Peter Obi by Northern Christians, led by Babachir Lawal, come to you and your principal?

Well, it was very exciting. It was a confirmation of what I had always told you on this programme, that Peter Obi is the only option. Of course, that was also, the conclusion of Babachir Lawal and his group. After deliberations, they came to the inevitable conclusion that the only option was Obi/Datti presidential ticket. This is because it represented equity, justice, and fairness which, is the foundation on which the competence, character, and capacity of these two gentlemen were built. It is not like Atiku Abubakar who is feeding the electorates in the north with ethnic jingoism. Northerners should support the north when they have not even seen any benefit from their northern Muslim brothers who have been governing them. Whereas Tinubu has caused the greatest disaffection and division among them on the bases of religious lines. Peter Obi went to the north, and offered them, immediate, decisive, and long-lasting security. Peter Obi offered them hope, that farmers will go back to their farms and that the north will turn to the next oil and gold. Peter Obi told them that there will be a marshal plan for education in the north that will make the federal government intervene, in collaboration with the state government and international community to ensure that in the north, we have free, access, easy access and adorable access to education that will transform the north from being the region that has the greatest out of school children to become a wonderful section that is education compliant. Peter Obi promised them that there will be an incentive for the resuscitation of the textile industry, which had been moribund. And that in the cattle value chain, they will be obtaining their 1 million dollar share, out of the $75bn in 2025. Peter Obi promised the expansion of the infrastructure and solar energy that is wasted in the north etc. But above all, Peter Obi assured them of adequate representation and equitable appointments in all sectors of the economy. Meaning that the Muslims and the Christians will be adequately represented in his government because he is coming on under the foundation of equity, justice, and fairness.

You are a lawyer and you understand chapter 2 of the Constitution which talked about the values and ethos that brought this nation together and those who feel that religion and ethnicity have been used as a tool to divide this country and its politics for far too long, how does it make you feel as a person knowing full well that these two factors are again rearing its ugly head in our politics just as the election is drawing nearer?

Yes, that is the sad point of it, which of course are initiated by Atiku Abubakar and Bola Tinubu. Atiku could not even allow a tweet that was written for him like every other thing is written for him and Bola Tinubu including their manifestos, which they do not even know the contents. He could not even allow the tweet that condemned the gruesome murder of a young northern Christian lady, Deborah Samuel, just because of religious bigotry. How do you expect these people to support you? Bola Tinubu came out publicly to say that no northern Christian has the competence capability, and capacity to be his deputy. What an insult! They have balkanised this nation into ethnic and religious divisions.

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So you do not support anybody using those tools?

The immediate cause of my resignation from APC was the infamous same-faith ticket, in a nation that has more than 100 million Christians.

But your principal has also been going to churches, does that not amount to the use of religion as a tool for political gains?

My candidate is not using any tool, he is a Christian, and that is why he goes to church. Datti Baba is a Muslim and that is why he goes to the mosque to pray. We are everywhere, who will go to the church in APC? This is the whole idea of participation, involvement, and giving people a sense of belonging.

Should we be using the churches as a platform to canvas for votes?
You are missing the point, democracy is a representative government. Christians should be represented, and Muslims should be represented, following our constitution, so that we don’t leave anybody behind. Peter Obi goes to church to worship God, he does not go to church to campaign for politics, just as Datti Baba goes to the mosque to worship God and that is the beauty of participatory democracy. So, everybody should be actively integrated according to the constitution of Nigeria. The Nigerian people have rejected the same faith ticket, not only Christians but some Muslims as well. In Islam, there are four reasons for writing the Quran but I will just take one, which, is the promulgation of the worship of God and the essentials of justice. In Islam, it is not allowed that we should denigrate or destroy the integrity of any religion or any party in any multinational or multi-religious society. Islam welcomes justice, no true Muslim will support APC same faith ticket and you can quote me on that.

The APC has said that they are not bothered about former SGF’s endorsement of LP candidates as they do not have electoral value, is your party seeing them in the same fashion?

I had one spokesperson of APC sitting down here and denigrating the Secretary General of the Northern Elders Forum. He said they do not even have up to ten percent of the northern support. In Labour Party, Peter Obi wants to carry everybody along, we need that 10 percent because we don’t want to leave anybody behind. Let me tell you, the greatest undoing of APC candidate is his unguarded and un-salutary, method of trying to play God. Remember, we talk about the Lord of Burdilon, who has an uncanny relationship with the king of Babylon, the city of corruption. Recall that King Nebuchadnezzar said that he built a hanging garden of Babylon, not God and God warned him to be humble and give respect to Him and he refused and God struck him and he turned to animals and ate grass for years. This is a presidential candidate who is arrogating the powers and glory of God to himself. He said he singlehandedly made Buhari President which is blasphemy in both Islam and Christianity. That was the first time he fell out with the former SGF, Babachir Lawal who asked him not to play God, that such posture was nothing but arrogance. That was what caused his fight with the former Governor of Osun State and incumbent Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who also accused him of playing God and he noted that it was not supposed to be so. Remember what the former Governor of Osun State said, after the Osun election, he was abroad then, and he quoted the bible, “all powers are ordained by God and He gives it to whoever He wishes”. But look at Bola Tinubu claiming that he is God. Whoever votes for Tinubu is not a true Christian or Muslim because he has blasphemed God. In Quran, it is written that all power belongs to Allah and he gives it to whoever he wishes. If President Buhari supports Tinubu, then he is not a true Muslim, because Tinubu had said that he singlehandedly made Buhari president which is blasphemy in Islam. That is what is killing them, they don’t have respect for people, and Babachir Lawal told you that Bola is already feeling that he is the president because he is playing God. In the whole of Yoruba land, he said, it is his turn. Who told him that? Pa Ayo Adebanjo the revered leader of Afenifere was in Ibadan, the capital of South-West to tell his people that Peter Obi is the next president of this country. Peter Obi is the chosen one, several opinion polls have confirmed that position. This is because he is a man of character, capacity, and competence, and his candidacy is built on the foundation of equity fairness, and justice.

Was the outing in Ibadan that you referenced an impressive one to you?

Very fantastic, I had not seen such a level of loyalty, remember, our jet was grounded, and the supporters were there from 9am till 5pm, I was pleasantly surprised.

How was your jet grounded?

It was grounded for regulatory reasons, there was an unfortunate issue of documentation not being updated the way it should ordinarily be. And these lapses were coming from the vendor because it was between the vendor and the federal government and you recall that one of my principal’s, seven-point agenda is restructuring through effective legal and institutional reforms that will prevent corruption, maintain rule of law and ensure effective governance. So, if it is regulatory, it means that there might be an order or rule that may not have been conformed to and my principal will be the last to encourage any desecration of the law, no matter how small, even though it was a political ambush. Why wait till the morning we are supposed to be proceeding to Ibadan, before you ground our jet, on a documentary issue that they should have called the vendor to resolve before time? It was a political witch hunt, disguised under regulatory reasons because, the authorities could have just called the vendor and dialogued over it. When we are dealing with a political opponent, we need to be extra cautious. But we are not complaining because we are a party guided by rule of law and my principal is not going to breach any law. When he assumes office, he is going to adhere strictly to the rule of law. So, I am not going to tell you that my principal is not going to do the same thing if he is the president but he is going to be mindful that when dealing with a political opponent we have to give them notice.

Governor Soludo said that Peter Obi is just helping Bola Tinubu to win the election by depleting PDP votes and that he knows that he is not going to win, do you agree with that thought?

He said that he is Charlie Nwangbafor. Nwangbafor is that local gossip and that is why you hear Igbo words like, Ngbaeke Ngbafor, local gossip. He said he is Nwangbafor, meaning the son of a local gossip. So, allow him to continue his gossip in the Afor market. Cut in, that is a governor of a state. It is because he refused to restrain himself from scavenging on the excreta of the social media rats.

So, he does not have the right to express his opinion?

That is not the issue, the issue is that when you were questioning him, he said, the investment made by my principal while in office was worth next to nothing. That was what generated the issue.

What if that is the case?

No, it is not, it is not the case because in his letter, in paragraphs 14, 15, and 16, he eulogized his investment. How can his investment be good and another person’s investment is bad? That is a political witch hunt that is a double standard, that is lacking in character and that is lacking in wisdom. He is a man in search of character, and wisdom, he lacks character and wisdom, said, Prof. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

By what margin do you think your principal will win this election and where do you think he will spring the surprises?

As I said earlier, Obi is becoming a phenomenon, he is becoming the Nigerian candidate. When I sat here and told you that we have all the structures, people thought that I was just jibing, this is no longer a jibe. The whole Muslims are with him because they cannot understand why Bola Tinubu can no longer cognitively align his thoughts to make coherent sense. Would you want such a man who blabs …creating business for comedians and creating comic relief at every turn to stand shoulder to shoulder with another president in the world, no it is unacceptable?