UPN’ll reduce PDP, APC dominance –Fasehun

May 27, 2014

Dr. Fredrick Fasehun

The Founder of the Oodua Peoples’ Congress and national leader of the Unity Party of Nigeria, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, in this interview with ALLWELL OKPI, speaks on the controversy surrounding the resuscitation of UPN and the forthcoming elections

It was in the news that you applied for a contract to protect oil pipelines in the South-West. How much did you get from the contract?

We identified the problems of the country and the most prominent at that time was pipeline vandalism. We thought of how we could assist Nigerian government to reduce the incidences of pipeline vandalism. So, we applied to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to be allowed to provide security for the pipelines. The Oodua Peoples’ Congress is the most prominent private security outfit in Nigeria. If the people who were saddled with the responsibility of providing security were found wanting, good patriots should come in. We applied and it took NNPC three years to invite me for an interview. When they invited me, they gave me the impression that they couldn’t have found a better person to handle the job, but they said the OPC was not a registered organisation and there was no way government was going to do business with an unregistered organisation. Of course, I wasn’t going to register OPC. If you remember, at some point the former President Olusegun Obasanjo said they should be shooting us on sight. Various characters spoke against OPC. If I had registered OPC, Obasanjo would have banned it. He would have deregistered the organisation and I would be working extra-constitutionally, if I sustained the organisation. That is why I didn’t register OPC. Since, I didn’t register it, there was no way NNPC was going to give OPC the contract. I had to find a way to apply for the business by substituting OPC with another private company, which is registered. We thought the Federal Government would give us the contract on that basis. But up till today, they have not awarded the contract. But when the UPN was resuscitated, some powerful politicians felt very jittery. They know what UPN stands for, they couldn’t sleep. The National Publicity Secretary of Action Congress of Nigeria, then, now APC, Lai Mohammed, said OPC had taken a contract worth N2.4bn every month from the Federal Government so that the Federal Government could enjoy OPC’s support during election. He said Federal Government was giving Fasehun N2.4bn every month. I felt terrible that someone at the level could be telling the whole world lies; a lie that can be disproved by simply phoning NNPC. I’m not being apologetic for applying for pipeline security contract. We are Nigerians. We had lined up 40,000 Nigerian youths to do that work. Can you imagine the ripple effect; the effect on the economy, unemployment and security. Why are politicians having sleepless nights over this? If NNPC awards the contract today, I will be jubilant.

Getting registered weeks to the Ekiti State governorship election and less than one year to 2015 general elections, will the UPN participate in these elections?

When political parties get registered they wish to contest for power and UPN would not be different. The only difference is that UPN is not limiting itself to any level of power. We are going to contest all available levels of power in the country. Judging from what I’ve seen, in terms of people’s response to UPN in the places I’ve been to, I’m convinced that Nigerians have been waiting for a decent alternative. We will not be participating in the Ekiti election but we will participate in Osun election and subsequent elections.

There is this insinuation that UPN was registered to whittle the power of APC in the South-West.

The formation of UPN was aimed at whittling down the powers of all political parties in Nigeria. It’s not just a South-West thing. We will whittle down the powers of PDP and APC.

Some have said you are close to President Goodluck Jonathan and leaders of PDP and that they are behind the registration of UPN.

Nothing stopped me from being a member of PDP. If I was that close to the hierarchy of PDP, who would stop me from joining PDP? I’m a Nigerian; I have the right to associate with those whose views are in consonance with mine. If my views were in consonance with that of the PDP, I would have joined PDP. I hope you have not forgotten my political history. I was the founder of the defunct Labour Party and I ended up as the national chairman of the party. There were other parties like the National Republican Convention, I didn’t join them. When former military leader, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (retd.), said we should form two political parties: one, a little to the left and the other, a little to the right. I went to the left. I put the left together and it became the Social Democratic Party. Everybody knows that UPN does not belong to the right. Why are you saying that Fasehun, who is the leader of a non-right party, is a rightist?

You were criticised for escorting Hamza Al-Mustapha to Kano when he was released from prison. How would your relationship with Al-Mustapha come to play as UPN prepares for 2015 elections?

Al-Mustapha is not a politician. I don’t know the political party for which he has sympathy, but we are friends. I have not discussed UPN with Al-Mustapha. Despite that, UPN is growing in leaps and bounds in the North. A northerner, from Sokoto, is the secretary-general of the party. UPN is present in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. I’m not sure if what I did for Al-Mustapha would influence northerners towards UPN, but that is a natural thing that would happen. A friend of my friend is my friend.

Since then, how has your relationship with the Abiola family been?

My relationship with them has been very close. Lekan, Abiola’s son, visits me especially on Fridays.

You mean they understood what you did and did not take offence?

Yes, they understood it. I stand by what I did. And to all who cared to listen, I’ve explained myself. As a crusader for social justice, I believe the democracy of the mob is not the democracy we desired. I wasn’t going to follow the democracy of the mob. I told the truth as I saw it.

Some say you are going into politics for money because your business has gone down. Is that true?

I do not believe in money. If I believed in money I would have been a billionaire many years ago. I’m a medical doctor; I believe in integrity. If you have integrity, money will run after you. I have a hospital from which I make my living. I have a hotel from which I derive some gain. I’m a writer. I’ve written nine books that I sell. Those who say my business has gone down are those who believe in stealing. I don’t believe in stealing. Whatever I have, I earned through my sweat. If I wanted to be extra rich, I would have joined one of the big political parties in Nigeria, where money exude from their living rooms. I have not done that. At almost 79, what do I need money for? My children can buy my casket. My children are all educated. I have a house I live in; I have a car that I use. I can eat anything I like. Money is no longer relevant to my living.

Many believe President Goodluck Jonathan is corrupt and weak. Do you agree?

Was there no corruption before Jonathan? Is corruption in Nigeria today greater than what we had during Shehu Shagari’s time or in IBB’s time? Please be fair to this young man. I’m not being his devil’s advocate. I would say it as it is. What do you want Jonathan to do? Do you want him to declare war and start attacking Yobe, Adamawa and Borno states and kill his own fellow citizens? Why is he then President? He has chosen to thread the path of peace. I’m not very close to Jonathan but the little I read from the newspapers, and see on the television, he is not weak. I think he has managed Nigeria the way a heavy country like Nigeria should be managed.

With all that is happening, do you think it is proper for him to seek re-election?

Do you think it is improper for him to seek re-election? He is basing his argument on the constitution. The constitution says if you win election the first time, you govern, and if you are not thrown out by the military, you can contest again. It is his constitutional right. If you say he should not contest again, you would be denying him his right, but he cannot compel you to vote him. If the people agitating against his contesting again get their way, it would set a bad precedence for Nigeria. Can you imagine an Igbo man becoming the President tomorrow and you tell him he must spend only one term? When the northerners have spent several terms and the Yoruba has spent several terms. Power has been oscillating between the two legs of the tripod, and the third has been left out. Let the constitution prevail.

How would you assess Jonathan’s government?

Jonathan’s administration has been relatively good. He has led us for about four years and he has not precipitated us into a civil war. We thank God. Jonathan is a human being. Nigeria was bastardised by past leaders both military and civilian and they left us like this. And Jonathan has come and in about four years, he is effecting some changes. Jonathan is not a magician. This country was thrown into problems for a period of two to three decades, and you want Jonathan to fix the problems in four years. Mind you, he came to manage turbulence. Some people promised him that if he won the election they would make the country ungovernable for him and the country has been ungovernable and thanks to God he has managed the situation and has prevented a war. What Boko Haram is doing in the North is war. The definition of war is when a country quarrels with another country and loses up to 1000 lives. We have lost much more than 1000 people in the North, but Jonathan has decided not to declare war. I think he has done well. I’m not a member of the PDP but I love to speak the truth.