Bimbo Daramola is a vocal member of the House of
Representatives on the platform of All Progressive
Congress (APC). He represents Ekiti North Federal
Constituency 1 in Ekiti State. In this interview with
Vanguard, says that former President Olusegun
Obasanjo in his letter raised salient issues that
shouldn’t be ignored. Excerpts:
Nigerians appear divided over Obasanjo’s letter to
President Jonathan. Some prefer the message to the
messenger while some talk down on both. How may
you react to this?
Well, a lot of things are happening. I think Nigerians
shouldn’t also perpetually be a bunch of people who
do not live by history. Before you can ascribe value
and integrity to whatever anybody says and you go the
town with it, you should also check the character of
the man who is saying it.
I say
this
thing in a jocular manner. If a mad man tells you that
your house is burning, would you say, O! He is a mad
man and just go? Will you not double check to know
whether your house is actually burning? So, whatever
former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said may not
be talking about the messenger. As a person, he is
tainted. He has an albatross on his neck that is
sufficient enough for Nigerians to say, hey, no more.
Will you just leave us in peace? Or it’s about time that
you shut your trap and let us just be having our own
time. After all, Yar’Adua was you protege and then
President Jonathan? But you see, in trying to say that
we should also be mindful of the fact that the kind of
things that Obasanjo raised in his letter also are very
germane. I don’t want to bother myself with the aspect
that deals with the PDP.
The earlier the PDP’s self destruct, the better. I have
also reminded people that the size of Dinosaurs did not
prevent them from facing extinction. And if you want to
remind yourself of Dinosaurs today, you can go and
look at fossils. So, I believe that there are some
germane things: 1000 people are being penciled down
for elimination, the economy is grinding to a halt, you
can’t deny that.
You can’t fault those things. So, what we need to do is
to look at that, identify those that are very germane,
those things that the man said and then we can deal
with those issues. We can discountenance the integrity
of the man who has said that. Don’t forget that if a
mad man tells you that your house is burning, you will
not say he is a mad man. You will turn around and
say, just in case, let me check if my house is really on
fire.
APC called for the impeachment of Mr. President and
incidentally, you are member of the party. Are you in
support of that?
Well, that coming from a respected personality like the
interim national publicity secretary of the party who is
also an avowed democrat, I am not too sure if that is
the position of the party.
I want to be guided about it. The best of power is
appreciated when you are guided and the deployment
of same. But what I think we should do at this time;
there is no doubt that this President has so many
constitutional infractions against him enough to get
him out of his feet like yesterday.
They are there. But are we going to actually say that
because a woman has fibroid, and after the first to
prognosis, the next thing we can do is to take away
her womb out? But I am going say; but one thing I am
clear about is that there are plethora of constitutional
infractions against this President but we must also be
very, very courteous about how we deployed it.
Are you perchance divorcing yourself from the position
of the party?
No, no, no, I cannot dissociate myself from what the
party has said. I am not sure that was the position of
the party but that coming from a respected personality
like Uncle Lai Mohammed, I know too well and expect
that he would have actually done some consultations,
but for me, speaking for myself as Bimbo Daramola, I
have been one of the advocates of trying to let the
President know that there is a constitutional provision
to put him in check. He did not become the President
of Nigeria because he woke up one morning or he has
a Ph.D.
He became President of Nigeria as a result of the
mandate of the people, expectedly so. But I think we
should do is to now push it and OK, against the
backdrop of the constitutional provisions. But the
truth of the matter is that we need to also be very, very
careful. These are interesting times.
We are trying to get two strong parties to see how we
can take power democratically from government that
has failed us for 14 years. And I am not saying this
guidedly.
This government has failed us. The government of PDP
has failed. We only got the kids back to school from a
6 month forced holiday. Where is that done? And
somebody cites example of schools in Ghana being
closed for one year.
Is Nigeria Ghana? And on the heels of that, medical
doctors are threatening. On the heels of that
PENGASSAN has also given ultimatum. There is a
systemic challenge.
We need to go right now. We have scratched the space
for too long. Now, the thing is that if you impeach a
President Jonathan, who becomes the next President?
The beneficiary of that same process is still going to
emerge from this same party that has held Nigeria
down after 14 years of being in the saddle. So, it takes
a little bit of strategy to know which of the options is
best.
Even on the floor, the remnant of the PDP members, in
their single digit are already convinced that the game
is up. And I hope that this President will see the
signals on the wall and do the wish of Nigerians. Let
no body push Nigerians to the woods anymore.
We went to South Africa to celebrate Mandela. Mandela
got celebrated not on the basis of the fact that he left
government after 4 years, no, but necessarily because
that was the mood of time. And people feel that it’s
about time that we take this country to the next level.
These guys have held us down for too long. It’s about
time to leave the PDP that has failed this country.
Well, the Presidency said you are toying with treason
on the issue?
What’s treasonable about something that is
constitutionally provided for? It’s in the constitution.
No body is taking a hard one against government.
Listen, treason is not removing Jonathan. Anything
that is treasonable is about forcibly taking over the
government of the federation. It’s not removing
Jonathan.
There is a difference between the seat of power of the
Presidency and Jonathan. President Jonathan is an
individual and the presidency is an institution. That
should be clear to them and I know too well that if that
constitutional provision is not relevant, the drafters of
that constitution wouldn’t put it there.
It’s just in order to ensure checks and balances; to
ensure that government is run and run properly so that
the interest and welfare of Nigerians is secure. That’s
why they put it there. You can’t have a president
running riot and somebody says you cannot put him
in check.
Most people say it’s all a gang up against the
President’s second term ambition in 2015…
I don’t think so. Look at Amaechi. Rivers state is not
the same now. Even in Bayelsa, did you see the guys
who decamped in Bayelsa? So, don’t ethnicise it.
What I know is that we have asked and demanded that
this party, having been in government for 14 years, if
you had a child 14 years ago, it would be getting
ready for College now. It’s about time for us to know
where we are headed. And it’s not about me. I can get
sorted anyway.
It’s about the corperate texture. If this country goes
down, President Jonathan is not gonna be immune.
Go and ask Morsi in Egypt.