Prince Kassim Afegbua, a former Commissioner for Information in Edo State, speaks in this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI on the clamour by some Nigerians that former president Goodluck Jonathan should stage a comeback in 2027. He also bares his mind on other national issues and political developments in Edo State. Excerpts:

There is a raging debate among Nigerians on whether former president Goodluck Jonathan should contest in the 2027 presidential election. Given the current economic and socio-political situation in the country, do you think Nigerians need him now to steer the affairs of the nation’s ship?

First and foremost, I will personally appeal to former President Jonathan not to rubbish his existing credentials of being seen as a true democrat who was defeated in a presidential election and accepted the outcome of that election without spilling blood. That kind of conduct has elevated his statesmanship to the point that everywhere, people are inviting him for election observation, international awards, public speaking and all of that. That is the hallmark of the recognition given to him for that rare conduct he displayed in 2015. Now, those who are urging him to contest in 2027 are either selfish, or they want to squander the existing goodwill that he has. If he thinks that what he did in 2015 by accepting defeat is what will launch him into national stardom, seeking presidential election, he will be shocked that Nigeria has moved on. We have passed the era of former President Jonathan. There is nothing so spectacular about that government. That was the reason why he was defeated ab initio. If he had performed exceptionally against all permutations, he wouldn’t have lost that election.

It was because of the mismanagement of the country under President Jonathan that made Nigerians remove him with their votes in 2015. Under his presidency, we had almost four other ‘presidents’ – the likes of Madam Patience Jonathan, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Diezani Alison-Madueke and Stella Oduah. We don’t want a repeat of that era in 2027. President Bola Tinubu is already consolidating our economic trajectory. He is already doing some very novel things that are going to stabilise the economy and also give investors some level of confidence to come into the country and do business.

So, we are not going to be dragged down on that route of a Jonathan presidency. Jonathan may be a good man in terms of human behaviour, but the behaviour for presidency is a different ball game. You don’t use kindness to govern a nation. You use policies, firmness, boldness, and courage to take tough decisions and preside over a nation as complex as Nigeria.

So, in essence, what will be your candid advice for Jonathan with all the debates on whether he should run or not?

For me, my honest advice is for President Jonathan to run away from the presidency. He should run away from all those political scavengers and financial manipulators who are goading him on the path of political perfidy. He should go and read his binoculars very well, and he should also gaze into the crystal balls. The moment you hear Madam Patience Jonathan says I am supporting the incumbent president, and I will campaign with Remi Tinubu. You should know that Goodluck Jonathan’s defeat will start from his home. I will advise him to listen to the voice of reason to stay away from this. He should listen to the voice of wise men who have better political knowledge and understand the dynamics of Nigeria’s geopolitics and please stay away from contesting the 2027 presidential election. What structure is he going to use? The PDP is currently fragmented.

The same fragmentation that affected PDP when he was still president is still in existence. Don’t forget that five governors left him in 2014 to join the APC. Now, more governors and senators are leaving in droves. So, which structure is he going to use to contest the presidency? Is it the ADA, ADC, PDP or LP? If it is the ADC, we already know that party to be a second runner because an ADC (aide-de-camp) stays at the back of the leader when he is talking. In this case, President Tinubu is the leader, so ADC will stay at his back to watch over him until he completes his tenure.

The PDP is currently factionalised between the politics of the North and South. The lack of sincerity of PDP leaders is a serious impediment. They are polarised to the extent that you don’t know the head or tail. In LP, it is the same issues. The leadership is divided between Nenadi Usman and Julius Abure. They are both fighting for the soul of the party, which is more or less a carcass now. Peter Obi, the man who prides himself as the doyen of modern politics, cannot even settle the crisis in his own political party. He is gallivanting between LP, PDP and ADC, looking for where to perch. That is not the kind of politics we want to see in 2027. While the APC is consolidating its fortunes, winning more seats in the National Assembly and gaining more governors, all these political pretenders are running from pillar to post, trying to write their names on the ballot papers. Things don’t work that way.

The Federal Government, at the instance of the Department of State Services (DSS), has filed criminal charges against Omoyele Sowore over the post he made on X describing President Bola Tinubu as a criminal. What is your take on this?

To a large extent, Sowore is n irresponsible citizen. Every responsible citizen of a country must accord a level of respect to the president of a country. You may not like his face, and you may even not vote for him, but as long as he has been declared as president, you show respect for the office he holds. No matter the disagreement with the process that brought in the president, whether Sowore agrees or not, it is bad behaviour for him to describe the president of the country in such a very uncivilised and barbaric manner. You don’t have the power, even as a citizen, to call anybody a criminal until a court of competent jurisdiction has pronounced the person as such. So, for Sowore to call President Bola Tinubu a criminal is gross irresponsibility. We are Africans, and we know people who have good home training by the way they utter and their public conduct. If Sowore is from a well-brought-up home, he will not describe the president in such a manner. Sowore is my friend, but I don’t like irresponsible behaviour. I will personally impress on the president and the relevant agencies to take appropriate actions to bring him to book. He should be taken to court and made to present facts and figures that will warrant him to have made such a reckless statement.

By taking Sowore to court, don’t you think some Nigerians will perceive it as the FG trying to silence his activism?

Nobody is saying you can’t do your activism. You can claim to be a freedom fighter; that is your cup of tea. If you choose to be an agitator because you want a better society, that is your choice. But if you are seeking to become president and people are referring to you as a criminal, how will you feel about that? I won’t be surprised if it is discovered that Sowore is not a taxpayer. I think the government should probe into all those issues. Let us see how much tax he has paid to fulfil his civic responsibilities and help advance the cause of Nigeria. By so doing, we will know if he has the legitimacy to take the government or its representatives to task on issues of performance and governance.

My advice is that Sowore should stop rubbishing our generation. I am from a responsible home, and I have respect for constituted authority. However, I won’t go beyond the hubris of what it takes to call anyone a criminal, most especially the number one citizen over 250 million Nigerians. That is sacrilegious. If you remember the story of the late Senator Nuhu Aliyu. In the Senate chamber, he saw some people that he had arrested as a Deputy Inspector General of Police. He then shouted, ‘Who are these criminals?’ He had to publicly apologise and withdrew that statement when the National Assembly members threatened to sue him. Only a court can call someone a criminal; it does not lie in the mouth of anybody to do so. If you look at it carefully, what Sowore is doing is calling all Nigerians criminals. If we are being led by a criminal, then the implication is that we are all criminals, including Sowore himself. There is a limit to gangsterism, rascality and reckless brigandage. Even there is a limit to activism and freedom fighting. For God’s sake, where your right stops, that is where another person’s right begins. You can say that you have a right to own an opinion, but your opinion shouldn’t be injurious to another person.

You are among the 14-member State Assets Verification Committee set up by Governor Monday Okpebholo to investigate the administration of former Governor Godwin Obaseki. Months after the investigation, Edo people are asking, what is the next step?

Those asking that question shouldn’t be in a hurry. Just watch our leadership approach and the workings of the governor. There are lots of things that will happen shortly. Very soon, the good people of Edo will begin to see the trajectory of our probe panel. Obaseki has no hiding place. Let him be globetrotting and be delivering lectures about it. Edo people have seen the rot that Obaseki left behind. We didn’t make those things up or lie against him. When you go round, you see terrible road networks, bad infrastructure, and dilapidated schools and hospitals. Obaseki is only interested in his personal estates; the things that he was doing for himself. The Ossiomo Power Plant, the Golf Mews and the like. EdoBest is the worst. It is a heavy scam. They got $65m. They only plough $5m into that project. To date, we don’t know where $60m vanished. Look at the museum that the Obaseki administration built. They expended N3b of government money on it, gave them free land, and yet they said we don’t have a stake in that museum. Who does that all over the world? Let those asking questions calm down. Justice will be served accordingly.