Dapo Lam-Adesina, a former House of Representatives member from the Ibadan North-East/South-East Federal Constituency, speaks to OLUFEMI OLANIYI about the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, insecurity, and other various issues
Many Nigerians are highly dissatisfied with the situation of this country since the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) came to power. Don’t you think this will work against the party in 2023?
Without being economical with the truth, we would all agree that all over the world, there are lots of challenges economically, and what is happening is not peculiar to Nigeria; though we believe that other things that should have been done have not been done.
As I have always said, Rome was not built in a day, and when it comes to infrastructure development, it is one of the factors that can be used to evaluate a government.
You can say that our party is doing very well when you talk about infrastructural indices.
However, on insecurity, you know that a lot has not happened in that sector but I believe it is a challenge that will be tackled by the next administration. The next APC administration will address this, and it will become a thing of the past.
The presidential candidate of your party is believed by some to be too old to rule Nigeria. What’s your take on this?
I don’t like to analyse politicians or individuals based on their age, gender, ethnicity, or religion they practice. To me, performance and leadership are about your antecedents, your pedigree and how the generality of people can benefit from your leadership. For example, one of the best democracies in the world that we like to copy, which is the United States of America, is being governed by Joe Biden, who is very old. What is important is for the system to work. If we have a system that works, no matter who comes there, that person will have no choice but to perform very well.
Meanwhile, when you also look at Senator Bola Tinubu’s performance and antecedents, compared to others, you will admit that he is somebody that should be given a chance at this critical time when the nation is at a crossroads.
Now, we need someone who can assemble a formidable team and the best brains and who can turn around the situation. Nigeria cannot become an Eldorado in a day or the Mecca that we all want it to be. We need a leader who has the foresight and antecedents to get results. And Senator Bola Tinubu has done it over and over again.
The Labour Party rallies led by Peter Obi have drawn large crowds across the country. Are you not bothered by this?
The crowds at rallies are very good, and I love what is happening. That would make all politicians have a rethink and know that Nigerians are waking up. These are some of the things we were clamouring for when we joined politics in 2009. Nigerians should wake up, and the fact that we allowed certain groups of people to determine our future is why we are where we are today. That’s the beauty of democracy, and I love it. I want the political class to be challenged and engaged so they will know that power will not be served a la carte.
As I said, I love it, but I will like to stand by Senator Bola Tinubu because when you compare his antecedents with others, you will know that he stands tall among others.
Afenifere, led by Chief Ayo Adebanjo, is aligning with the Ohaneze Ndigbo to support the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi. Will this not affect the chances of Tinubu?
Those in the Afenifere are my fathers, and I know they will resolve whatever is between them and Asiwaju. I wish them well. Chief Adebanjo is my father, and Senator Tinubu is also my father but I stick with Tinubu in this presidential election, and Chief Ayo Adebanjo has the constitutional right to decide with other Afenifere members which candidate they want to support.
So, you are not against them?
I can’t be against them. I am making it very clear that I am standing with Senator Bola Tinubu regarding his presidential ambition.
There has been clamouring for restructuring, and some say that restructuring may not be possible until we have a new constitution in place. Do you think we can get a new Constitution before the 2023 elections?
Absolutely, no—that is not possible, but I know that Senator Tinubu, from day one, has been an advocate of restructuring, and he would do so much about it. Before you can have a good country that we can all be proud of, you will agree with me that our Constitution is very faulty. We must correct the anomalies of the Constitution and also restructure so that things can be fair.
So, for certain things that are on the exclusive list, you must drive them out to be able to get positive results. When you talk about power generation, look at the Independent Power Project, which Senator Bola Tinubu implemented in Lagos State.
When you want electricity to be stable in Nigeria, we must take energy or power generation off the exclusive list and allow states to generate power. Asiwaju Tinubu did it in Lagos, and that is what I mean when I keep talking about antecedents. This is something that works, and if it works during his time as governor of Lagos State, we can copy it for the country, and I believe it can work.
When you talk about internally generated revenue, take a look at what is being generated in Lagos and Nigeria. We are getting to a point where we cannot totally rely on crude oil. If that’s the case, we have to look at somebody who has done it in the past, and so we have to look inwards. We also have some people, who have held certain positions in the past. What have they done with it? This is not about sentiments.
As a candidate for the House of Representatives election, what different things are you bringing on board?
It’s just the desire to reignite quality and impactful representation, and the conviction and vibrancy that my constituency deserves better representation. I am used to crucifying people or pulling people down. I believe that I have what it takes to give appropriate representation to the federal constituency in question.
You represented the constituency before. What do you intend to do differently now?
It is a terrain that needs proper learning. When you go to the National Assembly, as the one in Nigeria is presently constituted, you probably need a bit of time to be able to learn the ropes and know the route. Then, you may not have access to some of these committees that can be of benefit to the people of your constituency. There is this dichotomy between a first-time member and a returning member, as they always say.
My conviction is that going back will bring about more development, and I will be able to facilitate projects and get involved in national issues.
What developments did you attract to your people when you first represented them?
They are enormous. When you talk about education, and as a matter of fact, I am the first to have organised the first-ever quiz and debate competition in primary and secondary schools located in my constituency. I was the one who started the sports festival in schools in our constituency. I gave bursaries to many students in tertiary institutions and I also facilitated the renovation of primary and secondary schools. Similarly, we were also able to give free West African Examination Council and General Certificate Examination forms to hundreds of students.
What is your assessment of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, and how can we curb vote trading in the coming elections?
BVAS is very good, and technology is one of the best things that have happened to our generation. I think one of the major challenges affecting the credibility of our elections is rigging, ballot snatching, and violence. But with the introduction of BVAS, it is useless to snatch ballot boxes or rig elections. If you bring a voter’s card that is not yours, the machine will not accept it, and that tells you that the number of voters the machine captured would be the number of accredited voters. At the end of the voting exercise, the number of votes must not exceed the number of accredited voters.
BVAS is a step in the right direction. I am just hoping that the 2023 election will be a major time to test-run the BVAS technology. I know they’ve used it in the Ekiti and Osun elections, and I am sure they will address the lapses they observed. I heard that the machines can be preloaded. INEC must look at the issues raised on BVAS during these two governorship polls and block the loopholes. We are looking forward to a time when elections will be won based on people’s popularity and not on rigging.
