Chief Henry Ajomale is a Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress and the immediate past chairman of the party in Lagos State. In this interview, he speaks about the expectations of Nigerians of the 9th National Assembly and the fight against corruption, among other issues of national importance. AYO ESAN brings you the excerpts:
How will you react to the claim by Kola Abiola, son of late MKO Abiola, that the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who has been widely hailed as one of the heroes of the June 12 struggle, lobbied the late military dictator, General Sani Abacha, for appointment as the administrator of Lagos State or deputy administrator or even a commissioner to serve in that military government led by Abacha, who was part of those who annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election won by Abiola ?
Kola Abiola lied against Tinubu. But why he decided to do so, I wouldn’t know. Kola Abiola was trying to distort history. But thank God many eminent Nigerians, who played active role during the June 12 struggle, and who knew the roles each individuals played, have been debunking Kola’s claims.
As a close associate of Tinubu, who was together with Tinubu during that period, and still with him, when I saw that interview by Kola, I knew he was being mischievous. But it is gladdening that Kola’s claims have been described as nothing but tissues of lies by many Nigerians, including Col. Tony Nyiam (rtd); a former president of the Nigeria Labour Congress and general secretary, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Chief Frank Kokori, among a host of others.
Tinubu is one of the great pillars of our democracy. Kola Abiola can’t rubbish him. No individual or group can rubbish him. Tinubu played an indelible role in the struggle for the enthronement of democracy in Nigeria. He used his personal resources to fight the military who annulled the June 12 1993 elections. How possible, how can a Senator want to become a commissioner or administrator? As a Senator, Tinubu was far and above all these positions. He never hobnobbed with the military. Have you seen any of the other Abiola’s children coming out to support Kola’s claims against Tinubu? Tinubu was one of those who funded Radio Kudirat, the pro-democracy broadcasting outfit based in London, which became a thorn in the flesh of the Abacha junta.
As a close associate of Tinubu, can you recollect what actually transpired during that period?
Duing the period in question, Tinubu was an elected Senator, but when Abacha dissolved the Senate after sacking the Interim National Government headed by Ernest Shonekan, Tinubu formed a group of Senators that were opposed to Abacha and the military. This group of Senators led by Tinubu became a thorn in the flesh of the military to the extent that Abacha arrested Tinubu, and detained him in Ikoyi Prison for nine months before he later went on exile to continue the struggle against the military dictatorship.
But before he fled into exile, Abacha had already declared Tinubu an enemy. The military had become uncomfortable with his anti-military stance, and later declared him a persona non-grata. At a point, Abacha junta falsely accused Tinubu of planning to bomb NNPC depot at Ejigbo in Lagos. It was at this point that Tinubu decided to go on exile.
Tinubu never had anything to do with lobbying Abacha for any appointment. Rather it was the leader of the political association that Tinubu belonged to, the Primrose group led by Chief Dapo Sarumi, that unfortunately decided to participate in Abacha’s government, and he was made the minister of communications. When Sarumi was planning to take that appointment, Tinubu got wind of it and he leaked it to other members of the group. But despite our efforts to persuade Sarumi not to join Abacha’s government, he refused to listen to us ,and went ahead to serve in Abacha’s government. I will humbly urge Tinubu to ignore those who are trying to portray him in bad light for political and selfish reasons. No matter how they try, his political adversaries will always fail.
Lest I forget, Nigerians should also not forget that when Abacha’s foreign minister, Chief Tom Ikimi, went to the United Nation’s General Assembly to defend that infamous military regime, it was Tinubu that flew all the way from London and mobilized other pro-democracy activists to counter Ikimi. And that was how Abacha’s regime was shamed before the international community. Tinubu has paid his dues. It is very unfortunate that some Nigerians are envious of his success as a political generalissimo, and one of the pillars of the nation’s democracy.
Many Nigerians’ believe the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute his cabinet on time is affecting the economy of the nation. What is your take on this?
Nigerians should not be impatient. They should not stampede Buhari. Already, the Presidency has told Nigerians that the President is working on the matter. They further assured that the announcement and formation of the new cabinet would not take long. Let’s be patient with Buhari so that we can have the best. I’m very sure that by the time the list of cabinet members come out, we will all commend the President.
I enjoined Nigerians to give maximum co-operation to Buhari so that he can consolidate on the achievements he recorded during his first term. I believe that the APC administration led by Buhari will surely take Nigeria to the next level.
What is your advice to the newly inaugurated Ninth National Assembly?
My advice to members is that they co-operate with the executive in order to give Nigeria the best. The National Assembly should not be antagonistic to the Executive. They should work together in harmony. I’m not saying that the National Assembly should be a rubber stamp for the executive but that they should work together in harmony for the common interests of all Nigerians.
On the present insecurity, what do you think should be the way out?
We should all be vigilant and be our brother’s keepers. We should also co-operate with security agents in order to expose and flush out criminal elements in our midst. These criminals making life difficult for people are not ghosts. They are human beings. Nigerians should give relevant information to security agencies, including the police so that these bad elements can be arrested and brought to justice. I also implore President Buhari to take advice given to him by a delegation of Afenifere leaders that visited him in Aso Rock recently. The delegation led by Senator Ayo Fasanmi, including the APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, Prince Tajudeen Olusi and Aremo Olusegun Osoba advised the Federal government to recruit more policemen across the country’s 777 local government areas in order to boost security. I urge Buhari to take this advice and other ones given to him by
our leaders.
How do you see President Muhammadu Buhari’s fight against corruption?
Buhari is on the right track. The era of impunity is gone. My advice to Buhari is that he should sustain the fight against corruption. Under PDP, corruption was the order of the day but thank God Buhari and the APC have reversed that. It is no longer business
as usual.
