In this interview with ENIOLA
AKINKUOTU, a former General Secretary of the National Union of Petroleum
and Natural Gas Workers, Chief Frank Kokori, speaks about the fuel
crisis and the just concluded elections
As a major figure in the June 12, 1993 election, how do see the conduct and outcome of the just concluded elections?
I am very happy with the elections,
especially the outcome because this was my dream. I wanted a good
nation, a free nation where there is justice and equity and I think with
this election, things are getting better. The elections have come and
gone and they were hotly contested but we were flabbergasted about some
things we saw because we never thought Nigerians could stoop to this
level of pettiness and meanness. The bad blood and hate campaigns were
at the highest level ever and I was not happy about it but I thank God
that the elections have ended and the rightful person has won. I am
happy that the Armageddon that was predicted never happened and we thank
President Goodluck Jonathan, who even though encouraged most of his
campaigners to stoop to that level, at the end of the day, was man
enough to behave like a statesman and I think that is what has made
Nigerians to appreciate him. Besides that, he has run this country
aground in the last six years. He ran this country without any
discipline, without caution, with impunity.
The immediate past Chairman of
the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu, said the hate
campaigns of some people in the party also contributed to Jonathan’s
defeat. Do you share this view?
It was Jonathan’s incompetence and poor
performance that led to his defeat. If he had performed well, people
would have voted for him. As the President, the buck stops at his table.
As the Chief Executive Officer of a company, you should take
responsibility for whatever happens in your company. Whether you are a
governor or a local government chairman, as long as you are in the
position of leadership, you are responsible for what happens. So, we
cannot blame anybody for his loss, Jonathan has himself to blame. As a
President, if I want to fight corruption, I will fight it. I will give
judges the free hand and if a judge misbehaves, he will be dealt with.
If a police boss misbehaves, I will arrest and prosecute him. I will
give the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission the freedom to operate
as long as they are following the law. Jonathan did not do all these
things and that is why people say he was incompetent and he actually was
incompetent. So, his government lacked focus and that was why he
failed. Jonathan was extremely incompetent. In other words, Jonathan
could not handle a big country like Nigeria. If you remember, Jonathan
got to the presidency by accident. Everything about his life has been
through God’s favour. He was deputy governor, governor, vice president
and President. God favoured him like former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
When he (Jonathan) acted for the late President Umaru Yar’adua, there
was so much sympathy for him because of what the cabal headed by
Yar’adua’s people did to him so people from all over the nation voted
for him in 2011. As a son of the Niger-Delta we decided to give him a
chance and he won that election fair and square.
But Jonathan won the election in the Niger Delta?
The elections were shamefully rigged in
the South-South and the South-East. The figures declared for Jonathan
were bogus. At most, Jonathan won a third of the votes there. In these
regions, the All Progressives Congress supporters were seriously
intimidated and votes cast for the party were given to the PDP. In some
areas, the election results were allocated to parties. They would say,
for instance, give the APC 30,000 votes and give the PDP 500,000. The
security agents in the South-South and the South-East and officials of
the Independent National Electoral Commission were totally compromised. I
am a leader in the Niger Delta and I am not just making spurious
claims. I have said it times without number that while other areas in
Nigeria are being liberated, there are no proper democratic elections in
the South-East and South-South. I have been monitoring elections here
since 2003. Don’t assume that elections are free and fair based on the
conduct in Lagos and Abuja.
But the PDP says the APC used underage voters to rig elections in the North
I think INEC needs to look into that for
future elections but I am telling you that anything that could have
happened in the North was a child’s play compared to what happened in
the South-South and the South-East. At least children voted in the
North. Over here, they just announced figures. The PDP, security agents
and INEC would just drive people away. They would give the APC 30,000
votes, PDP 500,000 and Labour Party 20,000. When I was growing up in the
days of the Action Group and the National Council of Nigeria Citizens,
our definition of electoral malpractice was when a person voted two or
three times. But today, they just write results and announce.
As one who has been in the oil
sector for decades, how can this incoming government address the fuel
scarcity ravaging the country?
People have high hopes because the APC
has been in the opposition for many years and have made so many promises
to Nigerians. I am sure that the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari,
will tackle it. It was corruption in the payment of subsidies that led
to this mess. If that area is properly handled and you make transparency
the watchword and enforce discipline, things will work. Why should we
be importing such a big quantity of fuel in the first place if not for
corruption? So, these are the terrible things the PDP government
overlooked over the years because of their greed and quest for obscene
wealth. They have ruined the lives of many Nigerians. People cannot get
good education, quality healthcare and the youths cannot get jobs. I am a
labour man and I believe in egalitarianism. People have watched Buhari
and have seen the kind of life he is living and that is why some of us
have faith in him. His track record speaks for him. Even though I am
from the Niger Delta, I believe in him.
Nigerians are now buying fuel for
as high as N400 per litre. Do you think subsidy removal can put a
complete end to this fuel crisis?
People misunderstand this issue of
subsidy. Subsidy is alright for Nigerians. The problem was that the
money for subsidy was grossly mismanaged. I say subsidy is alright
because the oil market fluctuates rampantly such that you cannot predict
it. For instance, crude could be sold at $120 per barrel today and two
weeks later, it falls to $50 per barrel. As long as we continue to
refine our crude oil abroad, we will continue to incur landing cost.
That means if the competitive landing cost of petrol per litre is N99
and Nigerians are buying fuel at N75, that means the government is only
adding N25. In other words, if the government is doing that, it is ok
but that money should be properly monitored and scrutinised and it must
be transparent so that you don’t see someone smiling to the bank to
withdraw between N2bn and N3bn which is unearned. If the landing cost of
a litre of refined oil is about N40 and when you know that a period of
three years it will remain at between N40 and N45, you don’t need
subsidy. But Nigerians cannot be comfortable paying N110 if that is not
the landing cost. I am not talking of a time when people were forced to
buy fuel at any rate. In a normal situation, you drive into a filling
station as it is done in civilised countries but we do that at the
expense of the economy because many rogues just go unpunished. They
steal the subsidy money and the people who are importing, collecting the
subsidy, all of them are cabals. And these are the people that are
swindling this country. So, when you talk of subsidy, a man like me who
understands all the intricacies and the arithmetic will tell you to
retain subsidy. But I am happy a new government is coming in. The PDP
government is a complete write off. They have been bad since the days of
Obasanjo. They are a bundle of greedy people who want to steal all the
nation’s resources. This is not capitalism; this is not even
conservatism as they claim. Conservative governments are disciplined. Go
to Europe and see how conservative government is practised. So, I am
happy that Nigerians have driven them away. The APC should not take
things for granted and make the same foolish mistake that the PDP made.
We will monitor the APC government because we want an improved standard
of living for our people because we are living hopelessly now and that
is why our youths are now taking to crime.
There is a belief that refineries
in Nigeria are not working because prominent politicians have
refineries in neighbouring countries.
It is a lie. Most of the oil we import
come from outside the West African region. We only have a few refineries
in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire. The refineries will work if there is
transparency. There is something called turnaround maintenance which is a
fraud ridden process. We spend hundreds of millions of dollars on this
but in a good government, there will be transparency and Nigeria has
experts that can repair these refineries.
Can these refineries be repaired in four years?
You cannot change everything in four
years but when Nigerians start seeing little changes in three to six
months and then in one year and you see people being prosecuted and
jailed for stealing public funds, and the government ensures that all
the funds that were taken overseas are recovered, there is no way the
needed change will not come. Why should Nigeria have up to $250bn in
stolen funds abroad and only $35bn in our foreign reserves? The
international community is aware of this and the incoming government is
not foolish. Anybody that thinks he has stolen and will go scot free
must be deceiving himself because if any thief goes scot free, then the
APC-led government is not serious. So, the APC government must make sure
that Nigerians that stole money are prosecuted and jailed while the
money should be retrieved. Nobody should run a government by saying you
will forget the past, no. The way Nigeria is today, people must be
punished for the pains they have subjected Nigerians to.
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