Chief Martin Onovo was the presidential candidate of the defunct National Conscience Party (NCP) in the 2015 general election.

In this interview with ANAYO EZUGWU, he speaks on the #EndBadGovernance protests, demand for President Bola Tinubu to reverse the fuel subsidy removal and electricity tariff, and the South East Development Commission (SEDC) bill recently signed into law, among other issues

What is your assessment of the nationwide protest in the country and do you think that the protest has achieved its objectives?

Peaceful protest is a right of citizens. We say no to violence of any form. Violence does not build; violence only destroys. The purpose of the protest was clear.

It was to end bad governance and hunger. Regrettably, it was not well planned. To end bad governance and hunger, you have to identify and control the root causes of bad governance and hunger.

The root causes in our opinion are incompetence, lawlessness and corruption. The reckless policy of ‘subsidy is gone’ can be traced to incompetence. The leakages and losses in national revenue and expenditure are results of incompetence, lawlessness and corruption.

The emergence of the incompetent ad hoc regime itself is a result of lawlessness in the electoral process. It becomes difficult to see how an incompetent, lawless and corrupt ad hoc regime can be expected to ‘end bad governance’ and hunger, particularly when the regime is undemocratic.

While we support the right of the protesters to protest, we know that their objectives may not be achieved. The empty and deceitful Sunday broadcast of President Bola Tinubu has confirmed that we are right.

Do you think that the demands of the protesters to ask the President to reverse the fuel subsidy removal and electricity tariff, among others are feasible?

The mediocrity in the Nigerian public space is frightening. Mediocrity has become a vogue that is celebrated in Nigeria. It is this celebration of mediocrity that has produced consecutively two occupants of Aso Rock without O’ Level certificates.

The ‘removal’ of the subsidy in May 2023 was reckless and incompetent. As expected and predicted, it was followed by inflation and devaluation. Then, wages had to be adjusted and have been recently adjusted.

The consequent inflation and devaluation resulted in a further increase in the domestic price of the imported Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS). So, the subsidy is back. Yes, this ad hoc regime still pays subsidies. Currently, the landing cost of imported PMS is about N900/litre.

We have to add distribution costs and profit margins. If it is now sold at a retail price of N700/litre, then we can deduce that we are paying a subsidy of about N500/litre. This vicious cycle of removal of subsidies has been repeated many times by the incompetent rulers of Nigeria because of their very poor knowledge of economics.

The previous one was in 2016, when General Muhammadu Buhari ‘removed the subsidy.’ A competent government cannot make such a terrible blunder. Corrective measures can be taken to mitigate the damage caused by this blunder.

In the next few days, what are the low hanging fruits that the Federal Government must do in the immediate to end the protest?

What we have is a civilian dictatorship. It would be erroneous to see it as a democratic government. It has already crushed the protest with corruption, subversion and violence.

Many protesters have been wounded, maimed or killed. Journalists have been intimidated and wounded. Over a thousand and four hundred protesters have been arrested. Over 20 protesters are reported killed and the organisers of the protests like Comrade Michael Adaramoye are being hunted and kidnapped by the Department of State Services (DSS).

The opportunity for Tinubu to be conciliatory in his speech was lost in his typical totalitarian braggadocio, empty promises, a celebration of incompetence, unverified claims and serial falsehoods. The first thing for the ad hoc regime to do is to admit that it has failed catastrophically on all indices of national security and development.

One of the president’s spokespersons, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, has said that the people who are saying that this government needs to be changed are committing treason. What do you make of such comment?

Mr. Bayo Onanuga has a reputation for making false, incompetent, divisive and hateful claims. The Constitution provides for many ways to remove a person from office. Also, in a democracy, the will of the people is the supreme norm.

He can go and learn legal definitions and requirements to establish a case of treason. He will learn that the establishment of treason requires acts and not just opinions.

In the face of the crisis confronting the country; how would you assess President Tinubu’s administration in the last 14 months?

The ad hoc Tinubu regime is a catastrophic failure; the worst Nigerian regime since independence. It has failed catastrophically on all counts. It has failed to provide security for lives and property.

It has promoted corruption, it has violated all relevant laws, it has destroyed public morality and it has ruined national unity.

It has destroyed democracy. It has ruined the economy. Currently, Nigeria has dropped from the largest economy in Africa to the fourth. Total public debt is unprecedented, unemployment is unprecedented, inflation is unprecedented and mass poverty is unprecedented.

You ran for the presidency in 2015; what would you do differently if you were in the saddle right now?

Everything will be done differently. Insecurity will be controlled using both preventive and enforcement strategies. Corruption will be strictly checked using our celebrated 4Es strategy.

The cost of governance will be reduced drastically. Domestic refining of crude oil will be arranged and encouraged to phase out the importation of petroleum products.

Reckless borrowing will be forbidden. Massive maintenance of bad roads will be implemented. Natural agriculture will be strongly supported with mechanisation and extension services. The Samoa agreement will have clear clauses rejecting LGBTQ, rejecting abortion and upholding our national laws.

Electric power transmission systems will be upgraded and solid minerals exploitation will be strictly regulated and expanded. The N1.06 trillion corruptly dissipated in the 47km Lagos coastal road will be used to construct a new 650km multilane highway from Port Harcourt to Abuja.

What do you make of the South East Development Commission (SEDC) bill that was signed into law by the President; do you think the commission will address the concerns of the zone?

There is the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). There is the North East Development Commission (NEDC). So, the SEDC is similarly justified. However, these are duplications.

These directly increase the cost of governance. The projects and programmes implemented by these commissions can be implemented by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) or state governments.

In that way, we can save the duplications to the cost of governance and use the saved funds for developmental projects.

How do you think the SEDC will work with the level of insecurity in the South East?

The SEDC will work if they want to. The insecurity is not widespread.

The stay-at-home threats are only on Mondays and the majority of citizens ignore the threats. Also, efforts are being made to stop the stay-at-home threats.

The Supreme Court, in a recent judgement, granted financial autonomy to local governments. Do you think this will translate to the needed development at the local level?

No! The Supreme Court judgement violates the constitutional provision for the joint State and Local Government accounts.

The Supreme Court could have simply highlighted the constitutional ambiguity and refer it to the National Assembly constitutional review committee. Local government chairmen in Oyo State have questioned the judgement.

This Supreme Court led by Justice Ariwoola “has become something else”.

Nigeria recently celebrated 25 years of democratic rule; how would you assess the journey so far?

As of today, Nigeria is not a democratic republic. What we have is very clearly a civilian dictatorship. The word ‘democracy’ is from the Greek Demokratia. Demos is people; Kratia is rule.

So, democracy means that ‘the people rule.’ The people rule in a democracy in line with the decisions of the majority of the people.

In Nigeria, we are ruled in line with the decisions of a corrupt clique. It is a civilian dictatorship. The two pillars of democracy are completely absent. The integrity of the ballot is absent. Tinubu lost the 2023 elections woefully but he was imposed on Nigeria.

The rule of law is absent as the rulers violate our laws with impunity. On the Lagos coastal road contract alone, the Oath of Office was violated, the Federal Procurement Act was violated, the 2024 Appropriation Act was violated, and the constitutional prohibition of corruption was violated. The lawlessness is suffocating!

Do you think the military is overwhelmed given the lingering security challenges?

I don’t think that the military is overwhelmed. Nigerian military experts have repeatedly confirmed that our military can overwhelm the terrorists and bandits but that the political will is lacking.

This is easy to understand when we consider that the terrorists were imported and sponsored by the ruling party. Let me remind you of the following authoritative quotes from top military experts: “The government is not serious, ….

The problem is lack of political will” – Commodore Kunle Olawunmi. “The armed forces are not neutral, they are conniving with the armed bandits that are killing people” – General T. Y. Danjuma.