Chief Ayiri Emami, businessman, philanthropist, is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State. He was the Deputy Director, Election Planning and Monitoring Committee of the Presidential Campaign Committee for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election in 2019. In this interview with journalists in Abuja, Chief Emami appraises the Bola Tinubu administration, dismisses the revived Action Democratic Congress (ADC) as no threat to a fresh mandate for the incumbent President, while he raises concern of possible implosion within the ruling party by what he called overbearing stance of new entrants in state chapters. TAIWO AMODU brings the excerpts:

President Bola Tinubu has spent two years in office, how would you assess his performance?

I think the President started with a note of trying to put up some policies and you know, when you don’t have a good foundation, it is always very difficult to have a proper building on top. I think the foundation and the structure laid by the past leaders weren’t good enough. So what he is battling with now is what he met on ground, and some of those things people said, “Oh, Tinubu has inflicted hardship on us.” The hardship, like what I used to say, was not caused by Tinubu. So far, so good. He has tried his best; trying to fix one or two by removing subsidy and the backlash of the subsidy (removal) is what we are all experiencing, including the rich and the poor. There’s nobody that is exempted from it. But so far, he’s trying his best. I can say it’s pretty good, it’s a little bit slow, but I think we are getting there.

Is there any hope for Nigeria in the next two years?

To me, I don’t believe that anybody can fix Nigeria in four years with what we have on ground, but I think there’s going to be a lot of changes in the next two years.

People are practically crying of hunger. What do you think the administration can do to ameliorate this poverty and to get sympathy of the electorate ahead of 2027?

To me, it’s to do more inward investment. First, if we can get the issue of insurgency in the North-east, the issue of banditry and the rest, people can go back to the farm. Definitely, we’ll have our food. Those of us from the South-South are majorly into fishing. Maybe they bring some palliatives that can cushion the effect of the fuel price so that we will go back to our normal business. I think those things will cushion the suffering in the Niger Delta. Like I was discussing with some people, if the boat we use for fishing can be converted to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), it will solve some of our problems. Some of these palliatives can be put in place, but he’s already doing that.

If he can fix our roads, which I think the Minister for Works is trying his best. And I also think that he has to reshuffle his cabinet so that he can have some vibrant people that will go and do the job. Because it’s not Tinubu that will go everywhere to do the job, it is the people you assign your portfolio to. A lot of people are sluggish, weak, and I don’t think they’re even thinking well. Not more than four, five ministers are very active. Sometimes, it is not all about the president.

There seems to be a lot of fixation on the Federal Government. With the withdrawal of subsidy, state governments have received almost triple or more than triple monthly allocation of what they used to receive before the removal of subsidy. Nigerians are still complaining. Why?

A lot of these governors, I don’t think they are helping situation, so that puts a lot of pressure on the Federal Government.

If the Federal Government has taken off subsidy and the money is being paid to the state government, the states are supposed to look at what are the needs of people in each of the states, but I think the state governors don’t care, so everybody now focuses on the Federal Government. But I would suggest that the President puts an eye on what is going on in each of the states, since the allocation is being adequately sent back home to the state government. I don’t think the states are doing enough. It’s not by doing bridges and everything on the road. But without welfare, there will be hunger, so how do I apply the road? And that’s exactly what’s going on. Now, everybody will be shouting Tinubu. So the governors come, they do advertisement, “I’ve done this road. I’ve done this thing”, they don’t care how people feel. So, most of this blame is supposed to be channeled to the state government.

In the last few months, a number of opposition governors have defected to APC; we have it in Delta and in Akwa Ibom. Do you think this is genuine and do you think it is enough to garner votes for APC in 2027?

First, if you are in a team and your team is doing well, people will be willing to come and join your team. Look at football Premiership, there are some players, no matter the little money you offer them, they will say, No, I want to go and play for Real Madrid. I want to go and play for Barcelona. So if Asiwaju is doing well, and the governors see that this is the way to go, it’s a welcome development. To me, governors moving into APC is not a bad one, even in America, Donald Trump left his party to another party before he could become president. So cross carpeting is not just in Nigeria. It is because one must think about his interest. But to me, some of them don’t have any ideology, it is just their interest.

Are you threatened by the ongoing opposition, viz-a-viz coalition that is becoming formidable?

Competitions are necessary in everything. If you don’t have people to compete with, it makes you feel very lazy. So, having a proper opposition coming will make us wake up. Things we are supposed to do that we’re not doing. People need to criticise whatever you’re doing. Some of us are used to criticism so that we would definitely see how to correct ourselves. But once those ones are not there, you will think you are doing too well. So oppositions are welcome, but I know that the opposition cannot defeat us.

There are also people who are feeling worried that this gale of the defection could lead to an implosion within the APC itself. Those migrating met some people inside the party who are already feeling disenchanted. Take Delta for instance, the news is all over the place that the likes of Ovie Omo-Agege are likely to leave. What exactly is playing out in your state?

People like Omo-Agege, I know I can speak categorically about it. He doesn’t have a plan to leave. But one thing I know some of us will not accept is a situation when you come in and say you want to pull us out, we’ll not agree to it. That might cause another chaos. Nobody will leave. I will not cook or work, then somebody will come and say, Ayiri, this time you will push me out, nobody! I don’t believe anybody can push me out. If I decide to step aside, that’s a different issue. To me, I’m always very reasonable. If I meet somebody, somewhere, I’ll try as much as possible to see how we can work together, but a situation where you will come and say no and you want to lord it on us.

I don’t think Asiwaju believes in that kind of policy because he is a politician; he knows what that means. Because people like me, we were almost killed because of APC in our community, even up to the issues we have in our palace, it was all political. I was accused of using the palace to do APC, and today, everybody is there, and I’m happy. When President Buhari came to my palace, they were very angry. In 2015, when we lost our king, I invited Asiwaju. I knew the problem I passed through, trying to manage it. Even when the Olu got into office and went to Asiwaju’s place to say thank you, they criticised me. So they thought everything I was doing, I was using the palace to play APC. That’s why you see all the thing you see, that Ayiri is a bad person! It was all political. But I thank God today that everybody has moved into APC.

I know a lot of people that were killed because they associated with APC. State government dealt with them, their businesses were grounded because they were affiliated with APC. Today, you are coming, yes, we agree you can come, but you should realise that these people too were the voices when you said there should be no voice.

Do you agree that the party’s Constitution gives the leadership of the party at the states to governors?

I don’t have a problem with it. The party’s constitution gives the power to Mr. President. The president too should know that he has followers in each of the states. He should be able to protect us.

What’s the present situation in Delta, since the governor joined your party?

The governor and the leadership, then, like somebody like Ovie Omo-Agege, what I’m expecting is that they should sit, meet and see a working formula, but that has not happened.

The APC party chairman in Delta, if he knows what he’s supposed to do, he’s supposed to unite everybody. So, those are the people causing confusion in that state.

These were people that Ovie single-handedly put together to ensure that they build up a party. As at then, some of us were telling him that what you are doing, don’t do it with your tribal people. I was actually against Ovie then because I said you cannot be running for governor, at the same time you have a party chairman from your place. Normally, if you are having a governor from the central, the chairmanship comes to the South, the deputy governor goes to the North. So, I was opposed to it, but the powers that be then…and the chairman was licking the ass of Ovie; “I’m loyal, I’m this, I’m that.”

So, everything they wanted then, they wanted it to go to Central, even up to NDDC. But today, the way people complained about Ovie, I stood by him because I know that those that caused the confusion are the one licking the ass of the governor now. If not, they are the one that’s supposed to say, oh, Governor, you are coming, you are welcome, but this is our structure. You can’t have a section of people where Keyamo goes there and starts saying those that are not in this room are comedian. To me, those things are offensive.

What’s the way out?

I still believe that the governor should be magnanimous enough to ensure he call the people. There is nobody that is not important. He should relate well with everyone.

The governor is my friend, but if you are not doing what you are supposed to do, I will not follow you. I’m one of the closest persons to him, but politically, we’ve not been talking. It’s just when the President won, we started talking. We’re not talking because he was on the other side me, I was on this side.

We started aligning after Asiwaju won the presidency. That was two years ago. The governor and I are very close. But I have to draw the thin line to know where I am and where he was. But today, I’m supposed to be the happiest person, but some things some people are doing, that’s why I’m pulling back. Even if he’s going to be the leader, as the Constitution says, he has to do the right thing. People were actually here before he came.

We can see what’s happening in Osun. Nobody said the Governor shouldn’t come to the party, it’s a thing of a joy that I have a governor in the party, but the governor too should realise that no matter how small the people, there are people you met on ground.

Don’t you think the coalition can take advantage of this disagreement?

That’s why we need to work fast because sometimes too, people might be in your party and work against you, which is very dangerous.

The issue of Constituency delineation seems to be generating ethnic tension in your state. What are the concerns?

There’s a Supreme Court ruling that they should delineate Warri Federal Constituency. None of us went against it, but you have to do it religiously with the law — the Electoral Act. But in a situation where you come, you will now begin to allocate, take somebody’s Ward to another, we will not agree, because those are the injustices one actually complained about. But coming to implementation, somebody that has two Wards is now having 10 Wards, he’s having 14 Wards. Somebody that has four Wards is having 14. Somebody that has six, you are reducing it!

Why I am faulting INEC; if the Supreme Court says do delineation, you can equally write to the Supreme Court because the instrument for the delineation is not a projected census. You can’t use projected Census and the last census that was done was not taken. So you (INEC) can tell the Supreme Court and say, “These are some of the issues why I cannot carry out this delineation now.”

But you just went, try to favour some persons, like the chairman of the committee, we know a lot of things that happened. Even those that went to court are protesting now. The Ogbe-Ijoh and some people, they are protesting because what they allocated to them was not what they were expecting. In our local government in Warri South local government, if you want to use it as a state, you will know that you have three cities. You have the Ogbe-Ijoh, you have the Gbaramatu, you have the Ogbodu and the Orere. Now Ogbe Ijoh is very populated because you have road. It’s very close to Orude. From their one Ward, you gave them two. Then Gbaramatu, far close to my place in Escravos who has two wards, you make them 10. What is the justification? And we are not saying we are going to fight because of this, but INEC must do the needful. We’ve told Mr. President, and everybody that cares to know that INEC must do the needful or they should investigate that committee that was set up by INEC.

Everybody has representation by ethnic nationality in the National Assembly. Do you know that Warri federal constituency is the only place the Itsekiri can contest, but the Ijaw have Burutu, Patani, Bomadi; the Uhrobos have Ughelli. The only place we are confined to is the Warri federal constituency. Tompolo people, if they wake up tomorrow, they can go and contest in Burutu. That’s why you see, the deputy governor, Monday Onyeme, Kingsely Otuaro, can go to Burutu, but Ayiri Emami cannot go to Burutu. They will want to say, you are talking about ownership. Lagos is there. The Igbos are many in Lagos, does it mean that the Igbos own Lagos? If we want election, we’ll go and talk to them. The Yoruba talk to them. Is that not so? What they are trying to do is another genocide on the Itsekiri people, total cleansing of our tribe, not having any representation in anything.

We have a way we used to do our thing before today, in my local government, we are the ones that used to go for the House of Assembly. But we just thought, oh we’ve been living together, this time give it to someone else and it has almost become a curse to us. Today, the one there is pushing that this Ward, they must do it this way. But we are crying out. Needle might be very small, but to swallow it is always very difficult. That’s what I tell you. And the Constitution makes provisions for how to secure the minorities. We must live, we must survive.

Finally, what are your expectations from Tinubu, I mean the entire South-South region?

When he came to campaign, he assured us that he will fix the Omadina-Escravos road for us. I have met him several times over that issue. The NDDC and Chevron – His own is just to supervise to see that they come together and do the road. And while he was campaigning, he told us that the EPZ, the Ogidigben project – that project was on during Jonathan (administration). They were about awarding the sand filling when they had their coalition, and all of us followed that line, and Buhari won.

Immediately Buhari won, the money that was allocated to that place they use it for AKK pipeline. That’s why some of us today cannot just wake up and say we want to go and support the North, because a lot of us from the South joined to say we are one Nigeria, we didn’t like the way Jonathan was ruling. Now, Asiwaju promised us, he traveled to China, he met with the company and I think the leadership of the company is supposed to come next month to meet with Asiwaju to see how they can go about that project. They are forming coalition again. We are all complaining about hunger, if there’s no investment, how will somebody reap. So anytime they want to invest something tangible in our area, that’s when our people will go and join them to form coalition. When they get into the office now, they will take the money… I don’t say they should not take anything to the North but the one in our place, do it. So the reason why some of us will not even think about this coalition. (Nigerian Tribune)