2015: Igbo’ll rule Lagos, says Umeh

2015: Igbo’ll rule Lagos, says Umeh




The leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance in Lagos State, Mr. Campbell Umeh, in this interview with ALLWELL OKPI, says the party will win the 2015 governorship election

Do you think it is possible for the All Progressives Grand Alliance to take over the governance of Lagos State?

I need to let you know that I was the Lagos State governorship candidate of APGA in 2003 and APGA came third in that election after the Alliance for Democracy and the Peoples Democratic Party. So, we are not newcomers in the politics of Lagos State. The standard has been set. This time around, we are going to take over. If you ran a state race and you came third, then you can hope to win the race the next time you compete. We defeated the All Progressives Congress, the PDP, and the Labour Party in Anambra State. These are the only political parties that can win election in this country.

In Lagos, the APC is the number one party followed by APGA, because the PDP has collapsed in Lagos State. They are only being sustained by the support from the national leadership of the party. It is similar to what has happened in Kano State. The PDP no longer exists in Kano State going by the last local government election in Kano, where the APC won 44 local government councils and 482 wards; none for the PDP. I’ve told those who are lobbying for President Goodluck Jonathan to be re-elected that the only way he can get votes in Lagos is through APGA because we have the capacity.

You talk about capacity; how many supporters does APGA have in Lagos?

If democracy is about the electorate, APGA has what it takes to win elections in Lagos. The Igbo in Lagos today are more than 10 million, not to talk of other non-indigenes, who are not loyal to the APC. Although not every Igbo man will vote for APGA, but those who we know as our potential supporters and sympathisers are more than five million. If what is required to get to Alausa is about two million votes, which no one has surpassed, APGA will get it. Election is not about the elite; it’s about the ordinary people who will go out and cast their votes.

But APGA defeated the APC in Anambra only because it’s the South-East and the incumbent was APGA.

Without manipulation or rigging, APGA has no rival in the South-East. APGA defeated former governor Ikedi Ohakim, an incumbent PDP governor in Imo State in 2011. APGA has defeated Senator Chris Ngige three times in Anambra. APGA defeated him in 2003 and they were in court for three years before Peter Obi recovered his mandate. APGA defeated the Action Congress of Nigeria in 2010 and defeated it when it became the APC in 2013. Were they all by chance?

Do the victories of APGA in Anambra and Imo states automatically translate into victory for the party in Lagos?

I’ve told you that the population of the Igbo in Lagos is more than the population of any state in the South-East because they are combined here. But this is not an Igbo agenda; I’m only saying it because every party has its sympathy base. The APC has Yoruba sympathy. However, a Yoruba man can also run on the platform of APGA. We also have the sympathy of those who believe that one man cannot control Lagos because it’s a cosmopolitan state.

Considering the clout of the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in Lagos, do you believe anybody can become governor of the state without his support?

You are giving much to whom less has been given. If you are talking about democracy, then you should not be talking about one man. Of course, one man can own a party and run it the way he chooses. If I establish a company, I will run it the way I like. But the question is; do the public believe in my company? People have the right to seek alternatives. APGA is coming as an alternative to rescue Lagos from the people who are bent on subverting people’s will.

Is there room for APC aspirants who may feel sidelined to actualise their desire to contest the governorship election in APGA?

People should not continue to live under an illusion. Bola Tinubu and his group have antecedent. In the 1999 AD primaries, Funsho Williams won, they imposed Tinubu. In 2007, 25 aspirants bought nomination forms under the Action Congress, and fulfilled all the requirements and somebody who did not run for the election, Babatunde Fashola, was picked. With that, any right thinking person in this race should act wisely. APGA is ready and willing to accept them. We will welcome them. The earlier they join APGA the better for them.

Do you really believe an Igbo man can become a governor in Lagos State?

I believe it 100 per cent. I was born and raised in Lagos. If you are born and bred in a place and you see that the place is not well run, what do you do? You go for the government. That was why I ran in 2003. It was my candidacy that made them pick two Igbo people to be part of the government in Lagos – Ben Akabueze and Joe Igbokwe. It was just to deceive novices that Igbo people are in government. Except the Awori, nobody owns Lagos. Most of the people claiming Lagos came from nearby Yoruba states