APC ‘ll soon crumble like a pack of cards – Salis

A gubernatorial aspirant on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Lagos State, Bar­rister Owolabi Salis, has implored Yoruba leaders to stop accusing President Goodluck Jonathan of marginalizing the people of South-West in his administra­tion. According to the United States-based attorney, Yoruba leaders should rather vent their anger at the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom he accused of frustrating several efforts made by the Federal Gov­ernment to accommodate Yorubas in the present administration.
In an interview with TUNDE THOMAS, he also spoke on several other national issues including Boko Haram insurgency and state of insecurity, PDP leadership of the country, controversy over the pardon granted former governor of Bayelsa State, Jonathan and 2015, and crisis in South-West PDP, among others.
Excerpts:
What is your view on the state of in­security in the country?
The issue of security of Nigeria is a seri­ous one. However, let me quickly add that insecurity is a global one. The insecurity we are facing is Al Qaeda-related. Our security agencies need to analyse the situation deeply. Government needs to avail itself of current technological inventions to fight terrorism. We have technology that can scan for ex­plosives. We have technologies that can use scanners to detect, and nip in the bud potential acts of terrorism.
We have technologies that can beam on a house, and discover whether explosives are hidden in the house or not. We have also what we call technology carpets. This is a situa­tion whereby carpets are laid on the streets, and whenever any car drives on that street, the carpets will detect whether the vehicle is carrying explosives.
Security agents can also do what we call massive grassroots scan of all neighbour­hoods. From neighbourhood, we then scan our borders.
Most of these acts of terrorism in the coun­try are being perfected in some neighbouring countries, while the suicide bombers now come through our borders to carry out their nefarious activities.
Nigerians abhor violence, it is unfortunate that Boko Haram sect members are gradually turning Nigeria into another thing. See what they even did to the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero. What did the old man do to war­rant such violent attitude on his convoy which almost cost him his life. Look at the way they killed the Emir of Gwoza recently.
The Boko Haram menace has become a serious problem to our nation. We should all stop blaming President Jonathan for not find­ing an answer to the threat to our nation by the sect. Rather, we should collectively sit, espe­cially the key stakeholders including political leaders, elderstatesmen, and security agencies to fashion out an appropriate strategy to re­solve this problem.
President Goodluck Jonathan has sought foreign assistance to resolve Boko Haram insurgency, what is your view on this?
It is a welcome development. The issue of terrorism is a global phenomenon and nations of the world have been exchanging ideas on how to combat it. In this regard, it is com­mendable that the Federal Government has sought technical assistance from some for­eign nations on how to combat the scourge of terrorism, especially the United States and the United Kingdom. Another major factor that is contributing to the present state of insecurity is due to high level of unemployment in the country.
I would strongly recommend that govern­ment should involve itself with what I will call grassroots governance. This is a situation whereby government will provide employ­ment opportunities for hundreds of jobless youths. As the saying goes, devil finds work for idle hands. If our youths are gainfully em­ployed, they will be able to resist financial temptations from those who want to use them for criminal acts.
Government should place emphasis on youths empowerment. When people are well engaged in vocations that fetch them regular income, they will not be vulnerable to the an­tics of these unpatriotic elements who want to use them to destabilize the nation.
What is your reaction to the raging controversy on whether the Federal Government should offer amnesty to Boko Haram members or not?
Dialogue has always proved to be a useful tool in resolving lingering violent crises. We have instances from different places across the globe, where violent crises had led to loss of several lives, which had defied military solution were resolved through dialogue. The offer of amnesty has its merits and de­merits. One of the demerits is that going into dialogue and offer of amnesty to Boko Ha­ram members may encourage other violent groups to spring up with the aim of going into violent activities in the hope that gov­ernment will grant them amnesty at the end of the day.
For Boko Haram, you don’t even know what they want. But all the same, for the sake of peace, don’t let us foreclose the dialogue option and hope that it will bring the desired result.
The issue of whether President Jon­athan should seek re-election in 2015 has been generating controversy for sometime with some people in the northern part of the country insisting that power should return to the region in 2015, what is your view?
For those who are pro-Jonathan, they are insisting that he should seek re-election to enable him to consolidate on his present achievements, while those on the other side of the divide are saying no.
My own position on this issue is that a competent court of law in the land has ruled that Jonathan can run in 2015, and so let it be. Since the constitution allows him to run for a second term, we should allow him to enjoy his constitutional rights.
Your party (PDP) sometime ago set up a committee to reconcile ag­grieved party members throughout the country, but people are saying the committee failed in view of defections of top notchers of PDP to APC. What is your view on this?
PDP is the biggest political party in Africa, and, therefore, it is to be expected that some disagreements among members will take place. But they all disagree to agree. We are one big family, and with the coming on board of Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu as the National Chairman of the party, many positive devel­opments have been taking place.
As for those that have defected to APC, it is nothing unusual. The party leadership has been reaching out to them, and that is why most of them are back into the party’s fold.
Don’t forget again, many notable APC leaders have also been joining PDP, and with­out boasting, I want to confidently say many more prominent APC leaders will join PDP before the end of this year. It is a matter of time before it will disintegrate. APC will soon crumble like a pack of cards.
As for the South-West PDP members, we are now more united and the forthcoming gu­bernatorial polls in Ekiti and Osun states will herald return of PDP in the South-West. We are not apostles of violence, we will sell our manifesto to the electorate, and I’m sure that PDP candidates will win the election in those two states.
On the issue of corruption, some people have alleged that the Feder­al Government under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan is not doing enough to fight corruption, some accused it of encouraging it, citing the case of presidential pardon granted to the former governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyesei­gha, what is your view on this?
Let me first react to Alamieyeseigha’s case you mentioned, in the United States when a fellow commit a felony, you will be barred from getting immigration benefits, particu­larly getting a permanent stay. Felony is fur­ther classified into two, there is what is called crime involving morals and also aggravated felony.
Aggravated felony is one that involves vio­lence. These two crimes bar you from getting immigration benefits. If you commit any of these two felonies, you can’t be given citizen­ship.
You have to be of good moral character for certain number of years, specifically 15 years before you can be given a waiver of the crime you have committed, and before this is done, several things are taken into consideration.
For example, they look at your positive contributions to the society. They also look at your remorsefulness, and whether giving you the relief will contribute to the development and growth of the society.
Also, they give relief or pardon to those who are victims of persecution. There is no doubt that a crime is a crime in law. The Nigerian law does not specifically state that pardon should not be given to those who are convicted of corruption.
Pardon is there in the law given to some­body that has committed crime, and pardon too can be statutory or discretionary. In some jurisdictions, it is statutory, that is after some years, of being convicted of a crime, you can now apply for pardon.
In these climes where pardon is discretion­ary, you can’t question discretionary powers, and Nigeria happens to be one of such climes. Morally, you can say that it is wrong to give Alamieyeseigha pardon, but now we are talking about law.
According to the argument of govern­ment, the person granted presidential pardon, Alamieyeseigha has contributed immensely in providing intelligence report to the Feder­al Government in helping to secure stability in the Niger-Delta which is an oil-producing region, we all know that crude oil is the main­stay of Nigerian economy.
Government also argued that the former governor of Bayelsa State greatly helped in resolving the cases of militancy in the Ni­ger-Delta, and if these reasons canvassed by the Federal Government are what prompted the pardon to be given Alamieyeseigha, then it is justified.
In the United States, there was a gentleman called Mark Reich who was indicted for fraud and tax evasion. He later left the country and moved to Europe. But the man was later par­doned by former President Bill Clinton.
Also, John Patterson, the former governor of New York also came up with a general par­don law before he left office whereby many felons were allowed to apply for pardon with­in this certain period of time.
Pardon law in Nigerian constitution is not discriminatory to say that pardon can’t be giv­en to a particular set of people. It is not some­thing to question about but the noises from several quarters can be understandable. Many people who are against the pardon don’t un­derstand the position of the law on the issue.
But constitutionally speaking, and under the law, President Goodluck Jonathan has not done anything wrong in granting presidential pardon to Alamieyeseigha. The president has acted within the confines of the law. The pres­ident has discretionary powers, and you can’t question it.
SOURCE:
THE SUNNEWS