ENGR. ADENIJI: ATIKU IS THE MOST PREPARED FOR 2023; CALLS APC ‘ALL PROMISES CANCELLED’, OBI ‘ATIKULATED’
By Friday Etim, Supreme International Magazine
Former Chairman, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Engr. Dr. Ezekiel Olajide Adeniji BSC, MPD, PHD, FNSE, FCBA (Nig.), FBMA (Uk).
As the 2023 presidential elections draw near, political activities are being revved up. This is leading to the election campaign which will officially commence on 28th September 2022 according to the electoral calendar released by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
On the sidelines of the ongoing Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference holding in Lagos, Engr. Dr. Ezekiel Olajide Adeniji, a staunch supporter of the candidacy of Alh. Atiku Abubakar has granted an exclusive interview to Supreme International Magazine
Speaking on the chances of the Turakin Adamawa to pick Nigeria’s no. 1 job, Engr. Adeniji affirmed that he is the best suited and most prepared for the job. The former Chairman of Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) noted that Atiku Abubakar has observed the needs and challenges of Nigeria as a politician, businessman, public servant, and philanthropist and so he will hit the ground running if elected as President come May 2023.
The exclusive interview is a thriller as it reveals so much about the former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Read!
Former Chairman, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Engr. Dr. Ezekiel Olajide Adeniji
Supreme International Magazine: H. E. Atiku Abubakar spoke about his bold policies on the aspect of economy, security and education in the country at the 62nd edition of the Nigeria Bar Association, what do you think about his bold ideas?
Engr. Adeniji: I thank God that you witnessed what Atiku Abubakar presented. First and foremost, there is no economy without security, there is no security without unity. What he emphasized in the speech is that we must unify ourselves, every nationality in Nigeria must have sense of belonging. If we are not united, we cannot do anything. Then after unity we will talk about security, if we are not united, security will just be a mirage. But when we are united, there will security and when there is security we can now talk of tackling economy.
So you will see that he is not just a theater artist, he is an experienced man. And I want to tell you, in governance you cannot say you have experience unless you experience experience, unless you pass through it, unless you have done it before. In 1998 to 1999, he emphasized today that there was a huge problem, problem of disunity that time, problem everywhere, but when they came, the People Democratic Party, even though we won overwhelmingly, there was government of unity. We invited other parties to partake in the government, and that unified Nigeria. And the disunity doused down, then we were able to tackle economy. And you will bear with me that the economic growth during the PDP cannot be compared with the economy this government are running now. So Atiku Abubakar is a prepared person, he is not the man that want to satisfy the crowd, he knows exactly what he is doing and by the special grace of God people will say where is this man hidden, I assure you that.
assure you that.Former Chairman, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Engr. Dr. Ezekiel Olajide Adeniji
Trek Africa: Some people still find it difficult to detach Atiku from the former President, his principal, that is Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, some people say he has his own share of blame in the Nigeria of today, what do you say to that?
Engr. Adeniji: Well, it is a good thing for people not to be able to detach Atiku Abubakar from Olusegun Obasanjo. Obasanjo was not a failure, he was a bundle of success. So if they are attaching him to Olusegun Obasanjo, it means they are attaching him to success which means success is just waiting for us. And there people saying that the problem of Nigeria today was caused by PDP, NO!
This people called APC, told a lot of lies, a lot of propaganda in order to chase us out and that time everything they promised, APC is All Promises Cancelled, every promise they promised, they failed woefully.
They said they will change 1 naira to 1 dollar, today 1 dollar is 710 naira. They said they will unite Nigeria, Boko-haram will be a thing of the past, boko-haram is thriving more than any other thing now, to the extent that even in Abuja they are kidnaping people, federal capital. To the extent that terrorist captured many people, government couldn’t go and rescue those people, but boko-haram went to Kuje prison and rescued their own members, I mean where are we coming from? It has turned to another thing but I know that by the special grace of God, Nigeria will come out on top if Atiku is elected.
Supreme International Magazine: Youths form the larger population in Nigeria, what is the agenda of your principal?
Engr. Adeniji: Of all the presidential candidates in the country today, nobody has ever talked about the youth except Atiku Abubakar who categorically said and put it in writing that his cabinet will be 40 percent youth. When you have such thing it means you are grooming the youth to eventually take over and by the special grace of God, Atiku when he says something, he means it, he is not a liar, he is not a propagandist, he is thoroughbred technocrat having passed through the Civil Service and reached the Deputy Director position which is Deputy Comptroller General of Custom today and retired successfully.
He left without any qualms, without any problems, having a grand success in business, he has various kinds of businesses across board. He is in education, he is in industry, farming, media, everywhere. He is in oil services in and outside the country, I mean he is prepared. And he is mentally sound, he has the mental capacity to move Nigeria forward.
Former Chairman, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Engr. Dr. Ezekiel Olajide Adeniji
Supreme International Magazine: Nigerians are to decide who becomes the president in 2023, so what will you advise them?
Engr. Adeniji: Even between me and you, you know the most mature, the most prepared person of all the candidate is Atiku Abubakar. He has done it before, he was Chairman of Federal Economic Council from 1999 to 2007. The economy of Nigeria grew from strength to strength. And insecurity they are talking about, somebody who could defend our boundaries from smugglers, to defend Nigerian citizens from bandits will be a simple thing.
He has experience as a Custom Officer and as a businessman he is a success, not that he is successful. And when you talk about education, he has one of the best private universities in Nigeria, American University of Nigeria. And when you talk of family affairs, he is one of the most organized father and husband, you can never see his children smoking Indian hem, drinking, or whiskey, no. He has an organized life, and he is an embodiment of unity. His first wife is a Yoruba woman, he can never war against Yoruba people, he has a Kanuri wife, he can never war against the Kanuri, he has a Fulani wife he can never war against them and there is Igbo blood in the family also. So he is a balanced man, he is a man that will be an embodiment of unifying this country.
Supreme International Magazine: One of the spokesmen to Atiku Abubakar said in his live interview with Channels that even PDP knows that they are not going to win the election. What do you have to say about this?
Engr. Adeniji: Daniel Bwala just came into PDP about two weeks ago, I think it is just a slip of tongue. He can never say PDP will not win election. With what is happening now, you yourself know PDP is going to Aso Rock, who are you going to compare him with? It is just error of the tongue, it can’t come from his heart, otherwise he is acting for APC, that is my own take on that. He just decamped recently from APC to PDP, he said APC is Muslim-Muslim ticket and as a Christian, he cannot bear it.
Supreme International Magazine: It seems your party is still not able to unite after the primary election, why?
Engr. Adeniji: What I want to tell people is that PDP is an organized party. We have our internal mechanism to solve our problems, it is not an NGO like APC which is an amalgamation of so many political parties coming together with different ideologies owned by some people. Nobody owns PDP. PDP is people’s party and we have our own internal mechanism to tackle problems.
But the problem is some of you exaggerate what is happening in PDP. If you have two children who are fighting, for the fact that they are fighting, does it mean they are not your children? You as the father is to go and sort out the both of them. There is very strong mechanism how we solve our problems. The BOT is there, which is the custodian of the party, the national working committee is there, the NEC is there, and the Nation Party Chairman is a confirmed serious politician who has helped a lot of us go into offices before. He was Associate Professor of Political Science, he was a senate president before, he is now the national chairman of the party. He has a lot of experience to make sure that we get ourselves out of this pandemonium we found ourselves.
Supreme International Magazine: Even though INEC has come to restate its position on the issue of electronic transmission of results, what do you have to say about it?
Engr. Adeniji: You see these social media people, they want to destroy Nigeria. There is no way INEC can renege on an established law. The law of Nigeria today signed by the President of the nation, passed by the National Assembly said there should be electronic transmission of result, nobody can just come and say it won’t happen again, that will be going for anarchy. So when I saw it I knew it was not right but INEC has denied it that it was never and I want to tell you it can never be.
Supreme International Magazine: Some people are saying that there is a likelihood of Peter Obi to step down for him?
Engr. Adeniji: What I want to tell you is that Peter Obi is Atikulated, he is part and parcel of us.