2019 WILL DETERMINE NIGERIA

PUBLISHED BY TIMOTHY:

Honourable Ebun Tracy Agol is the Edo State chairperson of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), she is also the party’s candidate for Etsako Federal constituency. In this interview with OJIEVA EHIOSUN, she spoke on a number of national issues. Excerpts…

As a politician, what is your perception of the forthcoming 2019 elections?

The general election will go a long way in determining so many things in Nigeria, especially our continuity as a nation. It is an election that will likely generate tension, an election that will attract observers from all over the world, that will make Nigerians with conscience take their destinies in their hands. The 2019 general elections will bring out the best from our politicians; it will either keep us as one united indivisible entity, or divide us into parts as it happened in the former USSR. In 2015, the generality of Nigerians wanted change, and the APC came with matrix of change; we expected a genuine change, but what Nigerians have now are sorrow, tears and pains. 2019 will be a year to be remembered in the political history of our great country Nigeria. I’m not an apostle of doom, but if our leaders and politicians fail to do what is right, we might see a situation where violence will be the order of the day. Our votes must count, the people’s will and voice must be heard in matters that concern their well-being. 2019 election should not be seen as a do-or-die affair, people must learn to accept defeat. As a pastor, God’s patience with Nigeria is running out, it is by His Grace that we are still alive. What is happening in Nigeria now is worse than what happened in Sodom and Gomorrah that made God to destroy them. As a matter of fact, Nigerians must pray for forgiveness of sins and for the peace of God to reign in our country before the 2019 polls.

Looking at the political configuration in the country currently, do you think your party PPN has the capacity to compete against either the PDP or APC in the general elections?

Our great party is the one to beat at the forthcoming elections across the country. We are very organised, we have competent politicians with clean records that have all it takes to be governors, senators and president. PPN is a fully regis-tered political party that has come a long way, we are not rookies in the game of politics, all our candidates that are contesting for various political positions in the 2019 elections have been tested and trusted, they are all aware of the situation in Nigeria, they are coming to salvage the situation and find lasting solution to the political quagmire that has entangled this country since 1999. Look the way things are going in this country now, Nigeria needs people that have business acumen, men with high industrial abilities to help govern this country. We are in the era where our electorate will begin to vote personalities not political party. The anger on the faces of Nigerians will tell you that all is not well with us. We must not allow people to fool us again. As a top ranking member of Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) we are highly interested in the progress and development of this country, so when we see anything that is going wrong we should not be afraid to express it. So I want to use this medium to call on Nigerians to rally round PPN candidates in the 2019 elections because we have answers to the problems of this country.

How do you intend to change the situation in Etsako if voted into power to represent them at Federal House of Reps?

Even before my party PPN gave me the ticket for the Federal House of Representative, they must have considered many factors. As a politician, I’m a grassroots woman, I know my people and my people know me. I know the political terrain in Edo North, Etsako people have always been at the losing end when you talk of political development, since 1999. You cannot see or feel federal presence in our place, yet our people have senators and members of the Federal House of Reps in Abuja, but there is nothing to show for it. By God’s grace if I’m voted in, I will do all within my power to ensure that we have federal presence in Etsako Federal Constituency. I do not want to praise or raise people’s hope, but I will make my people feel and see the dividend of democracy.

The battle between Buhari and Atiku Abubakar the candidates of the two major political parties in Nigeria has been described by political analysts as titanic; what is your candid view about it?

Look Nigeria is a very complex country with so many people seeking for power, but let me make it known to you today that power belongs to God. Yes both Fulanis, from the Northern part of the country. It is God that will determine who becomes the next president of Nigeria, not man. As human beings, we would only perform our civic responsibility, but the person that God will give power to, that will lead Nigeria into the Promise Land is known to Him alone. As a woman of God, I must warn our politicians to apply caution so that they would not plunge Nigeria into crisis. People should vote candidates of their choice, shun money bags and say no to intimidation, violence and any act that is capable of pulling us backwards. The ruling APC party must allow the masses have their say, the people’s votes must count; rigging of any kind must be resisted at all levels of the elections. We want peace to resign in Nigeria not war.