‘Anti-corruption Crusade Is A Smear-campaign, Going Out Of Hand’

Chief Olu Falae, the National Chairman of Social Democratic Party (SDP) in this interview, explains the marriage of his party with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election and his connection with the N100 million arms deal scandal. He dispels it as smear-campaign and told OLUWASEUN AKINGBOYE in Akure that he has a very clear conscience and is proud of his track record. 
What is your relationship with the former National Security Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd.)?
I want to say with all emphasis that I never took even one naira from Dasuki. Beyond that, I want to assert that I never had any contact relationship with Dasuki. I knew Dasuki way back in 1986/1987, when he was ADC to General Babangida and I was Secretary to that government. Since he left that government around 1987, I have had no contact or dealing with him; absolutely none.

But you were said to have collected N100 million from him out of the $2.1 billion meant for the arms deal?
What I know of the N100 million scandal they are bandying about in the media happened as follows: Chief Tony Anenih, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, phoned me late January last year and said he would like to see me; that he was coming from Abuja to see me in Akure. And he came with someone, and I too, invited someone to be with me.

The four of us were together at the meeting. He said they observed that my party, SDP, had no presidential candidate and they would, therefore, want us to ask our supporters to vote for his own party’s candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan. I told him that in principle, there is nothing wrong with the two parties collaborating, but that this must be a principled collaboration: that it must be based on principles.

I told him there were certain things we desired the government to do for the people, which they had not done, and that if we were going to support their candidate, they must commit themselves to making changes in those areas. He asked what the areas were and I said firstly, your party must be prepared to restructure Nigeria from this colossal unity system, and the best way to do so is to fully implement the report of the National Conference of 2014.

Secondly, that his party must commit itself to a policy of zero tolerance for corruption, which I saw was monumental in what they were doing. Thirdly, I said PDP must destroy Boko Haram and give stability to Nigeria. Fourthly, as there was mass unemployment and the youths were getting frustrated, they must articulate programmes to create jobs for the unemployed.

Fifthly, I said that I observed that PDP was spending virtually our entire revenue on recurrent expenditure; that they must reduce this so as to generate surpluses to finance capital development such as roads, schools and hospitals among others.

Number six; I said if we accepted the tide and accepted them, and the party won the election, we would expect reasonable participation in that government. And he said they were totally happy with all these strict conditions; that they were acceptable to them and had no problem with them at all. He said that they were in fact already implementing some of them. And on that note, he left.

After he left, however, I decided to write to him in other to document the relationship. In that letter, I again listed the six conditions, which I had mentioned in our oral discussion. Three days later, he replied, saying that he had consulted all the stakeholders of his party, including the President and they were all happy to accept those conditions and to work with SDP in the forthcoming election.

So, having accepted our conditions, I then proceeded to Abuja to summon a meeting of my party executives and decision-making organs so as to make the presentation to them. There was a very robust debate and at the end of it, the executive committee of my party endorsed their request that we should support Jonathan in the election.
Are you saying there was no ulterior motive whatsoever for such collaboration?

I want to emphasise here that the most critical factor that turned the debate in favour of Jonathan was because he said he would restructure Nigeria and that he summoned the National Conference as a great step in that direction. To most of us in the SDP and in Afenifere, restructuring Nigeria is the most important, single political objective that we pursue in Nigeria today; and we would always support whoever commits himself to that objective.

I want to remind you that in 2007, when the then General Buhari was running for the President on the platform of ANPP, six parties at that time, together with my party called DPA then, were contacted for similar collaboration and we were going with them. In fact, they turned round to make me chairman of Buhari Campaign Committee in the Southwest, although I was not a member of their party. And in that collaborative effort, I and some other friends of General Buhari contributed money to run the campaign.

Now, after we had endorsed the candidacy of President Jonathan, I think a week or two later, Chief Anenih phoned me and said that he knew that SDP didn’t have the fund to effectively campaign for our candidates. Therefore, they would be sending some money to enable us campaign effectively, as the person is now our joint candidate. It was on that note that he sent the N100 million they are talking about. And on receiving the sum, I promptly sent it into SDP account in First Bank, Abuja. From there, I set up a committee of the party to work out the modalities for distributing the money among the various state branches of the party and campaign organisations

We held a mammoth rally at Adamasingba Roundabout in Ibadan. What I’m saying in essence is that collaboration between two parties is normal in democracy. It is also normal for collaborating parties to contribute money to ensure that their joint project is implemented. That was exactly what happened on this occasion.

Now, after we had endorsed the candidacy of President Jonathan, I think a week or two later, Chief Anenih phoned me and said that he knew that SDP didn’t have the fund to effectively campaign for our candidates. Therefore, they would be sending some money to enable us campaign effectively, as the person is now our joint candidate. It was on that note that he sent the N100 million they are talking about.

And on receiving the sum, I promptly sent it into SDP account in First Bank, Abuja. From there, I set up a committee of the party to work out the modalities for distributing the money among the various state branches of the party and campaign organisations. They were requested to take into account the number of candidates, whether for the House of Assembly, Senate, Federal Representatives or governorship. The weight was attached to it and they did it rationally and fairly.

The whole money to be spent was in addition to our own money, which was much more than the N100 million, and it was distributed to the state organs for executing the campaign and the elections. That was all that happened. In summary, we had no contact whatsoever with Dasuki. We took nothing, not a kobo from him.

The money that came to us was from the PDP through Chief Anenih to me, as SDP chairman, which I then passed on to my party. My party held a press conference on Monday, January 11, 2016, where they declared that I gave them the money promptly and fully and that they used it for the election. So, those saying the money was given to Falae are lying, as it was only sent through me to my party and my party has acknowledged receipt in full.

By the way, I have read in the press, where Chief Anenih said the money he sent to me and some other people was his own personal money he sent on behalf of his party, and not from Dasuki and later he got reimbursement from Dasuki. All that has nothing to do with us. We knew nothing about it, and did not approve of anything. It was neither our legal or moral duty to begin to find out where PDP got the money to pursue its campaign.
But sir, some state chapters of the SDP denied receiving money from the national organ of the party?

It is only Ogun State that has done so. We have effective branches in about 33 states. I was surprised to read that Ogun State said they were not aware of that development. The truth was that the allocating committee in Abuja was supposed to send N8 million to Ogun State, but I know the amount is something from the campaign fund. This is not the only money we were using for campaigns, that was just a small part of what we spent on the election.

Our own contribution was much more than the N100 million. So, the committee said they were going to send N8 million to Ogun State. But Chief Osoba said the money made available for the party was too small, that N8 million could do nothing in the state, so he would take care of the party needs in Ogun State. He said we should keep what we were going to give to Ogun State to other states that were in need. Ogun State knew about it, as something was allocated to them, but they declined to take. So, it is not true that they were unaware.

This issue of taking money from Anenih…. (Interruption)
Not Anenih, from the PDP!
(Continues) Yes sir, from the PDP; are you saying it is a campaign to rubbish your personality?
Of course, that is the whole point. From what I have told you, there is nothing that is legally or morally wrong with taking money from PDP. It was a party cooperation, which is normal. When there is such a contribution, the various participatory parties contribute money to actualise the objective of the cooperation. We did it in 2007, when we adopted General Buhari, ANPP, DPA and other parties. There was nothing absolutely wrong with it.

We did not go to Dasuki for money. It was PDP that sent us the money. So, anybody that is raising issues is merely trying to start a smear-campaign and that is the truth of the matter, but I am totally at peace with myself because my conscience is absolutely clear.

Indeed, I am proud of my track record and my performance even in this state. I read an article in The Tribune, where someone said that in his opinion, the transparent manner in which I handled this matter should be a standard for other political leaders to copy. I am still very happy about that. There is no issue at all whatsoever, so, those peddling such castigations are embarking on political vendetta; they have no basis for it.

The EFFC has ordered that the money from the arms deal, wherever it is traceable to, should be refunded. What is your take on this?
I want to tell you that up to this moment nobody, whether EFCC or whoever has got in touch with me about the matter, because they know the truth that I did not take money from Dasuki. It was PDP that sent money to SDP through me and the money was delivered to SDP. Legitimate, normal and non-controversial. That tells you that there is a smear-campaign going on.

Some newspapers reported that I would have to refund money, when nobody has been in touch with me about the money. That report showed bias, malice and campaign of smear. I have been a public officer all my life. I became a Permanent Secretary at the age of 39; I did not abuse my office. I became Managing Director of a bank at 42; I did not abuse my office. The signature of an MD of a bank is money, yet I did not take one kobo illegally and at that time, my bank was one of the fastest growing in the country. I did not receive one single query from the Central Bank.

Then I became the Secretary to the Federal Government of Nigeria and substantial amount of security votes was under my control, I did not touch one kobo illegitimately. I also became Minister of Finance, both naira and dollar was under my control at the Central Bank, I did not abuse the office. So, people should look at my type of person and ask: can this person do this, when as a young man and I needed money for many things I didn’t take anything that was improper?

The older you become, the lesser the money you need. I feel ashamed that some Nigerians can be repeating this lie. It is absolutely false and there is no basis for it at all.

What is your assessment of the anti-corruption crusade of the current government?
It is going out of hand. They know that there is no charge they can bring against me. That is why smear-campaign is used as a substitute so that over time, people will say I am a bad man. I read some articles in the paper, which stated that it is an increasingly controversial anti-graft war. It is truly becoming controversial because it is no longer reasonable; it is beginning to look selective.

How could anyone link me with Dasuki? The person I have not seen for more than 20 years; a man I had no dealing with whatsoever. It is important to clean Nigeria up. When we were launching our party, SDP in Abuja in 2014, the title of my speech was: ‘Nigeria must Kill Corruption so that Corruption Does not Kill Nigeria.’ I have been an anti-corruption campaigner in all my life. So, I support anti-corruption campaign, but one conducted within the confines of law and fairness.

What is your advice to President Muhammadu Buhari on his anti-corruption drive?
Let me tell you a story: in 1985,when Buhari was the Head of State, I had retired from the civil service and had joined the banking industry. And even then, this kind of thing was going on; once a public officer, always a public officer. So, I went and met with the then Head of Civil Service, Mr. Grey Longe and advised him to advise the government that they couldn’t continue sacking and probing people.

There are two models for cleaning up a society: the ‘Sampling Model’ and the ‘Total Revolution,’ such as the French Revolution. The one that might be suitable to our own situation is for the government to take cases that are very unambiguous and make such people a deterrent to others by taking the money from them and sending them to jail, as examples.

After this, you then put that behind you and go ahead with the development of the society. But if you spend all the time looking for every criminal to send to jail, it would be an endless journey. In the beginning, the people will hail you because they like to see big men fall, but as more and more people are destroyed, more and more members of general population will be affected. Some of their brothers or fathers or friends have lost their jobs and at the end of the day, the tide will turn and people will turn against that government. To avoid this, my recommendation was to take a few people and make them examples.

So now, my advice will be: Take those criminals, whose crimes are unambiguous and documented, and apply the law; confiscate their loot, try them and jail them. Do that for a couple of months and leave the rest to the police to do their job normally.

This omnibus anti-graft campaign phase should have been over, while the police continue to monitor the system and arrest thieves and criminals, enabling government to focus on societal development. There are many issues calling for attention presently. For example, the drop in oil revenue is worrisome because about 40 years ago, when I was in the planning ministry, we recommended that we should use the oil money to diversify the economy so that we have other sources of income.

For instance, they should develop solid minerals, which have more potential for revenue than oil. If they had implemented that recommendation, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Secondly, we said government should generate 6, 000 megawatts of electricity by 1980, it is in the national plan. If that had been done then, today we shall be talking of 100, 000 megawatts and won’t be where we are now.

If we had diversified the economy by developing small industries and agro-businesses, we won’t be where we are today. These are the urgent problems crying for attention. If the government now tries to implement these recommendations, it takes time before the projects begin to yield revenue. In the meantime, how are we going to cope because Iran has now entered the oil market? It is going to pump more oil and send prices down. I think we have a real economic crisis for now and I believe all hands must be on deck so that the system survives.

The Yoruba nation is facing disunity; what is your take on this?
Well, anybody can have a conjecture or hypothesis to explain a phenomenon, but it is a possible hypothesis. Many of those people, whether in Yorubaland or outside, who don’t want us to be united must have been worried about what has been happening. You remember when I was released by kidnappers, Yoruba leaders met in Ibadan for the first time in many years.

Yoruba leadership was united over my issue and they said if Nigeria cannot protect the Yoruba race, Yoruba would protect themselves. That gave an impression in certain quarters that, so, Olu Falae has the potentials to galvanise Yoruba. And those not desiring Yoruba unity can now see whether they can smear me: linking me with Dasuki fairly or unfairly.

Yoruba people are very critical. Once they hear you are linked with a dirty person, they would be the first to condemn you. This is what is going on. So, it is a possible hypothesis. One has no fact, but it does make sense that anyone who doesn’t want Yoruba to come together may be doing this to discourage the Yoruba from seeing me as a possible rallying ground.
Eight months into President Buhari’s administration, how would you describe his will power towards the 2014 National Confab Report?

They are not interested in the report. Even when we were at the National Conference, the APC opposed the conference and this is one of the reasons we could not consider supporting the APC’s candidate, because what is most important to Afenifere and SDP is the restructuring of Nigeria, so that each area can develop at its own pace in accordance with its own priority.

If we don’t do this, the crisis will continue. So, restructuring to me is number one priority and we believe in it and those who opposed it naturally are opposed to what I stand for and I will not be surprised, if such people work against my interest.
Do you think there can ever be a Nigerian government that will implement such report?

Nigeria will be here till eternity; governments come and go. A day will come, when one government will see the need to implement this report because for the first time in the history of Nigeria, over 450 people from various sections, representing various levels of the society and background, sat down for about six months to talk and agree in a very cantankerous society like Nigeria.

And by some divine grace, we passed over 600 resolutions by consensus. To me, that is a miracle. I believe God Himself had a hand in that conference, and therefore, I believe that that is the document that will save Nigeria, when the time comes.