For Navigating Nigeria this week, Citizen spoke to Ndi Kato, a spokesperson of the Labour Party. She’s also an activist, political analyst and the executive director of Dinidari Africa. She spoke on various issues including the Labour Party dominating in three geopolitical zones at this month’s presidential election, her party’s stance on subsidy and why some leaders in the South East are against Peter Obi’s candidacy.
Editorial Note: Navigating Nigeria is a platform for Nigerians to passionately discuss policies and politics with little interference to individual opinions. While our editorial standards emphasise the truth and we endeavour to fact-check claims and allegations, we do not bear any responsibility for allegations made about other people that are founded in half-truths.
Peter Obi has trended on Twitter and gathered huge online support. Do you think this will convert to votes on election day?
Social media is representative of the larger picture. It’s representative of the larger community. It’s not robots that are here but human beings. I always say that one online [person] represents the thought processes of ten other persons who may not be here.
If other parties have plenty of supporters then they too should be on social media, it’s not as if when Jack launched Twitter he made it exclusively for Obidients, there was no conversation like that. It’s random people who are on social media, normal Nigerians who are on social media who have become supporters of this movement.
So those other people who say they have that many supporters, let them come on social media because this place is representative of the larger society. This will translate to votes. I’m not saying we’re going to get the highest number of votes everywhere, but we’ll get the highest number of votes in at least two regions. Na we go dominate. In fact, three regions. We’ll get plenty of votes in their regions.
Is this part of our interview, because Zikoko, the way you guys move? Hahaha.
Yes it is, lol
We have the South East, the South South and a good chunk of the North Central. And then we’d balance out in places like the South West. We’re not saying we’re going to get everything in the South West but we’ll have quite a good outcome there. That’s Tinubu’s base but we’re going to make a dent there. And with these new campaigns, you’re seeing the inroads we’ve made in the North. We’re beginning to see that 25% in some of these places is quite possible. So we’re moving, we’re moving.
We understand your candidate has support in the South East, but Tinubu also had a following when he campaigned in Enugu
Do you know how far they had to go to get people to come with their buses? See, once you attend a rally and you begin to see people in uniform, like people wearing green berets, just know that mobilisation has happened and it’s not organic. If you see people come as they are then that’s an organic rally.
If you come to my village and you tell people you’re going to give them ₦10,000 to enter a bus, in this economy that they’ve weaponised poverty, you think they won’t enter?
After the New Year, I was in Imo state. I can tell you that among the gathering there was only one guy that wasn’t with the Labour Party. And the way that guy had to defend himself? At some point, he asked to be left alone. He had no arguments to make anymore. They even have a song, once you mention Obi they respond with kererenke.
But the South East has two APC governors and even Soludo has said he won’t support Obi
God help them. The more these people talk, the more they have to backtrack. Remember when Ihedioha spoke against Obi? The pushback was so strong he had to apologise.
He did say he was taken out of context
Isn’t it good that he quickly came out to say he was taken out of context? When Peter Obi went to Imo state what happened? The governor came out to welcome him because he doesn’t want wahala. He doesn’t want the pushback because he wants to win a second term — if he can stand a chance to win it. And that’s wisdom.
Some of these people are pushing back because they’re wondering “why Peter Obi?” They believe that if power should come to the South East it should be them because they’ve been building their careers [from way back] and if Obi gets it then it means they won’t stand a chance to get it. And I understand. Doing everything they think is right, sucking up to the system and hoping they’d be the one and then this very simple man who doesn’t suck up to the system and always does what his mind tells him — which is for the good of the people to be honest — ends up being the one who gets this organic love. It can be painful.
Still, my guy. I’ve seen people in the South East who are serving in government, commissioners who have told their governors that as far as the presidential election is concerned, they’re voting for Peter Obi.
Well, all of that’s hearsay
It’s not hearsay. I know these people myself. I’ve worked with these people.
If they could come out to publicly say these things then that would confirm what you’re saying
You can see them sponsoring billboards. Have you gone to put mics in their mouths and they said no? That’s their method. You go to some of these places and you see these billboards where they say ‘for governor vote this party, sponsored by so-so person’. Same with other positions and for president, Peter Obi’s name will be there.
The Labour Party and the Nigerian Labour Congress have sat on different sides of the subsidy issue. How does your party hope to reconcile this?
If the party hasn’t settled this issue, the candidate won’t be speaking about it. You know, the last time I heard the candidate speak about subsidy and it being criminal itself and having to be removed, was right in front of the chairman of the party in Karfanchan. And the chairman of the party didn’t have anything against the removal of fuel subsidies. He’d have raised this to say “excuse me.”
I was there and to the best of my knowledge, no such thing happened. So yeah, the fuel subsidies will be removed. We cannot continue to pay that huge amount of money to a few individuals. It is organized theft, our candidate has said so repeatedly in front of party members and we stand by it.
You’ve said the LP would win the South-South. Aren’t you worried that the region is led by elected officials from the PDP?
My answer to this will be the same answer I have for the South East which is, they have the political class but we have the people. The people have decided to rise up and we’re seeing the people organising themselves and that should be recognised. When the people are organising themselves the political class [are just individuals] and they’ll be reduced to one person.
When the political class has the upper hand, they hope for voter apathy, they hope for things that will make voters not come out so that they can use their power to move things, you know, use the power of incumbency, buy votes here and there.
But when the people rise it’s a whole different ball game entirely. And so, again, my answer to all of this is they have the politicians, we have the people and the people are overwhelmingly larger in number.
You were once with the PDP, the same with your principal. What led you to make a switch? And how do you respond to those who say it’s hypocritical?
Politics is, hopefully, a conduit to good governance. It’s not something everybody likes to participate in. I’m not a fan of politics but it’s a necessity. It’s an uncomfortable necessity you have to participate in, in order to be able to deliver good governance to the people and many people do participate on that note. Peter Obi is one of those people.
He’s a successful businessman with so many other things to do and here he is participating in this because he feels it’s the best way to deliver good governance and bring about change for the people.
Unfortunately in Nigeria, you can’t run as an independent candidate, you have to join a political party. At some point, you’ll have to join a party that’s most viable to run with. But when push comes to shove, you have to take the bull by the horns. There’s nothing wrong in saying you want to step into one of the other political parties and run from there. I don’t see what’s hypocritical about that.
You once made a run for office in Kaduna. What was your biggest takeaway from that experience?
We need to do more for women’s political participation. We need quotas. Quotas are a good stepping stone to women’s political participation. We need to push for laws that will help women’s political participation. We need to push for laws that provide equal rights for women. The gender and equal opportunities bill has been on the floor of the House for quite a while and we need to push that. The special seats Bill too. Calls for special seats. One hundred and eleven special seats for four election circles.
I’m hoping that bills like that get in. Within political parties, gender-friendly policies are needed to help women’s political participation. I run an organisation, Dinidari Foundation, and there are other women-led organisations working on that. So more needs to be done and more attention needs to be paid to women.
There have been videos online about Labour Party supporters complaining about not being paid mobilisation fees for rallies. Could you confirm if your party pays for these things?
How do you suggest supporters get to the venues of the rallies? Buses need to move.
That’s your answer?
That’s my answer.
Does the Labour Party have full confidence in INEC’s ability to conduct the elections?
We’ll continue to put INEC on their toes. Our job’s to make sure we continue to put pressure on INEC to do the right thing and hopefully, INEC does the right thing at the end of the day.
You don’t sound confident
It’s the office of the citizen. The job of that office is to put pressure on and make sure those in charge do the right thing. When you do your own part, you hope that they do theirs and that’s where we’re at. We’re putting pressure anywhere we see that INEC is lapsing.
What’s your advice for young people looking to get involved in politics?
The best way to participate is to participate. Register with a political party. Many young people should know they’re already participating in politics by canvassing for votes for their candidates. They’re already participating in politics and that’s a good step, take the next step to register.
If the election doesn’t go the Labour Party’s way, is there any chance it would take it up in court?
I think we’ll leave it till then.
Do you plan to run for office in the future?
As of now, I can’t answer that question.
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