Senior Pastor of the Household of God Church and presidential candidate
of Fresh Party, has asked President Buhari, Atiku Akububakr, Oby
Ezekwesili, Donald Duke and other presidential candidates, to step down
for him so he can set up an Interim National Government come May
2019. In an interview with DailyTrust, Okotie who declared his interest
to run for president in 2019 on October 1st, says an interim government
is the only way out for Nigeria to develop. Read excepts from the
interview below Daily Trust: In recent times, you have been speaking on
what you believe is the need for Nigeria to have an Interim National
Government (ING). What exactly is the proposition all about?Reverend
Okotie: What I am saying is that the current arrangement in the
political hemisphere is not workable because the political class has
refused to recognise the seriousness of the existential adversary that
confronts us at this time. We are at a juncture in our national
evolution where we must come to a halt temporarily and have an ad hoc
measure, which is the Interim National Government, to deal with the
fundamental issues that beset our nation, and to restructure and change
the Constitution. No extant government can do these things. That’s what
I’m saying.DT: Doesn’t your idea render the Fresh Party’s presidential
ticket, which you have been given, useless?Okotie: Yes, I already have
the Fresh Party’s presidential ticket, and that means we shall be
participating in the presidential election slated for February 2019. But
what I am saying is that all other parties should not field candidates
against me in the 2019 presidential election so that it would be easy
for me to set up the Interim National Government. If they don’t field
candidates, it means I have won and what I’d do immediately is set up an
ING instead of the normal or ordinary government that is put in place,
where we have the legislature, judiciary and all of that that is not
workable. An interim government will not need a legislature and it is at
this time that we can redesign the political landscape.DT: Would you be
executing this idea on the platform of the Fresh Party?Okotie: I have
to run for election on the platform of a political party. After the
election has been held, the creation of the Interim National Government
is another step.DT: How do you think this would work out during the
election?Okotie: Since it would be based on consensus, it would be based
on the reality of the time. By the time the 2019 election holds, I am
sure we shall be coming to a point to realise that the only way forward
is to have a paradigm shift, and that has to be the ING.DT: But many
have argued that the ING idea is not recognized by the Nigerian
Constitution. How do you hope to navigate the legal challenge?Okotie:
That is totally irrelevant. The Constitution was created by men. It can
be suspended and we can put an ad hoc mechanism in place to legalise the
machinery of an interim government. It can be done. It is not
impossible.DT: In the proposed ING, you offer yourself as the person to
lead the arrangement. How acceptable do you think your offer would be to
other political stakeholders?Okotie: That would be predicated on the
reality of that day. When this whole sequence had played itself out, it
would become obvious that there was no other way forward. There is no
partisan political equilibrium that can salvage Nigeria at this juncture
of our national evolution because the problems that confront us are
gargantuan.DT: So how prepared are you to deal with these gargantuan
problems?Okotie: I am very prepared. If you notice, all these years, I
have not engaged in any political participation at any level because my
political philosophy is quite different. The ideology that I believe in
is diametrically opposed to that of the status quo. And that is why I
have not been part of APC, PDP or any other national party.DT: You are a
pastor, so how do you hope to drive your message to
non-Christians?Okotie: We will drive the message when there is a
national platform in place, which is the ING. Yes, we must rise above
the issues of religion and ethnicity. I have assumed an altitude where
these cleavages diminish to mere superficial laceration in the terrain
of national integration. But it can only be advocated on a national
platform that is recognizable.DT: If your idea works out, what would be
your area of focus when you lead the ING?Okotie: First and foremost, we
must redesign our Constitution. That is clear. This Federalism that we
run is what I call terminological inexactitude. It is a lie. It’s a
deceit. This is not federalism; it’s more like a unitary government.
When you look at its centrifigure, you will discover that there is
disequilibrium. We need to address the problem of ethnicity and how that
plays out in our polity, and then work on reconciliation. There is a
need to restructure our nation.2019: Buhari, Atiku, Ezekwesili, Donald Duke, must step down for me Rev Chris Okotie says
Senior Pastor of the Household of God Church and presidential candidate
of Fresh Party, has asked President Buhari, Atiku Akububakr, Oby
Ezekwesili, Donald Duke and other presidential candidates, to step down
for him so he can set up an Interim National Government come May
2019. In an interview with DailyTrust, Okotie who declared his interest
to run for president in 2019 on October 1st, says an interim government
is the only way out for Nigeria to develop. Read excepts from the
interview below Daily Trust: In recent times, you have been speaking on
what you believe is the need for Nigeria to have an Interim National
Government (ING). What exactly is the proposition all about?Reverend
Okotie: What I am saying is that the current arrangement in the
political hemisphere is not workable because the political class has
refused to recognise the seriousness of the existential adversary that
confronts us at this time. We are at a juncture in our national
evolution where we must come to a halt temporarily and have an ad hoc
measure, which is the Interim National Government, to deal with the
fundamental issues that beset our nation, and to restructure and change
the Constitution. No extant government can do these things. That’s what
I’m saying.DT: Doesn’t your idea render the Fresh Party’s presidential
ticket, which you have been given, useless?Okotie: Yes, I already have
the Fresh Party’s presidential ticket, and that means we shall be
participating in the presidential election slated for February 2019. But
what I am saying is that all other parties should not field candidates
against me in the 2019 presidential election so that it would be easy
for me to set up the Interim National Government. If they don’t field
candidates, it means I have won and what I’d do immediately is set up an
ING instead of the normal or ordinary government that is put in place,
where we have the legislature, judiciary and all of that that is not
workable. An interim government will not need a legislature and it is at
this time that we can redesign the political landscape.DT: Would you be
executing this idea on the platform of the Fresh Party?Okotie: I have
to run for election on the platform of a political party. After the
election has been held, the creation of the Interim National Government
is another step.DT: How do you think this would work out during the
election?Okotie: Since it would be based on consensus, it would be based
on the reality of the time. By the time the 2019 election holds, I am
sure we shall be coming to a point to realise that the only way forward
is to have a paradigm shift, and that has to be the ING.DT: But many
have argued that the ING idea is not recognized by the Nigerian
Constitution. How do you hope to navigate the legal challenge?Okotie:
That is totally irrelevant. The Constitution was created by men. It can
be suspended and we can put an ad hoc mechanism in place to legalise the
machinery of an interim government. It can be done. It is not
impossible.DT: In the proposed ING, you offer yourself as the person to
lead the arrangement. How acceptable do you think your offer would be to
other political stakeholders?Okotie: That would be predicated on the
reality of that day. When this whole sequence had played itself out, it
would become obvious that there was no other way forward. There is no
partisan political equilibrium that can salvage Nigeria at this juncture
of our national evolution because the problems that confront us are
gargantuan.DT: So how prepared are you to deal with these gargantuan
problems?Okotie: I am very prepared. If you notice, all these years, I
have not engaged in any political participation at any level because my
political philosophy is quite different. The ideology that I believe in
is diametrically opposed to that of the status quo. And that is why I
have not been part of APC, PDP or any other national party.DT: You are a
pastor, so how do you hope to drive your message to
non-Christians?Okotie: We will drive the message when there is a
national platform in place, which is the ING. Yes, we must rise above
the issues of religion and ethnicity. I have assumed an altitude where
these cleavages diminish to mere superficial laceration in the terrain
of national integration. But it can only be advocated on a national
platform that is recognizable.DT: If your idea works out, what would be
your area of focus when you lead the ING?Okotie: First and foremost, we
must redesign our Constitution. That is clear. This Federalism that we
run is what I call terminological inexactitude. It is a lie. It’s a
deceit. This is not federalism; it’s more like a unitary government.
When you look at its centrifigure, you will discover that there is
disequilibrium. We need to address the problem of ethnicity and how that
plays out in our polity, and then work on reconciliation. There is a
need to restructure our nation.
