Abubakar Tsav, a former police commissioner, is an elderstatesman in Benue. In this interview with JOHN CHARLES, he talks about his disagreement with the state governor on issues that border on the development of the state
Before now, you and Governor Ortom had enjoyed warm relationship. Why the renewed crisis?
I don’t know. I think the man (Ortom) is confused; he is disturbed. But what I know is that when I was a Commissioner in the Public Complaint Commission in July 2016, some pensioners came with reports to my office which I considered to be fraud under the Bureau for Local Government. So I listened to them and the thing was so massive and serious. When I knew I was not competent to handle it, l addressed the letter to the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. So I heard nothing about it until this year after I had completed my tenure in the Public Complaint Commission.
So I got a letter from the EFCC inviting me to come and clarify some issues over the petition I wrote. I went there and I wrote and gave them what I was made to write. I also remember that there was a press interview which Senator Waku granted to Daily Sun newspaper in which he criticised not only (Senator) Akume but also the Governor of Nasarawa State who he alleged to be conniving with Senator Akume to impeach Governor Ortom. l saw this publication as very irresponsible because I was of the opinion that elders should try to promote peace and not creating such situation; I said Waku should not bring in Al-Makura . I spoke on it and you also recall that several years when Akume was a governor, l criticised him continuously on non performance, corruption and so on.
But I saw that Akume changed for good. Now he wants to bring peace to Benue State, bring everybody together, bring peace between Benue State and other states of the federation and promote the spirit of brotherhood. So I commended him for that, I said what he was doing was right and I criticised Waku. I don’t know if this was what renewed the crisis you are talking about. A few days ago, l was sleeping when somebody came to serve me summon and by the time l woke up, they said that the man had gone. So, l sent somebody to find out what it was all about. As at the time he went to the court, they were preparing the document, a motion for alternative service. So l understand that they brought the document to paste on my gate. I am prepared to go there because as at the time Ortom withdrew this case from court which he instituted against me, he said that I had told a lie against him, he said I committed forgery against him. When I wrote this open letter to him, nobody wrote anything and if the EFCC had investigated this matter and found out that I had told a lie, then they can use that report to prosecute me.
But how can you say I wrote this thing to you and you stand on your own without investigating it and you said I have lied. Anyway, he has the judiciary here in the state, he has the judges, the Ministry of justice, he has the powers and everything, he is the executive governor, he can do whatever he wants. But I have confidence in the judiciary and I will go and face it because I am not afraid of anybody. I cannot stop talking against act of injustice and as long as I live, so shall I continue to support the Federal Government in its fight against corruption.
Some people, including traditional rulers, your colleagues in PCC then tried to broker peace and you apologised to the Governor. Was your apology not accepted?
You see, let me tell you that the first time they told me to apologise, I told them that I believed in what I wrote and that I didn’t do any wrong. It was published in the Daily Trust that I said I would not apologise. Then the case continued and it was disturbing me so much and people advised me that I should leave the whole thing. So, the governor himself invited us to Government House, myself, my lawyer and one of the persons who was tried along with me and a friend. We went and met him and he said that he was a politician and he just needed a letter of apology. So, I said my lawyer and his lawyer(Wombo) should write whatever they agreed and bring it to me to sign.
I did not detail the letter myself, they wrote and I came and signed. Then, they went to court and withdrew the case and it was in relation to this particular case of whistle blowing. That letter I signed didn’t say they would close my mouth on all old cases.
What were the conditions they gave to you then?
There was no particular condition. They said the particular letter I wrote to the Governor titled, ‘Whistle blowing and stagnation of Benue State,’ that I should withdraw it and I did just that.
I only agreed to sign when the lawyer who had been working in my son’s chamber in Lagos said his shuttling between Lagos and Benue was taking its toll on me financially and disturbing my peace. That was why I signed and it was in respect of the whistle blowing case, not in every case.
How can I in my senses, an activist, somebody who is fighting corruption, somebody who is against corruption, somebody who appreciates the evils corruption have done in this country, somebody who has seen the non development of our country because of corruption, somebody who has seen the stagnation of Benue State due to corruption, write that and later I would not say anything again? I would be a foolish person.
It is because if evil is happening and an honest man refuses to say something about that evil, he is also committing that evil. So how could I have signed that I would never do this? That is the impression they are giving. Anyway, I don’t want to go into details; the other aspect of the case, my lawyer would handle it. It is already in court and there is no need reviewing the case outside here.
So your visit to EFCC was based on invitation?
Yes, it was purely based on invitation.
What did the EFCC try to find out from you?
No, leave that to me and them because this is between me and them. How can I tell you? And the case which they invited me for was this case of N23bn which is there in my report and the amount I quoted was less than what they discovered. If the matter comes up, the EFCC may agree to come and testify in my favour in this ongoing case. But after this, I will go to EFCC and tell them, maybe the EFCC would begin to investigate all the other cases I have reported to them because if the EFCC investigated the allegations contained in a letter I wrote to Governor Ortom and they found that I had lied, then you use the evidence of EFCC to prosecute me and send me to jail.
But how did the government get wind of your invitation to EFCC?
Well, one of their staff saw me there.
After seeing you there, (at EFCC), does it mean that government called or invited you to question you or what?
No, they didn’t call me. Of course, they didn’t call me and why should they call me, they can’t.
In a situation like this, what kind of advice would you like to proffer to other politicians?
Well, you see every politician who loves this country would also appreciate the damage corruption has done to this country. We are a consuming nation. Everything that we have, we import; we do not produce and that is as a result of endemic corruption that we have here. So anything we can do to reduce this corruption should be welcome and that is what I am pursuing. I am not doing this thing because I want patronage from government; not that I want jobs for my children, I am doing this for the good of the people and for the future generations and that is it. Nobody would silence me; nobody would intimidate me or harass me, not even Ortom.
How many petitions written against Governor Ortom in the last three years that had gone through you to EFCC?
There are a number of them in the EFCC and I don’t know when they would finish. However, I can’t remember all of them because when I was there in the PCC (Public Complaints Commission), any report that came to me that bordered on non payment of salary, non payment of pensions and other forms of injustice, I knew I had no power to do it, so I forwarded the whole thing straight to EFCC or other security agencies.
Does it mean your commission has no power to investigate such cases?
No, you see, Public Complaint Commission is the foremost anti- corruption agency in this country but we have no power to investigate and prosecute corruption and if they report a case of corruption to you and you failed to report it to the appropriate authorities, it means you are condoning corruption; you are conniving with the corrupt people and that’s wrong, that would destroy one’s conscience. If it is in another country, I should have been commended.
During Akume’s administration, you also wrote petitions to EFCC. What is happening to those petitions?
I don’t know and I forwarded them and the EFCC invited me. I even wrote eight statements as at that time but I don’t know what happened to them and I have no power to go and tell them you must do this or do that but Akume never took me to court. Akume never sent people to abuse me; Akume never threatened my life and he accepted all these. But if somebody is doing something bad and he comes back to change his ways, you must also relax. I remember in 2014 when people were contesting for the governorship election, Ortom was in PDP and the leadership of PDP at that time found that Ortom was not capable of running the government. They saw in him somebody who could not handle the nomination, so they refused to nominate him as governorship candidate of the party and he went to APC and Akume put him there in place of Emmanuel Jime and he won . At the time Akume did this for him, he praised Akume that he was a good leader, a good politician and all that but Akume realised that Ortom has not done anything since his election as governor. He has not achieved anything, he is incapable and Akume wanted to change him and bring somebody who would do better things for the people of Benue State; that’s Ortom’s problem with Akume and that’s why this problem is coming.
You mean you criticised Akume more than Ortom?
Yes I criticised Senator Akume and even wrote several petitions against him to the EFCC. I criticised constructively, not to destroy but to build and change the person criticised. Senator George Akume is the political leader of the Tiv people and has changed for good and that is why I am supporting him. Akume now works for the unity and progress of Benue State and its integration with the North. That is why I am now supporting him and I shall continue to support and advise him. In the case of Ortom, he is so arrogant and confused and does not listen to people or take advice. He is even ungrateful for what Senator Akume and Suswam did to bring him to limelight. He is an ingrate.
Against your argument, Ortom and his people have said that it was Akume that did not allow him to work.
Well, I do not know and I wouldn’t know because I am not with their government but if Akume could not allow them to work, why didn’t they complain then? Why is it that they did not use this letter I wrote to him, to say well, he is not performing because Akume did not allow him but instead of using this letter to tackle Akume, they took me to court.
People are insinuating that you are pro-Buhari and APC, so just because Ortom defected to PDP, you now went to EFCC to reopen a case against the governor?
No, did l ask EFCC to invite me? The EFCC invited me and I went there. It is true l appreciate Buhari’s administration and even when they were elected, I was always appreciating Buhari’s administration and I was criticising this man and they were in the same party. I was criticising this man because he was not performing like President Buhari. So, I didn’t go there because I want to side Buhari, I was invited there. If EFCC had not invited me, I wouldn’t have gone there.
With the situation of things in Benue, it’s like you are the only voice championing the better Benue. Do you regret that you are from Benue State?
Wallahi, l don’t regret because you must have somebody who would stand up and be counted. Some people are afraid. They are afraid that if they talk, they would not be patronised; some people are afraid that if they talk, they would be killed. Some people are afraid that if they talk, they would be sent to jail. But for me, I dammed the consequences because what I am waiting for now is death and there is nothing on this earth that I am looking for again other than death, so why should I be afraid?
Benue State was created in 1976 and if you compare Benue with other states created at the same time, how would you rate the state in terms of development?
It is completely zero because there is no development in Benue State. The thing that brightens a state is street lights which former Governor Gabriel Suswam tried to install here in form of solar but they have all broken down. We expected this man to service them and install more so that when you come in the night, you will know that you have come to a state capital. The town is dark and when it is dark, the police find it difficult to do their job because thieves operate in the dark. You come here, you see darkness everywhere especially when there is no power supply; which is always the case here. So, there is no development, there are no ongoing projects. Not at all. The other day, they told us that they were constructing a cargo airport, go there and see what is happening. They prevented youth corps members from farming and nothing is happening there and it is very bad. Me, l don’t regret my action, let them do whatever they like to me. I am happy being a Benue man, being the lone voice and in future, somebody would talk about me. May be when I am no more, somebody would say I was the one who stood up to be counted.
Are you saying nobody will convince you to support Governor Ortom again even as he seeks reelection?
Nobody can do that. I did not vote for him the last time, so why should I vote him again?
You are advancing in age, what would you like to be remembered for?
I should be remembered as someone who speaks the truth because truth is associated with Godliness; a man that tried to speak the truth and dammed the consequences. That’s all.
President Donald Trump of America has just described President Buhari as a lifeless being. What is your view on that statement?
Well, the man is a talkative and you know who the Americans are. They talk without caring who the person is, they say whatever they want to say because there are a lot of human rights laws there. That is his personal opinion and you cannot stop someone from voicing his opinion.
So what do you admire or cherish about Buhari and his administration?
Buhari is a very good person. If Buhari were like Obasanjo, all the rubbish that is happening in this country, he would have stopped it but the man is a patient person. You see, they have been abusing him, calling him names, you would never hear him reply. He is doing his things quietly and he is honest; he is not corrupt. He has served as military governor, military head of state, minister of petroleum, PTF chairman and so on but he has not made money for himself. He lives a simple life and that’s how it should be. That is how a true leader should behave.
Do you see any specific problem associated with Buhari’s administration which remains untouched in the last three years?
What everybody is complaining about is that he has a kitchen cabinet who are influencing his administration. Some people accused him of preference for his relations on jobs and other things. You see, everywhere in the world, people bring those closer to them that they can trust. If you don’t trust that person, how would you call that person to come and work with you because he will come and tell you a lie and he would go out and do a horrible thing.
This is what happens everywhere. So if Buhari chooses his people who he has confidence in to work with him, I see nothing wrong with that because when I was a Commissioner of Police that time, my personal staff were people I had confidence in but they were not members of my family. They were not members of my tribe. I selected them from the police personnel who are just, honest and fair and people who could keep secrets.
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