 Amayaleh Shawaray joins presidential race as he declares his intention to run and Nigeria's Senate passes a bill empowering lawmakers to summon the president to the National Assembly and governors over security. Well this is Plus Politics and I am Mary Anacol. Human rights activist and former presidential candidate Amayaleh Shawaray has formally declared his intention to run for president. This is the second time the activist will be contesting for the position as he was the candidate of the African Action Congress AAC in the 2019 presidential election. He has promised not to back down on his desire to govern Nigeria. He said the recent petition filed against him by a former member of the House of Representatives Ned Mokul and his subsequent detention was sponsored by the APC-led government to stop his declaration. Mr. Amayaleh Shawaray joins us tonight to discuss his aspiration and plans for leading Nigeria. Thank you so much Mr. Shawaray for joining us. Can you hear me loud and clear? Yes I can. So yes just as I said in the beginning this is not your first rodeo in terms of you know trying to be president but this time around Nigeria the Nigeria of 2019 is not the Nigeria in 2022 and one would really wonder why you want to take on such an oranous task. Can you hear me? I think I have lost. All right we'll take a quick break and fix the connection then we'll start this conversation all over again stay with us. Thank you for staying with us it's still Plus Politics and we're being joined by Amayaleh Shawaray before this break I was trying to ask him why he wants to be president but Mr. Shawaray thank you so much once again for joining us. So like I said at the beginning this is not your first rodeo in terms of running for presidency and you have had a very rocky 2019. What would make you still be interested in running for office after all that you've been through? Thank you for bringing me on your show I was a candidate in 2019 election and I guess people needed experience they had after 2019 to understand how important it is to have competent, passionate, compassionate and people with a ground understanding of what needed to be done to take Nigeria out of the situation it's been not only in 2019 but since 1960 so after that period you could tell that the system came after me because they understood the power of my ideas they understood how far and wide people were trying to see that Nigeria could actually change which has always been a narrative that is impossible to manage Nigeria it's too complex you know people cannot have food roads water and that we can't have a general condition of unity of the oppressed in the country so after going through that I decided to offer myself this time again because I've had raw experiences I've had a raw deal in the hands of system I understand why that happened was because they knew that I could provide the alternative that would make them look you know look exactly who they are which is incompetent people who just were running a country of 200 million people as a trend error experiment so that's why I came this time around that you forget about what I went to forget about the fact that they put me in prison for some five months forget about the fact that they shot at me and abuja forget about the fact that they ensured that I was restricted to the city and that leadership is about sacrifice and I remember Kwame Nkrumah becoming the president the first signalling president of Ghana or native president of Ghana after he stepped out of prison you know in 1957 or there about interesting I want to go into what's happening in Nigeria today there are lots of problems that Nigeria has now and that's why I don't know if you heard me the first time before we went on that break the Nigeria that you wanted to run for president in 2019 is different from yes it's different from the Nigeria of 2022 we have insecurity on every side I mean it's no longer a northeast issue we have insecurity everywhere in Nigeria as we speak we have ethnic divisions we have non-state actors cropping up and it's a totally different ball game what makes you think that you have the recipe to bring Nigeria back on its feet you know that problems like this yeah problems like you've mentioned became so protracted because we've had previous leaders who didn't even know how to manage anything in the first place and it's become even worse because our current crop of rulers I don't want to call them leaders because they don't have any leadership qualities to qualify them to be called leaders can't manage anything you know the only thing you hear from them is that Nigeria is complex you can't manage it you know so I understand our specific problems our specific problems are insecurity issues but they just didn't happen by accident it's as a result of you know years and years of mismanagement of what should have gone to the people so many of the kids that you're talking about they were engaging in banditry or even adults or terrorism people have been sidelined and abandoned by society that people who when they needed to go to school they didn't provide them schools when they needed jobs they provided them no jobs and over time they became tools in the hands of people who who are also members of the political class if we had time we'll discuss how Boko Haram came about if we had time we'll discuss how uh Niger data military started they had all they had political roots some of them were armed by politicians who were desperate to win elections and when they won the elections they're back down there but the guys did not return their weapons and they became a threat to the state so you can't just have physical security addressed without discussing social security without addressing the issue of unemployment without addressing the issue of proper free qualitative education so I discussed this you know that short-term, medium-term, I mean medium-term and long-term solutions to Nigeria's problem but the problem with Nigeria the real problem with Nigeria is Nigeria don't have this we can address any of these issues they've never addressed it they just do try and error they only know how to do ad hoc solutions to problems and the rest of the time their catering for themselves anyways they don't send children of the court to send their children to school abroad when they are sick as you now know that the president of Nigeria has gone for two weeks again for medical treatment they don't they don't because they you know they don't care because they never built hospitals here anyway they never built roads here anyway they never did anything for you and when you ask questions they send the security agency, soldiers, secret police to mull you down as they did with NSAS what I'm saying is that the problems are not as protracted as they are if they are be handled by people who knew how to even manage a bodega what I mean bodega is like a little shop on the corner so that's that's what I keep telling people and that's what I said in 2019 all the ideas that were propounded in uh I mean ideas and theories that were propounded by us in 2019 are still very present today and nobody has been able to fault them that's the reason why I came out this time around even though as we speak I'm still on that restriction in Abuja but that will broken very soon by situational variables let me let me push you forward on this issue because you're you're saying that the issues that Nigeria are facing are solvable but then there are those who would say that you're not the man for the job because you've never had any political experience in terms of leading in any capacity in the country and so why do you think that you're the man for the job because you talked about trial and error is this also an opportunity for you to have a goal at power are you sure that you can handle what's ahead? Yes leadership doesn't require you to have the kind of experience that our leaders have today our leaders don't have any experience the people who claim to be leaders they don't have an experience that can solve problems they have experience in office or being in power and this is where the experience has left Nigeria let me give you two clear examples of people who had experience and had known Nigeria former president of Lucia Mbasson Joe was a president he's probably his 30s in 1979 uh when he's uh I mean between 1977 and 79 when his colleague Murtala Mohammed was killed in a coup and when he came back in 1999 you would expect that experience we count for something and he would have drawn on that experience to run Nigeria perfectly well what did he do to Nigeria when he was done with eight years he was seeking a total in power because his experience wasn't about solving problems he never had an experience solving problems he didn't have passion he didn't have character and Nigeria was thrown in the toilet in fact he slated his sexual that was completely incapacitated and then we came to 2015 when this current president uh Mohammad Gohari who in his 40s was Nigeria's president for a few years it's been petroleum minister it's been everything you can imagine but today as former petroleum minister minister in the 80s we are dealing with one of the worst forest casualties in Nigeria's history as we speak there is no gasoline fuel to drive your cars to fuel your generators so why for instance why is that the experience did not help them solve Nigeria's problem it's because experience in office or having to occupy some kind of position cannot be acquitted with real-life experience of solving problems of confronting problems of courage of compassion character and I have more than enough experience because I have been around dealing with this kind of issues even more complex issues on what level on what level because you know you can actually be a local government chairman but then the the case of running Nigeria is way bigger about democracy in this country as a young person in my 20s you know so I have done a money business before I've created a company that was a global computing company not a Sahara reporter you can put that aside but that's not enough for me to come before you what needs what you need is a kind of experience that can deal with complex issues based on exposure based on education and based on character and courage not the kind of experience they have which is how to steal loot and kill their citizens so what experience do you need again it's experience of a guy who's been consistent and who's been around for 32 years fighting some of the most complex battles on behalf of countrymen and women and if experience the time they have is what you want keep voting for them and you see where they put you all right let's talk about some of the things that you the plans that you say you have if you were to be elected into government you said that you would create a new constitution for the country and you also talked about releasing Namdi Kanu and Sunday Bohol but let's start with the constitution part why would you want to change the constitution I mean there's there's been a lot of amendments so far but I'd like to hear why what your reasons are because Nigeria's constitution as it is present known lacks legitimacy the constitution was recruited by a process and it must be endorsed by the people through a referendum that's how constitutions are created especially where you're coming from the complex history like we've had in Nigeria military rules civil war and all kinds of political crisis before that the 1999 constitution cannot be amended it's just like saying that you bought the vehicle you took out the engine and when they ask you how move you go and buy new tires it's not going to take you anywhere right 1999 constitution did not go through the process of creating a constitution in fact it was a fraudulent position because it says we the people of Nigeria as a preamble but the people of Nigeria were not part of the creation of the constitution and you can tell the deficient issue of the very deficient nature of that constitution to them because there are mutations that would have been solved if there was a constitution that could have taken care of the interests of the people and this diverse nature so the constitution was not created legitimate like cannot be legitimized by amendment it is just like what they say in law that you can't do something or nothing so we need a new constitution just like South Africans did when they ended appetite in 1994 they went ahead and created a new constitution first an interim constitution at the Pamlea constitution and it was very very well done constitution because it took into consideration their experiences their sorrow suffering and their aspiration for the future this constitution is lacking a vision completely and everybody's saying but I was the first to say before it became a popular idea that the constitution was a fraud and it's still a fraudulent constitution interesting what is your base because everybody wants to know are you still going to run on the platform of the AAC what's your political structure across the country how do you intend to get the ear and the attention of the average Nigerian being that every Nigerian whether it be middle class the low class the poorest of the poor they all have different experiences of Nigeria how do you intend to reach these people what message are you bringing to them again we also have the conversation of zoning and what do you stand on that so I'll start with zoning I'm completely against the idea of zoning offices to politicians you know zoning has never helped Nigeria before Nigeria's political spaces have been zoned to all kinds of jokers but who don't represent even their zones what we want are competent people in the country and doesn't matter where they come from you just have to be a citizen of Nigeria and you have to have those qualities that I consider to be necessary to govern the country because I in my lifetime have experienced the Europe back presidents you know I don't know if they zone it to a passenger in 1999 who today when we left office did not construct a highway to his village I've had a Niger Delta president who according to that period was given that opportunity because they felt it Niger Delta minority job people needed to present his but you make it sound I'm sorry I'm sorry to cotton I'm sorry to cotton do you make it sound like this presidential I'm sorry I'm sorry can you hear me and they haven't done anything to can you hear me talking up so zoning is one of the political strategies of the lazy political class who have nothing to offer to just reduce the geographical sphere of people who consider them to be competent and eligible to rule the country but you make it sound like these presidents are what where presidents are elected to be presidents over their local communities or where they come from or their zones you said and a former president a passenger did not even build a bridge to his village you're saying the same thing about a former president good luck Jonathan are these supposed to be Nigerian presidents or presidents of their states and their local governments is it his job to build a bridge towards his local government is that not the responsibility of the states and the federal ministry of what I think was what I think you're trying to say is you know if this zoning can address the issue of injustice in political discussion of political offices to people I said I don't believe that you need to zone offices to people who just belong to political parties but don't want to have the required competence and experience you know as I have you know I'm using the word experience clearly not the way they are using all the way they've abused it to run a country I don't I don't believe in zoning and I've said that several because we have zoned you know the office of the president and other political offices into I mean two different hands and they have left Nigeria a broken place so why do you keep using these strategies that are divisive in nature that don't help people realize aspirations and the one that cuts out competent people when they need to come on board and step up to the plate and run the country the way it should be run I've never looked at it for a president of Nigeria based on zoning you know it's it's has never worked and why do we keep trying it but it is one of the strategies of the political class to just cut out people who are likely to be competent to run the country okay so my other question was what your base is and what party you're still going to are you going to still run with the AAC or are you changing we registered yes yes we registered I registered you know we registered a party in 2018 it's called the African Action Congress and the party is still one of the active political parties and I'm going to run on the platform of that particular political party I know that they are actively as they did since 2018 or 2019 trying to hijack the party but we will ensure that the party returns completely to the original legitimate organic members of the party you have a video of my declaration on Tuesday and this was after the federal government tried to stop me from declaring by arresting me on a frivolous charge a few days before it with the hope of keeping me in detention and ensuring that I don't declare my attention on that but you've seen it these are young people so the base is going to be largely made up of young people the type of young people that propelled the Obama to office in the US you know and then what is not going to be exclusively a young people idea is going to include everybody but the power base you know the engine that will be running this campaign are those marginalized oppressed people of Nigeria who are mostly young people and there's 70 to 75 percent of very Nigerian population today let me ask from the consultations that you've done from I'm guessing that you're consulting with people and you're having meetings you know in terms of you know your ambition what is the feel that you're getting from the people how serious our young stars in terms of being part of the political process come 2023 knowing that you know our young people seem to be mostly very active on social media and not as active as we want to see them when it comes to the polls we've also seen a decline in the number of the percentage of people who show up actually on election day to cast their votes what will you and your party be doing in that regard to get people to be more involved in the electoral process so let me take you to the current registration process is done by the independent national electoral commission I know and I'm sorry there's a back up there and they're saying that over 60 million people have registered online since they recommend registration of voters and the sizable number of that are young people but you know the idea of the issue of young people involvement in political activities recently had more revolutionary you know past of history or contemporary history in particular with what happened in 2020 and starts it was a political eruption in which young people demonstrated how much interested they are and want to be involved in political process and we're seeing that they're registering more they are asking other people to register but most importantly I'm not just asking people to register and vote uh I mean register but want them to vote and make sure that their votes count and that is why apart from just you know declaring to run for office I'm seriously engaging political direct action against INEC for instance that's the the independent national electoral commission who are known to be the ones who bungle the opportunity for people to vote and for their votes to count and so we've been to the office several times and engage in protests against them but we have learned to engage in mega protests to make sure that INEC is not just left alone to plan to rig the next election as they've always done against Nigerian people so this process is go hand in hand we just not just with the declaration to run for office but to ensure that this declaration produced revolutionary results that results that the people want at the end of the exercise that is the electoral process finally before I let you go do you think you stand a chance I mean looking around you they're not just old faces but then there are new faces we have the likes of Chukka Moine there are a few more people who have thrown their hats into the ring across political parties do you stand a chance against all of these people and do you think you're going to win and what makes you think you do stand a chance if you think that way you know you mentioned in some names some I know some I don't know but you know I had the chance in 2019 and we know that by way of how was treated harshly after the elections were concluded I was arrested because I was speaking on issues that are really bad to the people and the fact that the elections were badly rigged this time around I can almost totally guarantee to you that the chances are better and better you know and brighter and bigger because this time around the people who have declared interest in the election have never done it in the manner that we did it in our budget last I mean March 1st which is that we had a hall that was filled up to the brim you know populated by young people and there was an overflow outside of the hall you have the video with you this is not photoshop it wasn't acted and most all the people that came there came you know uh on their own pollution not because they were mobilized but the but does that translate to votes at the end of the day this is my curiosity and I remember you saying that Tinnable, Abbas, Sibangir, I beg your pardon that's Mr. Vice President, Peter I'll be uh that all of them their presidential ambitions are dead on arrival I'm wondering why you said that but have you not noticed that you are not hearing about Peter I'll be anymore and Tinnable is just fading out we are based on you know his own personal health issues and the vice president I don't think I've heard about him recently but it is just to tell you that it wasn't a prediction I was just telling you that uh who are not interested in their candidacy and you know this how so I was right because you can't tell me anything that's happened after the declared I have not seen Peter I'll be or heard about him after that declaration I don't think he won't declare that I think people were trying to declare on his behalf which is sort of huge the VP I explained that I had nothing to show or offer people how do you say that your vice president to this failure and what would you tell people that all my hands were tied or I was just a coward and I suddenly just became uh you know very very courageous now because we are running out of but it's been a they've been in power for eight years with the Bahá'í regime and with Bola Tinnable man I just wish people can advise him to check into a hospital okay well I want to say thank you Omar al-Shawar is uh the presidential aspirant for the 2023 election as he throws his hat into the ring thank you so much for speaking with us we wish you all the best thank you so much for bringing me on your show all right well thank you all for staying with us we'll take a short break now when we return we'll be looking at the national assembly as they have uh made moves to enable lawmakers to summon the president and governors on a variety of issues including the security stay with us