Ondo Decides 2024: Former presidential aspirant wants political parties to present manifestos 

CITIZENS COMPASS – Former presidential aspirant and Medical Director of Sckye Hospital, Dr. Thomas-Wilson Ikubese has expressed his disagreement with the current scheme of things politically in which politicians only go to campaign grounds to dance, sing, and dance without clearly stating what they intend to achieve in the office.

He urged the candidates of the various political parties in the upcoming Ondo State gubernatorial elections to rethink their electioneering strategy, campaign with realistic promises, and deliver tangible, achievable democratic dividends to the good people of Ondo State.

The medical doctor cum philanthropist and politician gave this advice in an exclusive interview with the security beats association, National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP) led by the National President, Oki O. Samson during the association’s visit to the state-of-the-art Sckye Hospital in Akure, Ondo state for a firsthand assessment tour of the security situation in the state ahead of the 16th November governorship election.

Dr. Ikubese recalled that when he ran for the presidency in 2019 with the likes of Fela Durotoye, Omoyele Sowore, and Kingsley Moghalu, he first joined the National Conscience Party (NCP). He noted that he didn’t go into politics to serve for money but to serve.

He said: ‘At the time, I could pass and part of my manifesto then was that political office should be made unattractive. It should be for those who are full, to be full doesn’t mean you’re a billionaire, you can be a billionaire and still be very greedy.

To be full means you are satisfied with what you have and you have a regular source of income, so you will not look up to governance to make money. So I was advocating that their salary should be a little bit above what the civil servant takes. You should be on minimum wage basically and that we should scrap immunity. Once you’re in the office, you only have immunity against civil litigation.

If you have a case of corruption brought against you, there should be no immunity for that and when you are charged to court we should have a special anti-corruption court, not the regular court. When you are charged to court and you are sentenced, the penalty should be life imprisonment without an option of fine, and I said every month, we publish the income and expenses of the government.’

‘When you do all of that, and you say someone should come and run for the government, you will see what am I going to do there, because you know you can’t get there to steal you can only get there to render services to the people, so that’s my brand of politics.’

In the upcoming Ondo State gubernatorial elections, the medical doctor who is into many humanitarian programs that help the less-privileged in society and give a ray of hope to families, Dr. Nelson Ikubese stated: ‘So far I don’t have any candidate I am supporting. None of them spoke my language. Where is the manifesto of the APC? Where is the manifesto of the PDP? The last campaign they went, they just danced, danced, and when it was time for Mr Governor to tell us why he was running, he would speak for 30 seconds and they interjected him for another 45 seconds, and then danced for another two minutes and at the end of the day, they are gone. That’s not the way it should be.’

‘I said they should have their manifesto in a tract as if they are going for evangelism, so when you’re on the field everybody that attended the campaign should go home with a copy of that manifesto, so at the end, we can pick you to it, in 6,8 month, this is what you said you will do you haven’t done it, so to me our leaders are not ready, there’s no reason we shouldn’t have a 24 hours uninterrupted power supply. Within 6 months, I said it then when I contested, that we will have an uninterrupted power supply.’

The former presidential aspirant also took a jab at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for lacking political willpower to effect positive change since he assumed office on 29th May 2023. ‘The President is not ready to do it. He’s benefiting from the system and he has a long chain of people that are benefiting from the system, so whoever is going to make Nigeria work will be someone that will be ready to step on toes. Someone who will say I’m not ready to eat from the system, I want to repair the system. He is not doing that, so we shouldn’t expect anything from him. I hate to say it is a hopeless situation. We will keep hope alive, hoping that things will change, because I believe so much in Nigeria, which is why I refuse to go to japa.’

On youth engagement, the philanthropist said: ‘From the last experience I had, we have 2 categories of youths – we have youths that are shouting because they are not in government, they are making so much noise because they are currently not on the table and the moment they get themselves on that table they will keep quiet and continue to eat on that table, they are categories of looters who are waiting to loot more than those elderly that are already looting, so when you hear them shout, carry placards not because they want Nigeria to survive but because they are not eating now, but once they get there, it is my turn they start eating their own too and then you have the category of those that really want the system to work and they are not there because they want to eat from the system but because they want to contribute to the system but those are few. That is where I belong.’
‘In days to come, I will announce what my next move will be politically, and like I have said I’m not giving up on Nigeria. I’m looking for like-minded people who we can collaborate together and make things happen for good.

On what he would do if he becomes the President of Nigeria, the medical director of Sckye Hospital, Dr. Thomas-Wilson Ikubese hinted: ‘Some will say if the system is corrupt you better be corrupt, otherwise it will not work but that is not true. When Lai Mohammed was there, he said change begins with us and I said no, it should begin from the top. Now look at when President Tinubu was sworn into office he made one statement, subsidy is gone and the destiny of Nigeria changed, one statement. Now the same way that one statement could have turned the mentality of Nigerians around.

‘This is what I will do when I get sworn into the office on the inauguration. I will say: fellow Nigerians, thank you for voting me in, we are beginning a new journey that will take us to a new destination but all of us must make sacrifices, the executive, the National Assembly, and the citizens. What are the sacrifices we must make, we must make political offices unattractive, how do we do that, next week I’m going to sponsor an executive bill that I’m going to forward to the National Assembly. This is the content of the bill, that political office holders should earn salaries like civil servants and that every month, the income and expenditure of the government should be published for everyone to see, that they should establish a special anti-corruption court, that the penalty for embezzlement is life imprisonment without an option of fine.

I’ll list all those things and next week I’m going to forward this as an executive bill to the National Assembly, I want to appeal to you fellow citizens that you support us to make this happen. I’m also calling on the Senate President and House of Reps to please pass the bills without further delay, I have already set them up.’

‘On the day that the bill will be at the National Assembly, you will see Nigerians, I’ll sponsor them underground, they will carry placards at the gate of the National Assembly, shouting pass the bill, pass the bill, so how will they impeach me. The people will be the ones to appoint the minister, not me. Look at the people that they are giving national awards to, it should be picked at the local government, the people around the locality that are making an impact, they are the ones that will get CFR, MFR, and all those awards, not politicians.’

‘When I am swearing in the ministers, I’ll ask you to come with your wives and children. You’re being sworn in today as ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, you are not coming here to steal, if you steal the system will catch up with you, I am the President, I’m not coming to steal, if you steal you will go to jail, all the wives should stand up, this is why I ask you to follow your wife or husband as the case may be, if your husband or wife steal as a minister he/she will go to jail and spoil the name of your family, so when you get back home draw the ear of you spouse, tell him don’t steal government money, he concluded.