By Omoniyi Salaudeen
Senator Rufai Hanga, representing Kano Central Senatorial District, is a member of the NNPP.
In this interview, he bares his mind on the current socio-economic situation of the country, predicting Goodluck Jonathan’s experience for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027 despite the defection of opposition parties to the APC.
What is your assessment of Nigeria’s democracy, looking at the growth, the challenges and the future?
I am happy that we survived this long. As it is often said, the worse form of democracy is better than the best military dictatorship. But unfortunately, our democracy has been going from bad to worse because people are not allowed to make their free choice in the election of their leaders. I agree that democracy is very costly, but things should be done with some decorum. We have come so far, but we are not better off. When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was contesting, I was jubilating that he would make things better. But unfortunately, I am a little disappointed because, like one of my colleagues has said, he is caged. He only listen to the opinions of those he choices to listen to. That brings us to the future. The future is very bleak. I am worried with the way people are decamping from the opposition to the ruling party. It has happened before, but not at the current rate. This time around, it is worse. I am a grassroots person, I know what people say, I know their opinion.
“What do you think is fueling the wind of defection?
Greed. Most people decamped because of greed. Some are attributable to fear and uncertainty. Some people have gone through various positions of leadership. Yet, they are not satisfied with what they have. They want to grab more and more. May be they have been promised one thing or the other, that is why they are decamping. Another reason is the fear of being exposed for the things they have done. They believe that their sins will be forgiven immediately they decamp so that EFCC will not be running after them. Apart from fear, there is also some degree of naivety. Some of them are naive, they are not politically polished. But let’s wait and see. Time will tell.
I have been in politics since 1977 as a grassroots persons. And I have been a player. With my experience, most of my predictions have always come to pass. From what I am seeing, the future is bleak unless their is a change of style. Most of the people around the president don’t really like him. They are behaving in a way that will affect the president. I have heard some of them say “it is our time”. And once you are not with them, they treat you anyhow. They treat you with disdain, they treat you with disregard, they treat you with disrespect. They do things openly and brazenly. Some of them are also guilty of conspiracy of silence because things are happening and they remain silent. Very soon, people will begin to open up. Some will begin to fight back. And that will take every thing back to square one.
In spite of your observation, the president appears to be confident that he will scale the hurdles of re-election?
He is confident because of what he bargained with the people who defected to APC. He is confident believing that opposition will not be in order. What they forget is that opposition are the people not the leaders. The real opposition are the downtrodden and the grassroots people. That is why I will appeal to Mr. President to tread softly. He should understand that some of these people who decamped did not win their elections, they took their mandates by force. Many of them were imposed on the people and the people don’t like them. When the time comes, they will be ready to defend their votes. It is either they give them their right of choice or the whole country goes on fire. If the whole country goes on fire, where will you go? Who will you be ruling over? All the president’s spin doctors should rather behave in a better way. Otherwise, people will say enough is enough and they will begin to revolt.
Currently, APC has 22 governors under its control. Isn’t that enough to guarantee victory for the party and the president?
During the time of former President Goodluck Jonathan, PDP had 22 governors and things were not as tough as they are now. There was no crying of hunger, no crying of insecurity, no crying of unemployment and so many other ills. Yet, he was defeated. Anybody who is a student of history will know that something similar had happened before and did not guarantee victory. So, it is a wrong judgment to base their judgment on the number of governors APC has under its control. With 22 governors, the president can still be defeated. So, anything can happen. The most important factor is the wish of the people. He shouldn’t listen to boot lickers. Those around him should also have a rethink because if he’s gone, they are gone too. Money does not buy everything. There are people who won their elections without money.
Report has it that many of the supporters of Senator Kawu who defected from NNPP to the APC have returned to the fold. Why the sudden change of mind?
Kawu was originally in APC, but they denied him the ticket for the Senate. As a result of that denial, he came to Kwankwaso who gave him the NNPP ticket with which he won his senatorial election. When he decided to go back to APC, Kwankwasia still remained intact. It was only the APC supporters who defected along with him that came back to rejoin Kwankwasia. And these are leaders not just ordinary supporters.
Out of the three Senators elected to represent Kano, you are the only one left in NNPP. What is the state of that party in Kano now and Nigeria as a whole?
NNPP in Kano is stronger than the way it was before now. NNPP’s strength is not only in Kano, but in the whole of Northwest. In fact, NNPP is strong in the whole of Northern states. But we couldn’t win the election in these states because of certain mistakes or certain beliefs or fears which are now being regretted. I assure you, NNPP is very strong and it is the most peaceful party in the country now.
There is now a potent fear that voter apathy might be worse in the future elections than the previous ones because of the happenings in the country. Do you have the same concern?
This time around, there won’t be voter apathy because not only that people now know better they can also see better. During the last election, the most preferred candidate was Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It may not be the same this time around. Most people in the North thought that he (President Tinubu) would be a true Nigerian. They thought he would do to Nigeria what he did in Lagos. They now know better. We will look for somebody who will be a true Nigerian. So, definitely, people will come out en masse to vote for somebody who will look after them. People have been crying that there are lots of deception currently going on.
Traditionally, the votes from the North decide who becomes Nigeria’s president. Do you still believe in the notion of a monolithic North?
The North will still decide who becomes the president in the next election? You can’t win presidential election without Kano, Lagos, Rivers. But now, there is a problem in Rivers State and we haven’t seen the end of it. If the suspended governor decides to decamp to APC, there will still be a problem because he will never be on the same page with Wike. Amaechi is also there as a factor. Lagos is a cosmopolitan state. And you can see that the president couldn’t win Lagos even despite the fact that he is from Lagos. Whosoever thinks he can defeat Kwankwaso in Kano is a dreamer. This time around, people are determined to come out en masse to vote for Kwankwaso. The least that will come out of Kano will be five to six million votes. That I can guarantee you. We are working towards it. I know every part of the state because I am a grassroots person. I was born and brought up there and I have been in politics since 1977. The only option for Tinubu is to change tactics.
The people of the Northeast are crying that they are being sidelined. The North-central is not happy with what is happening now. The people are not happy that the APC is denying them the position of the National Chairman of APC. And, of course, the Northwest is part of the North. Whether the president can win without the North, time will tell.