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•With Northern APC govs, Tinubu can’t make impact in region
•Nigerians will vote individuals, not parties
By Vincent Kalu
National Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), Comrade Jamilu Aliu Charanchi, has said that, even with all the Northern All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will suffer a major political setback in the North for the 2027 presidential poll if the election is free and fair.
According to him, the masses and the Talakawas are those that will determine the president’s fate and not the governors, who are running helter-skelter to secure their seats.
In an interview with Sunday Sun, the CNG coordinator, noted that the mammoth crowd that was at a Kaduna stadium for the flag off of Tinubu’s reelection was rented, and dismissed it as reality on the ground.
Barely 75 days to the general elections, are you satisfied with the way the campaigns are going on?
The campaigns of the parties are just jamboree. We need campaigns that are manifesto-based, where the political parties and their candidates will tell us clearly what they are going to do for Nigerians.
But a situation where they just come, dance, sing, shout, and just leave, is not a campaign. That is just a jamboree campaign.
We expect even the campaigns to also be through media platforms, so that Nigerians will be able to ask questions based on what the candidates have promised to do to us, and ask further questions on how, where and when the promises would manifest. These are very important questions because we need to deal with the time frame for each of the promises.
If you say this is what you are going to do to Nigerians, you state when, how and where? The campaigns are just going on as the normal jamboree in Nigerian politics – just to shout, dance and make noise, and then leave the area without any tangible focus or direction of where we are headed.
What should be the campaign issues?
The major issues to be discussed in these campaigns are just the security and the economic situation of the country; coupled with the hardship that people are facing in the country. I believe that if the economic issues and the security matters are resolved, then definitely, the hardship will be history to Nigerians. What should be central to the campaigns are security and economic development of the country. We are not talking about the growth of the economy on papers; we are not talking about GDP figures and we are not talking taxes, but we should be talking about the real purchasing power of Nigerians. Will the monthly salaries be able to settle their house rents, feed, buy clothing, healthcare and other things? These are issues that we expect the candidates and parties at different levels should be discussing about – the way forward on security, economic development; how they are going to reduce the hardship or the heavy burden that Nigerians are currently bearing.
You talk about hardship, but President Bola Tinubu, during his flag off campaign in Kaduna, penultimate Saturday, accused the opposition of causing hardship and poverty in the country. What is your reaction to this?
No, it’s not caused by the opposition people. President Tinubu is the alpha and omega. Even if the opposition figures had destroyed Nigeria’s economy, as the president, it is his duty to rebuild what has been destroyed. That’s why he even tagged his programme, Renewed Hope.
That means so many things were not going on well the way they’re supposed to be going. So, we expect that President Tinubu should fix them.
I don’t think that Nigerians will still tolerate any passing blames on Mr. A, Mr. B or Mr. C. The citizens are demanding to see clear changes. If you continue to blame the economic problems on the opposition, what then are you doing in the office, if you cannot solve the problem?
By the way, you can go through the NBS figures, the IMF figures, the World Bank reports, UNDP reports etc. What are they telling us? Are they telling us that yesterday was better than today or today is better than yesterday?
President Tinubu has every right to say whatever he wants to say, but the reality is that whatever was destroyed in this country, the president is expected to put it right.
If the opposition party destroyed Nigeria 16 years ago, the right opportunity came for him to rebuild it.
The political parties have raised the alarm over fake AI generated photos in the voters register, which INEC had admitted. What is your take on this?
The credibility of anybody who is heading an institution matters a lot. At the initial stage, most Nigerians cried out loudly that Prof Joash Amupitan would not do justice to INEC. If he destroys INEC, it’s not his name that he has destroyed, but the commission.
When he was appointed, many people questioned his integrity, credibility; whether he would be fair to all and sundry.
By what is playing out, Amupitan is trying to justify the opinions of many Nigerians who said he won’t do justice to all.
I see no reason how intruders would penetrate INEC servers and do whatever they wanted to do.
This is telling you that there is every tendency that a lot of wrongdoings might happen during the 2027 elections. At the end of the day, there may likely be a compromise. That is the truth of the matter.
INEC may likely compromise. The electoral body should not only ensure the conduct of the election, but also ensures the protection of the election. If you cannot protect whatever that is entrusted to you to the point that outsiders have access to INEC secret code to generate AI pictures, how can Nigerians be convinced without any iota of doubt that their votes will be protected. It is a question of the integrity of INEC.
This is an opportunity for Amupitan to at least, clear himself because of the low expectations that some Nigerians already had of him. We expect him to do anything humanly possible to clear his name, and conduct a credible election that Nigerians will accept, not to do otherwise.
If Amupitan decided to do otherwise, then generally, he is reaffirming the earlier position of some Nigerians that he was not a man to be trusted.
You mentioned insecurity as a critical campaign issue. What is the security situation in the North?
In some areas, you can say that insecurity has reduced, but some areas are now experiencing the worst insecurity situation. There are some areas that residents can now sleep with their two eyes closed; but there are so many areas that before people used to sleep with their two eyes closed, and today, they cannot sleep with their two eyes closed.
It’s not an issue that you can give a single answer. Let me just cite an example of Katsina State, where I come from. There are areas around Basari, Jibia, Kamusa, Sapana, Dusa, Makurfi, which were one of the hottest areas before, but now, these areas are experiencing peace.
Areas like Matazu, Malempashi, Musawa, Faskari, Nandumi, Sabwa were living peacefully before, but today, they are one of the hottest areas in the region. It will be very difficult for someone just to say that insecurity has reduced or has not if you are going to do justice to the topic.
The truth is that there are some areas that are experiencing peace today, but before, they were experiencing insecurity; and there are some areas that have serious insecurity today, but before, they were experiencing peace. That is the truth of the matter.
So, in the general terms, we cannot say that insecurity has reduced or not.
But the truth is that, still these people attack, kill, kidnap, and are moving around with all impunity that you can think of. They are dominating the forest. Still, there are places that farmers cannot go; there are still some places where the rearing of animals has become history, and still there are places that you cannot sleep with your two eyes closed.
Still, there are roads that we cannot follow at any hour, and there are roads that are not even motorable.
President Tinubu went to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where he went to perform the lesser hajj, last week. From a statement the Presidency released, he said that God has shown him how he should tackle the Nigerian problems in his second term. How do you react to this?
I want to ask, has God shown President Tinubu that he will reach 2027? That is the question. If God showed him how to solve the problem, has God also shown him that he is going to reach 2027?
This is just an issue of politics. You know politicians can easily say whatever they want to say.
But, in fact, as far as Muslims are concerned, God is not showing you anything because prophecy stopped when Prophet Muhammad died; prophecy stopped and nobody is seeing anything. Whatever you see is just a normal dream, which can be true or might not be true.
It is only when President Tinubu signed an MOU with God that he’s going to reach 2027, then we can agree that God has shown him the way he was going to solve the problems, but in as much as he’s not signed any MOU with God, I can just call it a just a mere political statement; and anyone can sleep and wake up and say whatever he wants to.
Campaigns for these elections are witnessing violent attacks, threats all over the place. The other day, some youths in Katsina attacked an APC convoy going for campaigns. Last week, two people were killed in Ebonyi, while attacking an NDC campaign train. There are threats here and there. What do these portend for the 2027 elections?
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This just shows you that Nigerian politics is not about the people’s interest. Nigerian politics has become an enterprise, where people are seeing it as shops. No one will allow you to cross wherever he is getting what he is going to use for his daily activities.
We have already left the real politics, because in real politics, nobody will attack anybody. The attacks will be on ideas, philosophy, principles and modus operandi. This is what we know about real politics.
But in a situation where somebody will attack someone just because we have different political parties or another person will attack someone because he doesn’t want to vote for your candidate or I don’t want to be your candidate, that is not politics. This is thuggery, in which security agencies should do anything humanly possible to ensure that they stop.
What we want are ideas. Let the APC tell us that this is what we are going to do to Nigerians, and let the ADC and others counter it, either through media platforms or whatever it is. No, this is not how you are going to solve Nigerians’ problems. This is what we expect from you people, so that Nigerians will be able to choose either A or B.
But attack is not even the solution. Even if you hate somebody or no matter how you think that the government, particularly, has offended you, you don’t have any reason to attack people while they are moving on their campaigns. Attack them with your ideas. If you cannot attack with ideas, then attack them on Election Day with your voter’s card. Use a voter’s card to do whatever you think is right.
That is why every Nigerian that reaches 18 years is allowed to vote. It is on that very day that you show your anger with your vote. Just go and vote for whoever you think is suitable to change this country.
But in a situation where people are desperately looking for power and money, they can do anything stupid that you never expected a human being could do. You cannot even expect that a human being will be attacking each other today, the way they are doing. You will think that it is animal versus animal. This is what is happening in Nigeria. That is why we always say that it is very unfortunate that in Nigeria, we don’t have leaders today; what we have are politicians who are always struggling with how to grab power, how to get money by any means. They never care about building the country. They never care about building the next generation. They never even care about how to reshape, how to modernise and how to take this country to an Eldorado. The attacks are purely madness, and not politics. The security agencies should deal with the matter accordingly.
Some northern APC leaders say that the president has done more for the north than past leaders. What is your position on this?
President Tinubu has not done what is expected of him, not only to the North, but the entire country. So, the position of APC leaders from the north is just pure lies.
You just mentioned that he said in Saudi Arabia that God has revealed to him how to solve Nigerian problems. That means Nigeria is still in trouble. So, he didn’t solve the problems. What the North expected from him, he didn’t do it.
What we expected from him is at least to solve the issue of insecurity, to tackle the economic hardship, to arrest the issue of out-of-school children. These problems exist in the north. How can you say that he solved the problems or he has done more than any other president or he has done for the north more than any other region?
How? Is the CBN Governor from the North, is the Finance minister from the north, is the IGP from the North, is the COAS? Go and do your investigation and see. DSS DG, where is he from? The Customs CG, where is he from? What of Immigration, what of FIRS?
If you do the arithmetic, you will see that Tinubu has favoured his region more than any other region in this country. That is the truth of the matter.
He has not done well for the entire country that is why sometimes they are facing all sorts of challenges during their campaigns because Nigerians are angry with the administration; citizens are not happy with the administration. That is the truth of the matter, not only in northern Nigeria. You made mention of an attack in Ebonyi, another attack was in Kaduna. There are many attacks everywhere. So, he has not done fairly well for the country.
He has not been fair to the North. And the North gave the highest votes, which made him president. Let me tell you categorically and clearly that there is no president that can emerge in Nigeria without majority votes coming from the northern part of the country.
If the North is angry with Tinubu, then we will see it on the election day, and if the region is happy with him, we will equally see it on the election day, inasmuch as a free, fair and credible election was conducted in the country.
So, the northern APC caucus are politicians; they have to say it the way they said it, but the reality is that I don’t think that even President Tinubu will acknowledge that he has favoured Northern Nigeria, because there are so many issues that Northern Nigeria are complaining of today. Abuja-Kaduna Highway is uncompleted, the same with Sokoto-Zamfara road; Sokoto-Badagry. Lokoja-Abuja Road is dilapidated, the same with Lokoja-Kwara road; Niger-Kwara; Yobe-Maiduguri.
So, what are you saying? The bad roads are still there, people cannot sleep with their both eyes closed, the economic hardship is still there, out of school children are still there, and so many problems here and there in the northern part of the country.
So, I don’t think President Tinubu has solved the problems, unless he is planning to do so if he gets the opportunity again.
Out of the 19 governors in the north, 18 belong to the APC, don’t you think that the threat by the northern elders to unmake Tinubu may not come to pass considering that the governors are in control and will deliver their respective states to the president?
The governors are only controlling the resources; they are not controlling their states. If they are controlling their states, they will not be stoned when they are moving for their campaigns.
Let him have all the governors; they cannot change anything as free and fair elections are going to be conducted. If you see anything otherwise, then the election is not free and fair.
The masses, the Talakawas are those that will decide whether President Tinubu will go for a second term or not; the governors cannot do anything about it. In fact, the governors are even battling to secure their seats.
That’s why the governors are moving helter-skelter; from here to here because they definitely know that they don’t have the support of the majority of the masses.
They are in control of the funds; they are in control of the political structures in their states, they are in control of so many things, but their problem is the masses, who will go to vote on election day.
Even if you think that you can induce them with money, some of them will collect the money and won’t do your bidding.
So, the governors don’t mean anything unless you are talking about establishing an electoral college in Nigeria before 2027.
That’s where the governors might play a significant role, but in as much as, it is one person, one vote, then the majority of those people that will decide who will win the election are the masses, and not the governors.
Are you saying that the governors are not in control?
Yes. They are not in control of the states. How many state governors have been stoned? Diko Umaru Radda is taking up his campaign in Katsina here, how many local governments has he not been stoned?
You saw that during the flag off of its presidential campaign in Kaduna, APC was stoned. Does that show that the governor is in control? Take a look at what is happening today in Kano,
Niger, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara states and all other places.
So, the governors are not in control of the masses; they are only in control of the funds.
But the crowd during Tinubu’s re-election campaign flag off in Kaduna, penultimate week, was massive and intimidating. Isn’t that an acknowledgement of his acceptance in the North?
That was a rented crowd. In fact, all the political parties are doing crowd renting. Even during the event, so many people among the crowd were interviewed. They told the exact amount of money that they were given to attend the event. This is because of the level of poverty and economic hardship in the region, they didn’t have any other alternative; they would just go and collect the money and leave. What you saw was a rented crowd. Nobody will even doubt what I’m saying that it was a rented crowd. That’s what politicians are using today.
There are some people whose business is crowd renting. They will just ask you the number of people you want and how much you are going to pay. You pay them and they will give the masses their own agreed sum.
The masses don’t have other alternatives because of the economic hardship and the poverty level in the country. It doesn’t translate to what is exactly in their minds
From the INEC register of membership of political parties, where the APC has a clear majority, don’t you think that the APC already has a clear victory?
I don’t even know where you got this figure from. I don’t know where INEC established this register from. But that register doesn’t translate to reality on the ground.
And let me tell you, the worst part of it is that Nigerians don’t even respect political parties; they can go out of their political parties and do their election and vote whoever they want to vote for.
Today I can register as a member of APC; tomorrow I will register as a member of ADC. How many people have immigrated from here to here? Initially, they may be counted as members of APC and tomorrow, they are also counted as ADC members? Nigerians are just migrating anyhow, from one party to the other. That register doesn’t translate to what is on ground today.
