I’m worried about defections into APC

By Olakunle Olafioye

National President, Arewa United Consultative Forum, Alhaji Shuaibu Ado Dansudu has expressed concern over the spate of defections into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Dansudu said the unpredictable nature of political actors in the country makes it difficult for genuine and discerning APC members to celebrate the wave of high profile defections the party has recorded in the past months.

Dansudu, however, expressed optimism about the chances of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the ruling party to retain power in 2027 despite the growing profile of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), which is gradually positioning itself as a major opposition and alternative political platform to the ruling party.

In this interview, Dansudu spoke more on other major political issues affecting the country.

President Bola Tinubu is approaching his third year in office with an eye on a second term. As a grassroots politician, how would you assess the feeling of the people about his second term ambition compared to what it was in 2023, when he came onboard?

Democracy is very interesting because it accommodates varied and different shades of opinions on different issues, including the performances of our political leaders. But if we want to be objective, we will say there has been gradual and steady improvement compared to when the President came to power in 2023. For instance the prices of food items have crashed so much that every one of us is happy now unlike what the mood was about two years ago. Secondly, we must remember that it is much slower to build than to destroy. This should explain why the president may not have surpassed the expectations of those who anticipate much faster improvements in less than three years of his administration. Nonetheless, President Tinubu has done very well in the last two years. And that can be seen from the growing acceptance he has received so far. My advice and appeal to Nigerians is to exercise more patience with the president and support him as he intensifies efforts to take the country completely out of the woods. Not just temporarily but such that the gains and the growth recorded under his leadership cannot be reversed by whoever succeeds him.

You have just admitted that there is still room for improvement. Do you think the President, with less than one and a half years to the end of his first term in office, can spring surprises that will swing electoral victory in his favour come next year?

Nigerians need no further conviction from the President. He has performed well and every sincere Nigerian can attest to that. It is now left for them to reciprocate the good work, which the President is doing. Those who are constituting themselves as opposition and his antagonists are the same set of politicians who led us into the mess we are now fighting hard to rid ourselves of. They are the same yesteryear politicians that destroyed the country which is being rebuilt by the present administration. They are getting ready again to find their way back to power. That is why they are fabricating all manners of lies and falsehood to rubbish the good work the president is doing. Nigerians must reject and resist their return to power.

The APC has continued to consolidate its hold on power with the high profile defections into its fold. Nigerians are really worried that the ruling party is allegedly hoodwinking people who were hitherto considered as potential threats into the APC. Are you not worried that Nigeria is inching closer to becoming a one-party state?

I am really worried about the spate of defections into APC but my worry is not about the possibility of turning Nigeria into a one-party state. No! Nigeria can never become a one party state. My worry however stems from the fact that there is no proper scrutiny of those defecting into APC. We should get it right that APC didn’t send invitations to anybody to join; they are the ones lobbying to be part of it. And in politics, you don’t repel people coming into your party. But personally it gives me a great concern to see people moving in droves to APC because politicians are the most unpredictable set of people. My prayer is that they are not coming into the party to cause problems for the party. My advice is that those who truly have the interest of the party at heart must be vigilant to avoid unexpected problems. Of course there have been some wicked lies being circulated about the spate of defection we see in the party. Some have said that those who move into the party are immune from being investigated by ICPC and EFCC. They claim that once you join the party you will be free from prosecution. That is a lie. One major undercurrent in most defections is that those who constantly defect are those who believe that they must always be in power. But once they fail to get the ticket or see that they may not be given the opportunity, they move to the next available political party. Most defections are motivated by selfish interest. I am really ashamed that this sit-tight syndrome and mentality is more prevalent among the northern politicians.

In the north we have politicians who have been in power for between 15 and 20 years. If they fail to clinch the ticket next time, you will see them move into the next available political party because they have the money to buy their way into power. Unfortunately, these politicians are the same set of people who desert their constituents once they are sworn in only to return when elections are approaching again. Unfortunately, the people who are supposed to fight such an anomaly are not doing anything.

Insecurity remains one major challenge the President has found very difficult to tackle. In your opinion why do you think insecurity remains such a herculean task for this government?

We must not lose sight of the fact that insecurity is one of the inherited challenges from the previous administrations. But despite efforts by this government to tame this monster it has remained a major source of concern for the government largely because of entrenched interests from both within and outside the country. But having said that, this government deserves a huge commendation for mustering the courage to fight insecurity in the manner the previous administrations could not. If previous administrations in the country had mustered the same level of courage to give 50 per cent of what this government is doing now in taming insecurity before it grew to this level, insecurity would have been long defeated in Nigeria.

Most people believe that former President Goodluck Jonathan lost his re-election bid to former President Buhari in 2015 due to the security challenge. Are you not worried that the spiralling insecurity in the country could prove yet a banana peel to President Tinubu’s re-election bid next year?

The security challenge cannot cost Asiwaju his re-election bid because the efforts he has put into the war against insecurity is obvious and visible to all and sundry. Jonathan came to power when the problem was just starting. If the former President Jonathan government had done half of what Tinubu is doing now to curtail insecurity then the war against insecurity would have been won since. Buhari also handled the issue with kid gloves. Look at how the military is firing from all cylinders now. In the past what we saw was a situation where soldiers would be stationed at certain points and would be instructed not to take the fight to the insurgents. Instead, they would be told to wait for them to attack first and only to defend themselves when the terrorists attack them first. But under Tinubu now, you see the soldiers taking the fight to the insurgents even in their strongholds. His approach is different from what we saw under Jonathan and Buhari.

What is your take on the alleged attack on Peter Obi, John Oyegun, Olumide Akpata and other ADC leaders in Edo State? Isn’t that an indication of what lies ahead of next year’s election?

It is very wrong to assume that APC has a hand in the incident if it happened at all and if it was not a script by those who raised that alarm. Why would APC ever make such an attempt and for what reason? To me, it was just a scripted drama. Do you know the number of people who planned their own kidnap in order to extort their family members? So, I don’t doubt that what they claimed happened could just be a planned work targeted at portraying APC in bad light. I don’t believe that any sane person would plan to attack Peter Obi in a state like Edo where he is believed to have an appreciable level of support. I am sure that if a thorough investigation is conducted to unravel the motive and those behind the alleged attack on him, those pointing accusing fingers at the APC will be ashamed by the outcome of such investigation. Personally, I am of the opinion that what played out in Edo was a pure attempt to blackmail the APC.