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Dickson Okafor 
Mustapha Kanti Bello, Commissioner for Resource Development, Katsina State and son maverick politician, late Senator Mahmud Kanti Bello, speaks on the February 16 presidential contest.
What is your assessment of the major political parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the presidential election?
So far, the campaign of the major political parties is characterised by personality attacks instead of issue based. What we are passing through not only in Nigeria, but in other Africa countries is the use of technology via social media to spread fake news. You see some members of both APC and the PDP using the social media to attack personalities in the name of fake news making the rounds. They form and spread their opinions instead facts. Therefore, we must careful about what we believe, even though the tempo of this year’s campaign is not heated up like that of 2015.
The two major contenders, President Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar are Fulani, who do you think will carry the day?
I will say that I foresee a fairly credible election because it cannot be 100 percent perfect. What we had during the advent of this democratic dispensation was cases of ballot box snatching and stuffing, and we even had a situation whereby dead people’s name were used to vote. I assure you such era is over, but in spite of that our democracy is not perfect. Apart from campaign not driven by issues, another danger that our democracy is facing is money politics whereby at the party level even at the national level you see party officials collect money in exchange for tickets. You find out that both APC and PDP are guilty. A situation where people buy their candidature is not healthy for our democracy. You see money at play during voting as victory is given to the highest bidder. So, we have to look at how we are going to solve the problem of vote buying because money politics does not produce the best candidate rather it produces mediocre and people who do have the interest of this country at heart.
What do you think made Obasanjo prefer Atiku to Buhari considering the fact that he was among those who supported President Buhari’s aspiration in 2015?
I cannot read the mind of Obasanjo, but what I can say as a person is that leaders in whatever capacity they find themselves can never be perfect. They will always make mistakes and they can always improve. The problem confronting our democracy which I mentioned initially in my opening statement during this interview is that people who support government can never look at the mistakes that the government makes and those who oppose government cannot also see anything good the government is doing. So, I take the middle ground, in the sense that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has done well in certain areas and in certain areas there is need for improvement.
Do you think Nigerians will change this government in February?
The issue is not about change of government, rather, in the Nigeria political setting, the contest is always between personalities not based on ideology. So, if you look at the political actors across the country, at one time or the other they were in the same party both at state and federal levels. So, I call on Nigerians to elect leaders, whose campaigns are issue based, not personality attackers. If we do that, I assure you that we will be able to move the country forward.
The two major presidential candidates in the race have divided the North; do you think if any of them emerges winner, there will be peace in the country?
For Nigeria to have survived the 2015 presidential election, the nation will also survive the 2019 presidential contest by the grace of God. The 2015 election was the most heated election since the advent of this political dispensation. Looking at the political activities in the country today, you will find out that the polity is not charged like that of 2015. So, I feel the 2019 presidential election is less heated. The reason could be because the major presidential candidates are from the north like you rightly observed. Both of them are of the same religion and tribe, you find out that the 2015 election was characterised by sentiment, so this one is not as heated as the one of 2015.
Does Masari deserves a second term?
Yes, I believe that Governor Aminu Masari deserves a second term for three reasons; first, if you go back to history of Katsina State, you have old breed politicians and the old breed politicians have people like my father, Gen. Musa Yar’Adua, former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Lawal Kaita and Masari by the virtue of his age. These were people who practiced politics without bitterness. They listened to the people; they are men of simplicity who are allowed people’s opinion to inform their decision. That is the reason I want him to continue beyond 2019. Secondly, he means well for the state. He wants to leave a legacy.
Thirdly, based on the situation we find ourselves in terms of the economy, you find out that Katsina State is one the states that has been able to manage its economy very well this include, payment of salary and pension as at when due and we have also done developmental projects in all sectors.
