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Agaju Madugba, Katsina
Alhaji Aliyu Sani Mohammed, Chairman Concerned All Progressives Congress (APC) Members Forum is also the Secretary Katsina State Senior Citizens Forum.
He reviews the outcome of the 2019 general elections and concludes President Muhammadu Buhari needs to hit the ground running without delay.
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Do you think the outcome of the general elections actually met the expectations of the larger majority of Nigerians?
First of all, we thank the Almighty God for keeping us alive to witness the elections and another transition from civilian rule to civilian rule. The general elections have come and gone and though a lot of things happened but one can say that the outcome was to a large extent met the expectation of a number of Nigerians. Except in a few cases, Nigerians were allowed to exercise their franchise during the general elections and Nigerians demonstrated their willingness to vote and they elected people of their choices and the swearing-in of the president and elected governors has already taken place. There were few mistakes here and there which were due to internal wrangling especially within the APC. Wherever the APC lost, it was due to some people trying to impose candidates on the people against their wishes.
We saw what happened in Zamfara, Imo and in Oyo states and so many other places where some people tried to subvert the process for selfish interests. Instead of the APC recording more successes, it ended up losing some states which is a setback and our national chairman may be blamed for some of these lapses.
Right from the time he assumed position of leadership, the national chairman exhibited certain characteristics which resulted in animosities and created enemies along the way because he tried to run the party like a garrison commander. Labour unionism is different from party politics. Party politics requires a lot of diplomacy and more maturity in dealing with human beings. Some of us saw it coming. Certainly, Oshiomhole had good intentions but he overdid certain things and he did not rely on experienced politicians around him to guide him on how to run political party affairs and that was why he committed some blunders.
But all those things are gone and we are into the next level now and we hope that Oshiomhole and other party leaders including those elected have learnt their lessons. When we talk of democracy, dictatorship should be ruled out completely. You cannot say that things must be done your way. As I said, the outcome of the general elections met the expectations of Nigerians except in some places and the APC is paying for it. In Zamfara, Imo and Oyo, we lost out completely. We also lost out in Adamawa. It was not because we could not win elections in these places but it was simply because of some mistakes due to internal wrangling. We should learn from the mistakes and try to move the party forward.
Just after the elections, the APC National Chairman was reported as saying that the party would not share power with the opposition. What is your position on that?
That was a wrong statement. How can you say that you won’t share positions with anybody? It is not done anywhere in the world. There are brilliant brains in the opposition political parties and if we really want Mr. President to succeed, we have to look around. If you don’t have the material you want from your party, nothing stops you from looking elsewhere even it is from the opposition. After all, members of the opposition are also Nigerians. President Muhammadu Buhari has been sworn-in and he is the president for everybody. If you can go to the Diaspora and ask somebody to return home and serve in the cabinet, why not from the opposition? That statement ought not to have come from the national chairman of a ruling party.
There are insinuations that the South East is marginalised politically in the country. How true is this?
I don’t think that there is any section of the country that can marginalise the other. The Igbo are the architect of their problem, if any, but it all depends on what you mean by marginalisation. Rochas Okorocha was governor for eight years and Orji Uzor Kalu has emerged as Senator-elect. Nobody can marginalise the Igbo. They are enterprising and educated people. I know so many Igbo who held high profile positions under the immediate past government and if you remember under Jonathan, Anyim Pius Anyim was Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and a very powerful one at that and he served for many years. The Igbo may have their problem because they are not united and you cannot attribute that to marginalisation. The South East can produce the president. Let them support the ruling party and demonstrate goodwill and assist in nation-building; you will see that they will be given the mandate.
What is your advice to the president over the constitution of a new cabinet?
The new cabinet should be made up of vibrant people and Mr. President should select technocrats who will help him to deliver on his mandate. If ministers during the previous regime were given to or imposed on him, the president should take his time and make the choice himself this time around. He should look out for patriotic Nigerians who are ready to work with him in the task to make Nigeria get out of the woods. The president must have learnt a lot in the past four years and we hope things will change for the better and more security will be provided for Nigeria and Nigerians.
Banditry and kidnapping have taken more dangerous dimensions in Katsina State in recent times. What do you think is the way out?
Governor Aminu Bello Masari has lodged a complaint with the Federal Government and back home here, he has organised several meetings with different groups of people including traditional and religious leaders with a view to finding a solution and I believe by the grace of God, he will succeed. The governor is worried and the president too is concerned because he has given an order to the security chiefs to wade in and check this issue of insecurity disturbing Katsina State. At our level too, the Katsina State Senior Citizens Forum of which I am the Secretary, is also making efforts in collaboration with other stakeholders to ensure that the insecurity situation is resolved. The issue has tended to degrade Katsina, hitherto known for peace and it is depriving the people of their farming activity and so many other things. The security agencies are actually doing their best too because from last week to date, they have recorded some successes in the elimination of the bandits. By the grace of God, within the next few weeks, this banditry issue will become history.
