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•Says, El-Rufai didn’t speak as representative of Muslims
After two weeks in office, former Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Anthony Sani has expressed satisfaction with the level of progress made so far by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in governing Nigeria few weeks in office.
Sani, in this interview with NOAH EBIJE, noted that Tinubu is literally on a speed lane of governance, compared to his immediate predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari who was believed to have been very slow in administering the country.
The former ACF scribe, also weighed in on the viral video in which immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Mr Nasir el-Rufai, asserted that Muslims would rule Nigeria for the next 20 years as Presidents and Vice Presidents. According to Sani, El-Rufai was not speaking as the representative of Muslims but as an individual. He also spoke on other national issues.
As soon as Bola Tinubu was sworn in on May 29 as the substantive President of the country, he appeared to have hit the ground running in terms of policies and programmes. What is your assessment of his government so far?
President Bola Tinubu has hit the ground running, considering the pace so far. He has made some appointments of essential staff to help him govern Nigeria. He has also suspended the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make for a thorough investigation of allegations against the governor. Since assumption of office, the new president has been meeting with critical sectors like security chiefs and with the petroleum sectors. As a result, the president has pledged reforms of CBN especially in the areas of fiscal and monetary policies for performance. He has also removed fuel subsidy that has resisted removal all these years. All these are testament to the fact that the president came prepared for the job. The other areas that need his attention is in area of security. He needs to up the number of properly trained security personnel who are adequately trained and well motivated to secure the nation. That is the only way of dominating the forests where criminal elements stay and plan attacks. This is because Nigeria is not adequately manned by security personnel. As a result, though the security personnel are trying their best, they are not sufficient by way of number, training and equipment as well as motivation.
The Central Bank governor, Godwin Emefiele has been suspended from office, and he was picked up by the DSS to answer questions on some allegations bordering on terrorism sponsorship, among other allegations. What is your reaction?
I am not sure the allegations of sponsorship of terrorism levelled against the governor are well informed. This is because “to what end.” We can understand the motive driving Boko Haram and IPOB. But in the case of Mr. Godwin Emefiele, I am unable to make sense out of the motive for sponsoring terrorism. I therefore believe there are more to the reasons for the suspension and arrest of the CBN Governor than what ordinary Nigerians know. I say so because the removal of the CBN governor has lot of implications to investors locally and internationally. President Bola Tinubu knows all that. And unless the offences are weighty enough, I do not see how the governor can be removed off-the-cuff.
Apart from the CBN, which other areas of the public sector do you think President Tinubu should clean up?
President Buhari did his best in the fight against corruption and admitted there is still a lot to be done. All aspects of our national life are still corruption driven and begging for attention. Because President Buhari was slow, the pace of actions against corruption did not meet the expectations of many Nigerians. President Bola Tinubu may have an edge over his predecessor by way of speed.
There was an outcry over fuel subsidy removal by President Tinubu. Some Nigerians said the timing was wrong. What is your stand on this?
The controversy surrounding fuel subsidy has been on the table for over two decades. The issue has been that as a producer of petroleum, Nigerians should enjoy some of the benefits. But because of corruption in the management of fuel subsidy, there are those who prefer it removed and free money for development of other areas. In today’s Nigeria, it does not appear the fuel subsidy is sustainable. This is because of low production quota and low price. Our production quota is half of what was obtained under President Obasanjo and President Jonathan.
That is what informed President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove the fuel subsidy. Those opposed to the timing believe that a new regime should not start with decisions that bring lot of hardship. They contend that the removal of fuel subsidy should be gradual and preceded by enlightenment of people to gird their groin for it. They are right to some extent that people’s minds should be prepared for it. But now that the president has removed the subsidy, I suggest the difference in the prices be paid into a trust fund for exclusive preserve for development of volume and quality of education and health that help to develop human capital and Human Development Index. I am quite hopeful that when Dangote refineries come on stream amid complete deregulation of the petroleum sectors, market forces would compel downward movement of the fuel prices for increase performance of the national economy.
What is your advice to the 10th Senate in term of formation of the leadership at the National Assembly?
The members of the National Assembly should elect leaders with appropriate pedigree and content of character needed to provide purposeful leadership lest the NASS lose its independence needed for checking executive power.
Therefore, let the members be democratic and make judicious use of their democratic right and elect the right leaders needed to make laws that will help the executive arm of government move the nation forward. The ruling party can zone the positions to geopolitical zones instead of zoning to individuals and help kill internal democracy in the NASS.
Kidnapping and killings are still going on in the country. What do you think President Tinubu should do differently to achieve positive results?
I have said the president needs enough number of security personnel who are properly trained, equipped and well motivated to secure the nation. This is because without security, any talk of socio-economic development would leave the country without any development. The government can address the underlying causes such as poverty that comes with ignorance and unemployment.
The presidential election petition tribunal is ongoing. But some Nigerians are now saying that petitioners should give up the case and join hands with Tinubu to move the country forward. Do you agree with them?
While such calls are good intentioned for the polity, pursuit of their cases in the tribunals and courts have their own use in improvement of democracy as rule of law. They are part of democratic practices that strengthen democracy and its institutions.
There is a video that has gone viral on social media where the immediate past governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-rufai allegedly stated, among other issues, that Muslim-Muslim ticket has come to stay in the country. What is your reaction?
Though former governor El-Rufai is a seminal figure in the polity, we must note that he did not speak in representative capacity for Muslims. Same faith ticket did not start in Kaduna or by Bola Tinubu who used it as winning game plans which may not be the same in the incoming political cock pits.
Nasarawa State, your home state, is in crisis over speakership for the State Assembly. What do you consider as the way out of the crisis?
We are in democracy as rule of law. If it is true that the two factions breached the law by one led by former speaker conducting its elections outside the premises of the Assembly and the other one did not use the clerk or deputy clerk to conduct its elections, then let the two factions come together and conduct fresh elections for the speaker and principal officers. As a state, Nasarawa State has enough challenges besetting the government which should be spared of further challenges.
