Why the North will vote for Tinubu in 2027 –Maiyaki

•Gov Uba Sani has united Kaduna people, stopped ethno-religious conflicts

From Desmond Mgboh, Kano

Ahmed Maiyaki is the Kaduna State Commissioner for Information and culture.

In this interview, he offered reasons Kaduna State and the North will vote for the re-election of President Ahmed Tinubu. He also dismissed suggestion that former Governor el Rufai will pose a threat to the aspiration of President Tinubu in the state. He also spoke about the efforts being made to ensure peace in the state.

Kaduna State is the heart of northern politics. It commands a good number of votes in Nigeria. How prepared are you and your governor for President Tinubu’s election in 2027?

In Kaduna State, we have been working very hard- not just in Kaduna State, but across the entire North for the election of our party’s presidential flag bearer. This is because, as you know, my Governor, Senator Uba Sani is the Coordinator of the entire North-West Region for the re-election of Mr President. My governor is also the Deputy -Director General of the Renewed Hope Agenda being led by the Governor of Imo State – in his capacity as the Vice Chairman of the Progressives Governors” Forum. And for us in Kaduna State, we have a very sacred duty, we have a task to ensure that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC Presidential flag bearer is returned as the winner of the forthcoming presidential elections in Nigeria- not just in Kaduna State but in the entire North.  In Kaduna State, we are committed, very, very committed to this aspiration of ensuring his return, not just because he is the President of Nigeria, but because as the President, he has done a lot for the people of Kaduna State and for the people of Northern Nigeria.

You will recall that Kaduna State had faced some forms of insecurity in the recent past. It was quite bad and disheartening. But today as we step to the next election, that dark part of our history is already in the past. And this is because Mr. President has given his all. He has deployed adequate support to the state and most parts of the North that are faced with security issues.  Although there are pockets of security issues here and there across the region, but one can, without doubt, argue that there has been a tremendous progress and improvement in relation to what it was before the coming of the current administration. When we look at sectors or what he has done in terms of infrastructure, President Tinubu has an unbeaten record. For instance, he approved, in the Federal Executive Council, three major light rail projects in Nigeria- one in Lagos and two in the North. And among the ones that are located in the North, one is Kaduna State and one is in Kano State. This is very unprecedented. These light rail project is going to cost the Federal Government over N3 trillion. That is awesome sum. The contract for that of Kaduna light rail has commenced. It is a 50-kilometre metropolitan light rail project that covers the entire metropolitan area of the state and that of Kano will also begin. And so, when some people claim that the President was not doing enough for the North, I laugh at their ignorance.  These few projects that I have mentioned tell you that the President is doing even more than enough for the people of this region than he has done for Lagos. Apart from that project, we have the Abuja – Kano highway project. A major part of Abuja – Kano highway project is in our corridor- that is, most part of that project resides in Kaduna. The contract has since been reassigned to a new contractor and today, I can attest that the project is on –going, going very well.

Some critics have cited his continued detention of former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru el Rufai as President Tinubu  low factor in the state. They insisted that el Rufai and his associates would surely work against his re-election come 2027.  Do you see them succeeding?

This assumption is very untrue. Let me state clearly, although I don’t speak for the President on the issue, I can say that Mr President has no personal beef with anybody- and certainly not with the former governor of the state. This is a very enormous assumption by those who chose to hold it. In my opinion, what you see playing out is actually the rule of law. The President has no fault or blame in this. It is the system that is playing out and we must subscribe to the rule of law. The President is one person that respects the rule of law and the sanctity of the judiciary process. So, it is not the President that is behind the continued detention of Mallam el Rufai. Besides, talking about his supporters, just recently some of the major players in his camp, even the person (Rufai) supported in the ADC governorship election contest decamped from the ADC and are preparing to join the APC in the next few days. The former Governor’s entire political structure, in the way you know them, has aligned with us in Kaduna State with a view to seeing how our beloved President will be delivered as the President of Nigeria in 2027. Let me remind you also, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done something very rare, something nobody has done in the history of Nigeria political system for the North. What is it? He is one person that had supported three Northerners in a row, three Northerners that wanted to be President of Nigeria. Remember that he supported the aspiration of Atiku Abubakar, when he ran for the Presidency under the ACN platform. He also supported Nuhu Ribadu when he also ran for the Presidency and finally, he supported the Late President Muhammadu Buhari for the Presidency in 2015. And as you remember, it was when he supported President Buhari that he emerged as the President of the country- because of the chunk of support he got from him, both in terms of the political structure and financial support. And that was what delivered President Buhari. So, President Tinubu, as you can see, is a long time ally of the North. And I want to assure you that the people of Northern Nigeria are aware of this fact and will surely deliver the votes for Tinubu in 2027.

Let’s talk about real issues, not ethnicity or religion. Besides, Tinubu is also a Muslim. So the issue of ethnicity is one thing that cannot change the narrative. It cannot change the permutation of the presidential elections.

You just made a point of the rule of law in the case of Mallam Nasir el-Rufai. But we are dealing with a situation where the accused is being held beyond the requirement of the rule of law

He is being held by the judiciary system, not by the president. I truly do not have the capacity to explain why the judiciary is keeping him but it is the judiciary that is keeping him. It is the judiciary system. It is the same system that he left behind that somebody inherited because let me remind you, this is not the jurisdiction of the Federal Government. It is the same state High court that is trying el Rufia and the Federal High Court through the ICPC that is trying el Rufai. So it is not the fault of the President, nor is it the fault of my Governor. My Governor has consistently maintained that he is not involved.

Recently, the Defence Minister, General Christopher Musa (Rtd) accused el- Rufai of dividing Kaduna State during the tenure as the governor, that the governor reconciled the state. What is your take?

Governor Uba Sani met a sharply divided Kaduna State- divided along religious and ethnic divides. The division may not have started under el Rufai’s administration, but the truth is that Kaduna State was sharply divided when we assumed office. To this effect, my Governor has made it a cardinal objective to ensure that Kaduna is united as a state and a family. This, he has demonstrated in his contract awards, demonstrated in his appointments and demonstrated in the character of the administration. He is truly a pro- Nigerian, he is a nationalist, uniting people. That is why he is not concerned about religious and ethnic divides. So Kaduna State, I can say today, with all sense of responsibility, has remained very united among its people. And that is why Kaduna State has witnessed the kind of development that we are witnessing. And that is why the APC  as a party has continued to win all the elections conducted in the state with ease. We’ve had a number of bye- elections in the state and we won them all – even in areas which used to be a stronghold of the APC since 1999. But today, the APC won in this area overwhelmingly by 34,000 votes.  So, it is a demonstration of a leader who is inclusive, a governor who is a unifier and a governor who is concerned about the unity of purpose. Even in the choice of his running mate ahead of the 2027 polls, he demonstrated that he is a leader, that everybody should have a stake in the affairs of the state. You cannot have peace if there is no justice. And that is why my Governor has continued to ensure that we are united and that is why Kaduna State, in the last three years, has not witnessed one single ethno- religious conflict of any sort and that is why we have achieved so much peace and security in the state.