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By Desmond Mgboh
Inuwa Waya is a prominent Nigeria lawyer, former senior officer at the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation and a notable figure in the politics of Kano State.
Waya, a graduate of Petroleum Law and Policy from the University of Dundee, Scotland, was a leading APC governorship aspirant in Kano State in the 2023 elections.
In this interview, he shared his thoughts about the defection of Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf, the mistake made by Kwankwaso for not joining the APC alongside the governor, the issue of betrayal, the chances of President Bola Tinubu in Kano, and some accusations against the Tinubu government .
You were one of the leading aspirants in the 2023 governorship race in Kano State. It was recently reported that you have decided to withdraw yourself from aspiring for the same position. What exactly led to this decision?
Well, I decided to step down from re-contesting the governorship elections in the state in 2027 because of a number of reasons , the most important being the identification of one or two aspirants that share the same objectives with me. If you recall in 2023, we ran a very effective, a very efficient and vibrant campaign. We came out to talk to the Kano people about what were and are still burning problems in the state – hooliganism, urchins, lack of education and slow economic activities in the state, lack of infrastructure, lack of health services and so on. And the people were quite happy to receive us. They have noticed that we were genuine and they were really interested in the transformation that we promised. We did a lot, but unfortunately I was unable to get the party’s ticket as the flag bearer, hence my ambition to serve the state in that capacity was cut short. Now, after we failed or rather we lost the election in 2023 due to the dismal performance of the APC government then, the people were not happy with the way things were, and so they decided to effect a change during the 2023 elections. They decided to vote Engineer Abba Kabiru Yusuf as the Governor of the state. When he started in government, I was remotely studying his government and I noticed that many of the ideas, policies and programmes that I stood for were being implemented clearly by his administration. I also noticed that we share a number of things in common with regard to our approach to governance. Having realised that, I decided to withdraw from the race.
Just recently, Governor Yusuf defected to the APC. How do you assess his defection? Is it in the best interest of Kano State?
Yes! Governor Abba’s defection to the APC, which is the ruling party at the centre, is highly welcomed not only by the APC members in the state, but by the generality of the people of Kano State. First of all, I will like you to note that, in his own right and in his own capacity as a person and as an administrator and as a Governor and a politician, Engineer Abba Kabiru Yusuf is a valuable material to any kind of political office. He is a valuable material to any political party. He is an asset. And so his defection to the APC will certainly brighten the prospect of the APC as a party in Kano State. This is because in the past two years that he has been steering the affairs of the state, he has displayed very invaluable characteristics of a person that is passionate in transforming the state, he is transforming the educational system, he equipping our schools, he is reconstructing our dilapidated structures and making sure that schools in the state are well equipped and funded. He is also involved in quality aspect of education by ensuing that teachers are sufficiently trained. He is also transforming the infrastructure of the state. If you go round the town, you will see a number of roads that are being re-built and reconstructed and some new ones are coming up. All these are meant to improve the economy of the state. …..
Are you saying that his defection to the APC will benefit Kano State more than the system was of benefit to Kano when he was an NNPP governor?
First of all, you must understand that a governor that belongs to the same political party with the government at the centre has more advantages than the governor that does not belong to the party at the centre. When he (Abba) was in NNPP, he was in a sort of cage because there were certain things that he needed to do but he had to obtain the endorsement, permission, authorisation and approval from the central government. And these were not coming so easy for him and therefore by implication, affecting the entire people of the state. So to that extent, yes his defection to APC will open doors for Kano State as a state which is now part of the party at the centre to have easy access of interacting with the government at the centre. There will be now a coordinated form of synergy of programmes and activities for the betterment of the state – in terms of security; it is easier for him to coordinate activities with security agencies at the national level. We may also have noticed that just a few days after he defection, a decision was taken by the Federal Government to spend over N1 trillion for the execution of a rail line project in the state, which will invariably improve the economy of the state.
On the streets, some Kano people have described Governor Abba’s defection as a huge betrayal of his godfather, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso. Is this really a case of betrayal or a normal political movement?
Many of our people don’t understand political mathematics. There is mathematics involved in politics. There is political equation in politics and what the governor of Kano State did was to understand how to solve the political equation. Kwankwaso did not, in all honesty, understand this mathematics. First of all, in the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), there exists a problem that is becoming a perplexing challenge as at now. There are a number of court cases around the party. Kwankwaso is heading the NNPP that has a pen and academic items. But the other faction, headed by Boniface and the rest of them, they are in control of the NNPP that has a basket of foods. In between these two factions, there are several court cases and judgements, some of them conflicting. One court will give judgment to one faction and the other will give judgment to the other group. Now, the way things are in the dispute, there is a stalemate and eventually, they will go to the Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court. Now, which of the two factions is confident that it will be recognised by the Court of Appeal? And if one faction is recognised, is the other faction sure that the other will not go to the Supreme Court? And while these things are going on, the activities of INEC will continue to arithmetically without regard to their crisis. In fact, NNPP crisis cannot stop INEC from proceeding with its activities and therefore in my view, it is in the best interest of Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf to leave the NNPP now. This is because what is going to happen if he didn’t leave the NNPP now is that by the time the Supreme Court decides the matter and should the Supreme Court decide that the faction identified with the basket of food is the real owners of the party, it will be late for Governor Yusuf to register or leave for any other political party and be eligible to contest for any elective office –because INEC must have concluded all its arrangement and probably must have even printed pictures of candidates on the ballot papers. So, it is a wise decision on the part of Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf and in the interest of the state in general to come out from the shell called NNPP, which is a concoction of crisis, into a larger and more formidable APC which is a party at the centre and a party that will enable him , like I told you earlier, to consolidate the gains of his dividends of democracy which the Kano people are enjoying. It will also give him the opportunity to seek and win a second term.
Given the popularity of Kwankwaso in Kano State, don’t you see him as a big obstacle to the second tenure victory of Governor Abba Yusuf in 2027?
No.
Why?
I always say it that the people of Kano are not all that crazy about Kwankwaso, they are not crazy about him. But many may not believe me. Kano people are not saying that we are determined to have him (Kwankwaso) at all cost and whatever he said and whatever direction he takes, we must take. They are not like that. I have always said it and I still maintain my position. But there are certain political gladiators in the state, whom when compared to Kwankwaso, the people of Kano will take or prefer Kwankwaso over them. But Abba Kabiru Yusuf is not a member of those category or class of political gladiators. For me, Abba is a new specie, he is completely a new breed, and therefore because of the antecedence of his administration, because of the way he is governing with passion, magnanimity and compassion, the people of Kano have decided to rally around him and that is why today he has created a centrifugal force- If you like to call it a third force – that is okay. He is a third force to reckon with in the state. Now he is leading and commanding the majority of the people of the state and to that extent, he has neutralised the political influence of those that we otherwise believed had political influence. Now, he is the centre of development in Kano.
You sounded so pro- Abba Kabir Yusuf, but how fair is his defection to the APC? Here is a man who was elected under NNPP but decided to move out with the NNPPs ticket, with party’s mandate. Is that justice, is that fair? Is that integrity?
Well, that is a constitutional issue. I cannot just sit down and now tell you that what somebody has done is wrong when the constitution of the country gives him the legal backing to do that. That is number one. It is the constitution of Nigeria that enables not only Abba, but any other person in Nigeria that wants to carpet cross or to defect from one party to another. Secondly, you called it the mandate of a political party. No! This is not a mandate of a particular political party. It is the mandate of the people of Kano. If a governor is elected under the platform of a political party, he ceases to be the material of that party. He is now a material of the state because the people who had voted for him belonged to different political parties and some may not even belong to politics but yet they decided to vote for him. So if you reduced his position to belonging to a political party, honestly you have reduced his mandate. His mandate belongs to the people of the state. And I have earlier told you that the entire defection was meant to further the interest of the state. So, I don’t want you to trivialise this issue because some people have been saying that, “Oh this is betrayal, oh! betrayal, “ they don’t understand. If not because of the interest to work for the people of state, why should he have left?
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of Kwankwaso. Assuming you were Senator Rabiu Musa Kwannkwaso, will you say that this is the best thing that has happened to you?
First of all, I knew for sure that there were efforts made to make sure that the entire party or the entire structures of the NNPP move together to the APC. So many spirited efforts were made, consultations were made and contacts too, even at the highest level. But as I said before, he, Kwankwaso does not see it and does not understand it the way it should be. Yes, he is an experienced politician, but every system has its own peculiarities. Every case should be treated on its own merit. What happened yesterday may not necessary happen today. So your experience of yesterday should not count. I am not the type of politician that sits and castigates people. I am not good at doing such things. So I am not castigating him for the position he decided to take, but then you cannot stop others who are interested in moving out from moving out because they have their own cause and case. You have your own cause but they have their own cause too. If I have to go further, listening to his own utterances, from what he, Kwankwaso, has been telling the world, have you ever heard anything, or heard him say that his failure to move to the APC was because of the interest of the people of Kano State? From what I heard him himself say severally, it is all about what is in it for me. I think in one of his public remarks, he explained that he cannot move to any other party unless if they give him the number one position or the number two position. And he also said in one breath, that they had worked for the APC before and they were not given any thing and therefore now, they had to know what they would be given before they would move to the APC. Again, this is egocentric. This is about the self. But when you are a politician with the pedigree as he has, you no longer think of yourself. You now think of the people. The people, not only of your party, but the generality of the people. That is why you are involved in politics and that is why the people regard politics as the means to an end if you truly want to serve the people. But when you become narrow minded, when you become self-centred and when you become parochial, that is when they define politics as a dirty game.
One of the popular concerns shared by many is that we now have a rainbow marriage in the APC with the admission of Governor Yusuf. We now have the Abba group, the Ganduje group, the Barau group, and other groups. How do you think this marriage would survive disputes and crises?
In the first instance, under the constitution of the APC, the governor of the state is the leader of the party. That is a settled position. The moment Governor Abba Kabiru Yusuf joined the APC, he has become the de jure leader of the party in the state. It is his own role as the leader of the party to unite the party and he has begun his role of unification of the party already. If you heard his speech on the day he was admitted into the APC, it was all about Kano and the development of Kano: The economy, education, health, infrastructure, security and so on. And on the evening of the same day, Governor Abba called a stakeholders meeting and he told everybody that was there in no uncertain terms that now it is time for unity and every one must sheathe his sword, that we have to face the state as a people, that the state has suffered so much because of the divisions and cleavages, that now is time to unite under one umbrella, to begin the process of healing wounds, not only within the APC but in the state in general. Let me tell you one thing, why you asked the question you just asked me. It is because in the past, that is before the governor joined the APC, we lacked an effective, well -focused, balanced and equitable leadership in the party. That was why many people formed factions- faction of that and faction of this! It is because there was no leadership in Kano APC. And the role of a leader is to lead by being the servant of the people. It is also to lead by demonstrating that everyone belongs to him, the leader. The leadership should be focused on servicing the people and the party and once there is no equity in leadership, or once a leader or a group of leaders are seen to favour a one or a group of persons against the others, then you have a problem. And that was why we had the problem we had that led to the defeat of the APC in 2023 in Kano State.
Arising from all that we have discussed so far, do you think that President Tinubu can get the mass votes, what many describe as the swing votes of Kano in 2027? I want you to look at this question against the background of the presence of a strong opposition like Kwankwaso in the state.
Yes I strongly believe that President Tinubu will realise his desire to have the swing votes of Kano State. He will realise that because he has done a number of things to the benefit of the people of the state. We have two ministers from the state, we have the Deputy Senate President from the state and we have number of ambassadors, we have DGs , managing directors, Directors and Chairmen. And all these people are supposed to represent the interest of the President and the APC in the state. All these people just by mere seeing them, is a thing of profound joy for the people. They feel happy that our people are there. Secondly, each time there is a problem in the state, the president comes out to show a massive concern over these problems. For example, when Kano started having the minor security problem that we had recently, the president promptly instructed the Chief of Defence Staff to pay attention to Kano and to send their troop to make sure that they nip the problem in the bud and that provided the impetus for the security forces to clamp down on the problem. We are happy today. People talk of positions. But you don’t have to be directly given a position if you believe in the interest of the party. I contested for the governorship ticket, I did everything, I campaigned for the President and the party, I made substantial donations to the APC and I donated my own campaign organisation’s office to be the Presidential campaign office of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Kano State, but I was not given any position. But I am happy as a party man that my party is in power. And I am still working for the party and I still want the party to win in 2027 general elections.
Kano people believe that Tinubu’s economic policies are hitting them hard. They are not happy with the insecurity in the North. They are also unhappy with the new tax law. I know again out there on the streets of Kano that many people accuse President Bola Tinubu of gross favouritism in favour of the Yoruba and the South West. Do you agree with these accusations?
I don’t agree with these assertions. That is the simplest answer I will give you in the first instance. I believe that the problem of the economy of this country did not start with this administration. The problem of Nigeria’s economy has been going on for a long time. If you recall during the days of Babangida, there was one statement that he made about the Nigeria economy- which he said that Nigerian economy had defied all solutions. That is one. Now going forward, the Tinubu administration came in after the Buhari administration had stayed for eight years. The Buhari administration did not do much to transform the economy and when President Tinubu came, when he was sworn in on 29th May 2023, there was no provision for subsidy in the budget, the subsidy was not appropriated. When he even came in, there was no money for it. He only made announcement saying that he had removed the subsidy. And he was very generous and courteous and respectful to the administration of President Buhari. Otherwise, he would have told Nigerians that the Buhari administration did not provide any subsidy in the budget. But having come with all these economic challenges, there was no way the country would move forward, there was no way we can move forward if we did not put in place certain economic measures to ensure that the country itself survives. But the transformation, the economic policies of the President are working. It was even confirmed just three, four days back by the visiting representative of the World Bank, in which she said that the Nigeria transformation is an example of a steady, balanced and fast moving transformation in the world. It is the World Bank that said that. It is not me that said that. Definitely Tinubu’s economic policies are working.
