The ever youthful, ageless and daring Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, was in his elements on Monday when he hosted a team of journalists to a no-hold-barred interactive session at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja. YUSUF ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation, captures his mood.
WHAT is your take on the invitation of the new PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Muazu, to you and four others to return to the party?
Let me start by welcoming you to the Kano Governor’s Lodge here in Abuja and to also thank you for the way and manner many of you are conducting yourselves in supporting our democracy. I think that is good and we on our side as politicians will continue to do whatever we can to ensure peace and stability of this country.
On the issue of PDP, let me congratulate Ahmed Mu’azu for becoming the chairman of the PDP. He is yet to come to me, but I know eventually we will meet, even if it means him coming to tell me that he was elected to be the chairman of the PDP. He may probably ask me to go back to the party. I think he should also know, and everybody should know, that it took us many years, from 1998 to 2013, to be in PDP and worked so hard for the party to succeed, and also benefited a lot from the party.
People must know that it was very painful for us to leave the party. Now that we left the party, because we are people with a lot of supporters, many supporters, not only in Kano but across the country; we took a lot of time to make consultations to leave PDP for APC. Going back to PDP can even take a longer time.
Isn’t Bamanga Tukur’s exit an olive branch?
But the issue is, for me, I have never told anybody about the way and manner Tukur was handling PDP, because I am conversant with the relationship between the president and the chairman of the PDP. I know very well that whatever Tukur was doing was not just initiated and executed by him. Whatever he was doing, he must have been consulting the president for saying or doing anything during his time.
Now that things have backfired, whatever was remaining was not rightful, therefore they saw the need to change him. I’m happy now for them that they now have Ahmed Mu’azu. For me, Mu’azu and Bamanga Tukur have similarities. One, they’re both form the North-Eastern Nigeria, and you know what is happening in the North-East now in terms of security, economy, socio-economic activities in those states.
I don’t think anybody in this country, not only in the North-Eastern Nigeria, but all Nigerians who are conversant with what is happening, can ever be happy, and by extension, they cannot be happy with this administration. The two of them are, of course, Hausa-Fulani. The two of them were businessmen before coming into politics. The two of them, I believe, cannot support, right deep in their hearts, they can never support the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan, especially now that he is preparing to contest for the third term. I’m sure by extension, other Nigerians will kick against third term, whether by any other person. Third term is a taboo.
Do you say third term or second term aspiration for the President?
Of course to us, their term started in 2007. He was two years vice president; he was two years president. 2011 to 2015 will be four years, so if you add the two, whether you want to say eight years or six years depends on who is doing the arithmetic.
But for them, they are pretending that they started in 2011. I saw them talking about it on the television, that they are just two and half years old in government. They started long before 2011, almost two years. I am not a lawyer, but I kept on seeing eight years everywhere, and two plus six plus four cannot be eight, that is if you don’t consider his days as vice-president or acting President.
Even from 2015 to 2019 under normal circumstances, they are looking for extending the four-year term to six years. So, you can see how the extension keeps on moving on and on.
What is wrong with Jonathan’s re-election bid?
Under normal circumstances, many people won’t worry, especially if the economy, if the security, if the development of the country are moving very well. Unfortunately, we all know what is happening. The economy is not good; the security is not good, especially in the North-East and many parts of the North, and I think this is the time for Mr. President, the Commander-in-Chief to come out and do the right thing. The right thing is to come out sincerely to either negotiate or fight what is happening in the North-East and others. I think the days of pretence should be over. I am surprised that many of the ones that we were able to talk to, they understand us that many people are not serious in fighting the criminality that is happening in the North-East and other parts of the North, because some of them are saying that, na dem dem.’ I don’t think that if you’re a governor, everything in your state is your own, not owned by ‘dem dem.’
If you’re a president, everything should be managed in such a way that there will be security of lives and property. This issue of security and that of the economy are very important; the issue of education is very important. I remember when there were some real security issues in the South-South, the then President Umaru Yar’Adua, had to come up with a programme, whereby the young men and women who were into that were being asked to come and put down their arms and ammunition for better programme. I think the programme is still on there.
I think Federal Government also has to come up with something, not only for those who are committing and disturbing peace; they have to come up with something for those in the North-Eastern Nigeria. I am not from the North-East; I am from the North-West. We’re poor, but I can say that the North-East is very poor, and I think somebody has to do something about it.
The issue is not allocating N2 billion in the budget; I think the issue is beyond the budget. Some of these things can start from any corner or part of the country. But if they’re not handled properly, they can spread across the country. We’re very lucky that we’re very friendly with Cameroon, Niger and Chad, so I think there is need for better action.
We have to make sure that there is peace not only in Nigeria but also in their countries, because if you look at the North-Eastern Nigeria, where all these countries meet, especially around Chad Basin, you can see that there is need for a closer working relationship with these four countries. Fortunately and coincidentally, that is where some of these security issues are happening. We need to do more on that particular security issue. We need to do more on the issue of fighting drugs. Drugs must be fought; drug barons and all those who are into it must be fought at all levels, at federal, state and local government levels. There is always a relationship between drugs and criminality.
As a former Minister of Defence, we have a new Chief of Defence Staff who said latest by April, we’ll forget about insurgency in the North-East. From your own experience, do you buy into this, because you’re still talking about negotiation?
You see, the Nigerian military are well-trained and very competent, but what requires now is their welfare; give them the required arms and ammunition. Once that is done, and if there is political will, especially from the Commander-in-Chief, with the right rules of engagement, that is really possible.
But you see, it has always been possible to stop what was happening within similar short period of time in the past, but I think the issue, in my understanding, is the political will to do so. What we’re doing now is not the option. The two options that we have now, on one hand, are negotiations and agreement for those concerned to put down their arms and ammunition. On the other hand, the second option is for the Federal Government to use whatever it can to ensure there is peace in that region.
I have no doubt in my mind, as a former Minister of Defence, that they (the military) have the capability; they have the wherewithal to deal with the situation. I think what it requires now is the real mobilisation to ensure that there is peace in that corner of Nigeria.
From your analysis, what advice will you give President Goodluck Jonathan? Should he forget about contesting in 2015? Is he not qualified?
From what I know, if you’re talking of being president for eight years in this country, he is not qualified. But I am not a lawyer, and I am not taking it from the angle of law. Others will do that. For those of us who are politicians, we will take it from the angle of public court. Third term is not acceptable in this country, and a term limit must be respected, not only in Nigeria but across other countries.
Look, I was governor from 1999 to 2003 in Kano State. Eight years after, that was 2011, I came back. So many people came to me and said ‘go to court.’ In fact, many other people were interested in going to court on my behalf, to Supreme Court, to get interpretation, because in their opinion, I still have a chance of contesting election again in 2015, depending on the pronouncement of the Supreme Court.
But the fact of the matter is whether you’re good or bad, you’re not alone. You have to keep on moving. Life is dynamic. I have been in the Kano system then in the PDP from 1998 to 2011 when I contested election and up till now. Before then, I was also in other parties, especially in DPN. I dominated the party, and I think to a large extent, in the country in terms of who became governor in those days.
You cannot say that I was governor for four years, and now because I was outside, I want to do another two terms. To me, that is extension of term limit. That has never been accepted anywhere. In politics, what is permanent is change. We have to accept change; we have to keep on moving since life is dynamic. What even worries us, and that is one of the major reasons why I left the party, is non-appreciation of the mood of the people.
Nigerian people are looking for change, and probably that was why APC decided to say it will seek change. That change is very crucial; it is very important. People want change in this country. There’re so many things that are going wrong, and the worst is that those who should listen are finding it difficult to listen; to even understand, to have the capacity to appreciate the circumstances, the situation that we are in. That is a huge problem.
Whoever comes out to advise them, they will send their aides to go and say they should be taken to psychiatric hospitals, while in the actual sense, it is their principals who should be taken to psychiatric hospitals, because you have to know when you are strong; you have to know when you are weak. I worked for them in PDP in 1999; I did in 2003; I did in 2007 and I also did in 2011. Many of us who are the pillars of the party are either out of it completely, or are sitting on the fence, or are warming up to cross the border, because nobody wants to stay under a decking that is collapsing; the decking there is collapsing.
We’re the pillars of PDP whether they like it or not. It is now that they will begin to see the facts of the matter. The new chairman of the PDP, I’m sure, can do nothing. There’s absolutely nothing he can do. But I know he really loves the job like Tukur, who actually wanted the job. He may want to be saying things; some from the bottom of his heart; many of them just from the mouth. The fact of the matter is that they know, even themselves right in their hearts, that Nigeria deserves a better leadership in 2015.
Even when we were there in PDP, people were saying that the party will rule for 60 years. It is not 60. It is 16 years. Ogbulafor was saying 60. Every chairman was saying 60. It is not 60, it is 16 years. It is only that you did not hear them well. In 2015, they should go.
You see in APC now, I think everybody has learnt a lesson. Everybody. All of us – our leaders, ourselves and our supporters. Everybody is feeling the pinch. So what we are saying is, this party is very important, whether they are doing good or bad.
You said politics is dynamic, and the essence of life is to keep on moving. Now you said you’re no more contesting governorship either legally or morally. Do you consider the 2015 presidential elections as one of the processes of movement?
No, no. Let me tell you, first and foremost, I am a politician, and that is what every right-thinking politician should be. You stop there; you make your own contributions. And it is for other people, especially at this level, that will come out and say ‘yes, it is Mr. A or Mr. B that we want to support.’ I will not advise any politician to arrogate himself to the level of feeling that ‘look, it is me!’
From history and statistics, it is very difficult to see anybody who decides to arrogate himself to that level becoming president, especially in Nigeria. Most of those who were presidents, including this one, I’m not sure if he ever contemplated coming to be vice president or the president. At a time, it was some people that decided to say it should be Jonathan; I’m sure his mind was not here.
I think also that was one of the problems. During those days, there were no wider consultations. Until such a time when the president of this country and chairmen of these leading parties are allowed to go through the rigour of elections themselves and allow people to elect them based on their belief that they are competent, and they can do the job in their own personal assessment, we will continue to have problems.
Look at the selection of even the National chairman of PDP; I don’t think anybody from my state, my village was consulted. It was just within one, two three people, who will make decision, and at the end of the day, one may pick, like the case of Tukur, it was one person versus everybody or against everybody in the North-East, when they were appointing him. Look at the consequences. And the same thing is on the ground now in that party.
That is why we’ll continue to have problems, because the chairman of that party can never come out on issues to tell you his actual mind. He has to look at his shoulders to see who is there so that he doesn’t make a mistake, because you just need to annoy one man for you to be kicked out of the position. And because of the enormity of the benefits of that seat, nobody wants to leave it. They want to stay there; they speak from so many sides of their mouths, and at the end of the day, when the chips are down, they have to go.
I can tell you, it is the same system; in the same way that others go, that one will also go.
If the offer comes or if Nigerian people decide to say ‘we want Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso to be our presidential candidate, what will be your attitude to it?
The issue is we have elders; we have friends and supporters; we’re entitled to so many people, not only in Kano, but across the country. What I believe is at an appropriate time, APC will sit down at a very large forum to decide on who and who should be allowed or supported for the position. I can assure you there will be an internal democracy within APC. It’s not a matter of appointing one man to say ‘you’re the one; there should be internal democracy not only at this level, at the national level, but at all levels.’
That is the only way we can show the difference between us and PDP, where one man will sit down and decide who becomes the governor of Kano State. If they don’t like you, whether you have 90 percent of the votes, others are sharing 10 percent of the votes, it doesn’t matter; they will still say no to that. We have to change. You cannot be from one other corner of the country, and the other one from the other side, and you just sit here in Abuja and decide for the people who becomes their governor and who becomes their chairman.
We have passed that level in Kano, and that is why we have a very formidable group. People believe in us; people see us as fair; people who can at any given time say this is the right thing. Once we say it, they know we are serious about it, and that is what is in our hearts; that is why we have a very powerful support from our people, because of the trust they have in us.
Recently, the president submitted names of ministerial nominees to the Senate; two people are from your state, Aminu Wali and Jamila Salik. The big talk is that the president actually nominated these people to give Kwankwaso a good fight in Kano; what will you say about that?
You see, sometimes when I hear that, I just laugh. Why? It is because these people, before coming in, didn’t have history and geography in their minds, and they refused to learn very fast. They have been consistent in fighting what they would have ordinarily regarded as their difference. We are good people by any standard; we are well respected in our locality, and that is how it should be. You don’t respect anybody who doesn’t know me, to respect him. If you want to know who is good and who is bad, go to his locality.
You don’t meet somebody at the airport or at the motor park, because he is carrying 25 cellular phones and doing all sorts of things to think that he’s a good man. No. If you have an architectural work to do, get a good architect. Many people are making mistakes in this country, even though I wouldn’t call it a mistake as such, because they are not politicians themselves; they always believe that every man is a political animal; that is not true. If that is correct, then we can say everybody is a good footballer. How many people can play in Chelsea or Arsenal or Barcelona? Very few. None of us here can play in those teams.
But anybody assuming that any foolish man can play Barcelona team, that is politics because it is not like architecture, electrical design where you will see so many things where if you are not in the field, your head will start aching and that is why many of them will think that they will go to Kano or Sokoto or any other state and pick anybody and then tell them: ‘Go and fight them.’ Even though they are being consistent not only in Kano and that is their biggest undoing. They go to a state to punish them because that is how we see it. They go to Kano and pick people to punish the people. Those that are not welcomed in the society, they pick them to punish them. We don’t like you, we will take your enemy whether you like it or not, they have to be there and that is a huge mistake. It is a huge problem for them and therefore a good thing for the APC. Anybody who thinks that this calibre of ministers, not only from Kano but across the country, can deliver and save the larger interest of Nigeria, they are dreaming.
If you put all of them together, only one or two can deliver. I believe people are not happy with some of the presentations. You don’t just go to a state and pick somebody from the minutest minority and say he is representing the people and that, in politics, should not happen and once it happens, it is an abnormality.
Were you part of the agreement to allow Jonathan only a term in office?
I was not a governor at the time, and even if I was a governor and he decides to go against what he had signed and you ask me this question, I would say, I don’t care. We are not lawyers to go to court to ask it to give one declaration or the other. Our own is to ensure that the good people of Nigeria, at the appropriate time, take the necessary decision. Here, I want to advise all those concerned-the armed forces, INEC and all the stakeholders should try to do the right thing. I will be surprised if the members of the armed forces are happy with what is happening in the country because they are human beings and a part of the society. A lot of money is going down the drain, wastages everywhere. Before you heard of people stealing millions and now we are hearing of billions and trillions and all these things cannot help anybody, including the security agencies. And security agencies must understand the meaning of democracy and know that they are here to serve Nigerians and if they want to play politics, they should go and remove their uniforms and we give them a place in the political arena.
Look at what is happening in Rivers State. That man called the Police Commissioner is a disappointment to the Nigeria Police. Yet, many people do not want to open their television and see. He is not only a PDP member but I think he is a tool to madam. That man, Mbu, will end up destroying himself professionally because by merely showing his face trying to defend what is completely wrong, he is disgracing everybody, including his family. When we are talking about capacity, the capacity of a leader is to identify areas, issues that should be tackled at the right time. You don’t stick out your neck to defend what should not be defended at all. If everybody is saying that an officer is doing the wrong thing, why should you continue to defend and use such an officer to cause impunity all over
the place? People should have the courage to resign.
When I was in the NDDC, I resigned when I saw the way things were going. But I should not stick out my neck because of the allowances we were being paid. I resigned honourably and told them the position of the NDDC and within a few months, they saw what I told them and they dissolved the whole board. I want to appeal to my brother, Attahiru Jega, that he should do the right thing as far as the conduct of elections is concerned. Long before Jega came out to say that there would be no election in the North East, we had heard the boys around them talking about the fact that they would not allow election in the North East. And just from the blues, we heard him talking about it also. I don’t think that, that is good enough because a few weeks after Jega’s comment, there was a very successful election in Yobe State, which is probably the epic centre of the security crisis and nobody was killed.
In 2013, you are saying that there would be no election in so and so places in 2015? That means you don’t respect the capacity of the C-in-C yourself or that is what he wanted. Otherwise, no one should be talking about specific areas where they would be no election. It means that they knew that they would not take an appropriate action to quell the crisis there. These are some of the things that INEC must guard against, because people are not happy with the last election in Anambra State, because it was a complete shambles. If INEC cannot sit down and conduct a credible election in one state after all the preparations and the billions spent, I think that there may be some problems in 2015.
How do you react to the defection of G5 into APC and the problems it has generated so far? Those who were there before your defection alleged that the five governors have hijacked the party structure from them. Is that so?
You see, what APC said and what it has done is not different from any other party in that particular respect. In APGA, the leader of the party in the state is the governor. In Labour Party, you cannot say that Mimiko is not the leader of the party in Ondo. In APGA, Governor Obi is not only the leader of the party in his state, he is also the National Leader and BoT Chairman. In PDP, every governor is the leader in their state. Today, by the grace of God but with due humility, I can say that I am the most senior governor in this country because I was a governor in 1999 to 2003 and nobody who is governor today, was a governor in 1999 to 2003. And those who are even challenging my authority as the leader of the party in Kano, I took it from them. They did not put me there. I took it from them; it is not that they wanted to give it to me. They did not support me. When I was a governor, most of them were civil servants and so on. They had no access except if I decided to see them.
Now, you don’t do that. You can be a president but does not know how to handle politics. Otherwise, how can five governors leave your party in one fell swoop? You can be a governor but does not know how to handle politics. It is part of the lack of understanding of politics that is responsible for what is happening now. Politicians should take every opportunity to reconcile with others so that at the end of the day, they can have more people to support or succeed them. Nobody succeeds in politics with a high degree of enmity. If you say he is not your leader, did you put him there or are you his senior? Most of these decisions were taken with all of them not knowing that the governors would defect to the APC. At the end of the day, we went there long after they had agreed on who is to be their leader. And it has to be the governors because you don’t expect the governor to be going out begging for a post.
Who is the leader of the PDP in this country? It is Jonathan, whether he is doing the right thing or not, he remains the leader and you don’t expect him to do otherwise. Those who were not with us now were certainly not with us in 2011. We won election with Kwankwasiya and from 2011 today; we have succeeded in doing so many programmes that have touched the lives of so many people. So many people have now changed their minds and so many people are apologising for not supporting us in 2011. That means if given another opportunity to do another election now or in 2015, we have additional votes in Kano, because we are much better and our position is much better than it was in 2011.
Secondly, even those who fought against us in other parties and joined the APC, for example, CPC, anybody who is CPC in Kano today and supported Buhari in 2011, is with us today. Even ANPP Senator Gabiru Gaya, the only ANPP Senator, is with us 100 percent. The nine members of the ANPP in the National Assembly are with us. In the state Assembly, we have 31 PDP and now APC 31 and nine ANPP. Eight out of nine have signed up with us; the minority leader is saying he is working out on how to bring the rest and I say fine, if you succeed good, if not, you remain the minority leader in the state. If you take elders in the state, all of them are with us.
So, I have never seen such a powerful party in Kano as the APC today. Even under PRP, I was a civil servant but that time it was the common man or the masses that were supporting PRP, but today, everybody in Kano from the top to the bottom wants to be identified with the APC. They know that if they don’t join us in APC, that they have already lost the election. That is why we are so happy about the coming of the APC. As a leader, one is likely to step on toes but what is important in politics is to see how to reconcile and make a better politician and by that, get more people because politics is a game of number. So the number we have now, we can say, we thank the Almighty God.
Have you reconciled with the former Governor, Shekarau?
We have no grudge with anybody and our doors are open for all to come in. For those who are not interested in working together with us, who want to move the goalpost in Kano, I don’t think that will be acceptable to anybody. If all governors are leaders of the parties in their states, you cannot come and say that the five who defected to APC cannot be leaders of the parties in their states. If you set a criterion, it must apply to all, whether you like the face of the person involved or not. If there are problems that affect governors, I cannot run away because I am the governor and I take the good things and the disadvantages as well. I have programmes that have never been heard of in the history of the state. We have free education at all levels and we have established two universities and people are very happy with what is going on in Kano today. I believe that we have the capacity to win more votes in 2015 in Kano with or without merger.
Have you looked at the timetable released by INEC recently?
I think it is one of the things that we know. We know that the President has been praying to have his election first. He tried that during the last election in 2011 and the National Assembly refused to allow his election to come first , they put it second. The order in 2011 was National Assembly first, then presidential, governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
Now, I don’t know how they influenced INEC to put his election and National Assembly election first and then two weeks after, they do State House of Assembly and gubernatorial elections. I think the presidential election should come last. That has been the correct thing; you deal from the bottom, you don’t start from the air. We have seen many elections that we had problem with the presidential election.
But if you have structure on the ground, at least you have structure. And the way they are going about it, especially going by the utterances of those that are always visiting their dining tables and sitting rooms, I think there may be some agenda. If you hear what many people from their side are talking about, it is like they are threatening everybody. And with that, they want to go to the presidential election first, I think that is a big mistake. I think that should be reversed, the National Assembly must look at that. You don’t just sit down and put their election because that is what they want. What criteria did they use? How and why are you starting with the presidential election? I think that is giving a lot of concern about the activities of INEC. People are really concerned and I think INEC people should be concerned also.
It is very easy here in Abuja to sit down and take decision and whether you like it or not, you have to take it. I was surprised, I haven’t heard what el-Rufai said, but I heard him on BBC and if what he said on BBC is correct, I don’t see why the SSS should be looking for him. I don’t know what el-Rufai said but the fact remains that people are really angry. They should know, people are angry. And it is not only in Kano State or in the North-West or in the North, it is across the country. You see, I always advise my friends who are talking about this North, South, Muslim, Christian, and all these dichotomies. You see, the fact of the matter is that people are angry either in Rivers or Bayelsa, Delta, Kano or Sokoto. In other words, from Kano to Calabar to Kebbi, people are angry, things are not happening.
Do you suspect any bandwagon effect as a result of the INEC timetable?
I think that is what they are angling for, that is what they are planning. You see, the bandwagon is not the only issue; the other issue is that they want to intimidate people; if you don’t vote for me, I will do this, I will do that. That is what they want to do; we all know the tricks, we have been in the game long before many of them. They want to use intimidation. I don’t think anybody on that side is really serious and believing that they will win elections under a free and fair atmosphere. I think it is about INEC, it is about security agencies, intimidation; it is about money.
From your experience so far, do you think the APC can dislodge PDP in the next election?
Why not? It is very simple. You have to understand that in politics, there is fatigue. We mean, if a party is elected one, two and three and four times, the fatigue will begin to set in. We have elected the party four times and they (PDP) are trying again for the fifth time. Is it the only party? People are tired and they need change. You cannot do that in America or any civilised society. You cannot win again. That is why America decided to say after two terms go, let us try another one. Otherwise, Clinton would have been president for the third time but they said: ‘You are good but go and we appreciate you.’ That is the fatigue. Even in Britain, it is the same thing. I was in Britain when the political crisis started with Margaret Thatcher and they said: ‘Please, madam, you did well but go because you are not the only one; go.’
That fatigue is showing in PDP because they are not doing well and that is the issue. They are Clinton, Obama or Margaret Thatcher. So that is even worsening the situation and the economy is declining and there is no end in sight. That is why you see the Police Commissioner in Rivers State not willing to leave the state. I think Mbu should be taken to Nasarawa to face the boys who killed over 100 policemen and security men. They have hit the limit of their stay in Nigeria and they should leave the scene in 2015.
Everybody is feeling the pinch of the fatigue of PDP. If you want to see me back in PDP, go and bring the governor of Rivers State. I want to see him smile and in PDP. That will be one; two, tell your man that we don’t want the decking to fall on me. We don’t want to lose election. The writing is there on the wall. All the arithmetic people are making is wrong. People are not just imagining that the President can lose election or governor can lose election, but I lost in 2003. Some of these people should know-Ahmed Muazu lost election as governor and as a Senator and ran away. I think he needs to be more careful than Tukur.
What if Jonathan declares for re-election now, how will you react?
The temperature is very hot for them now, he won’t do it. I have seen all sorts of write-ups by some of your colleagues, but all these will fizzle away; realities will come out whether they declare now or they wait till whatever. They know they cannot declare; they cannot declare. That is why they are not declaring, they said till they get INEC nod. Did they do that during the 2011 election? They did not do that. The temperature is very hot now, it is not easy to say I am declaring. If the President declares now, Ahmed Muazu will run away because I don’t think he will stay there to defend that. And I think as long as the declaration is hanging, the temperature cannot get cooler than it is now.
Have the security agencies briefed you on the attack on your father? Was it done by Boko Haram, gunmen or snipers? Was the attack part of the so-called watch-list syndrome?
Well, I was really shocked when I heard the news that some criminals were in my hometown and they are attacking the mosque where my father was praying. We are very lucky that the target they decided to attack, they did not get him but even then, we lost three people and 13 people were wounded; some of them are still in the hospital.
I was surprised and I never thought anybody will go to that extent of attacking somebody who is over 80 years but on the other hand, you remember they attacked the Emir of Kano on the street of Kano itself and they killed quite a number of people and wounded many. So, it is not a total surprise but I am yet to hear from the security agencies, we don’t know the people talk less of the motive but whatever it is, I believe that has always counselled me to do the right thing. Whether it was because of me or because of him, because so many traditional rulers were attacked in the past and we hope that will stop; that will not help anybody.
You see, as bad as that is, it shows clearly; if it is real Boko Haram, that the fight is not between Muslims and Christians and I think that is very important. Because if a church was attacked and some people are making noise that Muslims attacked them, now, we have Emir on the street of Kano. Ado Bayero is our spiritual leader. Now, we have my father who has been a traditional ruler since 1955 and they not only met him in his house in the palace but in the mosque and so the attack was not only on my father but also on the mosque.
There is no particular pattern, those that are attacking are not only attacking churches, they are attacking mosques too. Those who are attacking are not only attacking Christians, they are attacking Muslims too. They are attacking traditional rulers, politicians and even, we lost a correspondent from Channels. I am sure there are other pressmen that were attacked too. So, it cuts across the globe; there is no just pattern and that is why I think the Federal Government has to do something more cogent, something more tangible.
We read in the newspapers that some people came from 500 kilometres and attacked only three installations and went back, it should not happen. We have enough resources to protect ourselves. In this game of politics or leadership, security first. We should not be allowed to be sleeping with one eye open and one closed because of fear. Government has to come out and do something reasonable, something strong so that we can sleep well. Some of these things, if they are not contained properly, they have the capacity to consume many places and they can go right across the country.
Before it started, nobody thought that it was this serious that the Nigerian Army and Nigeria Airforce will be battling with this issue for this long and it is still on. So, I don’t have any information from any security agencies and I think it is good if we can have an information. I think that will help and that will help also the credibility of those concerned.
election. That is why we are so happy about the coming of the APC. As a leader, one is likely to step on toes but what is important in politics is to see how to reconcile and make a better politician and by that, get more people because politics is a game of number. So the number we have now, we can say, we thank the Almighty God.
Have you reconciled with the former Governor, Shekarau?
We have no grudge with anybody and our doors are open for all to come in. For those who are not interested in working together with us, who want to move the goalpost in Kano, I don’t think that will be acceptable to anybody. If all governors are leaders of the parties in their states, you cannot come and say that the five who defected to APC cannot be leaders of the parties in their states. If you set a criterion, it must apply to all, whether you like the face of the person involved or not. If there are problems that affect governors, I cannot run away because I am the governor and I take the good things and the disadvantages as well. I have programmes that have never been heard of in the history of the state. We have free education at all levels and we have established two universities and people are very happy with what is going on in Kano today. I believe that we have the capacity to win more votes in 2015 in Kano with or without merger.
Have you looked at the timetable released by INEC recently?
I think it is one of the things that we know. We know that the President has been praying to have his election first. He tried that during the last election in 2011 and the National Assembly refused to allow his election to come first , they put it second. The order in 2011 was National Assembly first, then presidential, governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
Now, I don’t know how they influenced INEC to put his election and National Assembly election first and then two weeks after, they do State House of Assembly and gubernatorial elections. I think the presidential election should come last. That has been the correct thing; you deal from the bottom, you don’t start from the air. We have seen many elections that we had problem with the presidential election.
But if you have structure on the ground, at least you have structure. And the way they are going about it, especially going by the utterances of those that are always visiting their dining tables and sitting rooms, I think there may be some agenda. If you hear what many people from their side are talking about, it is like they are threatening everybody. And with that, they want to go to the presidential election first, I think that is a big mistake. I think that should be reversed, the National Assembly must look at that. You don’t just sit down and put their election because that is what they want. What criteria did they use? How and why are you starting with the presidential election? I think that is giving a lot of concern about the activities of INEC. People are really concerned and I think INEC people should be concerned also.
It is very easy here in Abuja to sit down and take decision and whether you like it or not, you have to take it. I was surprised, I haven’t heard what el-Rufai said, but I heard him on BBC and if what he said on BBC is correct, I don’t see why the SSS should be looking for him. I don’t know what el-Rufai said but the fact remains that people are really angry. They should know, people are angry. And it is not only in Kano State or in the North-West or in the North, it is across the country. You see, I always advise my friends who are talking about this North, South, Muslim, Christian, and all these dichotomies. You see, the fact of the matter is that people are angry either in Rivers or Bayelsa, Delta, Kano or Sokoto. In other words, from Kano to Calabar to Kebbi, people are angry, things are not happening.
Do you suspect any bandwagon effect as a result of the INEC timetable?
I think that is what they are angling for, that is what they are planning. You see, the bandwagon is not the only issue; the other issue is that they want to intimidate people; if you don’t vote for me, I will do this, I will do that. That is what they want to do; we all know the tricks, we have been in the game long before many of them. They want to use intimidation. I don’t think anybody on that side is really serious and believing that they will win elections under a free and fair atmosphere. I think it is about INEC, it is about security agencies, intimidation; it is about money.
From your experience so far, do you think the APC can dislodge PDP in the next election?
Why not? It is very simple. You have to understand that in politics, there is fatigue. We mean, if a party is elected one, two and three and four times, the fatigue will begin to set in. We have elected the party four times and they (PDP) are trying again for the fifth time. Is it the only party? People are tired and they need change. You cannot do that in America or any civilised society. You cannot win again. That is why America decided to say after two terms go, let us try another one. Otherwise, Clinton would have been president for the third time but they said: ‘You are good but go and we appreciate you.’ That is the fatigue. Even in Britain, it is the same thing. I was in Britain when the political crisis started with Margaret Thatcher and they said: ‘Please, madam, you did well but go because you are not the only one; go.’
