Barrister Abdullahi Awwal Muhammad is the legal adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). In this interview with MUSA UMAR BOLOGI, he speaks on why he is confident that residents of the area will still vote massively for President Muhammadu Buhari should he seek re-election in 2019. Excerpts:
On Obasanjo’s letter to Buhari
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter is just an expression of his personal opinion which is allowed in a democracy. By and large, in his letter he never accused the President or the Vice President of corruption. And I will say apart from the period of Chief Tafawa Balewa, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Obafemi Awolowo, Nigeria has not got committed leaders like the leadership of the president administration under the APC.
PDP ruled the country for 16 years with nothing to show for it. Corruption was the order of the day. It is kudos to the president administration that corruption is being fought with all seriousness.
If President Muhammadu Buhari says he is seeking re-election in 2019, I am sure our generation will still vote for him, because in his hands we are very sure that our money is secured, and the wealth of this country is protected.
APC’s fate in AMAC with the emergence of National Coalition Movement
I will say that the National Coalition Movement is not a threat and will never be a threat to the APC, not even in the Abuja Municipal Area Council. It is a collection of strange bed fellows. The majority of the people that are now in the Coalition are those that have been in power before; people that have stolen from their state’s treasuries when they were governors.
I don’t believe that any youth in AMAC will want to join the Coalition or any political party other than the APC. AMAC is blessed with a good council chairman, Abdullahi Adamu Candido. Before his coming, as the chairman of the area council, things were in bad shape. Today, he has been able to put things in the right shape, and the AMAC is witnessing positive developments again, despite its meager resources.
AMAC youth happy with APC administration in the Council
Absolutely, yes! They are convinced. When the present APC administration in AMAC came on board, it established AMAC Marshal to take over security at all its markets. It picked youths, both female and male, from all wards of the area council. At least 500 people were picked from each ward of the area council. The selection was done systematically to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. Very soon, we will have a third batch of the programme.
The APC administration in AMAC has keyed into the federal government policy on agriculture to ensure food sufficiency in the country. In this regard, recently, the APC administration in AMAC launched a fertiliser scheme where a lot of fertilisers were distributed to farmers at a subsidised rate. It has also threatened the agriculture department at the Council to enable it to perform its functions optimally.
To ensure that people do not take undue advantage of the fertiliser scheme, several penalties have been designed to be meted out to individuals or groups that try to either divert or sell the commodity outside the FCT.
Worsening environmental situation in AMAC
I don’t agree that the environmental condition in AMAC is worse compared to that in the past administration. In fact, I will say that this present APC administration in AMAC has performed better in this area, despite its lean resources.
As a result of the compassionate policy of the AMAC government, it has decided not to lock up any shop or plaza. Rather, what we do is to invite them to tribunal in a civilised way, and talk to them.
Secondly, there are not enough funds for the Council to carry out that responsibility as they will like to. However, the funds at its disposal are being judiciously used. People should understand this and endeavour to pay for their services so that the AMAC government can serve them better. The government does not want to be arresting people because they do not pay for the disposal of their refuse.
The APC administration in AMAC has put the Legal Department on its toes. The Chairman of the Council, Hon. Candido, has said at several forums that he does not want anything that will violate the fundamental rights of anybody in AMAC. And this is why you don’t see any petition against the APC government in AMAC. Nobody has ever approached me, as legal adviser, on any petition against the APC administration in AMAC. It is a responsible and responsive government. People are willing to support us so that the government can deliver more dividends of good governance to them.
