Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state, Senator Bukola Saraki, in this interview with journalists in Ilorin, spoke on sundry national issues ahead of the forthcoming general elections. UMAR BAYO ABDULWAHAB was there.
The President has just rewarded families of victims of the immigration stampede, what do you make of the gesture, coming one year after the unfortunate incidence?
For the families, I think it is something that is good. But you see every time the President does things, it further makes us wonder what has he been doing for the last six years; that makes us question the sincerity of purpose and his commitment to the Nigerian people. You would remember when this thing happened, as opposition party, we said this issue should be properly investigated and the Minister in charge was asked to step aside while we are doing investigation and the families should be compensated; but nothing was done.
Now that election is less than 14 days, not only to APC but anybody, it looks more of a political gesture than matter of sincerity. And I think that it shows that they did not care really and this is an after-thought. It speaks volume when you begin to see those kinds of things. So for us, I don’t see sincerity in the approach and I believe that it is part of the game that the government and the PDP are playing that is making Nigerians to say that they want change.
And every time we talk about this issue of change, it is unfortunate that PDP and the government don’t seem to understand. Instead they keep on attacking General Buhari, our Presidential candidate, attacking our vice-presidential candidate and unable to understand while despite all these attacks and the billions being spent on advertisement, how come Nigerians are still rejecting them? It is because Nigerians want change.
Nigerians want a government that is committed, they want a government that is sincere, a government that is thinking of the people; a government that has some decency and decorum. And I think as of now it is clear from what we are saying that, that is what Nigerians are yearning for and the party and the government, even by these kinds of actions, continues to show that they were not trained to provide that leadership at this moment.
What’s your position on the diplomatic spat between Nigeria and Morocco?
Honestly I don’t have facts but again as a Nigerian, it is sad and some time embarrassing how we even got ourselves in this kind of mess.
I am sure something must have happened for the King of Morocco to have come out with a statement and again I am sure at the end of the day, nobody would be held accountable. Somebody must have done something wrong somewhere either to have told the public that the President spoke and the King of Morocco said, he didn’t speak and eventually the President has confirmed that he didn’t speak. So, if the President is saying that he didn’t speak, who is the person that came out to say that he spoke and if that person did, that person should be held accountable. I am sure, at the end of the day, nobody would be held accountable.
Somebody that has brought this kind of embarrassment to the country should be held accountable. And these are some of the issues we have been talking about, that there are people who the President should have dropped a long time ago because they are not helping the government instead they are still part of the government. At the end of the day, we keep on blaming advisers, blaming this, blaming that and somebody is responsible. Unfortunately this is the comedy of how the government has been run where nobody is held accountable. It is very unfortunate because Nigeria as it is, has the largest economy on the continent and is seen as a leader. For you to now get yourself in this kind of issue is very unfortunate.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems to be opposed to the use of card readers by INEC in conducting the forthcoming election, what is your reaction to this?
I cannot speak for PDP. But I am surprised that any political party that means well for Nigeria – in our progressing democracy – would not support anything that would make the electoral process more credible. Everybody who has seen the card reader noted that this is in the direction of better election; more sophisticated approach, has integrated technology support, improved the system; it has been done in Ghana and other parts of Africa.
Talk about India and all those places. This is all towards best practices. The observers, European Union (EU) and international community have praised INEC for coming out with an electoral process that is more modern, more efficient, more credible and more transparent. So, how can a political party, even a party in government now say that they are against the card reader? The card reader works, it brings values to the process, it makes Nigeria look better in the eye of the international community.
But because of their own myopic interest, because they are afraid of election, because they are afraid that with the card reader, your rigging would be limited , that can be the main reason. Otherwise, I think it is really embarrassing for the party to still be talking about this issue of card reader. I think they are trying to do damage control now because I think I read somewhere, the Vice-President saying that, ‘Oh, PDP is not afraid of card reader’. I think there are still people that are trying to do the right thing in the party. I think it was a wrong political calculation for them to come out and say that.
Many Nigerians are still sceptical about whether or not the election would hold. What assurance do you have that the election would hold or are you also sceptical?
I think we have to take the President by his words. He has told us many times that the election would hold and that there would not be another postponement. We have to take him by his words and I think he should ensure that he keeps to his words and he should not take Nigerians for granted. I believe the calmness of the country is part of the maturity and commitment of Nigerians to take him by his words; he needs to do the right thing.
I do not believe that the country and the people would be taken lightly if we decide again to postpone election. I hope that he would look at the bigger picture, look at the country, not to plunge the country into any crisis; and ensure that, that election holds. INEC is prepared. The military and co have said they too are not in support of further postponement. So I think we must take him for his words and only caution that he should not do anything that would plunge the country into crisis. Nigerians want election to hold. The international community wants the election to hold and I think for the stability of this country and our democracy, elections must hold according to the guidelines, as stipulated in our constitution.
Many of you (APC senators) walked out last week when Musiliu Obanikoro was being confirmed as a minister. Does that mean your party would not recognise him as a minister?
Well, I think what happened was unfortunate. I believe that within the Senate, the National Assembly, there are many courts – the court of the law and the court of public opinion and we all represent constituencies. I believe in a scenario where the three senators – it has always been the practice – have an objection to the candidate and I believe we are all there because we represent the people. We are not there on our own. We must be concerned with that. At the same time, I agree that somebody is innocent until proven guilty.
But I believe the right thing the Senate President should have done is, we should have tarried a bit and we should not rush on the issue. I remember a week ago, after coming out of the executive session, we agreed then that we only take the first four ministers and that we would give one week for further consultation and then we would come back and review. The only person we are reviewing is Senator Obanikoro. But when we came in that day, if you notice, I was trying to make him (Senate President) know that this is not what we agreed upon.
We agreed the last time that we would come back and review the situation.
So, instead of reviewing the situation, we are now going straight to start the screening processes which amounted to reneging on what we agreed upon. Point number two, is that it was clear that the House was divided and the Senate should not be partisan. We should look at the interest of the country in the decisions we take, not the political party that we belong. It is clear that there was controversy on this nominee and I think the right thing to do is we should have stepped it down – while further consultations were done to satisfy those who say that Senator Obanikoro has done certain things.
In going ahead with and disregarding the rule and also the new development that we saw was also the court case that was initiated – where somebody has taken Senator Obanikoro and Senator Mark to court. Again, one of our rules, 53 (5) says once there is litigation, it is not for discussion. I even remember at a time most of us wanted to cross over (to APC), it was this same section that the Senate President came up with and said he cannot discuss it. The excuse he gave us was that he had not been served.
How did the news of court case reach the senate?
I think a senator got up and informed all of us that there is a court case. I think that should be good enough, in the interest of uniting the Senate and ensuring that we take collective decisions, we consider that the matter was in court. We’re not supposed to take partisan decisions or ignore the public opinion on this matter; the best position would have been to defer it.
One of the issues of our party also, especially those from Lagos state, is the urgency to have him back as minister. Maybe the fear was what they did in Ekiti, they want them to do it in Lagos on election day. I think if they have deferred it till after the election, brought the issue back again, had further consultations, there might be a way that would have shown the statesmanship of the senate. I think it was not a correct decision to have been taken in the kind of what people expect of Senate.
For us in the APC, we have spoken, we are minority in the Senate but our walking out was to say that, you can take the decision, let history judge us that we are not part of that decision, that’s the issue. It is not that we cannot recognise him, once he’s been confirmed by the Senate, we are bound by that but the record shows our position on the matter.
The presidency reportedly set aside certain amount of money to woo voters in Kwara state, to what extent do you think this can garner support for PDP?
They are making mistake by believing that money is going to be a factor that will help in changing their fortune, because we are hearing of the story of money being sent to the south-west, money being sent to the north to go and buy cards.
I think it is because the party (PDP) does not recognise the fact that Nigerians want change. Anywhere they send that money to, people will take that money and at the end of the day, they would not go with the PDP. So, if they like they can send that money to PDP here in Kwara; let’s first hope that it gets to Kwara if they don’t divert it on the way. Even if it comes down to the grassroots here, it would not make a difference.
We’ve told our people, it is their money; the money that they did not give them for six years, they would now bring the money. Meanwhile, workers are not getting salaries, local governments don’t have money, states don’t have money and this money is being shared. I think it is misplaced priority and I don’t think it would in any way help them. We have told our people in Kwara state, ‘let them bring the money, it is your money, take the money and still do the right thing that would make a better Nigeria’. That’s their own business; but it is very unfortunate.
Looking at the campaigns, one discovers that most of the adverts on television are dominated by PDP. Does that mean APC is not placing any advert?
I think it is a good observation. A lot of people have been asking : how come APC is very quiet? I think one of the reasons is, we must definitely hold APCON and the people in charge of advertising responsible, because they are becoming too partisan.
We have cases of APC adverts being put on hold for approval. You don’t get approval. Meanwhile, there are some irresponsible adverts by PDP and you see some of them on these TV stations. I think some of these organisations that are meant to be neutral, that are meant to be regulatory bodies must be held accountable for any behaviour that is against the regulations that guide them. I think that a strong warning must go out to these organisations, particularly those that have to do with some of these TV adverts.
They have to be seen to be neutral and doing the right thing. But when they allow one party to be able to bring adverts including some that, in all manners, have issues that are libellous and at the same time if APC brings the same adverts, you find those TV companies not accepting them. I think this is not good for our democracy.
In a democracy, there must be a level playing field that allows all political parties the same access and they must be responsible, they must be called and told to do the right thing. And after the election this matter must be investigated and those responsible must be sanctioned. These agencies have a role to play in ensuring that we nurture our democracy, that’s why they must play the same role for one party and for the other party.
That’s why I am sure a lot of people are not seeing some of the adverts on TV that have been paid for by APC. I was told in one of the agencies that out of 40-something advertorials awaiting approval, one or two is for PDP while 40-something is for APC. You can see this kind of irresponsibility? This must change and we must be seen to be doing the right thing.