Hon Alhassan Ado Dogowa is the leader
of the Northern caucus in the House of Representatives, representing
Dogowa/Tudun Wada Federal Constituency of Kano State in the Green
Chamber. He is in his fourth term in the House, a member of the National
Executive Committee, NEC, of the ruling party as well as a member of
the national caucus of the party. Vocal, fluent and intelligent, the
Kano-born politician and die-hard Buhari apologist, in this interview
insists that President Buhari has no option but to contest the 2019
elections.
He also speaks on the intraparty crisis
rocking the APC in several states of the federation as well as the
recent rift that erupted between the National Chairman of the party,
Chief John Oyegun and the leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
How would you rate the performance of
the APC at the state and federal levels in relation to the promises made
to Nigerians during their campaigns?
If I should be very candid to you,
without any fear of contradiction, I will say that the APC as a party
and the APC as a government , especially when the two are linked to our
very honest and respected President Muhammadu Buhari, I think that we
have done quite well in terms of performance- because when you are
rating somebody’s performance especially a democratic government, it has
to be rated in accordance with the promises made in the course of the
campaign.I want to believe that the party and the President, at the time
in point, made three major promises to Nigerians. These three promises
were to bring about good governance through the restoration of moral
values and discontinuation of institutional abuse of power- what we used
to call impunity in the PDP. In my opinion, the President has achieved
that for our nation. When you find yourself in a situation where a lot
of devilish deeds have been inflicted on the system, then certainly, it
is not likely that all these problems would be totally eliminated in a
blink of an eye. I want to believe that with the foundation that he has
laid, Mr. President has restored significantly Nigerians confidence in
the system – not only within, but in the way, we are seen by people from
outside Nigeria.
Secondly, Mr President during his
campaigns had pledged to fight corruption. This was one of his major
commitments to the people of Nigeria. You would bear me witness that
President Buhari is fighting corruption to the best of his ability even
though corruption is also fighting back. This is what the President and
most of the institutions fighting corruption in Nigeria are going
through. But even with that, I want to also believe that President
Buhari has done very well in the area of the fight against corruption.
The last commitment he made to Nigerians
during his campaign was a major commitment. Major, because the business
of every government falls here. The major mandate of every government,
even if it is an autocratic one is to protect the lives and property of
the people. The president took over the mantle of leadership at a time
when the security of the country had totally collapsed. Security of
people at work, security of people in places of worship, in the streets
and even in their own bedrooms was not guaranteed.The issue of Boko
Haram and kidnapping were major challenges when Buhari took over the
leadership of this country. I am not trying to say that the last
government led by former President Goodluck Jonathan did not do anything
at all about security. But all I want to say is that Mr. President took
over under a very difficult condition in the sense that you cannot be
sure of going out and coming back to your house. You may remember that
in this very city of Kano, a whole Emir, who is revered and respected,
an old gentleman was attacked and was almost killed. You may also recall
that worshipers in churches and mosques were not left out. In the
Central Mosques at the Emir’s palace in Kano State, over 200 people were
killed … all I want to say is that whether you like Buhari or you do
not like Buhari, whether you are of the APC or not, you cannot dispute
the fact that the wave of insecurity has been reduced significantly in
this present administration. The first order Buhari gave was when he
ordered the military high command to relocate to the North-east, where
the fight was most intense. At the end, Buhari has brought to bear his
experiences and wisdom as a military man and has succeeded in taming the
scourge of insurgency. Even though I can acknowledge that in recent
times, the security problem has now taken a different dimension. It is
no longer Boko Haram.
From the Chibok girls to the Dapchi girls, onwards to the herdsmen/farmers clashes…?
(Cuts in) Yes, you might have noticed a
change in the dimension of the security problem. President Buhari has
condemned them all. The party has condemned them and we as an
institution in the legislature, we have also condemned the incidents so
have the traditional rulers condemned the wave of incidents. We as a
National Assembly, we have set up a very high powered committee to look
into the matter of the farmers and herdsmen clashes, to consult with the
affected people , to consult with the farmers and the herdsmen, to look
into the legislation at the state levels- legislation that are being
enacted in so many states- in Ekiti, and I understand that there is one
in Benue State.We would want to liaise with them and interface. Of
course, we cannot go down and dictate or make laws for the states. Where
laws are meant to be made by the state assembly, we will give them that
respect. But where we need to advise ourselves and see how we can have a
look at it again, then we will consult them in the most friendly manner
and see how we could make amend so that at the end of the day, we can
accommodate ourselves on one page. The most important thing is for us to
be secured, to have a crisis-free nation. What I am trying to buttress
is that we now have a new challenge -the clashes- at our hand which, of
course, like we have succeeded in taming the scourge of Boko Haram, we
would also join hands with our president to make sure that new spate of
insecurity is effectively addressed.
Looking at the number of Nigerians
that have been killed in different parts of the country in recent time,
can we say in all sincerity that insecurity is coming down under this
administration?
If I were a teacher to mark President
Buhari on security, I will mark him significantly above average. The
fact that some other things are coming up and issues to do with security
are not finally rested, does not mean that Buhari is a failure in terms
of managing security. What I will like to say in essence is that while
we were addressing one form of insecurity, another form of insecurity is
now coming up. Even the issue of kidnapping school girls or boys,
kidnapping of people at home or in their places of work, these are
issues that came up later. Because that was not the form of insecurity
that we were facing before now. We were, in the past, facing virtually
what we call terrorism and terrorism by way of Boko Haram. And every one
of us can acknowledge that it was like a global problem. Then all of a
sudden, something else came up. It is like while you are concluding on
one form of insecurity, another form is coming up. I want to assure you
that the kind of commitment that Mr. President has against defeating
Boko Haram is uncommon and you will agree with me that that aspect of
insecurity has been effectively addressed and reduced
significantly. Finally, I want to make it clear that all hands must
join in the fight against insecurity in Nigeria. It is not for the
president alone: it is not also for the National Assembly alone. And it
is not even for the judiciary which is another arm of government- it is
not even for the police or the military alone. The fight against
insecurity is for all Nigerians, all Nigerians including civilians,
tribal and, religious leaders, traditional rulers. Everybody must join
hands to address the present form of insecurity.
Let us look at the crisis in the APC.
Name them, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi states, APC is now looking like the PDP,
some four years ago. What is your take?
I think that for me, from my experience,
obviously, you cannot rule out conflict and crisis in a living political
party, especially one that is controlling government. And I want to say
that the pocket of crisis that we have here and there, in APC
controlled states is not the best for the party. But you must note that
you cannot rule out these conflicts in a living political party. The PDP
which is like a dead political party- a party that is dead and is
already in the casket….. the only thing I know that is remaining of the
PDP, especially in the Northern part of the country is just to take it
for final interment into mother earth. Even in the dead PDP, it has its
own crisis. So by interpretation, these are things that you cannot rule
out. If I can remember my political science very well, the definition of
what you call politics, if you go by Aristotle, is conflict and
conflict resolution. That was Aristotle’s definition. I want to now go
next step to say that it is only when these conflicts cannot be
resolved, that is when it becomes an issue, that is when it becomes
unfortunate
In Kano and Kaduna states APC, we have
clear attributes of conflicts that cannot be resolved. The conflicts in
these states, going by your words, are the type that cannot be
resolved. Are we moving towards an unfortunate situation?
I think that may well be your own
opinion. To the best of my knowledge and to the best of my own
experience in Kano politics and my relationship with Kaduna politics,
these conflicts have still not come to the extent that you will tell me
that it is non-resolvable, that it cannot be reconciled. No! I tell you
that it can still be reconciled.
But what are those unspoken signs that
tend to assure you that the parties in dispute are likely to resolve
their differences? What are you seeing to assure you that Governor
Ganduje would reconcile with Senator Kwankwaso when only last week he
foreclosed all further talks with his former boss?
You know that is Ganduje. When a leader
is speaking, of course, he may speak to the apex. But for Ganduje that I
know, the listening Ganduje, the humble Ganduje, the patient Ganduje,
the dynamic Ganduje, I will tell you that he is so dynamic that he can
be reversed. He is somebody that listens and I will beat my chest to
tell you that I am one of the closest persons to the governor and to the
government of the state. And I know of so many other statements or
steps that he has taken personally, but we were able to encourage him to
change his position in the interest of the government and the people of
Kano State. Ganduje is a very patient person, but when you push a
patient person to the wall, certainly he is bound to make strong
statements. But I want to say it, without any fear of contradiction, the
case in Kano is still something that we can resolve because the leader
of the party in the state, who is also the governor is somebody that is
very dynamic. He is somebody that can listen, most especially now when
our revered president has set up a committee under the leadership of
Senator Bola Tinubu to consult and resolve all the crisis in the party.
I am sure that the Ganduje I know is
bound to listen to the efforts and commitments of President Buhari. The
only thing that I might also tell you- three things that are key to the
resolution of the conflict in Kano State APC- they are one, that every
one of us, no matter how highly placed you are and no matter how lowly
placed you are in the structure of the party, every one of us must have
effective respect for the rules of the party as it is contained in the
constitution of the party- one of which is respect for the hierarchy of
the party.
By the constitution of the party, the
governor of every state is the leader of the party. So, whoever is in
Kano and calls himself a Kano man, no matter his ambition, must have to
respect this fundamental requirement. Secondly, the people of Kano
State, especially those of us in the APC- party men, youth, and women-we
have taken a resolution on that occasion. We told the world that as far
as Kano State is concerned, especially the Kano State APC, we are
behind Buhari. And we were the first state that called on President
Buhari to please respond to the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians
to run again for the presidency come 2019. Our votes, our commitments,
and our resources would be deployed to make sure that Buhari is
returned. So our second position is that whoever is in the APC in Kano,
whoever that person might be, highly placed, middle placed or low
placed, must respect this commitment of the people of Kano State.
Which implies –(cuts in)
Which implies that whoever is from Kano- I
don’t want to call names- must step down. Whoever is in Kano and is an
APC member and has respect for the provisions of the constitution must
respect the commitment of the people and government of Kano State. He
cannot aspire for the presidency as far as the APC in the state is
concerned.The third position is that whoever wants peace must live in
peace. If you want peace in the party, you must also show the tendency
of peacemaking. It is not to speak peace by words of the mouth while in
the actual sense you go by the side and try to create mischief. We must
also, over and above all things, respect the government in place, a
government that we all put our hands together to bring to existence.
The duo of Senator Tinubu and Oyegun,
party leader and National party chairman appear to be at loggerheads of
late. What is your take on this?
I think that Tinubu – Oyegun … I don’t
want to say crisis … I think the Tinubu –Oyegun problem is one that one
can look at as a little bit personal. I don’t think it has any
significant political implication. They are people who know themselves
better than myself. They started together and if I can remember, Tinubu
played a very important role in the emergence of Oyegun in that position
as the National Chairman of the party. Therefore, I am afraid if I can
make so much contribution in this regard.
I still want to tell you that no matter
what dimension, their frosty relationship takes, I still believe that it
is one that can be addressed. This is because all of us in the party
have one common point of bound – and that is to say that we are all
bound by the respect we have for President Buhari… I want to say that we
are a lucky political party because we have somebody who is well
respected – I am telling you that in 24 hours if Buhari summons Tinubu
and Oyegun to a roundtable , that crisis would be over once and for all.
The possibility of getting a resolution of the dispute in Kano and
Kaduna is still this same factor- which is that we are bound by the
respect and honour we have for President Muhammadu Buhari. And any
crisis, no matter how badly it has gone, if Buhari wades into it, that
matter must die.
Very often, we hear speculations that
there is the likelihood of a mass defection in the National Assembly
from the APC to the PDP. Quickly too, what happens if Buhari declines to
run in 2019 elections?
Taking the first question, I don’t want
to respond to presumptions. What you just said might be nothing but
somebody’s opinion. To the best of what I know of today’s House of
Representatives under the leadership of the able Speaker, I am not aware
of any speculation like that. I am not aware of any arrangement or any
plan by any member to defect either individually or collectively, out of
the APC. All I can tell you and you can bear me witness is that within
the spate of about three to four months back, what the APC has been
experiencing in the House is a case of other members coming into the
party. Just last month we got a member from another party coming into
the APC. Just last Wednesday, we got a member from APGA from the
South-east. The APC members in the green chamber, quote me, are not
planning to defect out of it, but we are waxing stronger and stronger.
But have you heard that the PDP is
dishing out tickets to any member of the House of Representatives who is
ready to defect to it?
You know the PDP is a sinking party- a
party that is dying and would continue to die. They are bound to make
all these kinds of flimsy commitments to lure members into their party.
But why would you even have to.allow yourself to be lured into a party
that would provide no hope for you or a party that has no hope for
Nigerians? Members of the House of Representatives are very intelligent
people. They have also experienced professionals in various fields of
endeavour, competent in their understanding of the dynamics of Nigerian
politics. No one member of the APC in the House can allow himself to
jump into such a trap. A party that is sunk to the neck level, a party
that is sinking in a deep sea…. After all let me tell you that the APC
also is not oblivious and is also not under any illusion of the kind of
support that those of us in the House are giving the party in our
various fields of responsibilities. I am not speaking on behalf of the
leadership of the party, but I know that they have huge respect for our
members in the House because of the kind of support we give to the party
and the government. As a member of NEC and member of the National
Caucus of the party, I am assuring you that the APC would also have
respect for members of the House of Representatives who are loyal and
supportive of the party and that their coming back to the House through
the issuance of tickets to run for the election would also be an easy
one.
What happens if President Buhari decides not to contest?
I do not think that there is any danger .
We have made up our minds, especially myself that is from Kano State
where we made the declaration, the clarion call asking President
Muhammadu Buhari to contest. Where we declared that President Muhammadu
Buhari, Kano people would give more than the two million votes we gave
him in the last election. So being bound by this commitment, I don’t
even have any imagination that Buhari would not contest. As far as I am
concerned Buhari must contest.
As a journalist, I look at
scenarios.Scenario one is that he would contest. Scenario two is that he
would not contest. Assuming President Buhari decides against contesting
in the 2019 elections, what will be the fate of the APC?
I think as long as Buhari remains in the
APC, as long as he remains the president of the country through this
transition, don’t undermine my resolve that he has to contest. He has no
option but to contest. But if for any reason he decides on something,
on the contrary, I want to contend that Buhari would provide the
direction and would be expected to provide the next option and whatever
option he offers, all of us would be bound by that option. All I want to
tell you is that Buhari is the APC in Nigeria. He is the government in
Nigeria. Buhari is the leader of the APC in Nigeria and, therefore,
Buhari is the direction of where we would go and he would certainly lead
us to success.
Source: The Punch
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