Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who is a stalwart of All Progressives Congress (APC), has expressed his desire to vie for the presidential ticket of the APC despite the fact that General Muhammadu Buhari and the Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, are also showing interest in the ticket. He met a group of journalists in Abuja where he spoke on a lot of issues. SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, ROTIMI AKINWUMI, was there. Excerpts…
Sir, come 24th of September, what should we be expecting as the preview of your declaration?
In terms of preview of the September 24 event, it is more of a media event. It is not a rally as such because we have a selected audience, because we really intend the media to carry the message we intend to give to Nigerians.
You have been an advocate of internal democracy. How would you compare APC to your former party, the PDP?
So far, the internal democracy we have practised in the APC is better than what is being done in PDP. Obviously, there is no doubt about that. You can see that in the last few bye elections, we have gone through them in a transparent manner and in a democratic process in terms of nomination and others. I still believe that the APC holds a better future in terms of internal democracy and in terms of progressiveness of the country.
You are known to have always given the presidency a shot at every opportunity. You have not won once, aren’t you discouraged?
How can I be discouraged? You are asking me to give up on Nigeria. I don’t have another place to go. So why should I give up on Nigeria? That is what you are asking me to do. I will continue to contest until I no longer have the capacity or the strength.
What happens if you don’t get the party ticket?
What will happen other than for me to support my party? It is logical that I support my party to win the election?
What is your unique selling point that you think other contestants like General Buhari and others lack?
Members of the party will determine who becomes the flag bearer and the electorate will decide who wins. Every politician is always optimistic and will tell you that he is going to win but it is the electorate that finally determine who wins. That is the end of the story.
What about the incumbency factor in Nigeria today, do you see your party defeating PDP this time around?
Why the PDP has remained in power for this long is because the opposition has been fragmented. Now, they are trying to come together. You can see basically, we are moving towards two party system. Nigerians in the opposition will now see that there is an alternative. Before, it could be because they thought there was no alternative because the opposition was fragmented. That is why the PDP was having it all along. I think that Nigerians are sophisticated enough now to see that there now an alternative tithe PDP and therefore feel that we should have an alternative because it has not been as good as we thought.
How do you see INEC today, can it deliver a free and fair election come next year?
As far as INEC is concerned, it depends. The political parties in particular should also help to police INEC very closely. If the political parties and the electorate together with the NGOs are able to police INEC, they will have no alternative than to conduct a credible election. Even though I still admit that, structurally, INEC is defective in conducting free and fair elections.
What informed the choice of (Prof. Babalola) Borishade as your campaign Director-General?
We started together and we have known each long enough.
People are saying you are a stranger in the house built by others and yet you want to take over the master bedroom. How would you react to those saying you are new in APC?
You are conveying a wrong view because I was a founding member of AC which later became ACN. I gave it the name ACN before I eventually left and went back to the PDP, and at the prompting of the leadership of the new APC, I came back.
What is the position of APC on zoning and do you see zoning arrangement working for you in APC?
As far as zoning is concerned, we don’t have zoning in the constitution of the APC. So, the race is open for everybody. That is why you hear that people like Rochas Okorocha is also contesting. So, we don’t have zoning in the APC like the PDP. It is entrenched in their constitution which has been violated as far as zoning is concerned.
Your reaction to agitation for automatic ticket in APC?
I think those canvassing for automatic ticket are scared of contest. There is nothing to be scared of in a contest in a democratic setting. How can you canvass for automatic ticket in a democratic process? There is nothing like that. These are people who are afraid of contest.
What is your take on the additional polling units in the country?
I think the polling units are based on population. In some states like Lagos, Kano, and others, one polling unit has to be sub-divided into about four or five units and, sometimes, into about 10 units because of the number of registered voters in that polling unit. So, I don’t think there is anything unusual about it because you find out that in some polling units, you have more than 2000 people registered to vote and it is not possible to get all of them to vote within the limited time available for people to vote. I think it is just a formality that they announced, but in actual fact, if you go and see what is on ground, you find that it is not an increase as such.
Some are saying the South-South has always been a political ally of the North and the North should support President Jonathan to secure the second term ticket. How would you react to this?
Allow Nigerians to vote for whoever they want to vote for. If they decide to vote for Jonathan, so be it and if they decide to vote for somebody else, so be it. Once we remove this element of subdivision based on region, ethnicity and religion, the point is that even the military governed this country, if they picked their president from the North, the deputy comes from the south. So, we know that this country is composed of regions and multiple ethnic groups and there has to be a representation. I am a democrat to the core. Whoever is ruling must accommodate the various interest groups in this country. So, as far as I am concerned, Nigerians should be left to elect their leader from where ever they deem fit.
Are you not worried about the insecurity in the North East, including your state, Adamawa?
I am absolutely upset and angry with this insecurity situation. I don’t believe that, as a country, we have done enough to secure this country. This bunch of insurgents has been operating for nearly four or five years now. Knowing Nigeria, we pride ourselves as having the best armed forces in this continent. I really don’t know where something went wrong. Is it the armed forces or the political leaders? I just can’t believe what is happening. I am not in a position to explain it because I am not in government. But I don’t believe that this is a situation that Nigeria would not have dealt a very fatal blow within three to six months. I remember that when we were in office, such a group wanted to emerge in Yobe state and we smashed that group completely within a couple of weeks. That such a group should be allowed to operate for four or five years in this country and even saying they have occupied part of the country, hoisting flag and nobody is doing anything is unbelievable. Please, help me ask them what is wrong because I am very upset and angry about this development. When I went to visit the son of former president, Obasanjo, I said I wish I were a young man, I would have gone to the front to fight. It is unbelievable what is happening.
Would you kick against it if the Federal Government says there would be no election in the three states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno because of the security challenges there?
I will kick against it because in my state, only two local governments are affected and we have 21 local governments. Only the northern local governments bordering Borno State are the ones affected. If election could be held in Afghanistan with a more deadly Taliban, I see no reason why we cannot hold elections in Nigeria. Our armed forces must be equipped and deployed to effectively deal with the situation for elections to hold.
How prepared are you and your party for Adamawa bye-election?
I was about to hold a meeting with the leadership of APC when you came and drove them out. We are trying to strategies on how to face the bye-election. I went round the state and can tell you that it is predominantly an APC state. Almost every house you pass, you can see an APC sticker or flag. Before upon see one PDP, you would have seen about five APC. I think that it all depend on how we organise ourselves. We are just trying to appeal to all the contestants to come together and work together so that we can return the state to APC.
You head the reconciliation committee set up by APC, how far has the committee gone in its assignment?
The reconciliation committee started very well. I am the Chairman and I got too busy and so requested the National Working Committee to excuse me from continuing as the chairman and appoint somebody else. The party chairman has not granted my request. Inevitably, somebody else has to take over from me and continue with the job because I am facing an election in Adamawa and a contest for primary. They have to find somebody who has the time. We have made progress and the fact that the group that threatened to leave has not left is a sign that we have made progress. It is a gradual process and because it is a south western issue, there is a peculiar way we deal with issues in the south west.
How do you see the gale of defections going on among the political parties?
What is your problem with defection? That is no news, and it should not be news that people are moving from one party to the other in the present dispensation. I made it possible through the courts.
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