2015: ‘How APC Will Beat PDP’

Since the advent of the present political dispensation, Katsina-born Senator Mahmud Kanti Bello, erstwhile Senate Majority Whip, has literally traversed all major political parties, including PDP, ANPP and CPC. Now, he is a member of the newly registered All Progressives Congress (APC).

In this interview, he laments the danger corruption posed to the future survival of this country, insisting that only Buhari can deal with the menace.

Excerpts:

You have traversed literally all major political parties- PDP, ANPP and CPC. Are you now comfortable in APC? 

Yes, so far I am comfortable. We just had our stakeholders’ meeting and I am happy that the Interim National Chairman has set out a well articulated manifesto for the party. We are out to check insecurity, devolution of power, agricultural development for food security aS well as free education. As you have said, I have been in this political game for quite some time.

My own understanding is that we are giving this country something that will salvage the economy from the clutches of indiscipline, high level of corruption and insincere leadership. I am also happy that all our governors and leaders are committed to moving this country forward.

You know I am a grassroots politician and from all that I have heard, Nigerians are very happy about the party. Nigerians want a party that is different from PDP. They don’t want what has happened in the defunct parties. They want an honest democratic party. They want people to be elected on merit. And this is why this interim leadership must live by example. If they do very well, their names will be written in gold. If they mess up with their selfish interest, there will be problem for the party and it will spell doom for Nigeria.

Are you in a nutshell saying that the party is now well positioned to bring about the change people are yearning for? 

I will rather say that the party is now well named. You cannot say a party is well positioned when you have not elected your executive. The people that are there are all interim. They were selected or appointed by our previous parties. Yes, we have confidence in them, but Nigerians should be given opportunity to elect their leaders when the time comes for election. And it should be from ward level to the national level. So, if this interim management is honest from registration to congress, then they have done great for Nigeria. If they mess up and bring certain interests in, then they mess up this country, mess up the party and mess up the hope of Nigeria. At this movement, a savior for Nigeria has been borne. The only thing is that this baby should be nursed very well.

As a core Northern leader, how acceptable is APC in the north? 

Northerners in general wanted a change because they are not happy. The reason they are not happy is that they have seen that their standard of living has gone down. If you go to Kano, so many factories have closed down. There is no longer textile industry you know. Before this government came in, we knew how many mega wattS of electricity we were generating. Today, we are generating less than 3,000 mega watts. There is nothing to show for the trillion of naira invested in the power sector. People are no fools. 

No industry can grow without regular electricity. Even we cannot cope with our domestic consumption. Every single northerner wanted a change from what is happening today. I joined the CPC because I followed the people. I wanted to be where the people are. It has been made clear that if we are able to win and get to power, we are going to pursue devolution of power, we are going to do our best to develop agriculture to ensure food security, and we are going to provide good health care system. These are not mere wishful thinking.

The security situation must be improved; educational system must be improved, electricity must be improved, if this country is to move forward. People must have gainful employment. And the great sector that can employ people is Agriculture. No northerner is happy to see young Al-Majiri on the streets begging because it is a time bomb; it is like explosive ready to blast off. Something should be done.  That is why some of us out of patriotism prayed so that there will be merger.  And thank God that merger has now become a reality. Now, the next stage is for the people who are put in charge to move the merger forward. This is the most critical period in the life of the party.

So, the Interim management must live above board.  I am not saying we haven’t got confidence in them; we have. But we are watching. They must make sure that they do things right. If any of them is interested in going for any elective position, he must resign from management position. I believe not only northerners but the entire Nigerians are interested in embracing the party. It is a necessity.

There is a general apprehension that there may be a clash of interests when the time comes for nomination of presidential candidate of the party. Don’t you think so?

If you have listened to me carefully, not only the presidential candidate, but even election into party positions must be done transparently because that is what will show to Nigerians whether there will be honesty or not.

What about zoning matter? 

There is no zoning in our party’s constitution. After the registration of members, there will be congresses. If the registration is hijacked by some people for personal interest, then there will be problem. Every Nigerian who wants to be registered should be registered and should be given equal treatment. I know there are some bad gangs within the party, but we are watching them. Some of us are in this party with our lives and our souls for the interest of this country. And we will do everything possible to make it work. We are not going to leave any stone unturned to make it succeed.

There is also insinuation of a crack in the party. Is there no crack in the merger?

I am yet to see it. This is a new born baby. It was born a couple of weeks ago when it was registered and we just did the naming ceremony at our stakeholders’ meeting. Now, we have to nurse the baby to become a man. This is a developmental stage. At developmental stage, you cannot have a crack. Anybody who talks of crack is just speaking for PDP.

With your Interim Management, how do you think APC is going to cope with the aspect of the Electoral Act that stipulates that election must take place six months before the handover, which is likely to be November or December next year?

God willing, we should be able to conclude our congresses by the end of November. If we conclude congresses by the end of November, we have thirteen months within which to field candidates. And every hand will be on deck to move this country forward. If we are willing, we can make it. All we want is that it must be different from PDP. Nigerians expect a party that is different from PDP and crisis-free.

Putting the card on the table; is there a way your party can actually run away from the issue of zoning because majority of northern political elders want power shift? 

Which zoning? Zoning is not part of the constitution of APC. There is no where zoning is mentioned. But there is what they call fairness. The most important thing is capability, credibility and someone who can do the job. So, don’t bring in the issue of zoning. It is not part of our constitution. It is part of the constitution of the previous PDP. I said previous PDP because Jonathan kicked against it. And that is one of the things that made me to disagree with him. If I sat down with you and agreed on how we want to live together, you cannot just change the rule because you want an advantage. And that is what makes the difference between APC and the PDP.  I am not against Jonathan because he is from the South-South and I am a Northerner. There is a rule that is supposed to be obeyed. If we start disobeying rules, there will be trouble and that is why the PDP is in crisis today. And they will continue to have problem because a lot of people want to cut corners. That is what I am saying to the new party; don’t allow that to happen. Be honest in your dealing with people.

Apparently, if power shift cannot be actualized under the PDP, the North will be looking towards the APC. 

(Cuts in). That is what will help the APC to win. If it is a strategy to field a northerner so that we can win, so be it. But then, we should field a Northerner that is good enough, we should field a Northerner that is not corrupt, we should field a Northerner that is strong, we should field a Northerner that is liked by the people, we should field a Northerner that has the capacity to do the job. And that Northerner we know is in the party and he can do it.  We need somebody who can stamp out corruption. Corruption is our cancer in this country. Why do we spend trillion of naira on the power sector to generate just 3000 mega watts? Why is it that somebody who collected pension and embezzled it is still working freely?  We need somebody who will kill that corruption. And we have it from the North. But if members of the party decide that other person from other part of the country should run, so be it.

What then is the assurance that APC will not drift towards sectionalism when election time comes?

Our party is built on certain principles. I have never thought or agreed with devolution of power. But now that my party has come up with it, I see a lot of wisdom in it. We say we want to generate power; we have to have a way of generating it. With all the noise Sule Lamido, Rabiu Kwankwaso and their group of five governors are making, have they ever talked about the incapacity of Jonathan to produce goods for Nigerians? Rather, they have been talking about power shift.

If power must come to the North, it has to come to the North for a purpose. Nigeria is 53. When are we going to stop the issue of North, South, East and West? We need a leader that can really change this country. If we don’t, there will be problem in this country. Out of population of 160 million people, over 90 million are here in the North. And I can assure you over 50 million youths are roaming the streets without work and proper education. It is a big time bomb. I have to contribute my quota to make sure it doesn’t explode.

People are angry. And we are not even improving agriculture. We only rely on oil from Bayelsa. We are jokers. We can produce enough food for the whole of African continent, but we are not doing that. Instead, we are importing rice from China and Thailand. We need a leader to change this. We need a patriotic leader. When I say we need Buhari it is not because he is a Northerner or he is from Katsina, it is because cancer is our problem and we need to deal with it.