However, the politician expressed the conviction that with the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as president from 2023, Nigeria would become the giant of Africa indeed.
Would you like to say something about the vexatious Muslim-Muslim ticket of your party for the 2023 general election?
My first reaction is to journalists. I would like to appeal to journalists, the television, radio, newspaper, online, in whatever form, should stop interviewing spokespersons of political parties as regards the presidential candidates of the various political parties. They should stop interviewing anybody, including chieftains of political parties. Journalists should recall that in 2014 when the likes of Kayode Fayemi, Adams Oshiomhole, Lai Mohammed, and so many APC chieftains made comments about the manifesto of the party, without talking to the candidate, and after the election, the candidate, who was President Muhammadu Buhari, said he didn’t know anything about what they were saying. So, why do we want the same thing to happen now? Let the candidates themselves speak so that we can hold them to their words. This time that the surrogates are speaking, they are not doing so in the interest of the nation because they cannot speak for the candidate. The candidate will deny; why are we not doing the proper thing? The candidate and his running mate are there. Those two people can speak for their party. We must extract commitments from them and not just anybody.
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My appeal to everybody is that the issue of Muslim-Muslim ticket cannot be changed. It is true that you are aggrieved, just like Governor Wike is aggrieved in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); that one is history. Let everybody come together and see how we can rescue this country. We would like to talk about how to rectify the issues that are ravaging our country, these are the things that we should concern ourselves with and not abusive words or maligning ourselves, they won’t take us anywhere.
What about if some of them claim they are familiar with the happenings in the party, as members?
So many people talk on behalf of the government that they don’t belong to. It is either a minister or a commissioner, or a permanent secretary or head of an agency of government that should be speaking. If you are talking about the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, for example, and you are not talking to the vice chancellor of the university; you are not talking to the Minister of Education or the Minister of Labour; you are not talking to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, these are the people officially authorised to talk about solutions to the issues. You just see somebody talking to who is not authorised in that field, how does he know about the solution? These people lack executive capacity to talk about projects and programmes of a government. When you are not part of the government and you are talking about a solution, when nobody has told you to go and say so, you are causing confusion.
There are so many other specialties that you can talk about. If you are a medical doctor, don’t talk about strikes, talk about medical facilities; if you are a lawyer, you can talk about the protection of human rights; stop talking politics because you are not contesting and so you are not the candidate.
When there are issues, the ministers are not talking and someone who is not part of the government is talking, and he is the one offering solutions when he is not part of the government, it is a waste of time because at the end, who are you to talk for the government? At the time of campaigning, let the candidate speak. If the person is not authorised and he speaks, at the end of the day, the candidate will deny.
Don’t you think the complaints about the APC Presidential Campaign Council list should be addressed so that the fortunes of the party would not be affected at the end of the day?
My position on that is that anything negative at the moment should be avoided because you can no longer change things. My view is that as it stands now, certain things cannot be changed; so people must move forward. You cannot be thinking of what you cannot change; it is a waste of time.
Are you comfortable with the polls conducted recently by the Atedo A. N. Peterside (ANAP) Foundation, where the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, came tops ahead of other presidential candidates?
The poll is a good starting point and an eye opener to all political parties, not to ignore the Peter Obi Movement, popularly called the ‘Obidients’. They are a factor. It is for the presidential candidates to sit down and strategize against them. That kind of analysis should not be ignored. You have to work against it, work to rectify it; there is still time. It can never be final.
How do you feel about what the APC vice presidential candidate, Kashim Shettima, who was quoted to have said that, he and Tinubu are going to replicate what they did in Borno State and Lagos State, nationally?
There is no need to be worried about that kind of statement because he was only talking about the areas of concentration. They are going to itemize the problems in the country and proffer solutions, so the reference that he made to Lagos and Borno states, to me, is not important. It is what they did there they said they want to replicate. Nigeria is in dire need of a leader, who will take care of the challenges that we have before these problems will consume us whether we like it or not.
What is your view about the complaints that both President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice, Yemi Osinbajo, left the country the same time without transmuting a letter to the National Assembly, as stated in the constitution?
Let the opposition use it, as part of their campaign; we have an explanation for it. Their trips were in the course of duty. They didn’t go to play. It is a smart world now; they can communicate and lead from anywhere. Even when they are inside the plane, they can still communicate. There was no vacuum at all. What were they going to do in one week, for example, that cannot wait? People should not take that as a big issue.
The lingering issue of ASUU strike is bothering a lot of Nigerians. What can you say about that?
It will be addressed. All the issues relating to the ASUU strike will be addressed soon.
How do you think your party would perform if you eventually produce the next president, taking into cognisance the myriad of challenges plaguing the country?
All the challenges that we have currently will be addressed and the man who has the capacity to do that is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He will address the challenges as soon as he comes on board. He is passionate about the country and he will surprise everybody the way he will react to issues. He is a very hardworking person; there is no paper that you give to him that he doesn’t look at. He is a workaholic. Everybody should be patient, all would be well. He is not insensitive to what people are saying and he will address all the issues; I can assure you.
Are you in the same line with former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his remarks that at 62, Nigeria cannot be said to be the giant of Africa?
I pray that one day Nigeria will be the giant of Africa. We are not there yet but we will get there, and with Tinubu as president, we will get there. There is a lot of hope for this country.
Lastly, what kind of president do you think Nigerians need in 2023?
Nigerians need a president, who will put service above self. They need a president that must be passionate about the future of the citizens and must be ready to attract the greatest good to a greater number of the people.
