From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Architect Waziri Bulama is a Jack of all trades and master of all. As a Fellow, Nigerian Institute of Architects, former National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and member of the ruling party’s National Advisory Council, he is a man that has traversed every field of human endeavour.
Speaking to Sunday Sun in Abuja, he downplayed the contentious APC’s Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket, opting to even swear with the Holy Quran that it will not result in the dreaded Islamisation of the country.
Bulama equally dismissed the possibility of the presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, posing any threat to his APC counterpart, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He argued that the presidential election will be a two-horse race between the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and Tinubu. Excerpt:
What are the chances of APC in next year’s presidential election?
It is only God in His infinite wisdom that can tell what will happen tomorrow. But looking at things strategically and comparing our party with the other ones and the candidates in the presidential election, there are three or four reasons APC has a clear advantage and confidence of winning the election next year. That is not to say, however, that it should give us comfort or confidence to remain complacent. We have to work for it, to strengthen our hold on those four pillars. The first is that the APC is a broad-based national party represented in every constituency in this country. And in all these constituencies, we have presence, we have aspirants who are ready to protect the party, and promote our candidate and values. We have a clear advantage in terms of national spread. We have some measure of strength in those constituencies. That is one clear advantage that the APC has over other parties. Secondly, the APC is still driven by those ideologies that brought them together as a party in 2023. The APC leadership is against oppression and suppression and underperformance by the PDP when they are in control of the apparatus of government. The APC, fundamentally, came as a reformist party to promote democracy to ensure that votes count, government works for the people, and that no Nigerian is disenfranchised. Those founding values are still there in the minds of core APC members. We as party members are ready to work for the party, to promote those ideals and values that will deepen democracy in Nigeria. To ensure that rights and opportunities of Nigerians are enhanced. The power is now driven and controlled by the people. These are exactly the founding values and principles that the present government is promoting. President Buhari has been able to focus on those issues that matter especially in ensuring that INEC is not only independent, but that votes also count, the judiciary is independent, and court pronouncements are respected. Our achievements should be a thing of pride. Nigerians will appreciate them, especially our performances in infrastructure, controlling insecurity, and organized crimes across the country. The worst situation has been arrested in the Northeast, Niger Delta, and South-south. The ring leaders have also been arrested. Organised crimes have been reduced to the barest minimum. Thirdly, our party is united now and regardless of the internal tensions, grievances, and grudges, we are still loyal to our party. Our party also has a culture of consultation, regard, and respect for members in decision-making. We are less rancorous than other parties. Our unity is founded on mutual respect for others. The unity in our party is also part of our confidence that we can move as a block to confront and win the election.
Lastly, we have a very strong and formidable candidate in Asiwaju Tinubu. He won the party primary in a very free, transparent and open contest from the votes of the over 3,000 delegates across the country. They picked him out of 23 others and because of the legitimacy of his emergence; there is less friction in the party. Asiwaju himself is a leader, and founding father of this party. He has a record of political leadership. You have a record of political leadership and reform-minded governance policy. He has a way of approaching governance in a productive and result-oriented way. He is also a leader, as governor, he has been able to build political allies across the country with enormous goodwill. These four things give me confidence that we have a great advantage over others in winning the 2023 election. However, we also need to work hard to ensure that we mobilize and carry Nigerians, as well as our party men along.
What are your fears for the 2023 elections?
They are three or four, and just as President Buhari stated in Imo State, the achievements of his government and APC have been under-reported. Many people within the government and the party are not explaining these things. There is a very serious feeling in this country that the government is not working for the people, and that they don’t care. They also feel that they are not serious about addressing the concerns and fears of the Nigerian people. This is a very serious problem because it leads to the source of other problems and even leads to voter apathy. Voter apathy is a serious indictment on the quality of leadership and democracy. We see them struggling to meet the aspiration that the general election is like a referendum on democracy itself. Voter apathy is a very serious indictment of the quality of leadership and the quality of democracy, practiced by the leaders. We know every day that leaders are struggling to deliver on their mandate to the people, but they are not communicating to Nigerians properly. In all over the countries, there is no political and economic inclusiveness. The economy is working for the few rich ones while the middle class are still struggling. That is one big problem we are having across the parties. There are many stakeholders that are not carried along despite paying their dues in struggling to ensure the party’s success. They feel that there was no reward system at the party. All the parties are facing the same problem of feeling that sacrifices are not rewarded. This is responsible for the open fight in some parties. It will affect the party in the 2023 elections to the point of engaging in anti-party.
Does it mean that the APC single faith presidential ticket is not a challenge, especially as some Nigerians are thinking that it is a ploy to Islamise the country?
Before the emergence of this same faith presidential ticket, I have always said that I am more concerned about unity in the party and the country. If there is unity, and working together, the issue of the same faith ticket will not matter whether it is Christian-Christian, Muslim-Muslim, or all southern or northern affairs. Same region, same religion, or same tribe does not matter, provided the party is harmoniously working together. Decisions in the party are not driven by tribe or religion. The most fundamental concern for party members will be where our party’s presidential candidate should come from; 13 out of 14 APC northern governors decided we want the next president to come from the South. It led to the emergence of Asiwaju Tinubu. He consulted widely and the extensive consultation eventually led to him picking Kashim Shettima as his running mate. What we have to understand is that every president and vice president will implement the Nigerian constitution and from their antecedents, they are not parochial, having come from corporate backgrounds. Both of them are known to be working harmoniously with all Nigerians, in their own little assignments over the years. They have worked very successfully with people across board, across all ethnic groups, all religions, and regions. And when they come into power, they are going to swear to implement the Nigerian constitution with built-in checks and balances to ensure that they respect the Nigerian constitution, which opposes discrimination or alienation of any sort in the implementation of our party’s manifesto. We know that they will take the country from this level to another level. I am not worried at all because I understand their antecedents and what they will bring to the table for the benefit of all Nigerians. Absolutely, Muslim-Muslim ticket is not a ploy to Islamise Nigeria. Some of us in this party will not leave what we are doing to join any sinister agenda to polarize or discriminate against anybody in this country. I am a proud minority, I am a professional, I have an M.Sc in Architecture, and in Entrepreneurship. I am from the University of Bedfordshire in the UK. This agenda is entirely national and I can even swear by the Holy Quran that there will be no ethnic or religious agenda by APC or any plan to Islamise the country under Asiwaju and Shettima leadership. There is no need to nurse such fears and if you look at Tinubu’s record, you will understand his antecedents as governor of Lagos and how, for instance, he helped us to build APC, how he contributed to the stability and success of this party, there is nothing like such an agenda.
Is the presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, a threat to the APC candidate?
Obi is not a threat to Tinubu at all. Politics is about the weight of a party’s candidate. It is not a mob action. What is happening with Obi is like mob action. There is no way a candidate who is not part of the big political parties can emerge as president. For instance, President Buhari may not perhaps have actualised his dream of becoming the president if he did not join the APC. As an Army General, Head of State with a network across the country, he has followers and admirers, but he ran three times on the platform of other smaller parties without success. It was when he joined a broad-based party that he succeeded. So, how can Obi without a national outlook, national experience, and broad-based political party be a threat to other established political parties? Right now, the LP is not present in many states. It has no governorship, national and state Assembly candidates in all the 360 constituencies and 109 Senatorial Districts. In that case, without these candidates who will campaign for him? I am not worried at all about any challenge from Obi. What they call the Obi factor is a good development, it will be a learning experience because he will make an impact in some areas, but it will all be part of the negotiating instrument with either the party that wins or the launchpad for future political consultation. But one thing that I am really happy about also is that those people that are extremely bitter, and are prone to violence and disruption in the country now believe in the potency of the vote and democratic process. There are many groups and people all over the country, not just in the Southeast, but also in the Southwest, Northeast, Northwest that believe in the project. People resorting to self-help, violence and all sorts of things, including abdication or voter apathy are now seeing hope in either Peter Obi or some of these other parties that want to also vote and try their luck. It is good for democracy in the country because I don’t feel threatened by the Obi candidacy.
Are you admitting that Atiku is then a big threat to Asiwaju?
Atiku is certainly a big threat. Nobody can claim that Atiku is a pushover. He is one leader who has been in the political terrain in Nigeria for a long time. He has worked under some of the most experienced leaders and strategists in Nigeria. They are political icons like General Shehu Yar’Adua, Olusegun Obasanjo among others. He is well known, visible, and present. I know that Atiku is actually a real cause for concern to the APC. Even though we have certain advantages over him, he also has certain strong points over us. And that is why for instance, in our party, I am just urging leaders and colleagues not to be overconfident and complacent because confidence leads to complacency. But clearly, I believe that it is not going to be easy, he should not be taken lightly.
How true is the statement from Kwankwaso that an average northerner wants power to remain in the North beyond 2023?
It is not true. I don’t share that sentiment. I don’t believe in any form of the campaign based on religion or ethnicity. I don’t believe that because we in APC have abandoned identity-based policies since 2003. Knowing the limitations of identity politics, we have turned the APC into a national, non-religious, non-ethnic, non-regional, and socialist democratic party. We are going to campaign on the basis of those founding values and principles because our party came to address the problems of oppression, marginalization, killings, godfatherism, rigging, and voter fraud. We have succeeded in doing that. For your information, an average northerner is politically informed, even cattle herders and farmers, through their abilities to listen to the radio every day. Most of them have access to the Internet and telephones. Nobody can say, they have to vote based on region, origin, or both, or based on religion, or ethnicity.
From your analysis, is next year’s election going to be a two-horse race between Asiwaju and Atiku?
It seems so because of the strength and spread of their parties, and because of the strength and weight of the two candidates, Asiwaju and Atiku.
What will history remember President Buhari for and what legacy will he leave behind?
President Buhari will be remembered for so many things. He will be remembered as a leader who is tenacious, and who contributed to the political development and stability of Nigeria much more than any leader in Nigeria’s history. Buhari will be known as someone who left the comfort of his house as a statesman and member of Council of State, to plunge into the uncertain world of partisan politics and came out clean. Having run for election three times, and lost, he will be seen as a leader with the courage to work with other Nigerians to form a big national party that won elections as president back to back. He will be seen as a leader who successfully managed a transition to his own party and managed the transition of another election because he rejected extension of power. He also clearly said that he will not have a preferred candidate. He said that he will not nominate and not anoint a successor. He will be seen as someone who selflessly served Nigeria, as someone who built a vibrant political party and contributed to deepening democracy in Nigeria. He will be seen as someone who contributed to the building of strong institutions in INEC, judiciary, military, and democratic institutions comparable with that in advanced countries. President Buhari will be seen as someone who has not allowed the Nigerian economy to crash in spite of low oil prices, two recessions due to COVID-19, and war on insurgency and violence all over the country. He will be seen as somebody who tried in spite of all these challenges. He has been able to bring legitimacy to political parties, democracy, and governance in Nigeria. He removed the concentration of power in the hands of some basic interests, some power blocks, some gangs and gang leaders, and returned it to the people because nobody has the power to anoint or remove anybody in this country. By next year when he bows out, I will feel very happy having contributed to this historic moment in the life of our country under President Buhari.