Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Barely a month after the winners and losers emerged in the presidential and National Assembly elections, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), a socio-cultural mouthpiece of the North, has disclosed why it did not support the candidature of former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar for the 2019 presidential race. The ACF had instead pitched tent with President Muhammadu Buhari who defeated Atiku in the election.

In an interview with our Correspondent in Kaduna, the Secretary General of ACF, Anthony Sani, said the Forum was not comfortable with Atiku’s politicisation of restructuring as well as his last minute idea to sell the nation’s national cake, NNPC, if he had won the presidency.

Sani said such move by Atiku amounted to returning to Egypt after the country was almost seeing the promise land.

But the ACF Scribe also has few words for the former vice president. He advised Atiku to concede defeat as a democrat and allow the country to forge ahead with development. This is even as he also advised President Buhari to ensure that minority party does not take the leadership of the National Assembly as it was the case in the outgoing 8th Assembly. He spoke of these and many more.

What is your take on the elections that have been concluded, particularly the presidential and the governorship?

I think Nigerians are becoming more aware, hence the observed changes. It appears voters are more discerning. Many myths have been broken. For example, the gale of defections did not affect the outcome of the elections substantially. Also money bags did not play much roles this time around. In some states where the president won with wide margin, the governors could not have it easy. Some governors may not prevail during the rerun, thus underscoring the fact that voters care about content of character that govern performance. In 2015, Buhari got only 198,000 votes in the whole of South East, and less than 500,000 votes in South  South. But in 2019, there have been substantial improvement which suggests that people are no more obsessed with politics of identity. This is a healthy development for our democracy.

President Buhari has vowed never to interfere with selection of leaders of the National Assembly. What is your take on that?

While I would not advise the president to impose leaders on the National Assembly, I think the president should be interested in who becomes the leaders of the two chambers in order to avoid past mistakes where the National Assembly became a clog in the wheel of the government of APC regime and suggested a divided party that led to the gale of defections. So Mr .President cannot sit by and allow minority to assume leadership of the National Assembly.

Few weeks to the presidential election, ACF endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari against his arch political rival, Atiku Abubakar. Don’t you think you used the Forum to play partisan politics as against one of its aims and objectives of being a non partisan body?

It is true that ACF is not politically partisan but we are in favour of what most northerners share. But that does not suggest the forum would fail to provide some form of guides to northerners when situations demand. Even though it is not the practice of ACF to endorse candidates, the last endorsement was informed by not only performance of the APC regime, but also because of the issues that featured in the campaigns. I believe ACF did not believe in the mantra of restructuring and in the further sale of national asset like NNPC, considering that past exercise did not improve the economy by way of diversification away from over dependence on oil wealth which is not a result of hard work.

Has President Buhari acknowledged the support you gave him, and do you intend to pay him a courtesy call?

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ACF did not endorse the president in the hope of securing presidential appreciation but we did because the APC regime, which despite some short comings, is still the best for the country in the circumstance. ACF visited and congratulated the president on 6/3/2019 during which time he appreciated the forum’s roles for a united peaceful North in the context of one united Nigeria. The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) members that were with Atiku are certainly not happy over his defeat. They are indeed backing Atiku in challenging the election result in court. How long can they continue to go with Atiku?

Most people who lost elections are never happy. And if they have credible evidence to challenge the results of the elections, they are at liberty to do so at the election tribunal. That is their constitutional right. How long they take is not within their purview but that of the election tribunal. But where the evidence is not credible, we suggest they act as democrats and concede. That way, our democracy would be enhanced.

Soon after he won the election, President Buhari said Nigerians should expect tougher times ahead. Are you not disappointed over this warning that is coming on the heels of millions of votes given to him to win the election?

Anybody who misrepresents the statement by President Buhari is not fair. This is because we all know that the situation which the regime inherited was unsavoury. As a result, the president had to take hard decisions as exit strategy out of the national malaise which was inherited. We all know that to tame insecurity and corruption in order to pave way for diversification of the economy is not matter of on and off like a TV. That is to say, any ailment which requires surgical intervention cannot be painless. And so when President Buhari talks of more tough time, it is to let Nigerians know there are still a lot to be done in order to take the nation completely out of the woods. Those who voted for APC are those with abiding faith in the leadership of President Buhari who they believe can take us to the promised land. They do not believe that because of challenges at Red Sea we should go back to Egypt. Going back to Egypt cannot be an option.

The race for the 2023 general election may have started by some stakeholders soon after the 2019 general election. Will the North ever allow power to go to South East or South West?

I think it is morally preposterous, if not undemocratic for anybody to talk of elections of 2023 when those elected in 2019 have not been inaugurated. Media should help set the agenda instead of promoting what are not right as far as the timing is concerned.

 Some Nigerians are saying that if per adventure Atiku wins in court even if it is one year left for Buhari to complete his second tenure, he (Atiku) will be sworn in as President. Do you think, with this scenario, power will ever return to either the east or the west?

I have told you it is simply not right to talk of next elections in 2019.This is because performance of the newly elected regime would account for 2023.

It is expected that President Buhari will rejig his cabinet to bring on board fresh brains in his second tenure of office. What is your advice to Mr. President?

It is within the purview of the president to constitute a cabinet capable of helping him to deliver on the promise of democracy. This is because his job is to impel progress by multiplying his strength through others, in this case, the cabinet. The president has already pledged a more inclusive government this time around. But this is an odd thing to say, especially when regard is paid to the fact that governance is an art of balancing competing demands among the constituent parts and socio-economic sectors.

Inconclusive election has seemingly become synonymous with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). What should be done to avoid this in future elections in the country?

The provision for inconclusive elections that gives rise to rerun is not new. It has been in all Electoral Acts of this country. It is matter of not only law but also common sense. Inconclusive elections arise when the difference between the two leading candidates is less than the number of voters whose polling units have been cancelled. In most cases, it is when the contest in a constituency is too close to call. There have been many reruns due to inconclusive elections by INEC before the current leadership of INEC. There is therefore no qualm.