From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
The South-south Zonal Coordinator of the Abdulaziz Yari All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairmanship Support Group, Aiyevbekpen Osakue, has said the immediate past Governor of Zamfara State is the right man to lead the APC.
Osakue, in this interview with Sunday Sun, explained that the clamour by party members for Yari to lead the party is due to his experience in party management, as well as crisis management from grassroots level.
“He has the capacity to quench political fires, and thereby entrench peace and stability in the party,” Osakue declared.
There are insinuations that former Governor Abdulaziz Yari has withdrawn from the APC chairmanship race. So, what necessitated today’s programme?
Politics is a game of mobilization of ideas and people. The political reflexes of Abdulaziz Yari and his increasing penetration of the APC nationally is so intimidating that opponents were compelled to find ways of punctuation. They resorted to the negative campaign of falsehood by causing publications to be made that Yari had suddenly left the party. Others claimed that he had withdrawn from the chairmanship race. So, today’s event was designed to make a strong statement dismissing those false claims and to re-establish Yari as a national chairmanship candidate. He is the candidate to beat.
How is your group working to ensure the emergence of former Governor Abdulaziz Yari as APC national chairman?
The group is lucky to have data collection experts and analysts. We have campaign consultants and operatives with dazzling record of past deliveries. We also have determined and experienced political foot soldiers. With such enormous resources to run a smart bespoke campaign, victory is assured. All we ask is a level playing field for all aspirants/candidates. We have the right strategy to deliver victory for our principal on the table under delegates or direct election format.
Considering the controversies that have characterised the office of the chairman of the ruling and main opposition parties lately, do you think Yari has the wherewithal to withstand the power play?
A strong political party worth its name should be inherently pluralistic and heterogeneous. That means ideas and interest will be genuinely variegated and sometimes conflictual in the party. The responsibility of the party chairman is to manage the factions and pocket ideologues within the system and forge cohesive united force to face elections. The skills, adroitness and capacity to work out a formula of who gets what would determine the level of peace and harmony in the party. It is an exciting job that a national chairman of a big national party should continuously wrestle with. Once the chairman strikes a workable balance by meeting the needs of the contending groups halfway, he will reduce agitations to the minimum. So, power play is a permanent feature in the political space. The clamour by party members for Abdulaziz Yari to lead the party is due to his experience in party management, as well as crisis management from grassroots level. He has the capacity to quench political fires thereby entrench peace and stability in the party.
Of what benefit will Yari be to the APC if elected chairman? Don’t you think it is wise for Yari to return to the National Assembly?
The APC is plagued by suspicion, lack of openness and so much complaints and agitations by aggrieved members across the nation. The party needs a bridge builder, a man with stable temperament and a trouble-shooter to quell agitations, calm emotions and restore peace and harmony. The party needs a man who knows how to campaign and win elections. The National Assembly is a great place to be, but the most urgent and challenging job right now is how to restore the party to a position of strength and popularity.
Are you confident that Yari can bring sanity to the party and act as a bridge builder?
Absolutely yes. There is no doubt whatsoever.
There are those canvassing that the national convention be postponed. What is your take on this?
The beauty of democracy is freedom to canvass ideas. We need to know what they intend to achieve by such suggestion. Going by the disappointment and confusion among party members regarding the seeming inability to manage its affairs, postponement will be disastrous. The feelings and frustration of party members is critical to future electoral fortunes of the party. The leadership will be taking a blind gamble if the Hoi polloi of party members are not top priority consideration in their plan. I will ask them to be sensitive to their members and the prying eyes of the general public.
There are those who also believe that the APC has brought more woes to the country than good. How do you view this position by some Nigerians?
There are all shades of opinions regarding government’s performance. In most cases, people judge government from the angle of personal struggles and frustration with life. Let me also remark that people also generally suffer from short memory and would need to be taken back to point zero in order to come to full appreciation of the correct situation. I don’t have all the facts about government’s performance, but as a citizen, I believe the APC has delivered in some key areas, particularly infrastructure wise and has not been so successful in some other areas, for instance, in the area of securing her citizens. In essence, it is a mix grill and we would need to separate the seed from the chaff and look at the complications and the hostility of global economic upheavals arising from unexpected events. In any case, beyond mere opinions, there are structured measurement tools for assessing government’s performance. Nigerians would be properly guided by standardized outcomes at the appropriate time. I believe they will be able to arrive at more informed position comparing the performance of the PDP and APC in government.
APC’s promise to tackle insecurity, corruption and economy in 2015 which gave the party victory over the PDP, what is your assessment?
APC came to government at the height of sprawling corruption in Nigeria. You will recall the huge scandal that engulfed the Office of the National Security Adviser to President Jonathan. It blew the roofs. We saw how privileged Nigerians descended on money meant to secure the territory of Nigeria callously shared without qualms. It was so pervasive that even people from unexpected quarters like the clergy were soiled. Billions and billions of naira were claimed to have been collected for the flimsiest causes. Big men were caught red handed and they began to confess like witches and wizards to money received from the unlikeliest of places. APC also came to office at a time when government seemed to have given up hope in fighting insurgency and Nigerians in Abuja were under intense fears of being possibly overrun by Boko Haram. Even the United Nations Building and the Force Headquarters were not spared. From my reflections, it would seem that a gigantic limp has occurred from where we were in 2015 and where we are today. Without saying that we have done all that could have been done, it is important to draw a line. As I said earlier, we should wait for all the facts and not be too hasty in judgement.
The agitation for 2023 presidency is already causing disaffection in the polity. For the sake of equity, where do you think the APC should focus on?
Nigeria will continue to be confronted with destabilising forces of agitations until powers are reconfigured and substantially returned to the federating units. We must stop the massive self deceit of claiming to be federal. The power at the centre cannot be fully administered from the centre and it is the most significant dysfunctional factor in government. It is also the cause for agitations. I believe it is better to address the root cause of agitations than to find a temporary balancing formula for the purpose of crossing the bridge ahead of us. For once, we should think Nigeria and do the needful. The National Assembly can get the required amendments through in weeks if there is a consensus of opinion on this.
How best can the APC approach the insecurity bedevilling the nation?
I believe the APC government has nearly won the war against insurgency and banditry. The governors should be empowered by law to set up state police. Why should Nigerians be afraid of state police? What the law needs to do is to bring the outfit under the command of the state governor. However, appointment, promotion and discipline of the top hierarchy of the outfit will be assigned to an independent commission constituted by nominees from neutral bodies such as the judiciary, religious bodies, traditional rulers, CSOs, the NBA, the body of security professionals, etc. I believe when you take the power of appointment of the top hierarchy of the outfit away from the governors and make express provisions on funding and ensure that the rules of engagement form the cornerstone of their operations, state police will deliver on its mandate. The head of the outfit will be able to politely turn down any order not covered by the rules of engagement. State police will help to reduce insecurity to its barest minimum within their jurisdiction.