Senator Kanti Bello represented Katsina North Senatorial District between 2003 and 2011. The erstwhile chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who recently defected to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), believes that the time for change in government of the country has come. In this interview with Sunday Independent, the engineer-turned-politician argues, among other issues of national importance, that PDP has no single reason to remain in office beyond 2015 at the national level. Excerpts…
Recently, you announced your defection from the PDP to CPC. Have you been fully admitted into CPC?
My friend, I am already an old member of CPC. And I have been fully integrated into the party. In fact, when I joined the party, I was even given a national assignment from the party. If you could remember, I chaired the screening and reconciliation committee for the Kaduna State Local government elections for CPC. So, given that enormous responsibility, everybody knows that I am really a full-fledged member of the party. And I have started contributing my quota to the best of my ability to the party.
So, it is goodbye to the PDP?
Well, I have packed.
How does it feel like leaving the ruling party?
Very few of us have the guts to do that, because, you see, to leave the ruling party, you must make sure that you have no bad issues, especially with what is happening now. I mean, we all remember some of the circumstances of some people, in even making their personal views known, getting into trouble. For instance, the former national chairman of PDP, when he started saying there is zoning, the next thing we heard was the man being charged with something worth N10 million that he was involved in over 10 years ago. But some of us happen to be reasonably clean enough to say our minds and move for the interest of the country. I am not in politics for personal gains. If I am there for personal gains, perhaps, I am looking for position, or I am looking for some sort of appointment from Jonathan’s government or I am there either to be a chairman of a board or something or I am looking for contract, then I will not leave the party. But thank God I have passed that stage of my life. I have no bad issues to carry. My only interest in politics is to help the people and see that this country becomes greater, and contribute my quota to the best of my ability. Of course, the ultimate success is from Allah. But the truth of the matter is that we need to effect a change in this country. Anybody who is sensible, who is reasonable, who is patriotic, ought to move away from PDP, because as a system, as a party, PDP has totally failed. And you cannot change it.
The merger arrangement is getting to an advanced stage, particularly among the key opposition political parties – the CPC, ACN and perhaps the ANPP. As a matter of fact, each of these parties has constituted a committee to this effect. Are you sure the current effort by the opposition to dismantle PDP in 2015 will work because such previous moves towards merger had failed?
As far as I am concerned as a member of CPC, the only merger I know that is in existence and to which our party is discussing, based on an earlier discussion, which has already gone a long way, is between the CPC and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). A long time ago, there was a sort of agreement on the party logo, party flag and things like that. They have all been sorted out between ACN and CPC. As far as I know, as a member of CPC, our party has put a team to negotiate with ACN, not with any other party. I hope this is very clear. So, the negotiation or, rather, our crossing of ‘T’s and dotting of ‘I’s is between ACN and CPC, which I hope will work if these two parties should merge. If later ANPP comes on board somehow, somehow, fine; there will no problem. But we have gone so far to start going back again to the drawing board trying to discuss how, which type of logo, what is the name of the party? All these things have been concluded. The name and the logo of the party are already agreed upon earlier, and our leader has already stated this.
What is the name agreed upon?
I can’t say it. But the truth is that these are some of the early agreements between CPC and ACN that have not been made public. So, I have no right to say anything about that. The only thing I want to assure you is that the merger is between ACN and CPC. That is what I can tell you for now.
How do you think the merger between the CPC and ACN can work without carrying along the ANPP? A top member of the ANPP, former Governor of Yobe State, Senator Abba Bukar, was reported to have said that if there must be merger, the name ANPP must be retained and the ACN and CPC would have to collapse into the ANPP on the ground that the ANPP has been the oldest party. How would you comment on this?
Who is talking about merging with ANPP anyway? It is just wishful thinking. I think the man is out of touch. Is it not Bukar Abba? I think he is out of touch. He doesn’t know what he is doing. Let Nigerians know that the merger talk is purely between ACN and CPC. So, the issue of whether ANPP is the oldest opposition party is not it at all. Why do you have to wait for an old man when you, a vibrant young man, and another vibrant young woman are trying to get a full-fledged marriage? Why should an old man come in and start trying to be a suitor? It is unnecessary. I don’t want to take up any issue with ANPP. They have every right to discuss what they want to discuss. They have every right to even put up conditions for anybody who wants to merge with them. But as far as I know, my party, CPC, is discussing merger, which has gotten to an advanced stage, with ACN. And God’s willing, if this materialises, as I believe, this country’s problem is over. CPC is a major party; it is a very big party in the North. CPC won elections considerably in 14 states of the North. And we have ACN controlling about eight states. If in the process, ANPP wants to join as individual, let them be. But for them to be putting conditions and all these things, I think it is unnecessary. I don’t want to take up any issue with them because we are not even discussing merger with them. So, let them not distract our attention. Our attention is simply between ACN and CPC. That is where the merger is. Whether somebody is the oldest is their business. You are running for something that is important, you need energetic people, not elderly people who are already about to quench.
The PDP at the moment remains the ruling party and controls the resources of the country. Do you think there is any amount of resources that ACN and CPC, and whichever party that later joins the merger, can put together to withstand the PDP?
You see, this is where people are wrong. Our leader, Muhammadu Buhari, has said it clearly. But people are not listening. He said we haven’t got the police force. We have not got the security agents. Neither have we got the resources. Do you know what we have? We have God. We have Allah with us. We have the people. And you see, it is not a question of resources any more in this country. You are thinking of resources that during election, money will be dished out. That is not the type of resources people have been talking about. Our party has not got that type of money, because it is only controlling one state. It is only the small state of Nasarawa that is under CPC. So, even from that state, we are not even looking at Governor Al Makura to come and give us anything. What we are saying is that this CPC is a party for the people. And you see, normal ideology comes in. I left PDP to join CPC, not because I am looking for money. But I want freedom. I want change in this country. The moment we start thinking every time that it is money, it is money; then, we are finished. Can the money that you will be given during election solve the insecurity problem in the country? Can it solve your power situation? Can it solve the problems in the education system? Can it make your factories to start working? What you need is a leadership change. You need a focused government. You need somebody who has something to offer to the nation. And that is why this merger is very important. It is not just for money. Nobody is talking about resources. We haven’t got resources to squander. Of course, we know they are prepared to further squander the country’s resources. N2.6 trillion went down the drain, whether it was for election or whatever, during fuel subsidy; we don’t know where it is. There are so many businesses of government that have been crippled and nobody knows how it happened. Till now, nobody is being prosecuted for it. So, we need to change this country. Look, I cry for this country. I love this country. And every patriotic Nigerian citizen must join this merger. They must buy the idea, so that we fight together to salvage this country from the clutches of these people, because this country is being choked. We need to give it oxygen. This is the situation.
Currently, there is a kind of internal crisis within the PDP that seems to be causing division in the party, all geared towards 2015. Is this giving the opposition a kind of joy and do you see it as an advantage to your cause?
I wouldn’t call it a joy. But you see, PDP as a party is completely undisciplined. It is dictatorial. Look at me, at my age when I ran the election in 2011, I lost. I went to court. Tribunal ruled that the election should be repeated. And somehow, somewhere, one judge called Amina Augie decided that it was a pre-election, though it was a qualification matter. But despite my loss, I helped Ibrahim Shema, the governor of Katsina State, to win the election, because I was still in the party then. But what happened when he won? From that day, I became his enemy, for no reason. I cannot tell you now what I had done wrong to that man (Shema). He doesn’t like me anymore. He doesn’t want to discuss any party issue with me. He doesn’t call me for meetings. Do you know that I am somebody who won election four times in my senatorial zone? When Shema came to constitute his local government, he couldn’t even give me a councillor out of 106 in that zone because of greed. He appointed everybody for himself because he wanted to take charge of local government and do whatever he likes with their money. Well, I am not bothered. Even if he had given me, I would have still left PDP anyway, because I am a firm believer in the need for change in this country. I am not in politics to make personal profit; I am in politics to add value to the lives of the people. That is very clear. It is not personal. I am not there for personal gain. I am in politics for what I believe in. And it is my belief that PDP as a party has failed. So, all this question about their struggling and fighting, after all, there is no system in the party. Do you remember what happened just about two or three years back? In the constitution of PDP, it was very clear that there is zoning. And the constitution is just a divine law of the party. And if a constitution is not followed in a party, what kind of a party is that. Though, there is that provision, Jonathan came and said he wanted to contest. He refused to honour that provision and there are still sycophantic people enough to follow him. From then on, PDP as a party, for me, lost its integrity. It lost its focus. And I don’t believe in that party anymore from that day. So, all these problems you see, all these infightings will necessarily occur because there is no system in the party.
Still talking about the ACN/CPC merger – the opposition’s struggle to tackle PDP, who is likely to be the candidate that will emerge from the merger that you think will be able to match whoever PDP presents in the 2015 presidential election?
The issue is very simple. We have not yet reached that stage. But commonsense dictates that there is no reason we could not ask Buhari to run again. Do you know why? The critical problem of this country is corruption. Whether you agree with me or not, but that is the fact. Everyday you look into your papers, it is one stealing or another. There is no day of the week you look at the papers that you will not see somebody stealing something. It is only in this country that somebody can just take away billions of naira and even trillions, and nothing will be done to him. What type of country are we running? It is just like when you give your wife two chickens to cook for you, and all of a sudden, you come in and discover that the cook has eaten one of the chickens. You know, it is quite amazing that the country is so corrupt. You need somebody, who people see as completely straightforward and not corrupt. Nigerians believe that Buhari is a straightforward fellow that is not corrupt. And since you know the cancer, then we should try and get the chemotherapy medicine to remove it. And the chemotherapy in this case is Buhari. So, commonsense dictates for now and for what we are trying to do for this country, Buhari should be the appropriate person to field. I think it would be a wise decision if the merger presents Buhari. But I am not saying that it must be Buhari. But I think it should be a wise decision. I am just making my own opinion.
Even if it is true as you said that Buhari is not corrupt, have you forgotten that he is going with people in the running of his government, if he becomes President of the country?
I agree with you. He needs a team around him to make sure that we get the right economic policies that will pave way for the enhancement of our industrial base, to ensure adequate power supply, to overhaul our educational and healthcare systems. But he cannot do it alone. However, you see the critical aspect of Nigeria today, the cancer, what everybody knows; unless, you remove it, Nigeria cannot move forward. And that is corruption. So, you need somebody who can tackle the corruption for at least four years. Look at (Nelson) Mandela when he came in; he is old enough. But South Africa needs somebody as an icon of anti-apartheid. So, they put him forward. Nigeria needs an anti-corruption crusader. So, we have to put Buhari there for at least four years. It is very, very important for this country, because we need to give an antidote to this corrupt practice that is going on in government today. Let me tell you something, if by Allah’s wish, Buhari is sworn in on May 29, 2015, by May 30, all these stealing and the taking away of our money would stop automatically, because of the mere fact that they know that this is a no-nonsense person that is not corrupt. All the uselessness and wastefulness going on are centred on corruption. The local government monies are being abused and stolen. There are so many allegations that the governors are misusing their funds. There is the pension scheme, where money has been stolen. Everywhere, even in printing and minting, money has been stolen. Everywhere, it is stealing, stealing, stealing! Therefore, you need somebody that when you see him as the President, people will know, even without being told, that stealing is over. That is why we need him. This is simply my own advice. I am just advising. Let me make it very clear that the merger did not say it is going to be Buhari. But I am only advising the merger when it comes, in my own opinion.
In the current effort of the National assembly to further review and amend the Constitution, Local Government (LG) autonomy is one of the cardinal items listed for consideration. Many believe that the control of LG finances vested in the hands of the state governors via the state/local government joint account is an aberration that must be corrected. This position was strongly canvassed by majority of participants at the public sessions conducted by the two arms of NASS. What is your own considered view on this matter?
You see, that is the wish of Nigerians. And every right-thinking person will see to it. Katsina State where I come from is the second poorest because we have no industrial base; our economy is a rural economy. And the bulk of the money that comes to the local government is from where people get a little better. But when the governor is not giving enough funds to the local government, then you find that the economy of the local areas has become very much lower and worse. But the issue is this: there has been a lot of clamour for autonomy of the local government; that is natural. Any right-thinking person will think that is the best way. But we should start with two things. If I were in the National Assembly, the first thing I would do is to scrap the state independent electoral commissions (SIECs). Let the national electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), conduct all elections. I am not saying (Prof. Attahiru) Jega is a good man; but I believe he is better. INEC is a little better than SIEC. One of the reasons corruption is going on in the local government is that in every state, because of corruption that is going on in the local governments – there is no exception in all the states of the federation – you find whenever there is election, it is the ruling party in the state that wins every seat. Why don’t we Nigerians sit down and ask why? You can’t tell me that the local people in one little ward cannot see a very good person who is not in the ruling party that they can vote for as councillor. They can do that. But you find that even councillorship, it is the ruling party that is winning. The reason is that election is not taking place. And since election is not taking place, it is simply appointment. That is why the governors could find it easy, even after election, to control the local government chairmen and the councillors. They themselves know that they didn’t win any election, and so, they know that they have no mandate whatsoever, and that is why they too have no option than to dance to the tune of the governors. When I was in the National Assembly, I moved for the scrapping of state electoral body, so that we just have one body conducting all elections in the country. But the unfortunate thing is that the opposition then strongly kicked against it. I can remember my very good friend, (Olorunnimbe) Mamora and co were against it; they argued that if you give it to the federal, the local government will be rigged out in the states where the opposition parties are in control. This, to my mind, is very naïve thinking, because once we start thinking that way, this country can never develop. Out of patriotism, the first thing you do is to make sure you remove the state electoral bodies. Please, remove them because it is important. Then, if you do that, you have made the first step. Do you know why the joint account is not working? It is not because the governors are too powerful. It is because even those that are supposed to question it are not elected. If you fully elect somebody under CPC, for instance in Katsina, and he knows he won his election, and Governor Shema is from PDP, the governor cannot take his money. He will go to court. The joint account is clear. What it says is that the state assemblies should disburse the money. But the state assemblies are not doing their job. If they are doing their job, this joint account thing is not wrong. People are mistaken about this joint account and local government autonomy. It is not a question of local government autonomy – local government has autonomy; it is in the Constitution. We have this problem because the people running local governments are not elected. So, it is not just a question of joint account.
DailyIndependent
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