For me to be senator is an insult —Bafawara

Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa was two-term governor of Sokoto State from 1999 to 2007, under the All People’s Party (APP), which later became the All Ni­geria Peoples Party (ANPP). But today, he is a prominent chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Chairman of the party’s El­ders’ Forum in Sokoto State, having joined the umbrella last year.

The former governor, who was highly instru­mental in the large turnout of party supporters at the recent Jonathan/Sambo presidential rally in Sokoto State, afterwards, fielded questions from select journalists on Sokoto politics and other na­tional issues. According to him, the forthcoming governorship election in the state will ultimately be between him and governor of the state, Aliu Wamakko. He said his party would have upper hand because the Speaker of the House of Rep­resentatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal, who is con­testing the governorship of the state under APC, is not known to the people and, therefore, is not as popular as the PDP candidate, Senator Abdalla Wali. CHUKS EZE was at the meeting and he reports:

How come you still command im­mense following several years after leaving office, and was able to attract large turnout at the presidential rally in Sokoto; what is the secret?

The thing is that when you meet politicians, you just put them in one rating that everybody who is aspiring for governorship position is qual­ified to be a politician. But let me inform you that I will clock 60 this year. Out of that figure, I have been in politics for 30 years, which means that I started politics when I was about 22 years. That was in 1976 when I started as a local councillor. So, if people can recall, those who ventured into politics 38 years ago, did not do so for financial gain but for the purpose of helping the common man — service. But as you know, majority of our political office seekers today see politics as small-scale businesses. You cannot compare me with such breed of politicians whose utmost vi­sion is to become a governor; not to serve the people but to see how much of their common wealth that they can amass for themselves. As for me, I am in politics to help people – to make life of everybody in my constituency very enjoy­able. Since I left office, I have never left my peo­ple. And I left evergreen legacy in Sokoto State as governor of the state for eight years. That is the secret of my large followership in our state. I have never attempted to live outside Sokoto such as in Abuja, Kaduna or Lagos, since I left office. I choose to live in Sokoto and stay with my people despite all the harassments. It does not mean that I do not have where to stay in Abuja, Kaduna or anywhere else if I wanted. But I don’t feel com­fortable abandoning my followers to suffer back home. And anywhere I move, they follow me and we move together. That is the secret of what you saw today.

Do you really think that the PDP has what it takes to wrest power from the ruling APC in Sokoto State in the forth­coming general elections, especially as regards the governorship seat?

Of course, yes. If there is anything that is as simple as ABCD, it is PDP winning Sokoto State. I say this because the voting line will not be on party line but on personality. Our people do not care about PDP or APC. They seek to know who the leaders of APC, PDP and even APGA are. And, fortunately, our people know who the leaders of APC and PDP and their pedigree are.

Are you not jittery over the profile of the APC governorship candidate, Hon Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker?

Now, when you talk about the governor­ship candidate of the APC, nobody knows him here. Don’t be surprised when I say that nobody knows him even as a Speaker. Speaker, yes, but that is in Abuja. He cannot win governorship election here. Here in Sokoto, he is only repre­senting two local government areas. So, 20 lo­cal government areas don’t even know who the gubernatorial candidate of the APC is in this state. But my candidate (Abdalla Wali) is a for­mer Senate leader, former two-term Ambassador and former minister. He contested in 1999 and won senatorial election with seven local govern­ment areas. Moreover, he contested in opposition party, under PDP. While I contested the gover­norship under APP, he was the only person who won senatorial seat for the opposition PDP then. Doesn’t that show you that he is capable on his own level to win election? Fortunately enough, I brought him to politics during the UNCP. So, I trained him well and that was why when he left me, he was able to win that senatorial seat. He is part of me and knows the secret of winning election. But the Speaker; I was the person who brought him to political limelight. I gave him the ticket under the ANPP and he won a seat at the House of Representatives – not under PDP but ANPP. So, you can see that even the difference between both candidates. It is also interesting to note that in 2003, my current governorship candidate contested against me in 2003 guber­natorial election, when I was seeking re-election, and I defeated him. There is no way that you can compare Wali’s CV with that of Tambuwal. In the same vein, there is no way you can compare Wamakko’s CV with mine. So, the game is over. It is just a question of Wamakko handing over the baton to Senator Wali.

PDP is currently more or less a minor­ity party in Sokoto State. Where do you place the power of incumbency in the forthcoming polls, considering that the federal allocation is in the hands of the APC?

There is awareness now. People are not talking about power of incumbency; people are judging by who Bafarawa is and who Wamakko is. You are talking about incumbency, is that a question of performance? If Wamakko is a new person or Bafarawa is a new person, then we can deceive the electorate. But every voter in Sokoto knows who Bafarawa and Wamakko are. Wali and Bafarawa are also known according to their po­litical strengths. So, the question of incumbency doesn’t arise. On our part, we are sons of the soil, we are capable, we are on ground and we are leaders by our achievements. So, there is no cause for alarm as regards winning the elections.

Many of your colleagues – ex and serv­ing governors – usually jostle to grab either senatorial seats or ministerial ap­pointments but you seem to be indiffer­ent about that. Is it your volition or you are being schemed out?

The thing is that we the professional politi­cians always like to encourage young ones to grow. We are not insatiable by nature, or greedy. Everything has its limit. I have always said that there is no way I can be a governor for eight years – controlling the whole state – and later stoop so low to take one-third of it to become a Senator. What about the younger ones? Why not promote them? If you can recall, when I was a governor, there was a very young popular Senator, who started as a member of the House of Representa­tives, during my first tenure. But I promoted him to the Senatorial position because he was performing. I am talking about the late Senator Sule Yari Gandi. Our agenda is building younger ones to grow. Everybody knew Senator Gandi when he was alive. Unfortunately, he died in that ill-fated ADC airliner. So, I cannot be a gover­nor for eight years and go back to the classroom. What I mean by classroom is that, after being the Chief Executive of a state for eight years, I will be raising my hand to speak. And until the Senate President recognises me, I will continue to hang my hand in the air for the whole day. And if he eventually recognises me, after speaking, he will hit some stick on the table and ask me to sit be­fore I can sit. I see that as an insult. But our peo­ple do not respect themselves. As a politician, you have to have integrity of your profession. Most of these people you see as governors and sena­tors are not politicians; they are political office-seekers. A real politician cannot condescend so low fighting to become a senator after becoming Chief Executive of a state for eight years. And then his governor will come to Abuja and say that he wants to see his senators; and summon me? Isn’t it demeaning? I have no reason going to the Senate – maybe they have their motives for rush­ing to the Senate. Maybe their intention is to go there and start scheming to be in the committee of EFCC so that the anti-graft agency will not get in touch with them. Otherwise, what the hell are they looking for in the Senate? Why can’t they allow the younger ones who can perform better to go to the Senate or to become ministers?

And as for me, scheming for ministerial posi­tion; what the hell! After being governor for eight years, I will start fighting to become a minister? What sort of minister? There are lots of people who are capable of making good ministers; with good health and agility, to give the President bet­ter help. And then somebody like me at 60 will come and start looking for a ministerial position. What am I going there for? People should realise that when they reach a certain stage, they should make way for the younger ones. But some people don’t want the young ones to grow but rather sit tight until they die; and that is not the teaching of our elders. That is also why there will hardly be peace in this country, except such people change.

When you consider Ahmadu Bello, he pro­moted young ones. Gowon became the leader of this country at a youthful age and for nine years he promoted the younger ones. But today, peo­ple are 70 and above, yet they won’t allow the younger ones to grow. Such people are killing the country and I am so disappointed with Nigerians who are promoting such people. You reach the peak of your profession – either as a Customs of­ficer you become a Comptroller-General, or as a military officer you become a Four-Star General – and then you come back fighting for political office at 72. Whatever idea or vision you have, why can’t you push it to the younger ones so that when they reach there, they will represent you and implement it?

It appears that you are contented with just being a kingmaker…?

I don’t want to be a kingmaker. Kingmakers usually engage in dangerous games. Some peo­ple try to become kingmakers for their personal interests – personal interest between king and maker. ‘I put you there as governor, how much are you going to give me monthly to remain there – 50 million, 100 million or more?’ And then you put the king in a fix. And the kingmaker will sit at home and be pushing the king to loot public funds and bring to him? I don’t want to be such kingmaker. All I want is help people to grow. I am contented and I don’t want anything from anybody who becomes the governor or whatever. My contentment is that I helped you to be there. I have been blessed with everything, so why should I try to become a kingmaker that will be placing demands on my kings? Those you see as kingmakers usually promote corruption; and they are dangerous politicians. They will not vie for positions but they will always buy the king to seek for them. Count me out of such game.

Assuming the PDP candidate wins the governorship election in your state; would you encourage the governor to probe the present regime?

That is not my business. I am not a governor. Probing or asking anybody to probe is not my business. I would not have anything to do in the affairs of any person’s government. When he is elected, he becomes the executive governor. So, it is he who will decide what is better for his gov­ernment, not me.

If he seeks your advice on that, what would be your response?

I will not advise him to do what he thinks is not right for him and I will not discourage him from doing what he thinks is right. As executive governor, whatever he does rightly or wrongly, he will give his account to God. I don’t think he should rely on my advice, whether good or bad. I always try to keep myself away from such involvement.

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