• Atiku, Obi will give Tinubu easy victory if they all contest

Former Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and elder statesman, Mr. Anthony Sani, has said that President Bola Tinubu will carry the day in the 2027 presidential election if Goodluck Jonathan, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi contest as candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Labour Party (LP) respectively.

Sani said they would divide the coalition into three and make it much easier for President Bola Tinubu to prevail in the elections. He added that former President Jonathan should not venture into what would be death and defeat on arrival.

In this interview, the former ACF Scribe also spoke on other national issues.

There appears to be some division among Northern leaders over the allegation that the meeting organised recently for President Bola Tinubu’s appointees of Northern extraction by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation was sponsored by the government. What is your reaction to this?

Whoever sponsored the interactions between the government appointees of northern extraction and the leaders of the North did a good job. This is because the appointees are in government in representative capacity. They are better placed to explain government policies to their people. It therefore behoves them to interact with leaders of their region with a view to explaining how far the distribution of access to national resources by way of appointments, projects and contracts have gone. This is more so because of the prevailing simmering discontent among some northern leaders who complain that the North had been shortchanged by the current administration in distribution of access to national resources. No group can explain or dispel any misconceptions better than the political appointees. That is why some of us believe the interactions are more important than who sponsored the event. People should therefore concentrate more on issues raised in the interactions than on who sponsored the engagement. All the same, one can say it was a good outing for both the government and the people who understood each other more due to the interactions. I hope such engagements would continue and become part of the mechanism of governance in order to improve management of social contract between leaders and the led.

The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the North because of the raging insecurity. What is your view?

I do not know whether declaration of state of emergency on insecurity would make any difference, considering the president himself has said bandits have forced him to fast track the process of establishing state police, although some of us do not believe state police would be the magic wand against insecurity.

President Tinubu has declared that there is no more corruption in the country. Do you agree with him?

I do not know the perimeters which the President used for his conclusion that his administration has put an end to corruption. This is because his assertions are not in tune with what the chairman of EFCC said recently that many of the appointees by President Bola Tinubu declared non-existing assets while filling their Asset Declaration Forms in anticipation of acquisition of assets in the course of governance.

For EFCC, two years are not enough to investigate and indict corrupt officials. Such may explain the lack of indictment of public officials under his watch. That does not mean the president has stopped corruption under his watch. More so that the international institutions like Transparency International, which track corruption indices, have said corruption is still pervasive in Nigeria.

The President also said that his government is no longer borrowing money but many Nigerians are not comfortable with this position. Are you also not comfortable?

Many Nigerians are right to disagree because the government still uses bonds and Treasury Bills to borrow money. There are many local contractors crying because of non-payment of completed contracts.

In any case, borrowing of money in itself is never a sign of managerial imperfections. Nigerians should be more concerned on how borrowed money is used instead of discouraging borrowing of money.

Some Nigerians have expressed concern over President Tinubu’s annual leave without formally going through the National Assembly to seek approval before proceeding on the leave.  What is your reaction?

I understand that it is only when the leave is up to 21 days that it becomes compulsory for the President to transmit a letter to the National Assembly and hand over to the vice president. Anything less than 21 days, the president does not have to hand over. All the same, nothing prevents the president from handing over to the VP when he goes on leave for less than 21 days.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan is being wooed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to run for the 2027 presidency. Some Nigerians have advised him against the ambition. What is your advice to him?

The former President is too savvy and savant not to know that if he joins the fray in PDP, former VP Atiku vies in ADC and Peter Obi contests under Labour Party, they will divide the coalition into three and make it much easier for President Bola Tinubu to prevail in the election under reference. Former President Jonathan should not venture into what he knows will be death on arrival. As regards the former President Jonathan’s allegations that Nigerian politicians are betrayers, it is because he ignores the adage that in politics, it is only permanent interests that matter most. There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, has advised Northerners not to contest for the 2027 Presidency but that they should wait till 2031. What do you have to say about this?

SGF George Akume is not wrong because the politics of zoning or identity has become a zeitgeist in the polity. As a result, most southerners would not vote for a northerner in 2027 till 2031. Also, most northerners will vote for a southerner in 2027 in the spirit of politics of zoning. It is that spirit of zoning which made it possible for Bola Tinubu to defeat former VP Atiku in the North in 2023. So, when SGF Akume advised northerners not to contest for president in 2027, he is telling them there is no point contesting for what is not viable.

But what actually does the North want from Tinubu that the leaders of the region are divided over his re-election come 2027?

Because it was the North that made it possible for the emergence of Bola Tinubu in both party primary and general elections to become president in 2023, they expect a fairer deal in distribution of access to national resources by way of appointments, projects and contracts.

But the recent interactions between political appointees and northern leaders have doused the tension by dispelling some of the misconceptions. What is more, the president has about two years to make amends. Also, you cannot ignore the fact that the North has many political parties with different political tendencies.

The former governor of Kaduna State, and a strong member of the coalition that has adopted the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as a platform, Nasir el-rufai, has vowed to work against the re-election of Tinubu in 2027. But some people are saying nobody or party can defeat Tinubu as a sitting President. What is your reaction?

The opposition or the coalition is divided into PDP, Labour Party and ADC, thereby making it much easier for President Bola Tinubu to prevail in 2027 elections reminiscent of what happened in 2023 when the opposition divided into PDP, Labour Party and Wike’s G5.

What is more, the opposition has not told the voters what they would do differently if voted into power in 2027. For example, Bola Tinubu of APC, former VP Atiku of PDP and Peter Obi all campaigned for removal of fuel subsidies. When the results of the elections were out, Bola Tinubu got about 8 million votes, former VP Atiku garnered about 7 million votes and Peter Obi got about 6 million votes. That means the Nigerian voters were not averse to removal of fuel subsidies, and that President Bola Tinubu merely delivered on the promise of his electoral mandate.

What is your view on the enacted tax reforms?

I think the tax reforms are good and hold a lot of promise for the development of the economy. What is disagreeable is the sweeping exemption of the low-income earners from payment of taxes. This exemption effectively removes civic responsibility from the masses. As a result, they would not own the government and hold it accountable. They will also not help fight corruption and vote buying. I prefer everybody should pay tax, however small, for the express purpose of inculcating civil responsibility in the polity.

Credit: The Sun