■ Says he’s always been a
half-hearted member
Former Political Adviser to
ex-President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, has said the recent actions
of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, which climaxed into tearing his Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) membership card, is a lesson for the party and other
political parties in the country.
Yakasai, who spoke with Saturday
Sun in Abuja, said Obasanjo had since left PDP, but was just waiting for an
opportunity to announce it.
According to the elder statesman: “Obasanjo
was a non-party man, but for one reason or the other, his military colleagues
decided to conscript him into the PDP. It is a big lesson to the PDP and, in
fact, to all political parties. Don’t drag somebody into your party. Allow
people to join your party out of their own volition.”
Yakasai spoke more on this and other
issues in this interview with AIDOGHIE PAULINUS. Excerpts…
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
has torn his PDP membership card. How do you see his past utterances in the
build-up to this development?
To everybody with common sense, it
is clear that President Obasanjo had since left the PDP. He was just waiting
for an opportunity to opt out. And from what I read, it was not he who
personally tore the membership card. He directed the chapter chairman to tear
it up. Whatever it is, it amounted to abandoning the party, which is better for
the PDP and better for him.
Why?
Yes, because if you have a snake
outside your house, you can sleep. But you can’t sleep with a snake inside your
room. But now you know that the snake is out and you can sleep with your eyes
closed. But before, you cannot. One eye will be closed and the other one will
be open.
Although he has not declared his
intention to join the All Progressives Congress (APC), do you see him as a
liability to the party?
No. I wouldn’t see him as a
liability, but what is interesting is how he will cope because Tinubu is the
leader of the APC. How he will submit himself to the authority of Tinubu, who
is a sworn enemy to him, is what I am waiting to see what will come out of it.
Would you say he is a minus to the
PDP?
He is a minus to the PDP because any
member is a plus. If you lose, it is a loss.
Considering the positions he has
occupied in the party, don’t you think he is a big minus to the PDP?
It can be, but it is a big lesson to
the PDP and, in fact, to all political parties. Don’t drag somebody into your
party. Allow people to join your party out of their own volition. Obasanjo was
a non-party man, but for one reason or the other, his military colleagues when
they were in power, decided to conscript him into the PDP.
I remember his immediate reaction
was that he had no money; therefore, he would not join politics. And another
colleague of his, used his good office to source for, I think about N250
million for him which he announced that he would give half to the party and
half to start his campaign office. So, right from the beginning, he didn’t join
the PDP out of his own volition. He has all along been a half-hearted member of
the party.
What is your fear about the
forthcoming election and its aftermath?
I don’t have any fear.
Are you serious?
I don’t surprisingly. I have seen
trouble 100 times than this in Nigeria and they come to pass.
So, there is nothing to worry about?
I worry if it happens, but I don’t
share this anxiety.
How do you see Obasanjo’s comment
where he likened Jonathan to former Ivorian President, Laurent Gbagbo, in terms
of conduct of elections?
Who is more handsome between Jonathan
and Obasanjo? If you are a woman, who will you choose?
Do you foresee a situation whereby
any of the leading presidential contenders refusing to accept the outcome of
the election?
What you need to do is to conduct an
analysis on the basis of presence of the party. Sule Lamido made a point when
he said the moment Buhari is out of the APC, APC will collapse. So, if a party
is built around an individual, that party has no future because apart from
anything else, supposing God calls him, that is the end of the party. If he
contests and he doesn’t win, that would also be the end of the party because in
the previous elections, anytime he failed to win the presidential election, his
supporters would tear their cards. They did it before three times and I am sure
if he fails again, they would do the same. This time, it will be final because
at his age, he will have to wait for four years and at that time, he will be
76. His physique is not the same as mine. I am 89, but I look younger than him.
Are you supporting President
Goodluck Jonathan?
I am supporting the Federal
Government to keep this country together. I don’t want anybody
who will break up this country
because I suffered for it. I fought from 1951 to 1960 for the unity and
independence of Nigeria. And at present, I have 20 children, 55 grandchildren
and I am fighting for their future. Not only my own, but for the future of the
children and grandchildren of other people like me, including you, if you have
a child.
What actually attracted you to
Jonathan?
No, no, no, no. Nothing attracted me
to Jonathan. I am not doing it for Jonathan. I am talking of the party that I
believe. You see, the PDP is a reincarnation of the National Party of Nigeria
(NPN); it’s a reincarnation of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and SDP is a
reincarnation of NPN.
Is that the only reason you are
supporting the party?
I am supporting the PDP because it
is the party that is accepted by Nigerians all over.
So, your support is not for Jonathan
as a person?
It is not on account of Jonathan as
a person because I supported it when Obasanjo was in power before Jonathan came
in.
Going by what you know about General
Muhammadu Buhari of the APC, do you think he will make a good president in this
time and age?
Well, the feeling among the
generality of his supporters is that he is a changed man. But two incidents
made me to be doubtful about whether, in fact, he has changed. In Kano, during
the 2007 elections, it was in the All Peoples Party (APP) at that time before
it became the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). The party conducted primary
like any other party and two candidates featured prominently. One by name,
Ibrahim Little, and the other one, Shekarau. I understand that Ibrahim Little
got well over 5,000 votes because he revived the party. After the 1999
elections, the party just collapsed, but without any election, he got money to
go round and visited all the local government areas and wards in the state.
Forty-four local government areas and about 800 wards! He used his money to rent
offices in every local government area and employed people to man the
secretariats. When the primary election came, he got over 5000 votes and I
think Shekarau got about 300 votes. In the year that primary took place, Don
Etiebet became the national chairman of the ANPP and all the gubernatorial
candidates from all over the country were handed over the party flag. When it
came to the turn of Kano, Buhari physically prevented Don Etiebet from giving
Ibrahim Little the flag. And in order not to expose their disunity, some party
elders intervened that the flag should not be given at that time. In the end,
Shekarau was given the flag and Ibrahim Little was denied the flag.
The second occasion was in Katsina
where the former deputy governor to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua when he was governor of
Katsina State, quarrelled or parted ways with Yar’Adua and joined Buhari’s
party and declared his interest to contest. Another candidate also vied for the
seat. He worked under Buhari in the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). In the
end, the former deputy governor won the primary. According to the members of
the party, Buhari directed that the flag should be given to the man who lost to
the former deputy governor. So, if this is true, then I wonder if this is the
normal behaviour of a democrat.
Source: Sun Newspapers
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