PDP yet to have candidate that can defeat Buhari – Rep Jibrin
Abdulmumini Jibrin is a member of the House of Representatives representing Kiru/Bebeji Federal Constituency of Kano State under the platform of the APC. 10 of his colleagues have defected to the PDP alongside Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso all from Kano State
Daily Trust: Your party has witnessed a number of defections in the last few weeks, do you think it would affect your performance in the general election?
Personally, I think if the APC would be presenting another candidate other than President Buhari, I would have been a bit jittery but there is this consensus within the party and we are just waiting for the timetable just to do the formalities and adopt Buhari as the candidate. With Mr. President as the candidate of the APC, we are not threatened by all the people leaving the party. For so many reasons, we are so lucky that we have Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as the chairman of the party. He has been doing extremely well, he has been reaching out to everyone, holding series of meetings and persuading people to stay. The chairman and the National Working Committee of the party, the president and all our leaders in the party have been able to keep many within the party.
DT: But are you really not worried that some governors, senators and members of the House of Representatives and state assemblies have left?
During election periods, these problems are normal. It is not unique to only APC as that was the case in 2015, 2011, and 2007. All the time, when there is a build-up to the general elections you have these kinds of problems. To say that the APC would disintegrate or crumble is absolutely false. As people are going, people are also coming in. But because people are leaving the ruling party, they make it big news. A lot of other people from even the opposition are coming in. At the moment, no fewer than four to five PDP governors are working in a crossparty arrangement to support the APC. There has been a lot of inflow from the South-east. You have people like Orji Uzor Kalu and a lot of prominent people in the South-east. They also understand that it is an opportunity for the South-east to put up a good show for the APC and stand a chance of competing for the presidency after Buhari serves his second term. So I am very confident that APC isn’t going to confront any challenge.
DT: Considering the caliber of people leaving the APC for PDP, do you still believe that the people leaving wouldn’t make any difference?
In politics, everybody has value and Oshiomhole has never said that they don’t have value. Buhari has never said that they do not have value. In politics, you have electoral value and political value. Electoral value is when you have the votes and political value is someone who has access to the media, one who can network with the people, who mobilizes resources. So, everybody has his value. You cannot compare the electoral value of Atiku and Buhari. When you talk of electoral value, there is nobody that has the electoral value of Buhari. Tell me one person that can match the electoral value of Buhari among all the people contesting the presidential election. When it comes to the little thing they can have in terms of political value, the party has its own way.
DT: Would the story still be the same if Buhari decides not to contest because from all you have said, Buhari is the pivot.
We are facing reality. Buhari has said that he would contest and we have all adopted him, the governors have all adopted him, the party and youths have also adopted him. By the grace of God, Buhari will rule this country until 2023 and he would leave a good legacy. There is an aspect that people tend to forget. When we take the aspect of governance out, politically there is the issue of zoning and that of generational shift that would work naturally for Buhari. The issue of zoning is not a joke. If anybody other than Buhari is elected from the North as president, they are going to do eight years. The South-easterners have woken up and it is time for them to have the presidency. This country must be one. They have realized that the fastest way they can get that is through a Buhari second term. They would support Buhari and the APC to be able to compete for power. The South-west believes that naturally, it is going their own way. For now, they are ahead in the race. By the time you give Buhari a second term, power leaves to the southern part of the country, spends eight years in the South and by the time it comes back to the North, the whole generation of leaders have retired. That is why you see the whole tension going on now. Even after eight or 12 years when power comes back to the North, some of them may be in their 60s. Those who are 25 or 30 today would be the ones in the House of Reps, Senate and governors. They have more chances to take a shot at the presidency than you who are already out of the system. The issue of Buhari’s second term has a monumental implication on the issue of generational shift.
DT: Most of the people that defected to PDP have serious ambition for the Presidency. Do you think that they can coalesce into a single force to produce one so they can give Buhari a real fight?
Many people have raised that issue. I have dealt with almost all of them personally, just a few I haven’t really dealt with from a close range. 2015 is different from 2019. In 2015, we had a situation of an opposition that had been struggling for 16 years. You had a ruling party that had continually offended people, the masses and the elite for 16 years. The anger became very chronic then the purpose was one. Everybody’s ambition was secondary and the primary focus was to get the PDP out of government. In this particular instance, it was the ambition that was primary and other issues were secondary. If some of them could achieve their presidential dream in APC, they wouldn’t have gone to PDP. Their ambition is a priority and when ambition supersedes all other issues, it is difficult to bring people together. They met Atiku that he should take the ticket but look at it now, they want to rubbish the man. They promised everybody the presidential ticket. People are only looking at the crisis in APC but there is also crisis in PDP. PDP will tell you that they have credibility but why are they going to APC to look for a presidential candidate? If you are a smart person in APC, you should not fall for that trap.