Why some APC leaders think they’ve been marginalised – Kawu Sumaila
Alhaji Abdulrahman Sulaiman Kawu Sumaila is Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly, House of Representatives to President Muhammadu Buhari. In this interview, he speaks on the increased outcry over APC’s inability to meet the expectations of the electorate and why some pillars in the party feel marginalised, among other issues. From Yusha’u A. Ibrahim, Kano
Some pillars in the APC like former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, have bitterly complained of being marginalised. Are you not afraid that this can affect APC’s success in subsequent elections?
Of course, Atiku Abubakar is a pillar and a leader in the APC by virtue of his position in Nigerian politics. But, the setup of the APC from the beginning can give you a clear guide that the party will face this kind of problem in the future. If Atiku said so, I cannot argue with him, but the belief is that we formed a party and later a government that came with a new approach to governance, to do away with the PDP style of leadership.
Unfortunately, most of our leaders in the APC think that the status quo would be maintained, where the president will allocate ministerial seats to them, slots for the SSAs and other positions. Nevertheless, I have confidence that the APC will address its problems and come out stronger before the 2019 general elections.
Why is the relationship between the Presidency and the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, still not cordial?
Well, in a constitutional democracy, it is not easy for the parliament to totally agree with the executive arm; and so also it is not easy for the executive to totally agree with the parliament. It is a constitutional representation. Each of them is trying to defend the rights it drives from the constitution.
Therefore, both are going on the same frequency, which is the Constitution of the Federal Republic. But if it comes to a point where we realise one of them is deviating from the provisions of the constitution, then we would intervene and correct.
To be honest with you, there is no much problem between the presidency and the House of Representatives because of what I have been doing to ensure that their relationship remains cordial. I am very lucky that I know the terrain and have good working relationship with the leadership of the House.
Why do you want to contest for senate in 2019?
Actually, I have not yet decided, but there are so many agitations by my constituents that I should contest for the senate from Kano, come 2019. But you know, I am a politician and so I must consult before I decide. I am still at the consultation stage.
Again, I am working under President Muhammadu Buhari as his Senior Special Assistant on House of Representatives. As our political leader, I need to consult him to hear his opinion before my declaration.
However, the agitations are increasing on a daily basis and that is why I embarked on serious consultations. So, when I meet Mr. President, I would make my position known to my constituents and by extension to the entire people of Kano and Nigeria as a whole. But to be honest with you, this is not the first time people have called on me to contest for the senate.
Are you contesting because you are not satisfied with the performance of Senator Kabiru Gaya, the present senator for Kano South?
As I told you earlier, the call started since 2007 while I was still in the House of Representatives; and I think why people wanted me to become a senator at that time was because they realised my potentials, more especially the way we stood for them when former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, attempted to elongate his tenure. We stood by our people until we crippled the move. We took the position of Kano people to the House of Representatives and to any place where we deemed it was necessary. At that time, we became a communication channel between the National Assembly and the people of Kano.
So, because of my role in that struggle, people started agitating that I should come and contest for the senate, but I was reluctant at that time because of some reasons. One, To be honest with you, we have already adopted him as our leader here in Kano and we are working hand-in-hand with him to move the party forward. Therefore, for us to keep the party alive and continue to support the Buhari-led government, I chose to drop my governorship ambition and go for the senate I was only 39 years old. I didn’t want to rush my politics. Two, the present Senator, Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya, had already contested the primary, and in fact he had consulted all stakeholders in the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), including myself, and we had accepted him.
Again, I was also the campaign director of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau’s second term in the Kano South Senatorial District.
You contested for the governorship in 2015, why did you change your mind to contest for senate this time around?
Yes, I contested the governorship in 2015 because I was not in the same political party as the immediate past Governor of Kano State, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, at the time. He was in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and I was in the defunct ANPP. And, I continued with my contest even after he joined us in the APC because he was in his second tenure, meaning he would never re-contest for the seat, and my thinking was that the APC would come up with new formula because we formed the APC to address the shortcomings in the PDP.
We thought the APC would adopt direct mode of primaries where each and every cardcarrying member of the party would participate in the primary elections, but unfortunately, we maintained the status quo of delegates, and during the selection of delegates, so many things happened because the APC is a type of political party that falls under mass appeal, which at that time was struggling to get more members to win elections.
Therefore, the mode of the selection of delegates favoured governors who happened to be new entrants into the party. So, we that formed the party lost that opportunity. That was why some APC influential members persuaded me to step down for the incumbent governor for some reasons.
One, the then Governor Kwankwaso, who came into the party from the PDP, had the control of almost 80 per cent of the delegates, while stakeholders of the defunct ANPP, CPC and ACN shared the remaining 20 per cent. So, it became difficult for us to make any significant impact, and coupled with the intervention of some influential party members, I stepped down for Ganduje.
Two, Kwankwaso did the right thing by choosing his deputy to succeed him.
Now it is a new arrangement. Ganduje is in his first tenure and definitely he will re-contest for a second tenure, and most importantly, the man is supporting President Muhammadu Buhari. So I have no reason to challenge him come 2019.
To be honest with you, we have already adopted him as our leader here in Kano and we are working hand-in-hand with him to move the party forward. Therefore, for us to keep the party alive and continue to support the Buhari-led government, I chose to drop my governorship ambition and go for the senate.