Kwarans are excited about Saraki’s exit – Lai Mohammed
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in this interview with newsmen in Lagos, speaks on a wide range of issues as they affect the 2019 general elections. Excerpts:
What will be your immediate reaction to the gale of defections in the APC? Was it an event you were expecting or it took you by surprise?
The foundation for what you see today was laid the day the Senate President forced himself on the party as Senate President. That was the day the foundation for what you are witnessing today was laid because traditionally, it is the party’s prerogative who becomes the presiding officers in the two houses. Here, we were met with a fait accompli when Dr. Bukola Saraki, against the wishes of the party, did the unthinkable by aligning with the opposition and making them an offer they could not refuse.
I can’t quite remember the number, but almost the entire 40 plus senators in PDP voted for him. So, he needed only a minority from the APC. We were all waiting for Mr. President to come and address us on this issue at the International Conference Centre, it was announced that he (Bukola) had emerged as the Senate President.
From that day, we knew we had two problems: one, we had a Senate President who imposed himself on the party, and to make it worse, as an insurance, he arranged for an opposition person to be Deputy Senate President; that makes it impossible for us to remove him, hence his thinking, “If you remove me, you are going to have a PDP Senate President.”
From that day, we had a problem. This is not a surprise at all. Of course, you could see the behaviour of the National Assembly since then. We have a National Assembly in which we had a clear majority in both houses, but which treated the executive with contempt and actually slowed down the work of government. In 2016, 2017 and 2018, our budgets were delayed. In 2016 and 2017, the earliest we got our budgets was June. Key appointments, nominations and confirmations for key organisations that could move the government forward like the CBN, like the NDIC, were delayed. Really, it couldn’t have been worse if the PDP had a majority in the National Assembly.
What future for Kwara APC following the defection of the Senate President, the governor and members of the national and state assemblies?
What we have today is some members of the APC decamping to the PDP. I say some members because many members have refused to go. But we have gained more from those who say rather than stay in the same party with Saraki, they would rather come to the APC. As far as the people of Kwara State are concerned, it was as if finally, the state was being liberated. The excitement today in Kwara State is akin to how Nigeria felt on the eve of independence.
I have received and consulted with delegations. As a matter of fact, I am meeting on the 19th of this month if it is convenient for me with about 200 leaders of Kwara PDP, ranging from a former speaker in the Second Republic to community leaders across the state.
To answer your question, I think APC can only go stronger in Kwara State because what we are witnessing today is like a liberation, and from the support I have received so far, including the entire leadership of the party, led by the Chairman, Akogun Oyedepo Iyiola, who met with me and the National Chairman with 17 other leaders, including Prof. Oba Abdulraheem, Sen. S.S. Ajibola, all the three senatorial district chairmen of the PDP in the state, gives me confidence that Saraki’s days in dominating Kwara politics are limited.
The defectors said the Federal Government abandoned their states in appointments. Do you think President Muhammadu Buhari’s government has not done enough in those states?
It is a blatant lie that Kwara State was not considered in appointments. There are 26 Kwara appointees on boards and parastatals; either as members or directors general, and of these 26, I recommended only two. The other 24 were done by Dr. Saraki.
In terms of development, the arterial road of Ilorin, Jebba, Mokwa, Birnin Gwari is 80 per cent completed. It is one of the major roads that links the state. On the other hand, it is this same government that awarded the contract for the Lokoja-Omu Aran-Ilorin Road.
In terms of housing, we are building many two-bedroom houses in Ilorin.
Again, in terms of appointment, one of the chairmen of the parastatals is the out-gone Chairman of APC, Ishola Balogun Fulani. So, it is a blatant lie.
Do you see the president winning in Kano, Kwara, Sokoto and Benue given the developments in those states?
In Kano, any contest today between Buhari and anybody, Buhari is going to win. I am not in doubt about it. In Sokoto, 12 out of 30 House of Assembly members refused to go with Tambuwal, that is very significant, including the deputy governor, and you can see that the following day, people went on the streets in Sokoto sweeping them out.
Benue is dicey. But people forget that it was Sen. George Akume that brought Ortom. When the whole of the North Central was in the PDP, Akume fought and won election on the platform of the APC.
In Kwara, I am very confident that… the only thing that can make us lose Kwara is if we don’t manage the situation well - ego and ambition - and that is why the first thing I said was that I am not contesting for anything so that I can be an honest broker.