Why we are reintroducing Option A4 – ADP chair
Engr. Yabagi Yusuf Sani is the national chairman of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), which he described as a child of necessity, saying it is the much-talked-about mega party and an alternative to the over 40 registered political parties in the country.
What is your grudge with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)?
My grudge with the ruling party is that they are not prepared. They did not expect to win, so it took them too long to wake up and know that they were in charge. Look at what is happening in other climes. As soon as they are declared winners, even before they are sworn in, everything is already in place and they start working. In some places, you even have what they call ‘shadow cabinet,’ meaning that even before the serving cabinet goes, they are already putting down what they want to do as they wait for handover, which is a kind of formality. But here we are; one government went out, another came in, and it took so many months to settle down. This is why we are where we are now. They were unprepared; I am sure they are still unprepared. It is one thing to have a good intention, but it is completely a different thing if you are not prepared to deliver to the people. Unfortunately, there is no enabling environment to implement the people’s mandate. And the moment you miss one step in governance, it is only God that will save you. This is why you will keep sliding.
Yes, Mr. President has good intentions; he has been nursing this ambition and he has given his all to it, but the system or the enabling environment is not there. To worsen the matter, the APC was an emergency arrangement.
How did you come about the name, Action Democratic Party (ADP)?
Well, the party is a child of necessity, which was born as a result of the inaction of the present government. Yes, corruption, which is in every society, not only in Nigeria, is our enemy number one, but it is not the priority. The priority is how to impact on the people? It is wrong for the government to divert the entire machinery to fighting corruption. For instance, if you have a hospital with patients, and the mortuary, you can’t just divert all attention to the mortuary to conduct autopsy. What about the living, the injured, the sick? Nobody is saying we shouldn’t fight corruption, but the agencies should be doing that. Mr. President has no business talking about somebody who is being pursued over corruption allegation.
We are concerned about what is happening. People keep on saying that those who form new parties are aggrieved members of the two major parties - the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But that is not true. The truth is that such people are concerned about what is happening. Maybe you have people who pulled out of their parties because they worked hard but not adequately rewarded, but majority of the politicians are concerned. I belong to that class of concerned politicians. It is not a question of whether I was in the APC or PDP; it is a question of my The party is a child of necessity, which was born as a result of the inaction of the present government. Yes, corruption, which is in every society, not only in Nigeria, is our enemy number one, but it is not the priority. The priority is how to impact on the people? move to take action about what is happening.
So what are you up to now?
We want to provide a clear alternative to other parties, which have obviously failed Nigerians. We are not talking about merging or anything like that; let’s have one homogeneous party that we all form together with one direction. If you are strong in a particular area, the system of election we are introducing determines that. Daily Trust on Sunday
We are reintroducing the Option A4, where every card-carrying member will be given the opportunity to decide who represents him or her in all our internal elections. In our constitution, we have to do it that way because of party supremacy. The fact that you are a governor does not automatically qualify you as the leader of the party in the state. You are not bigger than the party. They have crises in both the PDP and the APC because there is no party supremacy, there is no discipline. If you are the national or state chairman of the party, you were elected at a congress, just like the president was elected, so why should the president say he can do whatever he likes? We are bringing back party discipline.
Who are the brains behind the proposed party?
The brains behind the party are concerned Nigerians such as myself, Chief Bankole, the father of Dimeji Bankole, the former speaker. If you go to the South-South, I have Senator Owe. I am from the North-Central. If you go to the North- East we have Senator Girei. We have many of them in the North-West. There are names I cannot mention here because of strategic reasons. But remember, we are still visiting the INEC; by the time we finish what we are doing, you will see what is happening.
We are fulfilling one of the constitutional requirements for the registration of the Action Democratic Party, which is the verification of the documents we submitted. Our members come from all the parts of the country, which is a proof that it is a national party.
Is the ADP the much-talked-about mega party?
Yes, it is the mega party. Our presence is all over the country. ADP members are everywhere.
There are over 40 registered political parties in Nigeria. Fifty-seven associations have also applied for registration as political parties. What does the ADP want to offer that will be different from what others have?
There is what we call guardianship. True power should be given to the citizens of the country, especially members of the party. We have three cardinal principles - all-inclusive government, democratic empowerment of the young people and party supremacy. I have not seen this in the constitution and manifestos of other associations in the manner we want to bring them. In our party, we have what is called Founding Members Councilý. This is like a body that represents the philosophy and what the party stands for. Every other organ is allowed to play its role in accordance with democratic requirement, but when it comes to the philosophy of this party, these organs can say no and it is no.
When are we going to see the founding fathers of the party?
The moment we finish with the registration process, it will be published and you will see the founding members of the council. We took time to look at what they have, and we believe that time has come for us to really play politics the way it is played in the so-called developed societies.
From your constitution we are likely to see new things, but if the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar decides to join your party with his supporters and wants to take a shot at the presidency, what would be your reaction?
I said we would use Option A4. If Atiku, Kwankwaso, Saraki or any other person comes and gets the votes of our teeming members, so be it. It is the people that will decide. You know how the Option A4 works - you have to emerge from your local government before coming to your senatorial district, the state, the zone and finally, the centre. So if the people say yes to a candidate, so be it.
Do you think you would match the influence of the APC in 2019?
What remains of the APC is just the carcass. You have heard of meetings of the so-called merger groups withdrawing to different comfort zones. I can say that this government is living in a rented house. The owners of the house can wake up one day and ask Buhari to pack and go. It is possible; this is politics.