Why did you join the governorship race?
Well, for me it is simple. I have served as deputy governor for eight years; I know where we excelled, I know our weakness and I know our strength. I want to make sure that where we went wrong, I am able to put things straight and in order. I want to rescue the state because infrastructure development is not the only development. Human development is more important. Our schools are in shambles, we don’t have teachers. We now have more than 279 secondary schools as against about 73 or 76 that we inherited in 2007. We have 30 hospitals instead of the nine that we had. We have a number of roads; that is okay, but infrastructure alone does not constitute development. Our civil service has been rendered virtually inept and demoralized. People are not working as they used to because they have not been encouraged. No training and most senior officers have retired and no good replacements. Square pegs are put in round holes. Instead of people being promoted or appointed on merit, there is a lot of abuse by some people and a lot of ethnic coloration in appointment and promotion in the system. These are the things that I want to correct as a technocrat and civil servant who rose in my career from an Admin Officer to the rank of Secretary to the Government and then served as SSG twice in Kebbi State and once in Sokoto. So, I know that we need to invigorate our civil service for better service delivery.
Many are in the race with you for the PDP ticket. How do you hope to cross these huddles against the belief that you are not the one anointed by the governor?
Yes, well, he (the governor) has his own reason for not anointing me and I have my own reason for joining the race because when he asked some civil servant at a town hall meeting about six months ago to assist him in finding a suitable person to succeed him, one of the directors stood up and said, your successor is before you because he is tested, has a lot of confidence, has earned a lot of confidence in us as civil servants and has done very well.
You don’t have to go anywhere looking for a successor, he is already in the service, he has the experience, he can build up from where you stopped. It was the goodwill of the people, it was not my intention at all to contest, it was the call of the civil servants and well-meaning indigenes of Kebbi State - the Ulamas, our traditional rulers, everybody. When you conduct an independent assessment, you will discover that I have more than 80 per cent followership in the state. They know I don’t have the money and if it is material things they want, I am the least in terms of all these things. All other contenders have colossal money that I do not have and yet people are set to work and support me. That is my confidence.
If at the end, the governor and the PDP still refuse to support you, are you likely to defect to another party?
I will never defect. I have always been a PDP card carrying member. I was a founding member of the PDP and I have remained despite all the crises. The most disappointing experience we had was in 1999. We had 16 local governments out of 21, and we thought we had formed a government. But because of the attitude of our politicians; when they didn’t win they went to work against the party. Late Garba Koko and his followers worked against us and eventually, APP at that time formed the government. That cost us eight good years of APP rule despite the fact that we know that Kebbi is a PDP state. So, I am not prepared to defect, if I am not given the ticket, I will still work with the party and I will make sure we win where we can and of course I have a lot of confidence that whoever emerges through free and fair primaries will have my support and confidence.
What will be your reaction if at the end of the day, PDP refuses to respect the agreement on zoning brokered by former President Obasanjo?
If eventually that arrangement is not respected, I will be disappointed and I will show my disappointment by telling the leadership that it has not been just and fair and that the name given to Kebbi as ‘Home of Equity’ is a mirage. But I believe our leaders have listening ears and believe they will do justice and allow somebody from Kebbi South, even if it is not me.
So far, four of us from the zone are in the race, Senator Muhammadu Magoro, Gen. Muhammadu Dan Hanne Isah, Zubairu Turaki and myself. But the fore-runners are I and Sen. Magoro. I am first in the contention, then Magoro and then others. Unless there is a waiver for Gen Isah and Turaki, I can’t see how they can run for governorship when they are less than six months old in the party. In fact, Gen. Isah is less than one year after retirement. As for Zubairu, I am not even sure he has resigned his appointment as a staff of the MDG. So, unless there is a special waiver for them, they will not qualify. The race is between me and Sen. Magoro whom I have a lot of respect for and he has a lot of respect for me too. I believe, we will be able to sort out things.
There are indications that at the end of the day, you will step down and settle for the senatorial slot from the zone. How do….
Whatever is given to me by the party, I will accept, even if it is a councillor position. I have served as deputy governor, I was federal commissioner for five years all as a result of my membership of the PDP, so I am satisfied. What I am not satisfied with is the fact that as a deputy governor and coming from Kebbi South, first consideration should be given to me for my loyalty and my contribution to the fact that I have never decamped to any party due to lack of satisfaction.
Source: Daily Trust
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