Salisu: Direct Primaries Not Negotiable in APC

28 Aug 2014

Interview


Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of Ogun State, Alhaji Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, is an aspiring senator for Ogun Central. In this interview with Akinbami Faloye, he talks about his ambition, politics in the state and the future of the All Progressives Congress. Excerpts:


How far have you come in your political career?
My commitment to the political process started from my university days. The parliament has always been a place where I think you need a lot of persuasive skills and ability to build bridges and network. Sometime in 2004/2005, I was called to be part of the Policy World Group of a presidential aspirant.


In the group, we put together what we thought was a very good documents and the presidential aspirant told us that as beautiful as this document is, when it is time for implementation, the political class would say we (members of the group) we are not part of the political process and if we want to be part, we should go back to our respective states and get involved in the political process so that we can move it from the level of policy formulation to implementation. This was how I got involved because I went back to Ogun State and registered.


I think it was in the process around 2005/2006 to 2007 during the build-up to the general election that I got involved and I fought for the ticket of my party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). I was the interim caretaker committee secretary to put ACN into place and after a few encouragements I also vied for the ticket of the party for the House of representative for Abeokuta North and Obafemi/Owode federal constituency.


I had a contestant from Obafemi/Owode constituency. I came out from Odeda local government and I was able to get the ticket and I contested the election in April 2007 for the House of Representatives seat.


Obviously, everybody knew what PDP did then. I was sad as a candidate and I went to the tribunal not because I was desperate to win the seat, but because I thought we must challenge the impunity. My position was dismissed at the lower tribunal and I went to the court of Appeal in Ibadan, for a review of the decision of the lower court.


In 2011, I actually wanted to go for the Senate for two reasons. First, it became obvious that the House of Representatives seat that I was still fighting for in the court was ceded to the son our leader, Olumide Osoba, so it would be foolhardy to want to contest that ticket knowing how things used to operate in our former party.


Also, during that time, my local government, Odeda had spent two terms with a candidate of PDP but because the House of Representatives seat is meant for three local governments and if the incumbent then was Odeda and had spent up to two terms, naturally it must also move to another local government. This was why I wanted to go for the Senate and incidentally at the close of nomination, myself and Honourable Shina vied for the ticket from Abeokuta North.


At the close of nomination process, I was the only one left because I was the only one who actually paid the nomination fee required by the national headquarters of the party. By the time my boss, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, was picked as governor, there were few people who contested the governorship seat with him then, largely from the old AD, AC stock.

One of them Senator Obadara was given a ticket and I thought again that if PDP had inflicted injustice on me in the general election in 2007, why would my own party even without any discussion with me and as at the close of nomination, I was the only aspirant that picked the ticket and paid the nomination fee.


So I petitioned the national headquarters and I was at national headquarters for two or three times to pursue the petition. At a point, I got Hon. Adeshina to go to Abuja to say that two of us were the only ones who had shown interest in these tickets. He had paid the nomination fee, so either of us that you pick would be good enough.


I went to meet with Chief Bisi Akande, the then chairman of our party about once or twice to lay my case. But after sometime, I got a feeling that this matter has reached a dead end. So I came back and briefed Senator Amosun and said I was also going to court to challenge the fact that if PDP allowed democracy to thrive in 2007, we must also allow internal democracy to strive in our party.


Of course, given what was obtainable then, we were more determined to get PDP out of the state so any sacrifice would not be too much. I was convinced that it would be better for us. I am from Ogun Central and the governor is also from Ogun Central and if we started fighting the issue of Senate ticket, it may have impact on the outcome of the general election if we did not come together to work.


So I dropped the senatorial ambition and I became a director in the campaign organisation of Senator Ibikunle Amosun Campaign Organisation for the governorship seat and I am grateful to God that we won and he appointed me as the deputy Chief of Staff and I have been working with him in that capacity for some time now.

What if that same scenario repeats itself and you are asked to make yet another sacrifice?
Well I do not think at this point in time that one would be asked to make a greater sacrifice because I do know that the party would be looking at the candidates that have popular support both within the party and outside. To that extent, one has been able to command a lot of overwhelming support amongst the party faithful and I do hope that the type of scenario that came up in 2007/2011 would not come again.


When I emerged my party’s representative for the House of Representatives, I kept faith with the people and the constituency. Incidentally, the federal constituency I just mentioned that we have six local governments and three federal constituencies, and the federal constituency that I have contested for has three out of the six local governments. It has the highest number of local governments in the senatorial district. But beyond that, it has also reached the other local governments in Ogun Central.


I do not see any scenario besides allowing a level playing ground for those who aspire to any position, not just the House of Representatives or Senate. For any person who aspires for a level playing field to compete for that ticket, I do not see the scenario of 2011 coming up.


Even the party has recognised the need to allow internal democracy to prevail. Our party has a strong internal democracy principle that allows candidates to run for positions and get the needed support and the level playing field. I think the market forces would largely determine who carries the flag of the party and clinches the seat at the general election.


The mood in the party is to allow all those who wish to aspire to any position to have an opportunity to compete on their own and contest in a free and fair primary election. In any case, there is nowhere that says an incumbent senator or representative must be given an automatic return ticket. We are talking about people who in the first instance got the ticket not because they were the most deserving of the ticket.


The question is: what happens to those who have had to make sacrifices but did not get the ticket? In any case, it is not as if the governor has lined up his own people, no. Rather, everybody would determine what he wants to do and also pursues his own political ambition. So, it is not about the governor presenting some individuals to contest. I think in my own understanding, you cannot try to solve a problem by creating a greater problem. Giving automatic ticket to anybody especially members of the National Assembly would create a greater problem for the party.

Is your boss aware of your ambition?
I have declared my electoral intentions to the governor and I have also emphasised to him that I am asking for his support and a level playing field. I am also aware that there are other candidates who are interested in the same seat. Therefore, when you go through a free and fair internal party democracy, where if you win you will rejoice, but if you do not win, you accept it that way and you would not have cause to leave the party. At this point, you sit down, evaluate the areas where you have failed and how to amend those areas.


What makes people feel alienated from the party is when they are not given the opportunity to have a level playing field to compete with others. I sought his blessings and he has said let many of you who want to be in the process be in the process and at the end of the day, the internal mechanism of the party would be brought to bear and we would present whoever emerges from the primary system.

What would be your interest as a senator?
When you represent a constituency in the national assembly and given the type of lopsided federalism that we have, most resources are in the hands of the federal, so the constituents expect that you use your influence to bring development back to your constituency and advocate what you think is best for them. Second, they also expect you to work with the government at the state level in partnership to ensure that development is also brought to your constituency and state.


It is noteworthy to state here that in our constitution in each state, the senate is like the cavity of states. This is why regardless of the population of any state; each state has three senators unlike the House of Representatives where it is based on criteria. It does mean that a senator must at all times ensure that the state interest is fully protected at all times at the federal level.

Why challenge an incumbent from the same party?
I am from the same local government with the incumbent and you ask yourself what has been the impact of our representative in our local government, senatorial district and the state in general? What is the collaboration in spite of the efforts of the governor and the overtures that he has continually made? What has been the level of collaboration between those who claim they are representing us at the national level and the state?


There are senators that would speak at the floor of the National Assembly and would inspire change such as Senators Durojaiye and others. Let people in the constituency feel your impact as an elected representative.

What do you think of your chances?
I have no doubt that we would have a resounding victory at the general election. I am not contesting for the first time. I have contested when our party was in our opposition. I contested against an incumbent on the platform of the PDP that was from the federal government and it was the party that was in power as at 2007. So in 2007, I contested on the platform of Action Congress against a PDP state and federal government.


Eight years after, I am proud to say that I contested against the PDP and I am working with the governor and it does help and extend the feasibility, morale and confidence to be able to understand how the executive arm of government does work and how being in the parliament could also assist. The experience at the executive level could also help in being a good parliamentarian, so working with a governor who is also a senator. It certainly has a lot positive impact on one’s morale.

How do you intend to improve the lot of your people?
As an individual senator, the needs of my people are very simple. I want to be able to attract a lot of federal presence. When you have federal presence, it would help a lot. For instance, we have the University of Agriculture and the institute of police affairs. These have helped a lot not only in Odeda, but other L.G.A.


We need to provide empowerment that is truly empowering to our constituency. We cannot afford to reduce governance to periodic distribution of rice. As an IT practitioner, I would like to see a situation where technology developing agency puts a software centre that creates employment for a teeming number of young people out there to harness and develop their skills in software development and provide a linkage between what they are doing there and the efforts of various government agencies. As a senator, I will work with the federal government to provide employment opportunities in this direction.

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