Kawu Sumaila, the senator representing Kano South was at the forefront of lawmakers that were rooting for Senator Abdulaziz Yari to emerge as Senate president. Recently, reports of cracks within the Red Chamber emerged, especially with the minority leadership seats. In this interview on Trust TV’s Daily Politics, the lawmaker on the platform of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) addressed the issues, as well as the controversies surrounding the sack of Kano State governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf and the reported expulsion of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso from the party.
There has been reported unrest among opposition lawmakers in the Senate; are you satisfied with the composition of the opposition in the Red Chamber as it is now?
Yes, I am very pleased. And I am happy with the caliber of the people in the opposition. Although we are divided, for obvious reasons, outside politics is influencing the caucuses of the National Assembly; therefore, we need to have an organised political party for us to have an organised house or opposition that will speak with one voice.
We heard a lot when the minority leader from Plateau State was sacked by the court; for example, that the Senate president wanted to decide who would become the new minority leader; how did you react at that time?
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All I know is that we endorsed the current minority leader. He came through a consensus.
Is it true that the Senate president is not really carrying the Pro-Yari group very well?
No. You know we pledged our loyalty to the administration of Akpabio when he assumed office; we put that one aside.
The horse-trading ahead of his emergence?
We put it aside and looked at Nigeria.
We heard that your silence is that of a graveyard. There are reports that you people are cooking something against the Senate president and you may remove him in no distant future; is that correct?
No. There was no time we decided to remove the Senate president; we are more concerned about the welfare of our people and the situation of Nigeria.
Most of us came from an area where insecurity is the order of the day, so why would we waste our time on removing the Senate president?
Does that mean you are satisfied with his style of leadership?
Whether we are satisfied or not, there was no time we even tabled the removal of the Senate president. We are doing our legislative work as guided by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is not necessary for the Senate president to give us chairmanship, but we don’t know what parameter he used to give us all chairmen one.
Secondly, whenever we want to talk he would allow us to talk although we have some differences. We are from the opposition and he is from the ruling party, so the way he does things is different from the way we do it.
Without prejudice that the case is in court, what is your take on the outcome of the Appeal Court judgement?
Actually, as one of the leaders of the NNPP in Kano, I am totally disappointed with the outcome of the judgement. We are hoping that it would be corrected at the Supreme Court.
So far, some of your members are in the streets of Kano; did you encourage them to go or they made the decision on their own?
You see, democracy is all about people. It gives the people the opportunity to display their anger through demonstration, just as I am here to express my view at whatever capacity. I think they are doing it willingly to defend their mandate, nobody is encouraging them. It is natural in a democratic setting. It is constitutional, so you can’t stop it.
There is this allegation that the judiciary is actually under enormous pressure from certain quarters. If you read the newspapers you would see that the language being used to describe the judiciary is not palatable. Do you agree with this?
I don’t want to comment on what they are doing. As legislature we have a system where we are not going or dive into the activities or proceedings of the courts.
But actually, public commentators, political analysts and even social critics are condemning the outcome of the judgement. They are complaining that there must be pressure from somewhere.
The trouble started when the NNPP complained that they applied for the Certified True Copy of the judgement for almost five days and there was no response from the Court of Appeal. They later released it and there is serious inconsistency. It is from there that people became alarmed of the situation.
But we are watching. All I know is that my party went to the Supreme Court to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal.
What is your expectation at the Supreme Court?
Insha Allah, we will get it right.
There is this insinuation that once you lose at the Federal High Court or tribunal and the Appeal Court, your chances are really slim at the Supreme Court; do you think so?
It is not true. Look at what happened in Osun. I keep faith with the Supreme Court; and I believe they would do justice to us.
The national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was heard saying they had seen the lacuna in the nomination of your candidate and just kept quiet; do you think there was a lacuna?
But there are almost 50 cases and judgments from the Supreme Court that membership of a political party is a pre-election matter. I am not a lawyer but that is the situation; there are many cases like that.
Is Abba Kabir Yusuf not a member of the NNPP?
He joined the party almost 40 days before me.
Is there any evidence to show that he joined the party?
Quite alright; they even tendered a register where his name appeared. We bought forms from the party and collected forms from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) too. We filled the forms and INEC displayed the name of Abba Kabiru Yusuf as the candidate of the NNPP. And when they were announcing the winner of the election, they mentioned Abba Kabiru Yusuf. This will show you that he came through the process.
Where are you taking the blame now; would you say that INEC is complicit?
INEC defended us in the Court of Appeal.
Another issue baffling the minds of many Nigerians is about those your votes that were rendered useless; is it that only your votes were not stamped?
This is what I am asking too. I am totally confused. Is it only NNPP’s votes that were not stamped? Secondly, how many votes did they tender in the court as exhibit? Almost 160,000. It clearly shows that someone is doing something else.
How peaceful will Kano be, in the event that the judgement does not favour your candidate?
Well, I can’t predict. I have control of myself and I know we are law-abiding citizens. After Supreme Court there is another court – we all believe that we would appear before the final judge – Allah.
Do you think the APC is losing grip of Kano?
You see, our people hate injustice. And if you are thinking that you must have Kano because of 2027 elections, the people are waiting. You cannot force our people to vote for you.
As politicians we must believe that there is a starting point and end point; we must respect the will of the people.
What is your take on the claim that what is happening in Kano is karma because immediately the governor took over, he started demolishing structures belonging to the people?
It is a different issue, which I think is before the court; they will decide on that one.
Are you satisfied with some of the governor’s decisions?
I support some of his decisions, but I disagree with him at some extent. He is a human being, so this is natural. It is only our Prophet Mohammed that is 100 per cent perfect.
How are you people trying to resolve the crisis in the NNPP because it is like the party is divided already?
Every political party has crisis.
Where did your problem emanate?
I don’t know.
There is a claim that your leader, Kwankwaso has been sacked from the party; is that true?
Don’t mind them.
Is he still a member of the NNPP?
He is a leader of the NNPP, not just a member. He was the presidential candidate of a party that produced senators and members of the House of Representatives, state assembly members and a sitting governor and you are asking whether he is a member of the party. Who owns the party more than Kwankwaso?
But the original owners of the party said they had sacked him.
Who are the original owners? Yes, the party was there since 2002 but a political party is not a one-man business; it is the amalgamation of so many people.
We had congresses and conventions where we selected our members and all of them are critical stakeholders, so it is not about one man. But it is natural to have disagreements in a political party, which we will sort out ourselves. We are politicians. If not because of this litigation in Kano we would have called ourselves and resolved our issues amicably.
Your party said it was open to partnership with others; is it that you are not sure of winning elections without the support of other parties?
Every political party is open for discussion.
What do you think about constitution amendment and the issue of true federalism, which have kept coming up among concerned citizens?
A true federal system is a process. You see, there is serious suspicion, misunderstanding and gap we need to bridge for us to move forward.
I believe that this current structure will not take us anywhere. We must sit down and discuss.
Do you subscribe to constitutional roles for traditional rulers to help deal with some of the issues affecting your people, such as insecurity?
I support a true federal system. If that is achieved, our regions can agree to give traditional rulers certain responsibilities. For example, from 1960 to 1966, the system we operated in northern Nigeria was entirely different from what obtained in the West or East.
We heard that some of you are finding it difficult to go home because Nigerians are hungry, yet you procured vehicles worth N160million for each member. We thought some of you in the opposition would reject that proposal?
I don’t want to talk on details of what we discussed in the executive session.
But Nigerians deserve to know.
But the decision of the Senate is binding on me, whether I supported it or not. So I must subscribe to the idea because it was a business of all members.
Would you sell your own and share the money to your constituents?
I will not say so, but I have a way of dealing with the situation.
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