Alhaji Abdullahi Garba Faskari, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was the deputy governor of Katsina State during the tenure of Ibrahim Shehu Shema. In this interview, he shared his views on the ongoing discussion about the 10th National Assembly, as well as the contributions of Katsina State in the just concluded general elections, among other issues.
The president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu just returned, amidst speculations that he might not come back from his foreign trip; as a chieftain of the ruling party, are you relieved?
Well, there will always be speculations, particularly when we talk about a president-elect of Nigeria. But the issue of life and death are in the hands of God. It is either you are young or old, healthy or not. All things are in the hands of God; nobody has control over them.
All eyes are on the president-elect and Nigerians have a lot of expectations. So, we are relieved that he is back, and we hope that the transition would be smooth. Of course, naturally, every good Nigerian will be happy that the president-elect is back.
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One of the burning issues at the moment is that of the leadership of the National Assembly. Some are of the opinion that it should be taken to the South, while others are considering contributions in terms of number of votes by different geopolitical zones. What is your view on that?
Politics involves give and take. And it has always said that we should be our brothers’ keepers. Our eyes should not be too much centred on winner takes all. Now, whatever arrangement the political players may have, critical stakeholders who are responsible for taking decisions for us should consider the unity of this country. That is what is paramount because you need to have Nigeria before you talk positions to share.
What I am saying is that the federal government does not start and end in the National Assembly, there are other things. So, for the National Assembly, which is the symbol of the country, our leaders should sit critically and consider its unity and do what is right and acceptable to the majority of Nigerians.
The elections have come and gone, what is your general impression of the presidential election, which saw the emergence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winner?
Based on what I have seen and heard, I think this election is one of the fairest and credible in Nigeria. Equally, there was widespread support of lawful voters, those that have voted across the country. There’s a well spread support relatively devoid of sentiments – religious, tribal, sectional or regional. That is important for our country and democracy.
Do you also share the school of thought that without the serious commitment of APC governors, especially from the North, it wouldn’t have been possible for Tinubu to win?
You see, God has his way of supporting people. The Almighty Allah used APC governors to support Tinubu. And that was important because their activities and conducts during the primaries added colour, credibility, honour and respect to the electoral process. These are men who are highly recognised. They came to support what they believed was correct despite all the negative comments. I think they did what they felt was right at that time. Politics involves the spirit of give and take, promises and understanding. Once you have understanding with your political associates, it is important to maintain it for the future.
They stood by him, whether he would win or not, and God has vindicated them.
There were many upsets in northern Nigeria during the elections, where APC’s hegemony was challenged, especially during the presidential election in Kano, Kaduna and even Katsina. What do you think were the factors behind this? What role did Governor Aminu Masari play to mitigate the effect because Katsina is very important, being the state of the president?
What happened in Katsina may not necessarily be the same as what took place in Sokoto, Kano or Kaduna. In Katsina, there was a particular problem because prominent APC members got involved in anti-party activities, even involving top government officials. When you take the result of the election from all the local governments, at least 33 out of 34 local governments, the APC was ahead of all other parties, but the result of a particular local government was the one added to offset the balance and give winning to another party. Anti-party activities by prominent APC members and top government officials were glaring; and the governor responded promptly. Some of the top government officials were relieved of their appointments and others were warned. Necessary adjustments are made in politics to ensure that such things do not happen again.
In 2019 you dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Lado and supported Masari, who was looking for a second term, and since then you have never looked back. Why did you support the governor?
We were in the PDP in 2019 and times without number we indicated that for us to make any reasonable outing in the elections we needed to convince the electorate that we were serious. We remained with them and were sincere with them. We had a credible and competent candidate so that people would rally around for us to move ahead, but there was poor arrangement; and at the end of the day they produced a candidate who was not competent, and credible under questionable circumstances. That’s why we said we would not continue. And we would not want to stay for anybody to accuse us of doing anti-party activities. That’s why we took the decision to organise a press conference and denounce our membership of the PDP because that was the right thing to do since we could not fight.
And looking at the contestants, we decided that Governor Masari was better, so we supported him.
When you dumped the PDP in 2019 you did not join any other party, when did you decide to join the APC?
I joined the APC at the end of last year. Throughout the period I was not in any party, our people in the PDP were asking me to go back, but I said no because nothing had changed. They refused to correct their mistakes.
Has anything changed in your relationship with Governor Masari? What is your rating of his performance?
Nothing has changed. The governor is a man of honour. He has been able to stabilise politics in Katsina and build bridges; and that accounts for the success of the APC in Katsina State. That one cannot be denied of him.
In terms of performance, despite challenges, he has a modest contributions and achievements. Allah has assisted him to produce a successor. I say this because the success of a leader is not only counted or measured with what he has done, but equally in his ability to have a successor. That is important because government is a continuing process. Not every leader has that privilege of bringing a successor. The governor’s successes must transcend into the tenure of his successor.
The governor did not vie for another elective position, unlike many of his colleagues; why do you think he took that decision?
That issue is personal to him, so one can only speculate. But it is not surprising because the governor is a fulfilled person.
Do you think he would be interested in taking up any appointive position in the incoming administration?
This question is related to the last one, but time and circumstances sometimes override personal considerations.
Some people believe that Katsina deserves a special recognition in the incoming government, do you think so?
This is a big question. Governor Masari was in the forefront of those men of honour who supported the president-elect. He led the process.
We contributed to the number of the majority of votes and the requirement of the 25 per cent.
Also, in the National Assembly, Katsina State has three senators from the APC. Out of the 15 members of the House of Representatives, we won 9. And we are hoping to gain some of the remaining ones back through the tribunal. We also have the governor.
What do you look forward to in the incoming administration?
I believe the incoming administration has a lot of good things in store for the country, but one important issue I would like to see happening is that they should consider the problem of insecurity as their top priority. If they consolidate on the gains recorded lately and improve on that, the problem will be over. Our people are still displaced from their homes and they could not go to farms and that has contributed greatly to the economic hardship we are facing. They need to return home and live peacefully and continue with their normal lives.
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