I will govern, not rule – Tambuwal

How will you describe Saturday’s election compared with the Presidential and National Assembly elections of March 28?
We give glory to God because from all we have seen and heard especially in Sokoto State there was tremendous improvement.  We didn’t receive reports of card reader failures.
What will you say about the election?
We are once again grateful to Nigerians and especially Sokoto state people who came out and voted en mass for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and gave our leader General Muhammadu Buhari the opportunity to lead this country. By the grace of God, we are reassuring Nigerians that they will never regret voting APC.   General Buhari and the APC will not let them down. That confidence that Nigerians have in him and in the APC will not be misplaced. We will work hard to reposition the country on the path of growth and prosperity and improve the wellbeing of the people. We will work to secure lives and property and tackle corruption.
There is this fear in some quarters that Nigeria may eventually become a one party state following mass defection of politicians to the APC, what is your take on that?
Anybody who is looking for people in a house will not stop them from coming in. there is a Hausa proverb which says “Duk wanda yake da tar tara ba zaiki na goma ba” meaning even if you have nine it won’t stop you from accommodating the tenth. The APC is a party of the people and we want as many people as possible to come join us.  
What will be your priority in government?
By the grace of God we will focus on education, particularly the girl child education, agriculture, health sector, empowerment of our people, rural development and job creation especially for the youths, solid minerals development all will receive serious attention.
 What will you say determined your victory?
In Sokoto State the election was not about change but continuity. It is about the continuity of the programmes of the current administration which have been widely acknowledged by the good people of Sokoto state. It’s a show of appreciation that we need these policies to continue and therefore I believe they came out and expressed their support and endorsement of the current administration’s policies and programmes and the APC government being led by Alhaji Aliyu Magatakar darWamakko.
What advice do you have for politicians like you in view of the fact that the campaigns were characterized by hate speeches especially at the national level?  
We should learn to accept outcome of elections that are free, fair, transparent and credible in good faith. After all there can only be one leader at a time. Not more than one person can be on a particular seat at a time. Politicians should be more accommodating and more tolerant. We should de-emphasize attacks on personalities and market our programmes during campaigns to the electorates and let them choose who they want as their leader and not a situation whereby we go on campaign of calumny, arsons and violence.
 You have just made history as the first sitting House of Representatives Speaker to be elected governor, many of your predecessors attempted this unsuccessfully, what will you say about this moment in your life?
 Well, it is the grace of God. It is God who designs whatever one is going to become in life. I am just passing through what God has destined for me.
What style of leadership do people of Sokoto State expect from you?
Two weeks ago I said it and I will still say it that in Sokoto State we are not going to rule, we will only govern. And you have also heard our president-elect re-echoing the same thing. So in APC we are coming to provide good governance in this country.