All Progressives Congress National Leader, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, has opened up on the recent defections in the polity, saying Senate
President Bukola Saraki and Sokoto State Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal among
others left the APC because the party could not offer them what they wanted,
reports ITREALMS.
He said on Sunday in Lagos that the defectors wanted
automatic tickets and sharing of the national wealth which the governing APC
could not guarantee.
The APC leader unfolded his mind in a lengthy statement he
personally signed, entitled “They Go Away Because We Go the Right Way”.
According to him, the defectors “left the party to return to
a motley agglomeration that would promise them what true democracy could not:
automatic tickets, sharing of the national wealth and other offices and
privileges”.
Asiwaju Tinubu asked the people to go beyond the debate on
the numbers in the Senate of House of Representatives, saying “we must pull
back from the shallow headlines to recognize that something fundamental is at
stake.
“Nigeria is undergoing a historic transition. Sometimes
awkwardly, tentatively, yet inexorably, we nurture political and governance
reform. We steadily close the door on
the old malpractices that have caused a rich nation to reside in the tenement
of the global poor”.
Speaking specifically on the Sokoto governor’s defection,
the APC leader said: “Governor Tambuwal’s exit can be distilled to one cause.
He covets the presidency. However, he had not the stomach to challenge President
Buhari in a primary. Tambuwal felt further insulted that he would be compelled
to face a direct primary just to retain the governorship nomination.
“But for the promise made by PDP headliners like Rivers
State Governor Wike that he would have the PDP presidential nomination,
Tambuwal would not have left. His exit had nothing to do with governance of the
nation. It was about forging a personal ambition predicated on the defeat of
progressive reform not the advancement of it”.
On Senate President, he said: “Much the same for Senate
President Saraki. Returning to the PDP, he harbors dreams of the presidency but
Tambuwal’s ambition will dwarf Saraki’s when the two collide. If Saraki had
remained in the APC, he would be unable to reclaim his Senate seat let alone
the Senate Presidency. He thus bolted because he lusts for the presidency but
was promised by the PDP, at least, a return to his position in the Senate”.
He added: “For Saraki to talk about lack of governance is
for him to deny who he is and the position he holds. This man stands as
Nigeria’s Number 3 citizen. Clothed is he in ample power and influence. If he
saw areas where government and the nation needed help, he could have easily
applied his energies to these areas. He could have drafted legislation and
easily got laws passed.
“However, no progressive enactment bears his name for he
cared not for progress. He has been more focused on changing the rules of the
Senate to favour himself and changing the order of elections so as to coincide
with his selfish designs”.
The full statement reads: “The defections of some people
from the APC have generated sensational headlines and exaggerated talk as to
what their departures foretell for the APC, the party to which I belong. Some have predicted the demise of the
APC. Those who hope for our decline will
be disappointed by the inaccuracy of their desires. The days, months and years
ahead will bury such errant forecasts for these predictions are born more of
bitterness than of objective analysis.
Much of the attention has centered on which party now
controls this or that state and which party maintains a majority in the
National Assembly. These considerations are important to members of the
political class and the electoral calculations of the political parties. But
these calculations cannot be all there is. We must be careful not to reduce our
horizon to a mere accounting of elected officials moving from one party to
another.
“Many in the political class believe this score keeping
between the parties encompasses all that is important. For such people, the
mere holding of office is the sole objective. The quality of governance they
provide means little to them. Yet, there are greater things at stake than the
fortunes of individual politicians. The people of Nigeria focus their attention
on something materially different than this narrow political game.
The people are more deeply concerned with the quality of
governance they experience than with the intense cunning by which the political
game is played. They are more interested in helpful policies than in the
tempests created by politicians in pursuit of personal ambitions. That which
provides a better life in a more prosperous nation is what beckons to them.
That which shines in the eye of the political opportunist is dross to the
average person.
“We must pull back from the shallow headlines to recognize
that something fundamental is at stake.
Nigeria is undergoing a historic transition. Sometimes
awkwardly, tentatively, yet inexorably, we nurture political and governance
reform. We steadily close the door on
the old malpractices that have caused a rich nation to reside in the tenement
of the global poor. The corruption of the past is ending; for it must end if we
are to fulfill our collective purpose. With this correction, less public money
will be diverted to private benefit. More will be afforded to the causes of the
people. The economy is being transformed so that the average person will have a
better chance of finding a better life.
“We move toward a more democratic union. The old days where
a handful of uninformed men and those with deep pockets decided everything for
everybody are being swept away. The will of the people can no longer be
ignored. Those who would be the masters over the people must now be public
servants. A party or elected official
may no longer rule over the people. They must govern for the benefit of the
people.
By so doing, the arc of our national progress is shaped. Not
everyone is happy with this trajectory. As a whole, the political class must
relinquish some of its power and wealth so people can enjoy a more equitable
portion of the national enterprise.
This is the correct and perhaps inevitable course Nigeria
must pursue. To their credit, many politicians see the need for reform and even
champion it. Yet, there are those in the political class who scheme against
collective improvement. They seek to halt progress toward a fairer nation. They
seek to hold to the old ways. The difference between the two parties and why
some people returned to their PDP conclave must be seen in this light.
“This is more than competition over numbers. What rests in
the balance is not whether one party has more elected officials on its roster,
but which party has the right mindset and policies to reform Nigeria that she
may become what goodness demands of her. We are in locked battle to define the
future of this nation and the quality of its governance. This battle pits one
party, the APC, with all of its imperfections, that seeks national reforms
against another party, the PDP, which symbolizes the perfection of the most
selfish designs of the most selfish politicians among us.
This moral battle informed the recent defections. Those who
belong to that PDP mode of thought could find no permanent comfort in walking
the path of progressive reform and progress.
All the things we have inaugurated such as school-feeding programs for
poor pupils, social security for poor families, affordable housing programs,
greater access to credit for small businesses and greater access to education
and health care, these things the defectors could not well abide. They detested
President Buhari’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) innovation because it barred
them from mis-directing funds into a maze of unaudited accounts from which they
could siphon as they pleased. Buhari cut off their clandestine illicit spigot.
“These politicians see accountable good governance and
lifting of the common person as the tearing down of their quest for great
riches and power.
Even more so, they detested the APC drive toward greater
internal democracy. They bristled when we demanded that congresses and
conventions be held; they had demanded giving themselves automatic extension in
their positions. They privately erupted as the APC decided that direct
primaries where all party members vote on the party’s nominations should be the
way of the future. The injection of greater democracy meant a decrease in their
ability to manipulate end results. Politics will be ushered out of the backroom
and given to the people to whom sovereignty genuinely belongs. These men could
not countenance such transformation. They saw it not as the gift of democracy
but as an obstacle that complicated their self-interest. They left the party to
return to a motley agglomeration that would promise them what true democracy
could not: automatic tickets, sharing of the national wealth and other offices
and privileges.
“Their defection statements swell with high-sounding words
and the attempted grasp of lofty ideals. While I shall refrain from being so
coarse as to call these statements counterfeit, I must invoke a sufficient
level of common sense for the protection of all. Anyone who accepts their
statements at face value will quickly experience buyer’s remorse. Their attempt
at fine notions aside, what compelled these people was galloping yet blind
ambition.
Governor Tambuwal’s exit can be distilled to one cause. He
covets the presidency. However, he had not the stomach to challenge President
Buhari in a primary. Tambuwal felt further insulted that he would be compelled
to face a direct primary just to retain the governorship nomination. But for
the promise made by PDP headliners like Rivers State Governor Wike that he
would have the PDP presidential nomination, Tambuwal would not have left. His
exit had nothing to do with governance of the nation. It was about forging a
personal ambition predicated on the defeat of progressive reform not the
advancement of it.
“Much the same for Senate President Saraki. Returning to the
PDP, he harbors dreams of the presidency but Tambuwal’s ambition will dwarf
Saraki’s when the two collide. If Saraki had remained in the APC, he would be
unable to reclaim his Senate seat let alone the Senate Presidency. He thus
bolted because he lusts for the presidency but was promised by the PDP, at
least, a return to his position in the Senate.
For Saraki to talk about lack of governance is for him to
deny who he is and the position he holds. This man stands as Nigeria’s Number 3
citizen. Clothed is he in ample power and influence. If he saw areas where
government and the nation needed help, he could have easily applied his
energies to these areas. He could have drafted legislation and easily got laws
passed. However, no progressive enactment bears his name for he cared not for
progress. He has been more focused on changing the rules of the Senate to
favour himself and changing the order of elections so as to coincide with his
selfish designs.
“The rest of the defectors were given similar assurances by
the PDP as to their offices. The APC refused to make such bargains as they are
part of the ancient regime; these bargains are not of our democratic new way.
There is nothing wrong with ambition. Without a degree of
ambition, we would never strive to improve and develop ourselves. But ambition,
restrained by nothing but itself, is a dangerous commodity. Unwedded to social
conscience, it leads to ruthlessness; it is the father of the deception that
leaders are meant to lord over instead of to serve the populace.
In the final analysis, the reason for the defections is as
clear to see as it is crooked in its motives.
The APC seeks to reform governance and politics. However, many powerful
people believe the established system assures their maximum benefit.
Progressive reform would defeat them. They must fight reform and never be
allied to it. Thus, they had to leave the APC.
“In a fundamental way, the APC may be better for their exit.
It would be untrue to say their departures did not generate concern. As the air
clears and we can better assess what is lost and gained by their exit, I can
truthfully say the APC will be better off because they are gone.
We can now focus more wholly on democratic governance inside
and outside the party. Inside the party, we have adopted direct primaries to
discourage corruption of the democratic process. Regarding public policy, we
can now better articulate our progressive stance without having naysayers among
complaining that we are going too far or that the good we seek for the people
ought not to be done.
We can more decisively push for the jobs program, expansion
of social security for the poor, affordable housing programs and a viable
mortgage system, national infrastructural program that will provide adequate
power and potable water, basic health care for all, and educational
reform. Each of these is important in
itself. In combination, these objectives shall reshape the very landscape of
our political economy. They shall bring fairness and prosperity where none has
been. They will give the average person
a government that serves them and the land that they deserve.
“But this prospect means a large segment of the political
class will oppose the APC. We, as a party, must have the courage to accept this
reality. Having decided to place the public welfare above the private welfare
of the few, we must forge ahead no matter the foes aligned against us.
This struggle toward a better Nigeria is hard, described
more by difficult obstacles than by smooth passages. Had reform been easy, the
task would have already been accomplished. Powerful hands have gathered to halt
our collective move forward. Not
everyone wants a better Nigeria for all. Those who profit from the imbalances
of the past are those who fear a fairer tomorrow.
Come the general election, the people will face a stark
choice. If they want to relive the certain failure and inequality of the system
the PDP had erected against their very interests, the people will walk the way
of the defectors. If the people want to give themselves a better chance at an
excellent nation they will adhere to the path elected in 2015 when they voted
for reform and the APC.
“I believe in the collective wisdom of the people. They will
choose the right way for they are Nigerians which means they shall do what is
right and just”.
Ayo Midele/GEE
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