Hon. Mohammed Aminu Tukur is a member of the sixth and eight assemblies in Bauchi State. In this interview with ALI GARBA, he spoke on the recent defection of Hon. Yakubu Dogara from the PDP to the APC, among other issues. Excerpts…
Your political associate, Dogara, has just moved back to the APC. What is your take on that?
I was privy to know of the political discussions around him for quite sometimes. There is nothing to question. We, the immediate lieutenants of Dogara are aware of it and very much happy to arrive at such a unique decision that was taken in our collective interest.
Is the defection a confirmation that Dogara and Governor Bala Mohammed have fallen apart?
There is no doubt about that. There were series of events to show that something unfavourable did exist between Dogara and the governor. Not only with Dogara but all of us who are Dogara’s immediate lieutenants, who did everything possible to see to the coming of this present administration in the state. Let me tell you, from the reaction of the Chief of Staff to the Governor and that of the PDP Chairman in the state, I can outrightly say they have felt it and it is a kind of medication after the injury had been done. The state PDP chairman stated that they have given Dogara so much in government by giving him slots for commissioners and other political appointments. This, I say no. We don’t know of a single commissioner in the cabinet of Bauchi State that was courtesy of the Right Honorable Speaker. Whosoever that is there is on the side of the governor, but let me be specific with the person occupying the slot. I am referring to Honorable Mohammed Sadiq who is the Commissioner for Water Resources. There is no doubt about Dogara having interest in him but at the same time, the governor had an interest in him as well, so it is a kind of collective interest.
But it was alleged that Dogara was too overbearing and demanding local government slots. How true?
I wish to put it on record that Dogara demanded for slots in the council. I am certainly sure he requested to be given the chance to produce the Deputy Chairman for Tafawa Balewa LGA. As ordinary as Deputy Chairman position is, he was denied. He was only given a single slot to produce a councilor for Ward B, just a single ward in the 16 wards of Tafawa Balewa LGA and this is very unfortunate. We feel not only Dogara, some of us who are his immediate lieutenants deserved to be given more than a slot of a councilor but unfortunately we realised that after victory we were sidelined and pushed aside and we became irrelevant. We didn’t even have a say. It would interest you to know that all of us, by making a general statement, I am referring to those of us who worked with Dogara, who are still with him. We were denied the right to participate in the ward congresses of the PDP in our respective wards, not to talk of the local government, despite the fact that we did everything possible to bring the present government into power. I wish to put it further to you that all of us that are Dogara’s lieutenants were able to bring in our votes, and electoral values to the PDP unlike some of those staff who are currently in government who did not even have the guts to return their polling units to the PDP. This is known to everybody, there are public appearances where the governor personally castigated the personality of the former speaker.
recall in a session where he made a comment that Dogara was nothing rather than an ordinary member of the House of Representatives, that he Bala, had been privileged to be a Senator, a minister and a governor. He said Dogara is somebody who just occupied a segment of the state, one twelfth of the state and that being privileged to be elected as speaker by his colleagues at the National Assembly does not mean he is somebody that he can listen to. It goes to tell us that the governor has woefully failed us, failing us in the sense that we are not looking for any material compensation from him but rather we demanded for recognition and a kind of fair play, we demanded to have a say in the government rather than to be possessed.
Is it is too late to mend fences? Why should we mend fences now?
The courtship period is over. I am referring to the period when we were so much demanded for, to come and perform, to give in our best. There was no written agreement between the governor and us but there was an understanding that we would be in consideration. We have neither been given such a privilege nor our boss been given such a privilege. So in a situation where you have put in your best, and at the end of the day you are sidelined, what do you do? It goes to tell us that, should we even listen to them now, they would still make use of us and dump us finally. That is the usual antecedent that we know them of.
Did you just say that PDP used Dogara and dumped him?
Why not, that is simple. That is just that. I can recall a moment in his house; I am refer-ring to house of the former speaker. There was a day he said to the governor: “Your Excellency, we have been able to deliver and government had been formed, if there is any envelope in my name for any political appointment, kindly let me have it so that I will contact my people and discuss how to share it. I want you to appreciate the fact that I’m not somebody who is just controlling my federal constituency; you should know that I have sympathisers who worked hard for me, even in Giade LGA”. The governor affirmed that he will do it but we have not known of any envelope that was given to the Speaker in terms of political appointment. There was no situation whereby his consent was requested, so that his input would be taken into account.
You left APC to PDP because you were aggrieved now back to APC. What do you want?
We were not given the right of hearing at the national level, but they failed woefully. I recall a session with the then National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, on July 1, 2018. We put it forward to him that what we want is a situation where the party congresses that were conducted in Bauchi from ward to state level should be annulled. We put forward three things we wanted to be done in such a way that our continuous stay in the party would be maintained, otherwise we will have no option than to leave the party and one of the major reasons that we advanced was that Adams must go and Adam’s has gone. Secondly, in some of the items that were being discussed prior to the meeting with President Buhari, there were these issues of capital projects that would continue, that are going on in the federal constituency and we have been given the assurance that these capital projects would continue. The essence of our participation in politics is nothing rather than development. If we can’t bring in development to our people, then our purpose of being in politics has been fulfilled. So, we went there with two options: for us to return to the APC, we will go back without Oshiomhole. Adams is gone and we have been assured of all the continuity of the capital projects that are currently going on i n the federal constituency and even beyond. I am certainly sure that our yearnings and aspiration are being met now. This time around, the control of the party would naturally fall back to Dogara, not that he is the most senior political person but there is recognition that he has a say in the political dispensation. We are contented with that.
Have you thought of the consequences of Dogara leaving the ruling party for an opposition party?
Don’t you think he is making same mistake as the immediate past governor? It is the governor that is making a mistake and he has already made such a mistake. The calculations are there, what are things that gave him the victory? You can say it out naturally; it is the federal constituency, which Dogara is representing, that gave him the victory. I am certainly sure that the governor is in for a very big surprise in 2023. In fact he will see it in such a way that what happened to former Governor Mohammed Abubakar would even be a better scenario.
When you left APC for PDP, you insulted the then Governor Mohammed Abubakar. Now that you are back together, are you now going to sing his praises like what is happening in Edo State?
We don’t have the Edo scenario in Bauchi State. But coming back to the APC does not mean that we will go with Mohammed Abubakar. He is on his own and we are on our own. But that does not mean that we cannot be in the same political party, we have learn a lesson from him and we will not repeat it again. I am not sure if we will ever trust him from our own end.
APC at the national level is in crisis; Bauchi APC is also in crisis. Why did you choose to go back at this time?
It may interest you to know it is this crisis that led to the dismantling of the national leadership. Same crisis would lead to dismantling of the state leadership down to the wards level and that would let you to appreciate the fact that there would be a democratically elected ward executives, LGA and that of the state and it goes round. I am certainly sure the crisis in the APC will soon be history and in one of our bargaining task, we made mention categorically of his ability to appreciate or accept the current leadership of the party in the state and that had been taken care off. I am sure when he came in for a bigger rally that we will welcome him to APC, a lot of things would change and the indices would change for the better
Is it true that Dogara is planning to become the Vice President?
What is wrong in Dogara being the President of Nigeria not to talk of the Vice President, who is only a spare tyre. Dogara has all that it takes to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Democracy is all about interest not about zoning. If the greater percentage of the Nigerians populace decides that Dogara is going to be the President of the country, why not let us leave it up to the time where we will have a national convention and if he decides to buy the form for the Presidency, we will canvass for him, we will go to the nooks and crannies of the country and showcase his ability.
News Telegraph