Usman Mahmud Yahaya, popularly known as SAI BABA former governorship candidate of PDM and the PDP gubernatorial campaign organization, director media examines the prospects of PDP in general elections. In this interview, he also insists that the defection of Ibeto and others will not affect the fortunes of the party.
Excerpts:
PDP governorship, presidential campaigns in full swing in Niger
The momentum of our governorship and presidential campaign in Niger State has been very high. Of course we are going from house to house, door to door, and room to room. We have been seeing everybody who needed to be seen, from the least person to the most respected people in the society. We have reached out effectively to major stakeholders mostly elite, the average citizens and almost all Nigerlites. I am happy to say that everybody loves our PDP candidate, Umar Nasko and his campaign is in full swing.
With Nako’s new political order, Ibeto now a tired hand
Let me make it clear to all the people of Niger state that the defection of former Ambassador to South Africa, Alhaji Ahmed Musa Ibeto, from our party, the PDP to the APC will have no effect on our fortunes in the elections. I have always told everybody who cares to listen that there is a new order in Niger state. You may have noticed that in all our campaign rallies, even before the defection of Ibeto and other defeated governorship candidates, their presence was not felt.
Despite their absence, large crowd have always turned out to welcome Umar Nasko. There is a new order. Those hands are tired hands, normally and naturally, they ought to have retired long ago. The new Niger state that Umar Nasko dreams of is where the masses determine what happen and not political thin gods, that have ran out of trust with the masses.
Ibeto, a spent force was a mole in our party
Allow me to restate the fact that the defection of Musa Ibeto back to the APC was a blessing to the PDP because he was sent as a mole to destroy our party. I should say that we thank God that we did not give him the governorship ticket. It is logical to conclude that he has gone back to the APC to lick his vomit and cannot therefore offer anything again.
I told you before the PDP governorship primaries that all the other contestants put together cannot match Umar Nasko. This was confirmed in the result of the primaries in which Nasko got times three of the votes of other contestants put together. None of them could match him. I also told you prior to the primaries that Ibeto is a regular customer. Nasko will always defeat him anytime anywhere. If Umar Nasko goes to the APC today, for instance, and Ibeto is contesting against him, Nasko will still defeat him.
Nasko is naturally loved by the youths, the women and elders, everybody loves him. What you need to understand is that the dynamics of past election are does not exist anymore. In this election, it’s northerner versus northerner, Fulani versus Fulani and Muslim versus Muslim. So any person who is backing on sentiments of the past will lose the election. We must go out and meet the people, the people love Nasko and he is winning the election.
Why defeated governorship aspirants did not feature in PDP campaign structure
As I have said earlier, forget the fact that most of these people are defecting, they were sent from the APC and they went back to APC. They did not even feature in our calculations, if you check you will see that none of them is in our campaign organization. We knew that they were government stooges sponsored to destabilize us and we couldn’t have allowed them to have firm hold on the party.
However, let me tell you that Nasko did Ibeto a favour by nominating him into the PDP presidential campaign council because it was felt there should be balancing more so as Ibeto was a deputy governor and former Ambassador. We thought we should give him that honour not because he is the most qualified. You see, he betrayed the trust and confidence reposed in him.
Why the defection of the governorship aspirants?
None of the defectors have given any reason for their action. However for Enagi, the Niger State former chairman of the PDP, I was told he said he was looking for school fees but for Ibeto I do not know his reason.
What I do know is that he went to several meetings of the PDP presidential campaign council and he got normal benefits. May be he has gone back there to APC to lick his vomit. His going back to APC has confirmed that he was actually sent to do damage to the PDP. So all of them went back to where they came from.
Nasko will stand by the people
The PDP should thank God that the gubernatorial ticket was given to Nasko who has been a dedicated member of the party despite the intimidation, humiliation and harassment. Nigerlites should thank God that for the first time they are going to get a governor who will stand by them, who will never be afraid to say it as it is. He has demonstrated this recently when he went to AEDC headquarters in Minna to prevail on the company to give adequate power supply to the people.
That is the type of governor we want. Nasko lives in Minna. If he is not in Minna, he is in his village in Magama area of the state. That is the type of governor we need. We need the type of governor that understands the dynamics of the state and can work on the streets freely. He is the governor who can speak with authority.
What PDP takes from Governor Sani Bello second tenure campaign flag off
We have seen several videos of the ceremony, where when they shout Niger! some of the people will say they will go and think about it, while others will say Sai Nasko!. Some of them were even shouting “Sau daya” meaning one term. They were telling the governor that he has served one term and that is all, they cannot risk it again.
You saw the reception given to Nasko at the market when there was fire outbreak compared to that given to the governor. What I expect from the governor now is to prepare his handover note because on several occasions the people have shown that they are not ready to go with him again.
Not just that, he said that he did not promise anything which is a tactical withdrawal from his responsibility. The governor said that he did not promise anything in 2015 and the people said they do not want to go with him again. This is a mutual agreement that says bye, bye to 2019, let Nasko come and do the job of governance.
Reported cases of hunting and intimidation of opposition by state
There are several cases of witch-hunting, harassment, intimidation and coercion of our members by the state government. As I speak with you now, one of our key supporters is in the detention. He has spent over 10 days in detention over allegation of defaming the governor reported by a reliable source. Also, two other people were arrested in Magama area of the state recently allegedly for torching the banner of the governor.
50 vehicles were smashed in Minna by APC’s s hired thugs
You also saw what happened on the day the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, came to Minna. More than 50 vehicles belonging to PDP members were destroyed without provocation. Despite video clips of those that were moving about town with security personnel, destroying everything that was of the opposition, nothing has been done. The police were there when they came to the car park at Polo field and smashed over 50 vehicles, punctured tyres.
In fact a journalist with NSTV was injured because they suspected that he is a Nasko supporter. It is unfortunate what is happening. And I call on the authorities to sit up, be neutral because the will of the people is the will of God. Again if elections are good, INEC and Police made it good. So I call on everybody who has a stake in the next election to ensure that it must be free fair and credible.
Who sponsored the thugs
No one is in doubt that the thugs were sponsored by the authority. They drove in APC vehicles round the town. They were seen and videoed. We have pictures of their vehicles flown with APC banners. We are aware that they were mobilized and that when some of them were chased, they ran to hide in government property. It was not done in secrete, the police were standing there when the destruction was done. They came in vehicles belonging to the APC.
Any complain to relevant authority
We do not need to lodge any complaint before the police can take action. The police were on ground that day. Do you think if it were the PDP supporters that were involved they would have been allowed to go free? No, they would have been arrested and put in detention. You do not need to report security threat to the police for them to act, and restore peace and order.
PDP governorship, presidential campaigns in full swing in Niger
The momentum of our governorship and presidential campaign in Niger State has been very high. Of course we are going from house to house, door to door, and room to room. We have been seeing everybody who needed to be seen, from the least person to the most respected people in the society. We have reached out effectively to major stakeholders mostly elite, the average citizens and almost all Nigerlites. I am happy to say that everybody loves our PDP candidate, Umar Nasko and his campaign is in full swing.
With Nako’s new political order, Ibeto now a tired hand
Let me make it clear to all the people of Niger state that the defection of former Ambassador to South Africa, Alhaji Ahmed Musa Ibeto, from our party, the PDP to the APC will have no effect on our fortunes in the elections. I have always told everybody who cares to listen that there is a new order in Niger state. You may have noticed that in all our campaign rallies, even before the defection of Ibeto and other defeated governorship candidates, their presence was not felt.
Despite their absence, large crowd have always turned out to welcome Umar Nasko. There is a new order. Those hands are tired hands, normally and naturally, they ought to have retired long ago. The new Niger state that Umar Nasko dreams of is where the masses determine what happen and not political thin gods, that have ran out of trust with the masses.
Ibeto, a spent force was a mole in our party
Allow me to restate the fact that the defection of Musa Ibeto back to the APC was a blessing to the PDP because he was sent as a mole to destroy our party. I should say that we thank God that we did not give him the governorship ticket. It is logical to conclude that he has gone back to the APC to lick his vomit and cannot therefore offer anything again.
I told you before the PDP governorship primaries that all the other contestants put together cannot match Umar Nasko. This was confirmed in the result of the primaries in which Nasko got times three of the votes of other contestants put together. None of them could match him. I also told you prior to the primaries that Ibeto is a regular customer. Nasko will always defeat him anytime anywhere. If Umar Nasko goes to the APC today, for instance, and Ibeto is contesting against him, Nasko will still defeat him.
Nasko is naturally loved by the youths, the women and elders, everybody loves him. What you need to understand is that the dynamics of past election are does not exist anymore. In this election, it’s northerner versus northerner, Fulani versus Fulani and Muslim versus Muslim. So any person who is backing on sentiments of the past will lose the election. We must go out and meet the people, the people love Nasko and he is winning the election.
Why defeated governorship aspirants did not feature in PDP campaign structure
As I have said earlier, forget the fact that most of these people are defecting, they were sent from the APC and they went back to APC. They did not even feature in our calculations, if you check you will see that none of them is in our campaign organization. We knew that they were government stooges sponsored to destabilize us and we couldn’t have allowed them to have firm hold on the party.
However, let me tell you that Nasko did Ibeto a favour by nominating him into the PDP presidential campaign council because it was felt there should be balancing more so as Ibeto was a deputy governor and former Ambassador. We thought we should give him that honour not because he is the most qualified. You see, he betrayed the trust and confidence reposed in him.
Why the defection of the governorship aspirants?
None of the defectors have given any reason for their action. However for Enagi, the Niger State former chairman of the PDP, I was told he said he was looking for school fees but for Ibeto I do not know his reason.
What I do know is that he went to several meetings of the PDP presidential campaign council and he got normal benefits. May be he has gone back there to APC to lick his vomit. His going back to APC has confirmed that he was actually sent to do damage to the PDP. So all of them went back to where they came from.
Nasko will stand by the people
The PDP should thank God that the gubernatorial ticket was given to Nasko who has been a dedicated member of the party despite the intimidation, humiliation and harassment. Nigerlites should thank God that for the first time they are going to get a governor who will stand by them, who will never be afraid to say it as it is. He has demonstrated this recently when he went to AEDC headquarters in Minna to prevail on the company to give adequate power supply to the people.
That is the type of governor we want. Nasko lives in Minna. If he is not in Minna, he is in his village in Magama area of the state. That is the type of governor we need. We need the type of governor that understands the dynamics of the state and can work on the streets freely. He is the governor who can speak with authority.
What PDP takes from Governor Sani Bello second tenure campaign flag off
We have seen several videos of the ceremony, where when they shout Niger! some of the people will say they will go and think about it, while others will say Sai Nasko!. Some of them were even shouting “Sau daya” meaning one term. They were telling the governor that he has served one term and that is all, they cannot risk it again.
You saw the reception given to Nasko at the market when there was fire outbreak compared to that given to the governor. What I expect from the governor now is to prepare his handover note because on several occasions the people have shown that they are not ready to go with him again.
Not just that, he said that he did not promise anything which is a tactical withdrawal from his responsibility. The governor said that he did not promise anything in 2015 and the people said they do not want to go with him again. This is a mutual agreement that says bye, bye to 2019, let Nasko come and do the job of governance.
Reported cases of hunting and intimidation of opposition by state
There are several cases of witch-hunting, harassment, intimidation and coercion of our members by the state government. As I speak with you now, one of our key supporters is in the detention. He has spent over 10 days in detention over allegation of defaming the governor reported by a reliable source. Also, two other people were arrested in Magama area of the state recently allegedly for torching the banner of the governor.
50 vehicles were smashed in Minna by APC’s s hired thugs
You also saw what happened on the day the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, came to Minna. More than 50 vehicles belonging to PDP members were destroyed without provocation. Despite video clips of those that were moving about town with security personnel, destroying everything that was of the opposition, nothing has been done. The police were there when they came to the car park at Polo field and smashed over 50 vehicles, punctured tyres.
In fact a journalist with NSTV was injured because they suspected that he is a Nasko supporter. It is unfortunate what is happening. And I call on the authorities to sit up, be neutral because the will of the people is the will of God. Again if elections are good, INEC and Police made it good. So I call on everybody who has a stake in the next election to ensure that it must be free fair and credible.
Who sponsored the thugs
No one is in doubt that the thugs were sponsored by the authority. They drove in APC vehicles round the town. They were seen and videoed. We have pictures of their vehicles flown with APC banners. We are aware that they were mobilized and that when some of them were chased, they ran to hide in government property. It was not done in secrete, the police were standing there when the destruction was done. They came in vehicles belonging to the APC.
Any complain to relevant authority
We do not need to lodge any complaint before the police can take action. The police were on ground that day. Do you think if it were the PDP supporters that were involved they would have been allowed to go free? No, they would have been arrested and put in detention. You do not need to report security threat to the police for them to act, and restore peace and order.