Our wealth is growing amidst hunger-Takori, ex-rep member

In this interview, a former member of the House of Representatives and chieftain of APC in Zamfara state, Barrister Mohammed Sani Takori, tells Umaru Maradun the plan to strengthen the party, alleged involvement of the party in insurgency and how best to make the ongoing national confab work

APC congresses
You see, the constitution of the APC is very clear on these congresses and not only at ward level but all levels, and people must understand that APC is not common property of anybody but of progressive Nigerians who agreed to abandon their former political parties and join the party. We are all pressing for the congresses. I have already a copy of what the congresses are going to be. If you look at the constitution of the APC which is very beautiful, Section 20 (b) of that constitution, mentions the organs of the party from the National Working Committee(NWC) up to ward and unit levels and for each of these organs, legitimate congress must take place before you become an elected member of that structure, except those mentioned by the constitution to be automatic members like former governor, former senator, present senator, present House of Representatives member.
But you cannot become the state party chairman unless you possess the qualification that you can contest for the president of the Federal Republic of

Nigeria in the APC, you cannot become the state secretary of the APC unless you possess the qualification that can qualify you to stand  election as president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or a member of the National Assembly or a member of the state assembly. You cannot become the party chairman of the local government unless you have a certificate that can qualify you to stand the election as president or National Assembly or a local government chairman.

So this is what APC is all about, the congresses are going to take place and the constitution of the party is very clear. Even if where there is consensus, there must be both yes or no before a candidate wins. It is not for somebody to sit down in his house and write the names and say these are the people.

That time had passed. APC is not a local party, it is not a one man party, it is a national party. I attended the world APC summit and I listened to people who matter to APC. They want to globalise APC to look like African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa. This will help lay a foundation for democracy, justice, equity, fairness and transparency.

Well, I don’t think there is anything anybody can say except of course, the government and the leaders of the party in the state would look at the constitution, would look at the harmonious way they can resolve the problems so that everybody would be satisfied, and the only thing they can do is to allow free and fair congresses.

Just recently in Oyo state, or in one of the states in the south west, when APC national leaders said they will give one hundred forms to each polling unit, somebody went to court to challenge the decision because they said every member of the party has the right to be registered and be issued with a membership card. They insisted that you have to make these forms available for everybody to become a member. The rumour going about by those who hate APC was that, somebody had already submitted the list of those going to be this and that. That is not correct. APC is a party of elites who are here to salvage the masses and that what we stand for.

Alleged marginalization of ACN,CPC, PDP defectors
I believe those who are saying that are ignorant of the constitution of the APC.  There is no longer ANPP and there is no CPC or ACN. So, it is just like a company that had wound up. All of them were merged and given a certificate of APC. So, if anybody says I am the former member of the ANPP I should have this right and privilege, it is a lie. Everybody  is a member of the APC, everybody has equal right and privilege in accordance with the constitution of the

APC, nobody has one right a step over the other. Virtually, it is the enemies of the APC that are going round saying that a single man  is trying  to change the structure of the APC over to ANPP. APC is growing faster, it is no longer crawling.  By  the time it is fully matured, you will see so many changes and we believe even those of us who come from one political party, nobody can deny us the right to contest election on the APC and nobody will say look, you just came yesterday, we registered as members of the APC in various wards.

Interest in 2015
You see, if people are singing for somebody, they must see something in him. Remember that I am a man of destiny, I won the primary election to the Senate of the defunct ANPP in 2007 and everything about my candidature was formalized. But when we went to a national convention to elect our presidential candidate, His Excellency, Ahmad Sani, Yariman Bakura former governor of Zamfara state, decided on the advice of the northern elders not to contest the primary election against Buhari(Gen. Muhammadu), so he withdrew honourably. There and then, I consulted party chieftains such as Abdul-Aziz Yari, the present governor, Ibrahim Mallaha, Mamman Bawa, Malami Yandoto, Muttaka Rini and so many, and told them that the only option was for me to allow Yarima to run for  the Senate. He didn’t force me, I swear, Yarima didn’t force me to give him that ticket to contest.  So, I voluntarily surrendered the ticket to him. So it was in return I was asked to run for the House of Representatives but I declined and the people said no, I have to run. So, the person who won the primaries was persuaded by party chieftains to also surrender his ticket to me and that was how I became the member of the House of Representatives in 2007.

Therefore, if, this time around the electorates also ask me to contest for the 2015 election, I have no objection than to succumb. But for now, we are in APC to build the party. Well, I have not yet concluded, but I know I possess qualification to contest any political office I want, not only at state level but at any level, because by age I am qualified and educationally I am qualified.
National Conference

You see, I took part in 2005 political reform conference, all these volume of books, you see in my office, they are part of what we have discussed. There is no item that is presently part of their conference that we have not discussed. When  we completed the assignment, it went like that and those of us who even cared to bring it to our homes did that while some of   left theirs in Abuja because nothing was done about it. There are two fundamental issues now which I must agree there is need for us to dialogue on.

From 2005 to date, a lot has happened. One, there is a change of government from Yar’Adua to Jonathan, and there is still  disaffection among us as a nation. So many things which ought not to have happened are happening, especially with unguarded   utterances coming from both sides.  You see somebody saying if there is no Jonathan, there is no Nigeria, which is very bad. Some other persons would say never will a  Niger Delta man rule Nigeria again as well as calling some people parasites.

The  first question Justice Niki Tobi asked us in 20005 was whether there was anyone that was  against Nigeria being one and nobody answered negatively.  We  all agreed that Nigeria should be one. If the same question is asked now, I am sure they will have answered the same way. Who  would say, look we no longer want to live together?  Why?

Because  some people are making a lot of noise on the other side of the country.  See  what is happening in the north east, see what is happening everywhere on  security of lives and property, there is no employment, people are dying in looking for employment. Poverty  is almost in the face of everybody.

So, there is need for us to dialogue, the wealth of the nation keeps growing every day but people are looking very hungry and angry, emaciated like people caught up with HIV/AIDS. Why? This is because corruption has taken over our public service.  You see somebody alone taking over N24 billion. What is he going to do with it? Just for himself, his children and grand children. That is the reason why you and me are paying for our children’s school fees.

I think it is good to dialogue and make it an even every ten years to discuss the problem of this nation. From  the composition itself or the membership, you see what is happening. The  same thing happened when we went in 2005.  There was Niki Tobi and respectable Reverend Mathiew Kuka as chairman and secretary respectively. The  arrangement was such that  Oloyede(Professor Ish’aq), the former Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin, was brought in to see that at least Muslims were adequately represented.

Now, if you look at the delegates, there is marginalization. Secondly, what they were to discuss has no legal backing. For you to balance, there should be right to fair hearing which includes right to balance of the parties. And on whether it is going to be subjected to referendum or not, I want to state here that there is no referendum in our constitution except in the creation of the local government under Section 8. So, unless if the National Assembly know they are amending the constitution, may be in spirit to accommodate within three years this national dialogue. The present constitution is a product of the military and people are insisting it is not a people’s constitution. I absolutely agree with this. So, why don’t we subject it to referendum? And the National Assembly in their own wisdom can ask INEC to conduct the referendum.

You recall when the National Assembly members came up with some items in our constitution and consulted with their people, they returned with the position of their people. For instance, on local government, majority voted local government autonomy. While the House approved of the people’s position, I learnt the senators kicked against it. But if you conduct a referendum and people agreed, all you need do  is to go and put it in the computer and come out with the result and say yes, this is what people said, and an amendment will follow. This will be difficult for the National Assembly to reject.

Linking APC with insurgency
Well, that is our nation. It  is a nation, whereby even elders, educated elites going round the world wouldn’t guide  their utterances. Why? They think whatever they say pleases their masters.  Even today I saw some write-ups credited to the  publicity secretary of the PDP in the newspapers.  In a democracy like ours where there  is a higher level of illiteracy, there is need for somebody at the top to guide his  utterances.

This is because whatever you say, before an electorate would analyze it and find out whether it is good or not, the damage must have been done. If anybody will say it is the APC that is sponsoring killings of the innocent people, then the big question is , when did the APC come into being? How many months or years did the killings start before the birth of the APC? So, look at the issues critically, let us know the problems first and then seek a way out of it.
Why don’t we think of enhancing the lives of our people, instead of castigating ourselves?

Democracy dividends in Zamfara
Look at what is happening in Zamfara state now. My opinion is that many people believe there are different kinds of development. Yes, the government has done very well, but to me as an indigene of Gummi local government area, it used to take us three hours from Gusau, the state capital to Gummi town, now I can take only use two hours to go and come back.  I think there is development in that regard. If  a Gummi man can go to Gayari within fifteen minutes, I think there is development in that side, isn’t it? And today, you know this government started in 2011, I am not in this government, but I heard the governor saying at a gathering that he has so far completed about 377 kilometers of roads. I think that was the highest achievement any government can record within about three years. And secondly, if it is the issue of empowerment, I know that a substantial number of motorcycles and vehicles have been distributed, which the combined tenure of Mamuda and Yarima could not have distributed within this period of time. So, no matter what, you know it is very difficult to score an African leader and say yes he is perfect. Why? Because the health, roads, water, education or human development and employment, are all competing demands and unless you can provide them all, you can’t be scored very high.

But  if you have been able to get one, two or three, still you have left two or three and those who want those two or three things, would still accuse you of not doing anything. So, to me there are areas that the administration have performed very well, like roads, because I am talking specifically about some difficult terrains like Gummi-Dakitakwas-Anka road, Gusau-Kauran-Namoda-Zurmi-Jibia road and many others, while in the area education, the administration introduced free feeding, which includes giving egg and chickens to the students.

Fulani/farmers clashes
Well, it is only those who are holding the security matters would say exactly what the problem is all about in the north east. When you have people taking arms killing and maiming, they must have a reason which the government should find out. Like the Niger Delta militants, when the government found out their problems, the government sat down with them and they came to terms and they are now rehabilitated.  So,  all we are saying is  let the government try to find out, set up a committee that will identify their problems and above all, we have to resort to prayers for divine intervention for peace to return.  The issue of cattle rustlers and so many things is a very dicey issue. Nobody can say what is exactly happening, because the dynamism of  what is happening is becoming undefined, because people went into these things mostly  because of poverty, some have been disappointed, some have been angered by some other people and they will want to have a way out of this deprivation.

I could remember during, late Gen. Sani Abacha’s administration, when Gen. Buhari(Muhammadu) was chairing Petroleum Trust Fund, (PTF), the PTF intervened in the Fulanis/farmers clashes, by setting up committee at the national level and also state committees were established in every state of the federation, saddled with the task of touring the state, to trace out the gazetted cattle roots and grazing reserves. In Zamfara, I headed that committee. Buhari wanted to ensure that all those cattle roots and grazing reserves were clearly reserved for the Fulanis, so that it will reduce the friction, and maybe if governors try to do that, it would have solved the problem of farmers/Fulani clashes.