Shehu Sani: Torn between two worlds

Senator Shehu Sani is a delight in many ways and one of the legislators who have made the 8th National Assembly vibrant and engaging, however, his political stand in recent times has kept everyone wondering where he really belongs.
ELEOJO IDACHABA writes
Human rights activist turned politician, Senator Shehu Sani, means different things to different people.
To some, he is a saint and voice of the voiceless; while others, especially his political detractors, see him as an opportunist.
In many ways, the utterances and body language of Sani, who represents Kaduna Central Senatoral District in the Senate and who wants to return to the red chamber for a second term, has left not few persons confused as to where he really stands.
From activism to politics Sani, an author, playwright and a human rights activist was a leading figure in the struggle for the restoration of democracy in Nigeria.
He was arrested and jailed by successive military regimes and was released from life imprisonment when democracy was restored in 1999.
The activist, who is president, Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria and chairman, Hand-in-Hand, Africa, contested and won the Kaduna Central Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on March 28, 2015, defeating Senator Muktar Aruwa in the general election.
In 2003, Sani contested for the Senate under Alliance for Democracy (AD) and lost to Senator Muktar Aruwa of the All Nigerian Peoples Party ANPP Early, in 2011, he had contested for the Senate under Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and lost to Senator Sani Saleh in the primaries.
On September 4, 2015, he became the first and only Nigerian Senator to declare his assets publicly.
He is currently the Senate Committee Chairman on Local and Foreign Debts and also serves as the vice chairman on Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs.
As a politician, he has no doubt succeeded in winning for himself admirers and critics and in recent times, both his admirers and critics have been left confused regarding his political stand.
Sani, who gained popularity given his use of the social media, especially the Twitter, has also faced backlash on some of his posts including comments by a social crusader, Churchill Okonkwo, on ‘Shehu Sani, Saraki, the thugs and idiots in the Senate’ which stated that, “A senator turning a blind eye to acts of impunity and intimidation of dissenting voices in the Senate chamber at the same time claiming to be the voice of reason does not only make you an idiot, but certainly makes you a thug and thugs don’t often notice that they are thugs usually because they are also idiots.” Okonkwo, who was reacting to the senator’s aloof posture on the mace snatching saga, accused Sani of not coming out to condemn the hard-line stand of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki who, it was alleged, shut down opposing views on the matter.
According to the social media crusader, “I have said this before and I will repeat it here.
Senator Shehu Sani is undermining his credibility or what is left of it by joining the thugs in the Senate.
He is sending a terrible message to activists itching to join Nigerian politics that it’s okay to be aloof and that one should not be ashamed to team up with thugs and keep quiet in the midst of injustice.” Similarly, in the wake of the recent phenomenon of groups purchasing nomination forms for aspirants, including President Muhammadu Buhari, Sani wrote of his experience with a group that equally wanted to do same for him.
He said, “A group of youths struggling for daily bread approached me that I should permit them to announce that they bought a nomination form for me as part of the political tradition.
I politely declined that I don’t want to be in the league of that deceptive political tradition.” Also, Sani in another Tweet denigrated Atiku’s tears-shedding episode when a group of youths reportedly bought the presidential nomination form of the PDP and presented it to him.
He wrote, “A politician and a friend gave me pepper and a handkerchief to rob my face so as to shed tears ‘on the plight of the masses’ when submitting my nomination form.
I politely turned him down and told him that I am an activist and not an actor.” However, the response to the post was not all positive.
For Jimoh Lawal: “Unfortunately, conscientious social activism and Nigeria’s dramatic politics run parallel with the implication that you are like a fish trying to play outside water.” Another user, Seanblingz wrote, “He is probably there cos like others, EFCC will always turn a blind eye.
Sainthood is attainable while in APC.
His case is understandable,” just as another Twitter user, Bola Badejo, said: “You are not an activist; you are at best an opportunist.” Feud with El-Rufai Senator Sani, an erstwhile ally of the Kaduna state Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, had a falling out with him reportedly over the governor’s skewed appointment against the Southern Kaduna.
The feud is said to have force Sani to join a faction of the APC in the state, reportedly set up by Tijjani Ramalan with huge support from Senator, Suleiman Hunkuyi, also a former ally of the governor.
The group subsequently pulled out of the party but to the surprise of many, Senator Sani, stayed back in the APC, attracting criticism and speculations regarding his political stance.
The embattled senator had admitted in one of his tweets that he was on his way out of the APC stating, “We, the persecuted are on exodus riding on horses, chariots and caravans departing Pharaoh’s Thutmose’ Egypt.
We are now at the coast of the Red Sea about to leave the land of cruelty and injustice.” However, three months after, his decision to obtain the APC nomination form, not only confirms that the law maker had eaten his words, opting to stay with his ‘persecutors’ giving the impression that the once outspoken senator may be an opportunist, who may have entered into some underhand deals in a bid to secure his seat and as being speculated has been allegedly placated with automatic ticket from the leadership of the party despite the misunderstanding at home.
Not yet Uhuru Amidst speculation and permutation on the outcome of the 2019 senatorial elections as well as reasons behind Senator Sani’s decision to stay in the party, the APC Tudun Wada ward, maintains its stand that the lawmaker remains suspended from the party, not minding any intervention from the national headquarters.
Chairman, Tudun Wada ward, Salisu Togo, said during a press conference that his anti party activities can no longer be tolerated; therefore he remains on suspension until he has proved sufficiently that the incidents that led to his suspension have been taken care of.
Similarly, an indigene of Kaduna state, Obadiah Maikori, in an interview with Blueprint Weekend on the senators chances of re-election said, “Senator Sani has only succeeded, in the last three years or so, to be constantly harassing the government as a result of which his recall process was almost started, but beyond that, no one can say that he has made any significant impact in Kaduna.
“In fact, the state government is not even happy with him over the role he played in blocking the loan Gov El-Rufai wanted approval from the Senate.
“The man has not even shown any remorse for the bad thing he has used his position as a senator to do against Kaduna people.
At least, the position of his other colleagues who have left the party is now very clear but he has refused to go thinking that everybody has forgotten his sins.
We are waiting for him.” However, Sani on his part while reacting to the ward leader’s claims said he is not bothered by whatever anyone chooses to say about him.
He described those brandishing the news that he has been expelled from the APC as politically jobless youths, who are doing the biddings of their paymasters.
Speaking on a recent television programme, he said: “Whosoever subscribes to the APC agenda and principles and equally desirous about the victory of the party in 2019 should know that it is not time for internal strife but time to put our heads together and work towards the election.
“It is left for us to decide on what we ought to do and I think for any genuine progressive, the ultimate should be that the party’s interest comes first.” On whether he is relaying on the federal might to get his second term bid given his disagreement with the party in his home state, Sani dismissed the question stating that, “It is not about what people brandish about automatic ticket but about the strength of the candidates.
“As for the Villa, we must see that whoever is in APC must ensure that President Buhari wins as well as other elective positions at all levels.
So, it is not about my personal issue with Nasir El-Rufai.
“Whether it is resolved or not, we have no option; it is either we decide to work together for the party to succeed or we would be faced with a very formidable opposition.
“Already, two senators from my state are in the PDP and we have an array of gubernatorial aspirants who are seasoned grassroots politicians, so it is either we stay together and win or we continue with the strife and perish together.” As it is, Senator Sani has left his supporters and critics wondering why he is still dining with his alleged political foes but as the saying goes, “In politics, there are no permanent friends but permanent interest.”