Ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national convention, no fewer than 11 party stalwarts have shown interest in the position of national chairman. In this interview with reporters in Abuja, Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff talks about his aspiration to occupy the exalted office. JIDE ORINTUNSIN reports
You have been touring the nation in recent times. Who is bankrolling this tour?
I have been going around the country, making consultations and discussing with leaders of the party before I will formally tell the world my intention and aspiration to the office of the national chairman. The APC, as you all know, is about six and half years old. A combination of different political parties became APC and we also know that our President Muhammadu Buhari even before coming into the APC had already made 12 million votes from his ANPP and CPC days. He brought that to the table and what are we going to face after the exit of President Buhari? It is we the APC members that will tell the world that we are capable of getting their trust even when he has finished his tenure. Doing that, you need everybody. You need people who know the history of the party; where we are coming from; who know the history of this country, someone who has been in different aspects of life and we need to work together as well as building bridges across the country. Today, as a party we are only six years in government, and we aspire to remain in government for many years to come. Doing that doesn’t come on the platter of gold; we need to put in hard work. Therefore, I believe it is important for me to reach out to all leaders of our party; the youths, the women, different organizations to tell them that we must come together to get our party to run for the next 30, 40, 50 years by the grace of God. And attain this vision, we need a rugged captain; we don’t need a captain that will capsize. A ship has to be navigated by a knowledgeable person who knows the water and I believe I can do that for our party if given the opportunity by party men and women who are the decision-makers. There are so many people in the field but you can look at everybody and see where you can put your deposit. We don’t want a bank that will collapse after a short period. So, I have been going around the country. I have been away, traveling from one state to the other and I will continue doing that until everybody in our party is consulted. I meet them in their homes to say that, yes I want to run for the national chairmanship of this party and I believe I can lead well because party politics is different.
With the political issue in your state, where your governor seems to be backing another candidate, how will you get the back of your state governor?
Apart from Governor Zulum, without any fear of contradiction, it is a known fact that I have been instrumental one way or the other to every politician that matters in my state and I can tell you that, I have no problem with any one of them. Maybe, it is just a perception. Everybody in Borno, including Shettima that you are talking about, I discussed with all of them about my ambition. I talk to them one on one.
The governor is the leader of the state. I have gone and discussed with him about my ambition and aspiration. So, you don’t go out without talking to your home-base. In that respect, I have been talking to all of them. I am carrying all of them along in my aspirations. Saying that we are not in talking terms is just perception, it’s not correct. I have no problem with any of them. You don’t for whatever reason, help people or create people and start fighting them. We have no ax to grind. I was a governor for eight years. I have been in the Senate several times. I am not looking for any of these positions again because I have already gone past them. I am not looking for anything that someone from Borno is looking for. Therefore, all of them, we will work together to achieve this position for all of us, Nigeria and Borno State in particular.
There is a group in the party, though not a creation of the Constitution, that is the APC Governors’ Forum and we know it decides who gets what and how in the APC. We look at your political trajectory, a former senator, two-term governor, amongst others but the perception out there is that Modu-Sheriff is strong-willed. Will he be a person that the governors can tell what to do? The governors are not comfortable with a strong-willed person. How do you want to navigate around the Governors’ Forum?
I am making consultations with all the governors. You know, apart from being leaders of the party in the states, they are leaders of this country in all aspects of life. Anybody who can run a state, elected by his people to become a governor must be respected. Therefore, I am sure every governor will like his party to always win. So, every governor will be interested to work with somebody that he can relate with and somebody that is one of them. I am one of them. I was a governor and by that automatically I am one of them. I don’t think I have any problem with any governor. In that respect, governors are the entities of this country that will make Nigeria great all the time. Without the governors, they are what we call the federating units of our nation. What makes Nigeria is the 36 states of the federation. Therefore, I don’t have any problem with any governor and I will not have by the special grace of God because I have absolute respect for all of them and I am going to work with them as leaders of the states and people that are key stakeholders of this party.
What have been the responses of the stakeholders you have consulted so far?
That is not for public consumption.
If you emerge as the next chairman, what plans do you have to ensure that the APC maintains its relevance in the nation’s political space?
I am not new to political party administration. I was the Acting National Chairman of the ANPP. When the merger was coming, I was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ANPP that made up the APC. Party is about talking to people, listening to them, understanding their problems, and finding amicable solutions to aggrieved people. To lead successfully, you must carry the people along; make them feel important because they are important. Let them know that they have a right to aspire for anything and there is also the right to get angry because we are all human beings. One thing I have discovered is that a lot of the problems that you see today are not created by the principal actors but people that are surrounding these actors. A story that has not been told by a big man goes to be told to another big man by his boy, his boy also picks the story from the street and the big man is angry without listening to the next person.
Are you thinking of reaching out to other contestants for possibly working out a consensus arrangement in your favour?
Talking to other people, of course, I am going to talk to all of them.
You cannot sit down in your house and expect somebody that is also looking for the same position to come to you. You have to go to him. I am going to visit all of them and talk to all of them. We are one family, we are brothers and sisters of the same father and mother (party). We can be useful to the party in different capacities. So, I intend to consult them. That is why I am not always in Abuja. I follow people to their homes, to their villages, meet them in the comfort of their homes to tell them that together, we can build the party.
Finally, what would you be bringing on board if you emerge as the APC chairman?
First, I am bringing my experience as somebody who knows the terrain of Nigeria and her politics. I am bringing my experience as a two-term governor of a state. I will be bringing my experience as a leader of the National Assembly. Who are the politicians? House of Assembly members, chairmen of local governments, National Assembly members, governors etc. These are the leaders of the party. I have been all before now.
So, I am coming to the table as someone who understands the terrain. I am coming as someone who has run political parties in different aspects. I am not a newcomer. I am not a novice. I told you, I was the chairman of the Board of Trustees of ANPP that formed the APC today. I am bringing to the table my knowledge of who and who worked hard to make sure that we succeeded and who and who left because they were
Credit: The Punch
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