*Our NWC comprise of people of integrity and capacity
We saw what happened. Does that affirm that your party has emerged from its crisis?
I don’t see any crisis in particular. The party is running normally. I think that now that many people are starting early to talk about 2027, there’s now a kind of unusual attention paid to something that’s a simple matter. We have not started using the word crisis.
I think there was a meeting at the end of NWC. There were 12 of them. They were supposed to be 15. And from what we gathered from both sides of the discussion, 11 people attended, including the chairman, secretary and all of the rest of them.
A majority of them said they took a decision to fill three vacant positions in the NWC and I think there is a minority that says that they were not happy with that decision. But we are not getting involved in that because I’m not a member of the NWC and no member of the NWC has come out to speak. So, I think they’re trying to work it out among themselves.
The National Publicity Secretary is a member of the NWC. He issued an official statement and there’s no other statement issued by the NWC since that time. So, we don’t want to get involved in it. And their chairman, Shehu Gabam, has been leading them quite well. They’re very united.
I can tell you, Gabam of Bauchi State is the National Chairman of the party, duly-elected at the national convention of 8th June, 2022. Nobody is contesting that. Not a single person and he remains the chairman. We like him; we’re okay with him. Dr. Olu Agunloye emerged from the same election. He was our National Chairman before. And we adore him because he was our National Chairman and he stepped down to become National Secretary out of humility in order to balance the candidature and the party leadership.
So, his position is also unassailable.
Most of the comments you get are comments from people who are not in the party’s leadership. Some who have just joined and they like to hug the media, but I can tell you, even in this latest discussion, the National Chairman has been quite mature. He’s not issued any statement. National Secretary has been quite mature. He has not issued any statement. And I think from what I gather at their meeting, they are working things out. The National Working Committee is the most active organ of the party and at our convention, they were given powers to make decisions on behalf of the convention on behalf of the NEC, pending NEC.
I think they will work it out. It’s an intra-NWC discussion and they’re not telling outsiders what they disagree about. But, I think they made a decision and they’re working on it.
There are now accusations that maybe the kind of disease affecting the PDP is going to affect your party. There are those who are already saying the opposition is in danger and that there are forces that are bringing down opposition?
Let’s get something clear. Some people who have been in politics for a while may not be used to internal democracy. We, in the SDP, are used to it. If 11 people meet, 12 people meet, and they are tasked with a constitutional duty and they want to decide it, the majority of that body will decide it. That is not something strange to us. And if someone, maybe, doesn’t like that decision, a member of that body, you can complain. It’s a party that is free. So we don’t have any crisis.
As for those who want to join us, everyone is welcome to join us. And I have zero anxiety regarding what will happen at the convention. I intend to run, and I believe that the party will choose the best of whoever contests at that time. So, I’m not personally worried about that. But I don’t want you to assume that what is happening in PDP or elsewhere is happening to us. We are a democratic party. We don’t have a godfather. PDP is the Peoples Democratic Party. Are they democratic? They left the people behind and they are not democratic at all. That’s why they are in trouble.
They are more of a people’s gubernatorial party, because governors control them. In the SDP, members are equal. When you go to NWC, National Chairman and the National Secretary or whatever other person, they are equal members.
Maybe because you are not in power?
We are in power in some places. We are responsible for it. Power is not in one person. Power is in the constitution of the party. I don’t dabble into party affairs because I am not a party functionary. I’m just a member, a leader in the party, and a member who has his own ambitions and aspirations.
However, I just want to assure the public and those who genuinely want to join us that we are used to this democratic system of decision making.
So, if you have 11 NWC members decide on an issue, 7 voted one way, 4 or 3 voted the other way, that doesn’t mean a crisis and the people are still coming to work. They are working together. They go to each others’ houses to have dinner.
What are the back-channel forces?
I can tell you that it’s impossible. The party is highly united. People are enlightened. And the interest of the public is what governs all of us. I’m not sure it governs very well. I love parties. It cannot be compromised. Dr. Agunloye has spent almost all of his retirement life, which he has used to enjoy his life, after being Road Safety Corps Marshal, after being minister many times, university lecturer. He should have been somewhere enjoying overseas life. He loves the party.
So, nobody in SDP loves ambition. But, I personally, for example, love the president of Nigeria. I love the party.
Would you be stepping down for Atiku Abubakar?
No, I will not. He has not said anybody should step down for him.
But, there are talks by those of his friends who are already gravitating towards your party and I’m very sure that you have heard there is a possibility of SDP being used as a platform for the opposition.
Let me say something clearly. Neither me, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, nor any other politician can use the SDP. The SDP belongs to Nigerian people. What can happen is that people who believe that the SDP is right and the ideologies are right, can come to the party and know that the party is open and democratic. You want to come in there and compete because you have the best chance of competing in a system that has not been bought over by anybody.
But, if you just think that the SDP is something you can use, it cannot be used.
What you can do is, I like the SDP. I respect its ideology. I respect the work that has been done by those who are there. I want to join and contribute. That is okay. But, if someone is sitting down somewhere and wants to use something, we are not allowed to use it. But if you want to join us, you can join us.
What is clear, and I must respect that is that people are just speaking on his behalf. He knows what he wants to do. He has access to us. And we are not going to need a third party to tell us what he wants to do or all of that. When he wants to join the party, he will come to us and join the party. Until then, we don’t discuss him because he appears to know what he’s doing. He’s highly experienced. He’s been running for president for 32 years.
You’ve seen him and Nasir el-Rufai a few times. And Nasir El-Rufai is now a member of your party. Does that give you an inclination of the possibility because it looks like el-Rufai is leading a coalition talk? There is a video that has gone viral about how they are planning to unseat President Tinubu in 2027?
First, all of us want to unseat President Tinubu in 2027. I don’t want to unseat him or any other person.
However, Atiku Abubakar is a Nigerian leader. He meets with various people. Some like to take photos with him and put it in the media. Some want to meet him quietly. He meets hundreds of people every day. So, he is not involved in any coalition led by somebody else. What I can tell you is that the SDP is led by Shehu Gabam and Dr. Olu Agunloye and many of our leaders. He has not given me an assignment to do coalition on his behalf. He has not given any assignment to my senior brother el-Rufai.
El-Rufai is not representing the SDP in any coalition. I am not. The SDP is waiting. The SDP is expressing its own understanding of how best to come together and remove this person who has caused the APC and non-performing president called Bola Tinubu. The SDP has its own plans. We are looking at various options. We realise that at the end of the option, you will need a political party that is viable.
Is that not the reason why they are thinking that you have what it takes to defeat Bola Tinubu and the APC. Maybe that’s the reason why they are thinking, let’s use the SDP or let’s come into the SDP, let’s form a coalition. If they approach you, because they believe that Adewale Adebayo may not be a match for Bola Tinubu…?
I don’t know about that. Let the Nigerian voters tell me that. But, what I can tell you is that President Bola Tinubu is not a match for the Nigerian people.
Are you a match for him?
If I am backed by the Nigerian people, of course, he will be defeated.
You don’t think that he is on a good trajectory leading this country in the past two years?
He is on a good trajectory to losing the election and going back to wherever originally he came from, Lagos, and mind his businesses because we have given him two years to put his acts together. We have given him all the suggestions, all the cooperation. We have allowed him to experiment with some things that no government would get away with in the past. And he has two more years to put his acts together. I pray for him. I wish him well. But the way he is going, he needs more than prayers.
Senator Abba Moro said the PDP is going into a coalition. The PDP has to lead it. Will the SDP and yourself go into a coalition the PDP is leading?
That is a question that Shehu Gabam can answer. That is a question that Dr. Olu Agunloye can answer. But, what I know from interacting with the party leadership, party membership, the SDP is too different from the PDP for us to be led by the PDP.
You will recall that our national chairman was one of those who left PDP and came to SDP. And the reasons he left remain the same. The party is united under one national chairman.
So, what I can say generally is that the SDP wants Nigeria to give us a chance. We are not going to be under any other political party. We welcome every contestant. The fact that I am interested in running for president has not stopped me from working with the party leadership to attract people into the party.
Some people said it’s going to be an easy ride for Tinubu and the APC in 2027 if the opposition don’t get together. Perhaps that’s what El-Rufai is saying. To say they’re meeting in Kaduna in the night to see how they will send President Tinubu back to Lagos in 2027?
Let me just say something clearly. You have been in this business for a long time. How many times did you see Bola Tinubu in 2013?
This kind of work is not done on the pages of newspapers. It’s not done in front of the media.
In 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, he was the president of the United Nations. Those people were coming together. They were coming together, leading political parties. And what is going on now is going on quietly. The leaders of the parties are meeting. The real people who have control over their political structures are meeting. It is not something that we want to discuss on the pages of newspapers. But everybody has their own style of operation.
What we understand, which is commonsensical political science, is that there must be one grand leader, challenger, against President Tinubu in 2027. That person, who is the candidate, must carry along a large swath of the disenfranchised and unhappy Nigerians. Now, politicians have many ideas about how to get there. The SDP is talking to people outside our party and I think we are making a lot of progress. But what you might be reporting on the personal travels of different people is not what is going on.
So is there a solid plan to unseat Bola Tinubu?
Clearly. But it’s not a series of collages of pictures of caucuses, where somebody paints caucuses. The talks are going underground. A lot of Nigerians are not aware. Yes, or you leave somebody at the airport. You take a photo together and say, yes, coalition. That is not infantile like that. It is something that is deep.
Because, in addition to having a genuine grouse on behalf of Nigerian people against the nonperforming government of President Bola Tinubu and APC, even we who are in the opposition have differences. And we must work out those differences first before we can go and challenge the person who is now there. But if we don’t work out our differences first, clearly, we will discover in the middle of the struggle that we are incongruous.
So, APC and Bola Tinubu should be worried?
Well, they should be worried first about not serving Nigerians well.
They shouldn’t be too worried about losing the election. The office of President is not a monarchy.
With Bola Tinubu’s political sagacity?
His political sagacity will be translated to the welfare of Nigerian people first. You see, all this sagacity, all this you are talking about, it is when you are looking for power. You are looking for power to serve the people.
People are dying of hunger. There is insecurity. Every time you read the news, you don’t want people being killed. So, if you have sagacity, use the sagacity to run the lives of Nigerians.
Is Peter Obi part of this conversation that you are having?
I don’t think he wants anybody to be talking about what he is doing because he appears to have more discipline than some other people. So, you don’t see him. Peter Obi goes quietly. He has meetings with people. He doesn’t expose himself to the media. He is a highly disciplined person. He knows what he is doing. He has his own plan.
Would you be able to work with him?
I am working with anybody who loves Nigeria.
Would you be able to step down for Peter Obi?
Maybe because you are asking me if he wants to step down for me or step down for him. That will come later. But from what I see, I like what he is doing. He hasn’t said he doesn’t like what I am doing. He is serious-minded. He is having a meaningful discussion. Quiet discussion. Honourable discussion. Not that I have a discussion with you and I go on TikTok. I start putting in there and then you say, who is this person?
Whatever you are saying now, the defections are saying something different. Which is that? If you are saying that the APC and Bola Tinubu government has failed Nigerians, there are a lot of people who are moving into the APC from the PDP and some other political parties. And it gives a sense that there is something good going on in the APC where everybody wants to be part of. Are you also planning to go there?
The suspects have moved. So, I don’t know what they are doing. You see, they are making it easier for the Nigerian people to identify where their problems are. What I see is that the people who are mismanaging the affairs of this country are in different political parties. But for some reason, to make it easier for Nigerians to identify them, all of them are now lining up with the same. You know how we do it in criminology where you have an identification parade.
So, all of them are going to APC so that it can be easy for Nigerian people to know that if you are part of a government that has been oppressing the people for the past 10 years, it is better for us to have all of them move towards APC instead of pretending to be in opposition.
In fact, some of the people who are moving from APC to SDP, for example, have been advised to watch out for them. Whether they are Trojan horses. Whether they actually haven’t left the APC. They’re just coming to cause confusion on our side.
So, we are happier to have the people who have been poorly performing, mismanaging resources, who are not accountable for trillions of Naira and wasting the time of Nigerian people, let them move to APC so that when we are campaigning, we don’t have to be confused. We just point them where they are. I can tell you the people of Nigeria will be proud of the SDP and what we have brought about in 2027.
