Spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Katsina State, Abubakar Gambo Danmusa, in this interview, X-rays the politics of the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, the determination of the party to mobilise eligible voters in the state to vote for APC and the riveting issues surrounding the Katsina APC campaign. ANDY ASEMOTA met him. Excerpts:
What is your reaction to the flag given to Governor Aminu Bello Masari as 2019 gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the national chairman of the party, Adams Ohiomhole, during the flag-off of Masari’s re-election campaign contrary to the purported blockade of APC campaign in Katsina State?
I am very happy you graced the occasion. All along, we have been interacting on the issues of APC Akida and the real APC. People all over the world, not just in Nigeria, have seen the live transmission of the rally. We inherited all these rumours and propaganda since our days in CPC when one group would say something and Masari group will say another.
We have had several interviews with you and I assured you that Katsina APC held a meeting where it was resolved that indirect elections should be conducted during our congresses before the national convention due to security challenges and we were given the liberty by the national body.
We conducted primary elections and we were legitimately elected into office before going to national convention where all of us including you are a living witness when President Muhammadu Buhari was led by Governor Aminu Bello Masari to cast their votes at the national convention.
Ahead of the preparations for the main campaign for 2019 general elections, they (APC Akida members) continued with their propaganda that Masari would not be given the governorship candidate flag because the matter is in court and the national body did not recognize the leadership of the party’s executive committees at ward to state level in Katsina.
On Saturday, 29th December, we flagged off our campaign at Funtua town, the headquarters of Katsina Senatorial zone of the state. In brief, the national chairman of APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, because of the importance the attached to the campaign, came in person despite his several engagements.
What is your take on the riveting issue of APC national chairman’s request for Katsina to give all its votes to President Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming polls?
He came and reminded us that Katsina State is the home state of the President and Governor Masari had won three previous bye-elections conducted in the state recently so, this time around, he would be expecting nothing less than 100% of the total votes.
We are controlling the three senatorial seats, 15 Federal House of Representatives and 34 state assembly seats. We gave the President 1.9 million votes in 2015. Now, we have three million registered voters, we want at least 2.5 million votes for him. That is why we embarked on this serious mobilization.
Read Also:
We will do more than what we did in 2015. This time around, anywhere the campaign trains goes, we will commission the projects we were able to execute within three and a half years and we will go to the drawing board. We will also meet with stakeholders who are aggrieved or have advice for the party. Despite this hamartan, we will spent the night anywhere we go and at the campaign grounds we will tell the public what we have done.
We have 361 wards in Katsina State. There is no single ward we have not touched. I always say despite economic recession, Governor Aminu Bello Masari had been able to pay as at when due the salaries of civil servants. You know, some states like Benue and Kogi are owing their workers several months’ salaries. If you can’t pay civil servants, all your aims and objectives may suffer defeat.
How do you see the turn of APC supporters at the flag-off of Masari’s governorship campaign flag-off at Funtua town?
Do you known that about 50% of the party supporters could not enter the stadium because they were held up in the traffic grid lock long Bakori-Funtua Road. Many in the crowd you saw had to trek about three kilometres to the stadium. Some decided to park their vehicles on the way because of the traffic hold up.
If about 80 to 90% of those that came for the rally made it to the Funtua, the town would have choked up till that night. I have never seen, until that day, a traffic hold up that stretched from Funtua up to Malumfashi. Some people had to take Sheme-Ruwan Godiya-Kankara Road in order to beat the grid lock along Bakori-Funtua Road.
How do you see the desire of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to reclaim Katsina state in this year’s polls?
Mr. Andy, you are conversant with the politics in Katsina. You know, at times, composition matters; no one can ignore Katsina Central, which is the engine room of politics and pick governorship and running mate outside the zone. In the entire Nigerian politics, I could remember when Obasanjo was contesting for the presidency, he said he was told to go to Katsina and if Katsina says yes, he should start celebrating his victory.
How can you expect a state that has produced two Presidents of Nigeria and so many eminent citizens should have PDP’s Yakubu Lado and Yusuf Majigiri as our representatives? Besides incumbency factor, the projects that have been executed by Governor Masari in the past three and a half years will count in his favour. You heard when his commissioner for works said no fewer than 13 capital intensive projects were inherited from the previous administration; the Masari-led administration made sure it completed the projects before embarking on new ones. That is demonstration of selfless leadership and fostering sustained development.
What is your perception on the insinuations that APC government has neglected Funtua zone?
An adage says seeing is believing. So, we are go with you to commission projects across the zone. Can you recall that in Funtua General Hospital, there were wards that were not better than places where rats, donkey, sheep and goats were kept? A part of the hospital was literally turned into a refused dump. You are a living witness of that. You can visit that hospital again and see for yourself its present state.
We are going to commission projects in each of the 34 local governments; when we are concluding campaigns in Funtua zone, I will invite you for an interview and answer your question objectively.
