Honourable Godfrey Ali Gaiya is, a chieftain of the Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) and a senatorial candidate for Kaduna South in next general election. In this interview with TAOFEEK LAWAL, he speaks about the chances of his party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 election, the G100 coalition, among other issues. Excerpts:
WITH just four months to the election, do you think ADC has any chance to win the election? What are your reasons?
We believe most sincerely that the election in 2027 will be free and fair. If it is indeed going to be free and fair, then rest assured that the ADC as a political platform with Atiku as its presidential flag bearer, is very well ready and is sure that Atiku will emerge as the next president of Nigeria. We have witnessed three and a half years of the President Bola Tinubu’s governance in the APC and you will agree with me that you don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that Nigerians have had a very raw deal so far. And because Nigerians have really not benefited according to their expectations, they are not happy. They are giving Atiku assurances that he will make Nigeria a better place. First, by restoring subsidy removal so that Nigerians will now begin to enjoy subsidy. The macro-economy will change, where prices of the products, that is our live wire, will crash. We’re talking about less than N500 per litre as against N1, 400 plus now. You can see how agriculture will boom, transport will come down, buying and selling will be enhanced. And it must also added that it will leave our borders open so that Nigerians can come in. Nigerians are very enterprising. And Nigerians dominate the economy of West Africa. With our borders open, Nigeria can really become the greatest country in Africa.
We believe that Nigerians having passed through this do not even need too much campaign to vote for the ADC and Atiku comes 2027 because of the obvious failure of the APC. They’ve offered nothing. There will be nothing added to it when they come back in 2027. So Nigerians do not want to take that risk. All promises have failed. “Don’t vote for me if I don’t restore electricity four years”. It’s worse now than even before he took over. So if promises have failed, if all expectations have been dashed, what else will you be voting for?
But Nigerians are concerned that your presidential candidate will turn 80 before the election and if he wins will be slowed down by rigours and demand of office, he don’t you think age will tell on Atiku and won’t allow him to function very well?
They often say that age is only but a number. In Africa, age comes with wisdom. It also comes with capacity because experience is key. Here we say you can only do medicine with a very old honey and so if Atiku is now the old honey that wants to do medicine for the betterment of Nigeria, so be it. Atiku has been very agile. He has been attending all manners of campaigns. There is no record to show where Atiku has been incapable, may be falling on climbing the podium like the incumbent did so many years ago. Atiku has no such record. Atiku has not absconded for medical treatment more than a week. So we believe in God and trust that Atiku is healthy and at that age, he has everything settled personally and is now set for the better development of Nigeria, no distractions. I believe that of course, health belongs to God and live too belongs to Him. We have seen people who at that age have done exceedingly well for their countries. And I believe that Atiku, having declared the right age that he is, is good to go. We are not talking about those whose ages are questionable. And the issue of cabal is only when you have no idea of your own that the cabal will now lord it over you. Atiku has been most prepared if he has been vice president, the ultimate next position would have been president. If he was vice president for eight years close to 20 years ago, you should know that now with the hindsight of experience, knowledge and retrospect; he has all that it takes to do well. He knows Nigeria like the back of his hand and doesn’t need a cabal to cajole him.
How would you react to the allegation in some quarters that Atiku is desperate to become the president?
The word desperate should not be used. Yes, naturally, you should have an ambition. Because any human that has no ambition for whatever it is, is really not focused. Ambition does not translate automatically to desperation. He has that ambition because he believes that he has what it takes to do better than any other person before today. The fact that he said, after this I don’t want to contest, does not mean that he only wants a name to be written. He wants to set a foundation, a solid foundation, so much that even if he is no longer there to continue, he will have done what no other Nigerian leader has done for the generation upcoming to build on.
We have seen him as a statesman who is very passionate about Nigeria being one of the best countries in the world.
And he believes even if you give me half of the period of a tenure, if you give me four years, I can do what no other person has done by laying a solid base for future presidents to build upon and for the ADC to continue in that legacy to be able to make Nigeria the best.
The G100 met recently to work on modalities to produce a single candidate against APC but your presidential candidate was not there, don’t you think that sends a signal that he doesn’t want to be part of the arrangement?
Whatever arrangement that can produce a president outside Tinubu is a welcome idea. I understand that the enemy to my enemy is my friend. If all of us are up against a failed leadership of Tinubu and want to come together to fight him, definitely there’s nothing wrong with that.
So, the absence of Atiku does not mean the ADC was absent. The ADC is a very organised system and even when Atiku is there the agreement when eventually it must take place, it will reflect the wishes and the yearnings of the ADC. His absence was not in any way suggestive of his not willing to abide by the eventuality of the G100 meeting. We have started this before. There was a similar meeting in Ibadan where all opposition parties came to Ibadan for a one-day workshop and the desire was only just being enhanced by the G100. And in politics, you keep negotiating and talking until the elections are over. So in between now and January, if we still feel there’s a need to present one candidate to confront the APC’s candidate, we will still do that. And the fact that Atiku wasn’t there does not mean anything, Atiku is a democrat and he always listen to the voice of reason. And we believe too that this government of Tinubu has to shift for an opposition flagbearer to carry the flag.
As a senatorial candidate for Kaduna South, what are you bringing on board for your people in terms of human empowerment, education and others?
I was in the House for eight years and the natural sequence for growth is from the house of Representatives to the Senate which stands as the ultimate pinnacle of legislative responsibility and representation. I am bringing eight years from the House of Reps experiences as a member. If I represented only two local governments then, now I have a challenge to represent eight. You cannot bring in a neophyte, a newcomer, who has no experience at all on legislation; talk less of being able to handle eight local governments. I am bringing first, my legislative prowess. My job as a legislator is to represent my people. I’m the messenger between them and the executive arm of government. My people have been underrepresented in the senatorial seat for the simple reason that those that have been there before have really not been able to show their capacity That’s why since 1999 it has been difficult to have the same person coming back for two terms. The reason: disaffection over the performance. And that’s why a single tenure is seen has not been good enough for continuity. The man that is there has not done anything and if he wants continuity then history beckons because there were those like him who pretended to be representing but at the end they were unable to meet the yearnings of the people.
The number one thing that a Southern Kaduna man wants is to see a legislation that can give us a level of emancipation. How? Let Gurara state should be created. The first thing on our agenda as a senator is to see how we can use every instrumentality of legislation to see that Gurara State is in the states favoured to be created and we’ll work for four years, God’s helping us, to see that before the end of the 11th Assembly, that that dream and the yearning of the people of Southern Kaduna come to pass. Secondly, we need security. Tight security is a thing that makes the government responsible. When you secure life and secure property, every other thing will follow. It has been lacking, it has been absent and the voice to call for the attention of not only Nigeria but the world over to Southern Kaduna plight has been silent because the senators before now have not really seen it as a very crucial and a very important cry for emancipation. I will do that because I’ve seen it, I’ve been a victim, l’ve been a witness, I’ve seen it all around me.
