Salisu Yusuf Majigiri : Nothing Is Going Well under Masari’s APC-led Government

Peoples Democratic Party chairman in Katsina, Salisu Yusuf Majigiri, recently spoke to journalists on critical issues affecting the party and Governor Bello’s APC government. Francis Sardauna presents the excerpt

What is the current position of the Supreme Court judgment on the dissolved PDP local government officials?

The election in question was held in September 2014. After the election, there was a need to go to the tribunal to hear a petition arising from the local government election. There was none up to the time when the tribunal concluded the stipulated period for hearing of petitions.

So, we had a legitimate local government council right from 2014 up to June 2015 when the incumbent Governor of Katsina state, Aminu Bello Masari, assumed office. Governor Masari, on the assumption of office, without recourse to due process, dissolved the elected local government officials. That dissolution was a gross violation of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. So, we sued the governor, the speaker of the State House of Assembly, and the attorney general of the state for that illegal act.

We started from the state high court to the Court of Appeal and eventually the Supreme Court of Nigeria. The Supreme Court ruled that the action of the governor was null, void, and unconstitutional. The Supreme Court, in its wisdom, directed that all their entitlements should be paid. From there, our lawyers collected a copy of the judgment. A booklet was compiled with all the relevant documents, including the judgment, circular, and what everyone will have as his entitlement. The documents were sent to the governor’s office, office of the speaker and office of the attorney general of the state.

The comprehensive documents have been before the government of Katsina state since June 15, 2021. So, what we are waiting for is for the government to comply with the judgement. You are fully aware that Supreme Court is the apex court, and the judgment is absolute and final. It is an unappealable judgement, so there is no way the government of Katsina State can not comply with it. The only thing we are waiting to see is the consequential order given by the Supreme Court that they should pay the entitlement on/off before August 31, 2021.

Do you think this victory would strengthen the local government system in Nigeria?

The victory is not only for Katsina PDP. It is a victory for the local government system throughout Nigeria because this judgment would give security to the tenure of local government councils. With this judgment, no governor can wake up in the morning and dissolve elected local government officials. The local government system is enhanced, and whoever will participate in an election in local government will have a kind of confidence and assurance that his tenure is secure unless he violates certain laws that would lead to his impeachment.

The dissolved local government officials should be paid all their entitlements on/before August 31 as directed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. When the election was conducted in 2014, APC wasn’t a participant in that election. It was only PDP and six other political parties.

All the councillors and chairmen were elected on the platform of PDP and before one defected to APC. The councils were already dissolved by the governor by the time he defected, and we were already in court. Anybody who joined APC did so as a former councillor or chairman, not as a serving councillor or elected chairman. Because when Governor Masari dissolved the local government councils, there wasn’t a single seat occupied by an APC member in all the 34 local government areas; 361 councillors, 204 supervisory councillors, 34 vice-chairmen, 34 chairmen, and 34 secretaries: none of them was an APC member.

Is the government’s claim that it paid 80 per cent of the entitlements true?

It is not true. As far as I know, the state government never paid a single Kobo to anybody, and even if they did, it is illegal. If you defected to APC, you can’t collect one Naira officially as your entitlement. The Supreme Court made a decision on May 7, 2021. If the government is claiming that last two years, they have given money to some people, what is their defence? What do they rely upon to give anybody one naira? Why?

I think the money they said they gave was just to mobilise people for their campaigns in 2019 but not in relation to their entitlements. They mobilised many people to join their party to win the election in 2019, and the defected chairmen and councillors are part of those teeming populace. Maybe that was the incentive they gave them to join the party, but it is not an official payment of their entitlements as decided and directed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

Nobody can testify to us that he has received money from the state government. If the government is sincere, let them come out with the documents that they made payment to anybody. Besides, if they gave money to anybody, it is a contradiction of their action because they dissolved the local government councils on the allegation that they embezzled money. How can you give money to a person who you dissolved because he embezzled money?

We were in court to seek justice for our dissolved elected local government officials, and we were directed to come and have our entitlements on May 7. So, it does not make sense that someone struggling to go back to office can have his entitlement paid overnight? There is no way the Katsina state government can claim that they gave the dissolved chairmen and councillors money before the judgment of the Supreme Court. Anything prior to the judgment of the Supreme Court is not formal, and we are not aware of anything.

There are speculations that you wrote to the government demanding the entitlements of the officials be paid into the PDP’s bank account. Is it true?

It is not true. The state government has collected all the documents from our lawyers. It is between the lawyers, the court, and the government. It is not between the party and the government or any individual and the government. So, if the government is to respond, they will respond to the lawyers, not PDP as a party, not former councillor or chairman as an individual. But the lawyers because the matter is now 100 per cent a court affair.

We are not asking anybody to give PDP money. We are saying, ‘pay these people their entitlements as directed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the 7th of May, 2021, and you must abide by the deadline given by the court, and the Attorney General of the state must submit an affidavit of compliance on/before 31 of August 2021.’ We are not saying the money should be paid into the PDP account.

Our own is just to wait for the government to effect the payment, and if those concerned are paid, we will hear from them that they have been paid, and evidence will be made available to the court. If somebody is claiming that he gave some councillors or chairmen money, he should come forward with the evidence of payment before the court. On whose directive did you give them money? We need to know because the government cannot give money without anything to rely upon.

What is the fate of those councillors and chairmen who defected to APC?

Everybody would be a beneficiary provided you were elected or appointed in 2014, and you are part of the people that were dissolved illegally by Governor Masari. The Supreme Court directed that all their entitlements should be paid. So whether you are APC or PDP as of now, that one is not our concern. Our concern is that at the time when the election was held, all the winners were PDP.

It was when the governor dissolved the local government councils that the former chairmen and councillors started joining the APC. Our struggle is for all of them. We consider all of them as PDP. Any councillor or chairman that served under that period is a PDP member. For us, all of them are included. It is left for those who defected to APC to decide whether they will surrender their entitlements to the government or not. But for us, it is comprehensive, all-inclusive, and nobody is left out. The affected persons were supposed to spend two years in office, but they spent only nine months. They have 15 months and eight days to be paid.

The Funtua zonal vice caretaker chairman of APC, Bala Abu Musawa, said Katsina PDP has no leadership after the state high court judgment. What is your take?

I think he has mistaken PDP for APC because PDP has never lost leadership in the past 21 years in Katsina. Since PDP registered as a political party up to this moment, we have never lost leadership in Katsina. We were in control of the state for 16 years. We lost an election in 2015. From 2015 to date, we have one PDP in Katsina. We can’t deny the fact that we have internal party issues. That one is an intra-party issue that can be addressed internally, but some went to court. I know that is what he is referring to. The matter was at the high court, and there were two judgments. The two judgments are already before the Court of Appeal.

All the records for the two judgments have been moved to the Court of Appeal. The status quo must be maintained pending the decision of the superior court. In waiting for the decision of the Court of Appeal, the status quo would be maintained. The leadership of the party remains until the superior court decides otherwise. That is the position of the law.

It is APC that doesn’t have leadership in Katsina. They were given six months to serve as caretaker committees and the six months expired on the 25th of June. I think he is trying to say, ‘we don’t have APC leadership in Katsina state’. The PDP has successfully conducted its congresses in line with our party’s constitution, guidelines, Electoral Act, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

We have our leadership and all the structures in place. It is only the APC that doesn’t have even an ex-officio in the ward that is elected through congress. Even if some people are challenging the congress, it is an issue before the court. If you do anything, it is against the law. For Katsina APC, the time given to them has lapsed.

What are you doing to unite aggrieved members ahead of the 2023 general election?

The PDP is a very big party, and it has mechanisms for settling disputes and conflicts. As usual, PDP will reconcile with all the aggrieved members, and by God’s grace, 2023 will be our own turn because people have tested the leadership of APC. They have seen what they have never expected to see. They are feeling what they never expected to feel.

It is very clear that APC and PDP leadership cannot be compared. The entire machinery of government has failed at all levels. Nothing is happening. Nothing is going well, unlike the period when PDP was in charge. Look at what is happening with NECO and WAEC examinations in Katsina. Look at what is happening with the assets owned by the government in Katsina. The government has no direction and focus.

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