Al-Makura: Why I am Most Qualified to Be APC National Chairman

Former Governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura, is one of the aspirants contesting for the national chairmanship of the All Progressives Congress. In this interview with Iyobosa Uwuguaren, Al-Makura who is also the Senator representing Nasarawa South in the National Assembly reveals why he is in a vantage position to clinch the position in the party’s February national convention

At last, the APC has fixed the national convention of the party for February. As one of the leading aspirants for the position of national chairman, tell us how prepared are you?

I am prepared. I am prepared because this is a party that I was opportune to be at the very beginning amongst people who by providence came together with our leaders to find a common ground where we will consolidate the gains of our nationhood. I say this because never in the history of this country have we had an opportunity where every part of this country came together, despite our different tendencies to agree to work together as one united team – to ensure national unity and national cohesion. So with that opportunity to salvage this country, I feel at this point, when such efforts have yielded a lot of fruits, are good to go to the next level and we are faced with challenges of transition, I am the right person. This is because the symbol of unity, the symbol of that success is on its way out in the next one and a half years. That is why I am motivated to partake in gunning for the office of the national chairman if only to sustain the legacies and also to ensure the indivisibility of that cohesion as one people, one destiny. So, I am fully prepared and I am highly motivated by these values that we have been able to put in place since 2013, and I will not stop at anything in ensuring that I expand the scope of my campaign and convince party stalwarts of the desirability of my leading the party to the next level.

In the last few weeks or months, you’ve been going around the country, soliciting support for your aspiration. Tell us the feedback you are getting from your party members across the country.

The feedback has been very successful. I was excited two weeks ago when within one week, different platforms, different categories of people, different strata of our party’s supporters came to show their support and commitment for my candidacy. When I sat down and looked at the calibre and the nature of these groups I found myself being part and parcel of all the constituencies that came. The youths came, the women came; some of my former colleagues – governors were also with me. Some legislators and some party administrators that I knew since the days of the National Republican Convention (NRC) and before, all come for solidarity. Given this conglomeration of different constituencies coming to show their support for me, it does appear that my chances are very bright.

Looking at the different entrenched interests within the party, especially those who are aspiring to be president of Nigeria under the platform of the APC, which will play out in determining the leadership of the party in the next convention, do you see APC going to the convention as a united party?

You don’t expect anything less. A party that is so robust, a party that prides itself with over 40 million members, you should expect that different aspiration, different interests will certainly emerge and that is the beauty of politics. Everybody should be allowed to express his wishes, his aspirations, his ambitions because it is allowed by the party’s constitution and the Nigeria constitution. There’s nothing unusual about all these things; but what is important is how we manage these differences; how we manage these tendencies towards ensuring a very successful convention. I believe that some of these leaders who are showing interest in some of these prime positions within the party, eminently deserve them and the ultimate decision is by the people. So I think that their show of interest or their aspirations are very healthy and that shows how people have confidence in the party. I look at it positively and I believe that with the kind of leadership that we have symbolised by the values of President Muhammadu Buhari and the efforts of the caretaker committee in ensuring we have a successful convention, I believe all those interests, ambitions and expectations of our leaders from various positions, will be properly handled in a manner that at the end of the convention, we will come out stronger.

Apart from aspiring to lead his party, you are one of the founders of this party. You have been governor for eight years, senator and now you are aspiring for the number one position of the party. Have you people settled where the national chairmanship will be zoned to, as an insider?

I am an insider; but also an outsider. If I were not aspiring to be the national chairman of this great party, I would have called myself an insider, but for the mere fact that I’m waiting for the people to decide, I’ve decided to stay aloof and await the decisions of our leaders. The governors, the caretaker committee and all critical stakeholders will come out with what they consider to be the best guidelines to ensure a very successful convention. As it is now I don’t have any authoritative information as regards the zoning of any of the positions to any zone. So, as far as I’m concerned, I am contesting because I feel I should throw my hat in the ring to add value to the party. But I also expect people from different parts of the country to gun for it because the party has not made any categorical statement about zoning the position of the national chairman to any zone. Virtually all of us that are contesting, from the North-east, to central, to the North-west or every other zone, will wait for the party to decide if it is zoning it or it is an open contest. Whichever one, I’m available.

In specific terms, could you tell us what you are bringing to the table as the national chairman of APC?

I don’t want to regale you with some of my antecedents and competencies regarding the party and administrative pedigree. Without being immodest, I can say without any contradiction that what I’m bringing to the table is my years of experience in various aspects of party administration and public service. If you take a look at party administration I’ve been a youth leader of NPN way back in the Second Republic. I have been a state secretary of NRC way back in 1990. Given these experiences, I believe as far as party administration is concerned, I’ve cut my teeth both at the youth level, at the state level and as one that has been part and parcel of the National Executive Council (NEC) since the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and the NRC. I believe those antecedents will add value to party administration. With regards to my experience as governor, it has brought me close to party stalwarts, critical stakeholders and has made me partake in a lot of interfaces with the party, even at the national level. I believe this can be brought to bear and ensure that there’s a seamless administration, especially when it has to do with some of my colleagues – governors because they will see me as one who is on the same page with them. I believe this will ease the transformation of the party to the next level and also given my experience at the Senate it has brought me close to the parliament and parliamentarians, the legislators. And given that experience, I believe that if I become national chairman it will ease the relationship and synergy between the party and members of the National Assembly. These are statutory positions, but if you go to certain other endeavours, like the womenfolk, I believe I’ll be bringing a tremendous amount of support from the women because for those who knew about my stewardship in Nasarawa State, I am among the few governors in the federation that in one fell swoop, appointed five women commissioners out of 17. So, I can consider the womenfolk as my constituency. On a lighter mood, I am a person living with a disability. I have a hearing impairment and I believe the constituency of people living with disability will find in me someone that is part and parcel of them and someone that knows about how they feel, how they want things done and I believe I will attract a tremendous amount of confidence from them. If you put all these constituencies together, I think it is a fait accompli that I will be able to reach out to different endeavours within the party.

Other people are aspiring to be the national chairman of the party, some of them have been governors before, some of them have been senators. What makes you different and what makes you unique from other contestants?

I do not know any of these contestants that have this robust pedigree that cuts across different areas of endeavours in the past whose experience could add a tremendous amount of value to the administration of the party. That is what makes me different and another thing is the pride of place that I was opportune by providence to be among the few governors that worked with our leaders to ensure that the merger succeeded. I believe with my experience in 2013 in that merger exercise, I will be able to know who and who played a major role or who and who made a lot of major sacrifices and be able to appreciate the efforts and contributions of everyone right from the time the party started from the scratch to this point in time. If you look at the long period that I have been with the party, it allowed me to know across the board, the contributions, the sacrifices and the efforts that have been made from every part of this country, from the beginning of the merger to this point in time. There may not be one with such exhaustive pedigree with regards to party development as I have. With due respect, I don’t want to be immodest and I do not want to say what qualifies me more than others, but I think these are some of the issues if you want this party to operate seamlessly.

Some people out there see you as the first political son of Muhammadu Buhari, having been elected as governor under the defunct CPC that was founded by Buhari. Does that count?

It’s for the people to say, but if I have to describe how I have come along from the beginning, I cannot but agree with you that with what I’ve been able to attain at this point, I can safely say that I am the first political son of President Muhammadu Buhari. You see, when CPC came, it was not a party that was known. It was just a new creation and it was the idea of Muhammadu Buhari and that was how we created the CPC. At that time, only people who believed in the values of Mr President joined. There were so many parties. Well, I refused to partake in the primaries of the PDP because I felt that it will be an injustice. I didn’t participate in the primaries in 2010. I did not find any party more comfortable in terms of ideology, philosophy and values that fit my individuality than CPC and one of the most deciding factors was the personality of Buhari himself. His disposition, his values, his sincerity of purpose in his political journey. So, when I joined the party, there wasn’t anything for me to learn from, to say okay, I have been a governor in the CPC, let’s see what we could do to ensure that this thing continues. Everything was created about that very time. The symbol that guided what we did were the constitution of the party and the president himself. And it was with that situation that I was able to uproot the government of the PDP in Nasarawa State that had lasted for about 10 years on the platform of the CPC. And that was the first institution the CPC has been able to establish across the country, so you won’t be wrong if you say I’m the first political son of President Muhammadu Buhari because I was able to succeed with the help of other members to win the governorship position in Nasarawa State which became the institution that became the criteria and condition for participating in the merger.

One of the reasons that the president rejected the Electoral Amendment Act was because he wanted them to insert different options: Direct, indirect and consensus. Now that the National Assembly has done that, what is your view on that? Are you comfortable with the three options?

Very much so. You see, I was not surprised with the decision of Mr President because he’s someone I’ve known for a very long time and I know he is the person that is passionate, committed and sincere about the rule of law. He is committed to social justice, he has all these attributes in ensuring fairness to everyone. When those proposals were made, I had known President Buhari’s passion for fairness, I knew he will do what he has done. Why? Because in my relationship with him, he has tried to give everyone his due. So, to only stick to direct primary, this I knew will not jell well with his mindset, with the ideas, with the values of Mr President, because if he did that, agreeing only to one option, it means he’s precluding other people who would have loved other options. And given his disposition of being fair to everybody, he did not disappoint. All he said was to allow the party to choose whichever option they want to choose. He’s one democrat you cannot find fault with because he goes with the logical conclusion in every decision he takes to ensure that he doesn’t trample on anybody’s democratic or political rights. As far as I’m concerned, I’m comfortable with all the options, whichever one suits any of the parties, so be it. That is what I call true democracy.

But there are some insiders within your party, who believe that the real target is that consensus option. That will give the president the possibility to impose candidates on the party. What is your view on that?

Has the party chosen consensus as to the mode of selection? No, it has not. I think that this is speculative and as far as I’m concerned, the party has not said this is their mode of selection approved or what are the criteria for selection. Until that is done, I think to be fair to the party, the caretaker committee, let’s wait till we get to the bridge, then we will cross it.

There are different camps within the party now because of the different political interests. There is Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Rotimi Amaechi and others. Even the president himself. Which camp do you belong to?

Would you expect me as an aspiring chairman to pitch a tent even before the convention? That will be dangerous. Two, there are many more aspirants who are supposed to come. How can I pitch my tent with any group when a lot is yet to come. The time is not auspicious yet to think about who will be the presidential candidate or not because we are yet to conduct the convention to select party leadership. And you have to move from the known to the unknown. It is only after the party’s convention that we have the national working committee in place, that we can start to talk about presidential aspirations. But it is their constitutional right, their democratic right and I believe given the size of the party, there will be many more presidential aspirants that will come, so let’s wait and see. Maybe the one that will come and everybody will jump and hail has not even come. So, let’s allow everybody to come forward and declare and then we can find who fits the bill as far as our party is concerned.

Some believe that given the desperation of some aspirants for the presidency if care is not taken, the party will be torn apart before the convention. As someone who has managed parties, who has been governor, what will be your advice to the interim committee, so that this national convention does not tear the party apart?

I am not a prophet of doom. People just speculate about negative prophecies. As for me, the more the merrier. This party is sophisticated, it’s cosmopolitan, it’s widespread and you should expect some kind of combustion. It’s natural because psychologists say no two persons are the same. We should expect many more ambitious ideas and aspirations. I believe given the size of the party, we should not develop goose pimples by the different ways people are scheming or working hard to attain any position.

As for the second leg of the question, I am very optimistic that we will surprise Nigerians. That at the end of the convention, the party will become stronger, more united and more confident and by the grace of God, the winning streak we had in 2019, will more than double. I believe we have responsible leadership in our party. We derive our inspiration from the steadfastness of Mr President and I believe that we will have a very successful convention because we will be fair, do justice. The leaders will give a level playing field. This I believe, if adhered to, and the guidance of the president who is known for his values, and attributes, I believe the convention will be rancour-free, successful and will be the beginning of the winning streak that this party will attain in 2023.

Some people believe that President Buhari is the rallying point of the APC. Do you think APC will survive beyond Buhari in 2023?

That is why those of us that are his political sons, who have been shaped by his ideas and steadfastness want to be part of the system that will ensure a smooth transition. I believe that those qualities of the president have been imbibed by many political leaders in this country; ministers, governors, senators members of the House of Representatives. If today the president goes, I believe he has left a substantial amount of chaperoning that we can safely say that those values that he has worked hard to establish within the political space will be sustained and if possible improved upon. And I want to assure you that most of the people that you will find as leaders of the party among any of these politicians have great passion, admirations respect for Mr President and with that, some of us are sure that even after he leaves, we will be guided by those values, those attributes. By 2023, even if Buhari would have transited, he will be right within the system. This is because by the special grace of God, some of them he gave positions will be within the scheme of things and it will be like Buhari has gone, Buhari has come back.

There are ongoing agitations that after eight years of President Buhari, within the political arrangement of your party, the presidency should go to the South, even though your party has not decided which zone should have it or decided on any zoning position. What is your view on the position that the presidency should go to the South?

People should not crucify people who have these views. People can have views that are personal and with certain reasons, but as far as I am concerned, the party constitution does not talk about zoning, whether north or south or whatever. If you are talking about convention or experience or what has gone by, one can look at the reasons for selection for a presidential position. It might be guided by it because from 1999, it started in the south, in 2007 it came to the North, two years after, it went to the South, four years after it came to the North. That is the reading, but it may just be natural, induced or facilitated. So, for me, as far as the constitution does not make any categorical statement, even if I have a personal view, I will not be able to express it because I am an aspirant to the national chairmanship of the party and whatever the party decides, in line with its constitution is what I will align with.

Do you see the opposition parties, especially the PDP as a threat to your party in the 2023 election?

I do not see the PDP as any threat with due respect. They are the party that has been fast nose-diving right from the time we took over from them in 2015 because you can see that even as early as just last year, very prominent stakeholders, public officials that occupy very important positions in the PDP were trooping to the APC. The APC is daily gaining ground. How do you have any fear about a party that is losing membership almost daily? Secondly, we are doing the best we can as an incumbent government to facilitate the dividends of democracy in various forms. I think everything is going positively for us to trounce the PDP in 2023. We have all the signs that come 2023, the number of losses PDP suffered in 2019 will nearly double in 2023.