*’How Obasanjo hijacked ANPP, tried to take over DPP’
* ‘Speaks on life out of office, experience in school as student

Dalhatu Bafarawa, immediate past governor of Sokoto State, in this interview, says the 2011 general elections  will be different with the emergence of  the new party, National Democratic Movement, NDM,  being promoted  by different political groups and leaders.

By Bilesanmi Olalekan

What brought about mega party and where is DPP in all this?
Let me state that this formation is not about one person or ambition. But perhaps I should say this: My relationship with ANPP and  the then national chairman. You see, people thought then that I left ANPP because I and a  few others wanted to form another political party or because of our personal ambitions, no. We were pushed out of ANPP by the then national chairman, Obasanjo and co.

Obasanjo, by all means, wanted to kill ANPP. That is why I took the mantle of leadership of the party and I was able to bring General Muhammadu Buhari as the presidential flagbearer of our party then. As the caretaker committee chairman, Obasanjo brought a  lot of problems, as in people to contest on the platform of the party while they were still card carrying  members of PDP  just because he wanted to  scatter the party.

But as I was the chairman of the party, there was little or nothing he could do. That is one. When we brought a national chairman,  Obasanjo pocketed him and some of my fellow governors  in the ANPP. I had seen the problems before I left the party three years ago. I went to meet General Buhari even in  America and told him why we should quit the party and form another one before the 2007 general elections.

I told General Buhari that we should join hands together so that we could  nip the problems in the bud. This was as far back as 2003 because I knew Obasanjo was desperately planning to kill the party. It was the only opposition party he was worried about. It was the same Obasanjo and former colleagues that created problems between me and my then former deputy governor, now governor, Wammako. They asked him to write a  petition against me to the national secretariat of the party which he did. I was not in the country then, it was the same Wammako that went to receive members of the committee that was set up at the airport.

The  committee did a kangaroo investigation in Sokoto; my friend, who was a sitting governor under the umbrella of ANPP, saw them. The committee did not ask about my whereabouts, instead of them to wait for me before the investigation so that it could  be fair and just to everybody, they quickly concluded the so-called investigation  and left immediately.

Three days after they left Sokoto, they recommended that the exco of the Sokoto ANPP should be dissolved and appointed the same people who wrote the petition into the caretaker leadership of the party. There was no way I would continue  to be embarrassed both at the state and national levels. That is  why myself and other members under the chairmanship of General Jeremiah Useni decided that we had better moved  to another party. People thought we were coming to join PDP since ANPP was the only formidable opposition party then, we refused to join PDP on principle which is why we formed the DPP. Thank God Obasanjo is still alive, he offered me N1 billion to hand over the affairs of our party to him, I refused to collect the money.

Was it DPP or ANPP?
DPP of course. There is something I didn’t mention there, when I left ANPP, he sent Ali, the then national chairman  of the PDP, and Dr. Bello, the deputy  chairman to me offering me a seat in the PDP with a promise to give me the right to choose and nominate the governorship candidates  in Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States. They offered me these three states if I joined PDP, but I turned down the offer.  I told them that I was not interested in the offer,  that I was in politics based on ideology not because of money or position. This was when they now offered me N1 billion in order to run the affairs of our party so that I could  be doing his (Obasanjo) dirty jobs for him.

Did Obasanjo offer  this himself or he sent emissaries to you?
He told me himself.

In Abuja, Sokoto or Lagos?
Where else other than Abuja?
I was offered power, money but I refused all of them and went ahead to form our party and ran the affairs the way we deemed it  fit. Thank God, all that I am doing is not because of any  interest but that of the common good of the people and I guess that is why it was possible to move and form  DPP.  If the 2007 elections had been fair, we would have won some states. Unfortunately,  we were rigged out. Infact, if others claimed they were rigged out, I will say we were swallowed.

This  is where the issue of mega party comes in,  I guess.
You are right. But I must say that if one sees the problems in the country, you will agree  that the mega party issue is  inevitable. This is not about personal ambition. We all know we have problems and we have over 50 political parties in this country.  If we must have a decent democracy, we don’t need to have more than three political parties that can present a formidable opposition so that it can even form government in future. We are helping the young ones and history will never forgive us if we had not taken this step.

We consulted widely before arriving at this. This is in  national interest. We will not move forward with the way PDP is running the affairs of this country. We must wake up, sit down and decide collectively the best way to have a political party that will flush PDP out of government and form a government with focus, vision and purpose so that we can bring security, employment to the people.

Is it going to come on stream before the 2011 elections?
Yes. We are trying to merge under the name of National Democratic Movement, NDM;  that was our agreement yesterday(Wednesday). It is a  combination of different groups in PDP, ANPP, AC, associates, because we really would want to form a formidable party.

How about the ambitions of others in the party like you, Atiku, Buhari. Would it not disintegrate the party even before it started?
We are learning by the day. For those who have been in politics before now and those who joined in  1999, we are all learning. We all realized that even if you have ambition, you alone cannot actualise it. Myself, Atiku, Buhari and others, we are still meeting and we have decided to put our personal ambitions  away for now and think of the interest of the country first.

Now, we are going to have a formidable party  and we are going to follow  due process in  electing the party leaders and officers, from the local government chairman up to the presidency. We are not going to appoint but elect into offices. It is the wish of the people that will emerge at the end of the day. This is not about appointment. It is allowing  the will of the people to count. So, the question of  personal ambition does not arise here. This is very different from what we have had in the past.

How true is  it  that you hardly go to Sokoto because of Wamakko, that  you are either in Lagos or Abuja?
Ask anybody that knows me, since I left office, I have only been in Lagos once. Whenever I am in  Nigeria,70% to 80% of my time is spent in Sokoto. My family is in Sokoto, they are not in Lagos or Abuja. I stay permanently in Sokoto. You cannot stay in Lagos and be thinking for me that I am  in Lagos. If I am not in Sokoto,  where else would I be? I am not the type that will run away from my state. Run for what? Over what? If you really want to know my movement, come over to Sokoto and see me.

What is the relationship between you and the governor now?
Well, he is the governor of Sokoto State, I am a  citizen of Sokoto State. He is my governor.

You went abroad for further studies. How was it like?
I am not the first person to do that, I am just following the footsteps  of my elder, General Gowon. There is no limit to learning. I thought I should go for further  studies so that I could  improve myself. I really enjoyed  my stay there. I am still there  but because of politics, I had to return in order to contribute my quota so that we can change the government of PDP.

How do you feel being given  orders by your teachers at school?
I think it is still part of the learning process I was talking about. I didn’t go to Government House as governor per say, I went there to serve my people. I was there to serve. Thank God that I served my people.  To  me, there was no much change between when I was in government and now  in  school. Learning is very important for human being especially on leadership which I went for. It helps you to know and juxtapose  leadership in practical terms with  theory. So when you put the two together, it makes you a better person and leader.

Some said you did well in the provision of infrastructure in Sokoto?
Since people are saying that, alihamdulilahi, I thank God for that. That even nullified that assertion that I am not staying in Sokoto. If the people are appreciative of what I have done in the past, that is good. But, I think when it comes to the issue of performance, I always leave it to the people because they are the ultimate judge.

How about the inquiry into the over  11billion left in the state treasury?
I think  it’s a question I left for the governor to answer. I told the public immediately I left office that I left money in the treasury but when he disputed it, I took the matter to the EFCC in writing. I even challenged him  so that it can be investigated but,  up till now, the EFCC has not been there. I told him to set  up a panel of inquiry to probe it but it was not done. I even expected the state House of Assembly to investigate it whether I was saying the truth or not .If they didn’t challenge me on that, that means what we are saying is true.

Even my commissioner for  finance went on air to dispute and challenge his claim that the money was there. What they are doing now is not different from the panel of inquiry the government set up to look into the finances of the government when I was there. I went there, ordinarily, I should have allowed my lawyer to represent me but I wanted to put the record straight but, on getting there, the panel said I was a  witness not accused.

The inquiry never indicted me, there was nobody who said I gave or collected money from him. In the course of the inquiry, I told the panel to call on the governor  to help out in some of the questions being posed to me particularly on issues bordering  on local government affairs since he was the supervising officer of that ministry while he lasted in my administration but the panel said he could not come because he was covered by immunity.

How do you explain that? Somebody that was part and parcel of the government, he is now indicting the government and you said he cannot be questioned because of immunity, how then are we going to have a fair hearing?

If indeed they are serious, they should invite the governor, let him too come and say his part, after all, he was also a principal actor in the government. If they cannot invite the governor,  I wonder how they can be transparent and fair in the final analysis.

Meanwhile, this same issue has been investigated by the EFCC and even ICPC. They were the same set of people who petitioned these two bodies but they never indicted me, it is because of this they now brought the issue panel of inquiry.