As a party administrator with a robust background in legal practice, a legal scholar, two-time State Commissioner, Senator, and currently the National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Ajibola Basiru is certainly not a greenhorn in Nigerian politics.

Senator Ajibola spoke to Sunday Sun on a wide range of issues, including the challengers of President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, the opposition coalition African Democratic Congress (ADC), and next year?s governorship election in his native Osun State, among others.

He boasted that even If a new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the father of the president?s opponent, Tinubu will stil win the 2027 election.

What is your take on the recent report that APC is a terrorist party?

There is nothing like that. Honestly, it is part of the problem we have with Nigerian journalism. I am so sorry to say that, because people just blasted the headline without proper investigation and proper record, even when the judgment is already accessible online.

There is nowhere in the entire judgment that any political party in Nigeria, either the APC or any other one, was regarded as a terrorist party, but people just want headlines. And that is one of the dangers of modern media and journalism: there is no proper regulation.

There is no such story. The case is an application for somebody seeking asylum that his request for asylum was rejected because he did not qualify for it. The citation of fact they made that he was a member of PDP was just part of the special factor, which was rejected by the tribunal that entertained his case.

Even the reports that claimed that the man joined APC in 2007, when APC was not in existence then, should give enough doubts. So, the whole thing is just part of the problem that we have with the media in Nigeria trying to undermine the country without any basis or facts.

What is your response to the insinuations that the APC rigged last weekend?s by-election?

There is nothing like rigging an election. There will either be a winner or a loser. INEC declared the APC the winner of the elections. We had 17 by-elections, 16 results had already been released as I talk with you now, and APC won in 12, while the opposition party won in four of the elections.

What the claim means is that where the opposition won, APC was sleeping, so they could not rig those places. Do you think I will not be happy as the party?s National Secretary if APC won 100 per cent, if it is possible for us to win that? But the truth is that the election was fought and won, and the political party with the greatest capability to win elections in a greater number of constituencies, that is, the APC, won in a greater number of constituencies.

We won even in places where we don?t have state governors. We won in Taraba, in Adamawa, and we came close to winning in Zamfara, where we are already leading with more than 1600 votes as I speak. We won one of the seats in Kano, and we won massively in Jigawa, Kogi, and Edo states.

Even in Anambra, where Peter Obi told the electorate to vote for the ADC, the party did not even get close to the votes that the APC got. The Labour Party (LP) could not even get up to 260 votes in the entire senatorial district. So, the election is won, first based on mobilisation and getting the Nigerian people to align with your party?s programme and identity.

Some of these individuals are just social media tigers. They don?t have structures. Some of them don?t even have agents. In fact, in some of the constituencies, the number of votes that some of these so-called officials got was insignificant.

That means that in many constituencies, they don?t even have a single vote in many of the polling units. Look at Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, for instance. He is claiming to be everywhere when we don?t even know where he belongs to, whether it is ADC or SDP.

But irrespective of which party he belongs to, the results of the three by-elections in Kaduna show that he is not even a political featherweight, but a political non-existent individual again.

What we want to urge Nigerians is that those who seek to govern the country and try to undermine the institution of Nigeria are not to be respected and trusted with governing Nigeria, and that is the case with some people. Every time they try to undermine the police, undermine army, undermine the INEC, yet they seek to govern that country.

The truth is, where did they mobilise? Our party organised rallies, engaged voters in all the constituencies, even within 48 hours to the election, our party leaders went to their constituency to vote. Did you see Atiku Abubakar or any of the ADC members visit Adamawa to campaign? Did you see even Peter Obi campaigning in anywhere for any of the candidates?

But, the national chairman of our party, with other NWC members, was in almost all the constituencies campaigning, and in the places we could not go, we gave necessary support to mobilise. Politics is about mobilisation, not about sentiments. No matter how you bellyache about the presidency of Bola Tinubu, it does not translate to votes.

It does not mean that the Nigerian people, who identify with President Tinubu, identify with your hunger for power, because some of them say they are hungry. They are not hungry for food; they are only hungry for power, which they have had in the past to the detriment of the Nigerian people. But Nigerians are now wiser that these power mongers, hungry for power and will continue to be perpetually hungry for power.

Having judged the ADC with the outcome of the by-election, are you concluding that the party is not a threat to the APC?

Nothing has even happened in ADC. People are just talking. Visit the INEC website today, and you will see that Ralph Nwosu is still the chairman of ADC. Those people going around, gallivanting as protem officers, are not recognised by law. At best, I think some people should even write a petition for them to be arrested for impersonating the leadership of a political party.

Assumption of political party is a matter of law, not a voluntary organisation. For individuals like David Mark, Rauf Aregbesola, and Bolaji Abdullahi gallivanting around and claiming to be officials of a political party is even a criminal offence. They ought to be arrested.

Until they first put their house in order, we cannot be talking of a political party that is even confused as to its identity and the identity of its protocols. As far as we are concerned, nothing has changed in terms of which party they belong. At best, what has changed is that Atiku is now without a party after resigning from the PDP. We don?t know which party he has formally joined in this regard.

How can we get ourselves worried about party-less individuals? SDP has expelled and suspended El-Rufai for many years, and we don?t even know which party he belongs to now. We also don?t know the party that Peter Obi belongs to now, because in one breath, he claimed to be in LP, but we have it on his Twitter handle urging Obidients to vote for ADC.

Under the Nigerian law, is it possible for someone to be a member of two political parties at the same time? It is only a confused or mischievous individual who will do that. I think Peter Obi is both a confusionist and a mischievous individual. That is why he is claiming to be a member of LP and campaigning for ADC.

He campaigned publicly for ADC on his Twitter handle, and urged Obidient people to vote for the ADC. Unfortunately, they did not even listen to him, because they now know that he is a confused individual, which is why they will not even get up to a vote of a single constituency.

You use mobilisation repeatedly. Are you saying APC did not also deploy funds to win the just-concluded by-election?

Does money vote in an election? It is individuals who vote in elections; it is human beings who vote in elections. We mobilised individuals to vote in the election. If you talk about logistics for mobilisation in terms of vehicular movement and refreshments at rallies, yes, you need money to do that.

It Is done all over the world. You saw our rally in Sagamu; very colourful. You saw our rally in Edo State and all other parts of the country. These are mobilisations. Please go and check where PDP, ADC campaigned in the last election, where people gathered.

They even went and picked a picture from C?te d?Ivoire and claimed to be the ADC rally somewhere in the North. One thing that Nigerians will also know is that this by-election, as small as it is, has shown that the lie that our party is not popular in the North is not just true.

Of all the constituencies where elections were held in northern Nigeria, like Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Taraba, and Adamawa, our party won all except one. We will even contest it at the tribunal because the NNPP, knowing that they have become unpopular, deployed thugs ahead of the election with the view to disenfranchising voters.

They engaged in lots of activities like over-voting, which we are going to take to the tribunal. In Zamfara, where an election was declared inconclusive, we were leading with 1600 votes, and the registered voters is just 3200, and the turnout in the last election was just about 20, 21 per cent. Even if they have the entire voter turnout, Zamfara is as good has being in the kitty of the APC.

What are you missing in the absence of your former National Chairman, Umar Ganduje? And taking a comparative analysis, what is the difference between him and the new national chairman, Yilwatda?

I don?t think I want to answer that question. As far as I am concerned, this is not the first time there is a change of leadership of this party, and everybody has its nuances and utility.

I can also tell you confidently that when I was in Kano for the by-election, Ganduje called me at least about four or five times to give us the necessary support and guidance for the APC to be able to win in that constituency.

He is still a party man and still works for the party. He is currently on holiday, and when he is back in the country, he will work for the realisation of the second term agenda of our party.

As far as I am concerned, it was a change of leadership necessary for us to do so, and there are also benefits in the change of leadership, especially addressing the issue of agitation from the North Central. Of course, having a Christian National Chairman equally solved the issue of so-called Muslim-Muslim leadership. It is also part of political dynamism.

Again, every individual has their assets they bring to the table. One cannot doubt the sagacity and political sophistication of Dr Ganduje. We also have the new chairman with robust academic and public service experiences, which he?s putting on the table for the electoral victory.

Everybody has their strengths and competencies, and I am very confident that our former chairman is still fully with the party and very supportive of the party during the by-election. It was one of the first callers to congratulate the new leadership of the party on the success at the by-election.

Have you finally made up your mind to contest the Osun State governorship election?

It is not about me. I am presently the National Secretary of the party. I am here by the grace of Almighty God and the support of the leadership. My job for now is to ensure that we consolidate on the party and lay a very solid background for the realisation of our party in all elections, including the 2027 presidential election. That?s what I can say about the Osun governorship election.

Have you heard people already expressing apprehension about the possibility of you not getting the party?s governorship ticket after leaving your current seat?

The national secretary of a party can never be concerned about getting the governorship ticket of the party if it is about the ticket. But it goes beyond the ticket; it is about responsibility. I have told you that my job now is that of the national secretary of the party.

We are working to solidify our party, and we are working towards winning the 2027 presidential election. That is the job that the leadership of the party has given me now. When it comes to Osun, the leadership will determine whether I will be contesting or I will retain my position to realise the 2027 agenda of the party.

I am not bothered. I have never bothered because all the political positions I have held in my life have always been with the approval and consent of the leadership. I never lobbied to be a Commissioner, yet I served twice as one. The two times I contested for the Senate, they were unopposed.

Of course, if I am put forward by the leadership for the governorship, getting tickets should be the least of my worries. Why should the national secretary of a party be worried about getting a ticket from his political party? It is like telling a publisher to be worried whether his story will be published in his newspaper.

Are you not also concerned that some heavyweights are angling to challenge you for the ticket, like the NIWA MD, among others?

I have told you that I am still the national secretary now. Do you challenge somebody who has not purchased the expression of interest and nomination forms to contest for an election? Have you seen when I collected the form? It is the curiosity of journalists that you are exhibiting. I have told you that I never contested for all the positions I have held previously, so I don?t know about the heavyweight or paperweight angling to contest. That is the much I can say.

What is your take on the persistent debate about a Muslim-Muslim joint presidential ticket in 2027?

The reality is that Nigeria has benefited from the rather cooperative leadership between President Tinubu and Kashim Shettima. All regions of the country have been treated with equity and justice in positions and allocation of projects. All religions are also equally represented today. Our party today is being led by the son of a Reverend and a Christian from the minority North Central.

Our party is not a party of slogans, but of real, concrete action, and you discover that both Muslim and Christian, and even others who belong to other religions, are playing a critical role in our government. How can anybody still be talking about a Muslim-Muslim ticket when that has become a non-issue?

The moment the 2023 presidential election was won, it showed that the Nigerian people preferred the ticket presented by the APC, and that put paid to whatever weaponisation of religion that people did. But unfortunately, some people who lost the 2023 election are still suffering from what is called PTSD. They are still traumatised and angry about what ought not to be an issue.

As far as we are concerned, we have a vision, which is translating into reality. Many things that were not here before President Tinubu are now here. You have the NELFUND, Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, Economic Development Commission for all six zones in Nigeria to galvanise development at that level.

You also have the availability of money for serious infrastructural development, unification of the exchange rate, which has allowed investment to flow into the country, and allows Nigeria to clear the backlog of indebtedness that it had.

Even international rating organisations are upgrading the rating of Nigeria. So, if people are not talking about that one, but about religion, it is unfortunate. Nigerians, particularly the masses, don?t care about religion, about origin, but about being able to put food on the table of their families, access education, and quality healthcare. The Renewed Hope Agenda is working and succeeding in those areas.

Despite the achievements you have enumerated, some people still believe that the APC is insensitively concerned about 2027 rather than the suffering of Nigerians.

I have made it clear earlier that those claiming to be suffering are suffering from loss of power. Which Nigerians are suffering? More than 400,000 families have benefited from the NELFUND programme of President Tinubu, which was not there before. The civil servants are benefiting too.

Asiwaju has also made the ASUU strike, which was hitherto an annual ritual, impossible for the past two years. We have also seen investment in the health sector through the revitalization of the Primary Healthcare System and the recent reduction in the bill for kidney dialysis. The country has gone beyond mere sloganeering of people that Nigerians are hungry. The opposition leaders are the ones hungry and thirsty for power.

They are beginning to see the coming to fruition of the visions of President Tinubu. And that is why even people who ought to know are saluting Mr President?s intervention. People like the governor of Anambra State, a first-class brain in economics, recently gave accolades to President Tinubu on his economic programme.

Okonjo-Iweala equally gave the president the same compliment, but somebody who barely passed Philosophy in the university and has been a trader all his life is making comments about the economy.

Can you compare the weighty comments of scholars who have a track record in economic issues with a known liar and a trader? Economy, according to scholars, has been stabilised. And even when you look at the NBS statistics, it tells us that inflation, particularly food inflation, has reduced compared to the previous months.

Those are the reliable indices rather than the assessment of people who were in government from 1999 to 2023 and suddenly became hungry and cannot afford to feed themselves.

Are you saying that Nigerians are better off now than before?

I have given you statistics. I am not talking of comparison. I have given you areas where Nigerians are better off. I am not talking abstract, because there is what we call the fallacy of generalisation in logic. I have given you concrete facts.

I have talked about what we are doing in education in terms of support for the people. I have talked about what has been done in terms of Conditional Cash Transfer. I have spoken about the kidney dialysis reduced bill, upgrading of the healthcare facility. I have talked about credit facilities, and even payment of pension, all over the states, unlike before.

Before the Asiwaju presidency, there have always been backlog of pensions and salaries not paid. Have you seen any states unable to pay salaries and or pension as and when due? These are concrete facts, not somebody just saying that Nigerians are suffering.

Yes, there are challenges everywhere, challenges of unemployment in the world, and challenges of access to critical infrastructure, but that should not be the barometer to measure when there are indices that show that we have made efforts, and our efforts have come to fruition in pushing forward benefits for Nigerians in different sectors.

From the pictures you painted by dismissing Obi and others, does it mean that President Tinubu has no contender in the 2027 presidential election?

There is an adage in Yoruba land that the only thing they don?t contest with people is bad luck. When you talk about the ticket for the presidency of the country, you don?t expect that people will not contest. But, I will quote what Ali Modu Sheriff cited as the two circumstances that can deprive Asiwaju from winning the 2027 presidential election. He said that it is only if there is no election or if he does not contest.

The ones angling to contest against him are not credible people to the electorate. Somebody who is a serial electoral loser still wants

Brought to officiate the match. The recommendation is the job of the civil society organisations and lawmakers.

Our own job is to mobilise, galvanise, and sensitise our members for whoever they like. In fact, by the time we mobilise, even if the new chairman of INEC is the father of the presidential candidate of another party, Asiwaju will still win the election.

What is your take on the Ekiti governorship election?

There is no election in Ekiti because Oyebanji is going to continue. The election is going to be a walkover because all the former governors, deputy governors except one, all serving and former Senators, are fully with him.

Any reasonable person, including those who purchased the expression of interest and nomination forms, will know that there is no vacancy in the Ekiti State Government House. I am just telling you as a party man, because we will still conduct the party primary. It is the people who will do the voting.

Even if 10 aspirants participate in the primary, the truth is that when you see a governor who is performing for the party, you will know that he is a performer. However, we are not the ones to vote In the primary. It is the people who will vote.

I was in Ekiti and saw what was going on. It is good for them to collect nomination forms because it helps the party to build its revenue.

Why are you blocking your governor, Adeleke, from joining the APC?

I am not blocking him. How can I block him? I am not the party leader. The party leaders will decide whether he will join or not. It is not my job to refuse him joining the APC. It is even insensitive for anyone to say that the national secretary of the party is stopping somebody from joining his party.

The decision on whether Governor Adeleke should join APC is beyond me; it is a decision that will be taken by the leadership of the party at the appropriate time if they consider it necessary to promote and help the party realise our goal for the South West and Nigeria at large.

Deep down, will you want him to join the APC?

It is not in my position, whether deep down or up. I have repeatedly said that I am a 100 per cent follower of President Tinubu, and I follow him blindfolded. Whatever he says, whatever he does, I will accept. (Sunday Sun)

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