Interview

Kwarans want a multi-tasked person… I fit that bill   – Moshood Mustapha

 

In this interview with HEAD POLITICS, MUMINI ABDULKAREEM, former legislative aide to Senate President, Moshood Mustapha delve into his plans for the state if he’s elected governor among other sundry issues. Excerpts:

You stepped into the Kwara gubernatorial race with a bang but there has been a kind of lull of late giving rise to all sorts of speculations. What is the true situation of things?

We politicians have a way of going about this business of ours. Sometimes there will be need for you to make so much noise while at times, you need to play down for strategic reasons. We understand the game, having played it for quite a while and have stayed long enough in the system. When we started, we have to hit the ground running to send signals that we are in the race for good. After getting to the mainstream, we felt there is need to reduce the noise, especially when we realised that some political lightweights were coming on board and we don’t want to engage them in poster wars because we are not posters politicians. Our strategy was to just play down and do all the strategic moves within.

Talking about numbers, do you think you can muster the required figures to carry the day?

Every politician will want to beat his chest as the person to beat. I am not afraid of anybody because I understand the game and we have been on this project for about two years. Unlike others that are just coming and want to run, I have been very consistent and have been in the All Progressives Congress (APC) since 2014 as one of the founding members. We know the capacity and pedigree of individuals that are running for the ticket. Our pedigree as someone with impeccable character also put us ahead of others. The people now want a multitasked person that is independent minded who could look beyond the issue of our monthly federal allocation as a state. We have all these things rolled up in us and we know what the people want.

Was your decision to run for governorship borne out of personal ambition or you are just yielding to the call of your people?

It’s a combination of both. You cannot yearn for a particular office just because of the clamour from the people as politicians used to say. What if they don’t have the capacity or are not prepared. That would mean there will be a lot of problem because you would not be able to get yourself together when you get to office. Running for governor has been my long time burning desire, that one day God will give me the opportunity to do things differently. At some point, I have raised issues within the system about my own perception of certain things. But for lack of power, those views were just left in the cooler. Governance is all about service to the people. We understand the mechanical system of Kwara because we have been in the system for long and I have the legislative experience at the national level. So we know what was, what is and I understand how it is suppose to be and what level we can take Kwara to.

What do you think should be the issue driving our electoral campaign?

Everything should be centred about the welfare of the people and it is about service. The essence of campaign is not just to tell the people what they want to hear, but also hear from them their needs. That’s one thing people don’t understand. How do you canvass for votes when you don’t know the problem of the people and what to do differently to get different result.

In the present dispensation, Kwara central happens to attract the highest number of aspirants, what do you think is the merit and demerit of this development?

I don’t see any demerit in it. I think the more the merrier and it shows that we have a lot of credible people that can run the system. The most important thing is to get the right person that can do the job, it can be anybody. It should be all about service. There must be no desperation and we should all be team player. The number is not even enough considering the number of political parties we have. Let me say I think I am one of the few aspirants that have one on one relationship with nearly all the aspirants across the state. Some relationship I even initiated after they came on board and others that we have not met, I opened communication with them. This is not to get them to step down for me but to demonstrate that we should not be desperate. That is why I believe strongly about internal democracy and the reason why I believe in direct primaries. I pray this time around that whoever wins will see himself as a cross bearer and those that didn’t succeed will see him as such and support him for us to achieve the desired change. We need to form a united front to be able to confront the challenges ahead. I believe almighty Allah will give it to whomever He wants. I pray God chooses the person we want for us that will be able to effect the desired change.

Can you share with us your cardinal programmes for the people of Kwara if God answers your prayer?

What we are looking at at the moment is what programmes of this administration that we can sustain because we have to critically appraise the present situation. We will work and improve upon those lofty programmes of the present administration because government is continuum. Secondly, we will make sure we embark on sustainable economic development. People look at Kwara as a civil service state and even the improved IGR, I don’t believe it can take us anywhere. We must create a balance and try to inject energy into the economy. This include creating the enabling environment for business to thrive and look for ways of improving the SMEs sector which is very important but people often don’t take note. Also skills acquisition for the youth and attracting investment to Kwara which will generate employment are very important. Otherwise we will continue to wait for monthly subvention, which will not take us anywhere. And most importantly, there is need to uproot the barrier between the government and the governed for there to be connection. Being a governor is a position of trust and doesn’t make anybody a super Kwaran. It is a sin even in the Glorious Qur’an to sit and watch instead of you to participate when you know you have something to offer. And I know that I have a lot to offer

The narrative out there is that you are too elitist and a bourgeois whose government will not benefit the downtrodden? How do you react to that?

Whoever have that insinuation may have gotten there base on ignorance or completely bereft of my personality. I am a very practical and pragmatic person and I understand so many things. I have been a very successful businessman for about thirty years out of my over fifty years on earth. I want to challenge any politician that has the kind of investment I have in Kwara. I have always been and understand what it takes to be a grassrooter. I have worked with the traditional institutions in my capacity as Special Adviser on Local Government and Traditional Matters and understand what it is. I have once been the Commissioner for Land and Housing and know the politics of land and what we need to do there. I grew up here and attended my primary, secondary and higher institutions here in Ilorin. I did what we call Iyamiloilo and  epakuta plays, I know kangu Adeta and I can name all the streets in the locality. I believe so much in Kwara and I can say that I don’t have any investment outside the state, anybody can go and check and report to EFCC. Even before I got into politics, my house is always full of people and the first night we move to this house, I didn’t sleep until 8am the following day from 8:pm the previous evening. That is not because I am running for governorship. It has always been my way. I understand their problems and know how to go about it. That is the reason why we are in it and why I decided to move from a comfort zone to this level.

What exactly is the relationship between you and the Senate President away from the speculation out there?

I don’t know how people think but when one is very exposed, one will be away from myopic view of things. Looking at the records, I have been part of the government of Senator Bukola Saraki since inception in 2003 and we ran it together. At a point, I exited for about a year and came back, went to National Assembly together and in the course of that duty, two other additional portfolios were added. This speaks volume under a man like Dr Bukola Saraki who we all know is a very detailed and meticulous person. But people think when there is political differences, that is the end of life. This is the first interview I would ever grant on this issue of my ambition and this was because the paper is owned by Senator Bukola Saraki and because I believe we must start from home. I am not into politics of deceit, character assassination, backbiting and everybody that has crossed my path politically know this. The Senate President can tell you that I have never gone to him to tell him any negative thing about anybody because it will not add any value to my person. And you can see the picture of the Senate President and me in our conference room where we hold our meetings, same with that of my Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed. When some people come here and see these things, they accused me that that is why I have been keeping quiet despite the allegation that I am a mole in the APC. I do tell them that if they think I will come out to say anything disparaging about the Senate President, then they are disturbing themselves. I am from a humble background and we are not known to be trouble makers but that does not mean we can’t have our political differences which we are having now. At a time we aligned politically but now we are not on the same page, so let everybody do it in a very civilised manner and when we finish and meet on the plane, we exchange pleasantry and joke about it and everybody depart.

In view of the various aspirants in APC, would you advocate for consensus?

I think consensus arrangement is not against the constitution of the party but I personally believe in primaries. That is democracy. We should all go out and try, let [eople  make their choice. As far as I am concerned, consensus is an aberration.

What are your parting words?

We should not show desperation in anything we are looking for and put God first in anything we do. I want us to have a rancour free exercise at party levels and after the whole exercise, we still see ourselves as friends. I urge our supporters, loyalists and generality of our people that we should register and jealously keep our PVC. We all urge them to believe in our course because we know where the problem lies, the solutions and we are ready to give all it takes to ensure we deliver for the people.

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