North kept quiet under Buhari, but now blames Tinubu for banditry —Shehu Sani

In this interview, our Northern Bureau Chief, MUHAMMAD SABIU, speaks with Senator Shehu Sani on why he wants to go back to the Senate, rotational presidency and why he feels President Bola Ahmed Tinubu stands a good chance of returning to power in 2027.

What informed your decision to seek a return to the Senate?

My decision to seek a return to the National Assembly, specifically the Senate, is, first of all, to represent my people, to defend and protect their interests, and to ensure that development from the federal level is extended to them. I also believe that I am capable of projecting their interests, their dreams, their expectations, and their aspirations as a people from the North, particularly here in Kaduna State.

Kaduna occupies a strategic political position in the history of the North and Nigeria. The people who should govern and represent us should be competent, capable, and experienced in the job. It is sad to see that most of the debates in the National Assembly have been led and dominated by legislators from Southern Nigeria, for obvious reasons.

It is time we became serious in terms of deciding and electing those who will actually represent us in the northern part of Nigeria. The northern part of Nigeria has comparative challenges in terms of education, healthcare, and development when compared to the southern part. So if you don’t send your first eleven to represent you, you will continue to remain where you are.

We need to hear more about what is happening in Southern Nigeria and the positive things that are happening in Northern Nigeria. We need to have people who will stand and speak to the world, not just to your country. We need to have people who will bring development and ensure that what is due to them in Abuja is also brought to them at home here.That is basically the reason why I am seeking to return.

Now you have a so-called senator here in Kaduna Central who is not even among the top 20 senators in Nigeria, who can hardly be seen or heard, both at home and on the floor of the Senate. So if you don’t have people with such experience and courage to stand and speak, we will continue to be backward.

The last time I was in the National Assembly, despite the conflicts that existed between me and the former government, we were able to make an impact on the lives of the people here. Within four years, I was able to construct about seven to eight primary healthcare centres in Kaduna State.

We were also able to purchase houses and gave them to organisations. We provided scholarships for our young ones. We intervened in education. We provided training, women empowerment, and capital for our people. And we were able to attract federal projects.

But there was an issue between the National Assembly and the Buhari-led executive government at that time, and that seriously affected us. This time around, I believe that as a senator with a good working relationship and understanding with the Governor of the state, Senator Uba Sani and the President of the country, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the sky is the limit in terms of what we are going to attract to Kaduna State. I am talking about quality representation at the National Assembly.

You are talking about quality representation in the National Assembly. Is there any link between that and the current security challenges faced by Northern Nigeria?

Bandits have been killing people in Sokoto State, in Katsina State, in Zamfara State, in Kebbi State, in Kaduna State, in Niger State. Bandits have been kidnapping people in these states. Terrorists have been abducting students in these states. They have been burning down villages, slaughtering human beings, killing farmers, destroying schools, and executing commuters. They have wreaked havoc in the North for over a decade and a half.

In the North Eastern part of Nigeria, Boko Haram and ISWAP and other affiliates like Ansaru have been killing people. They have been abducting people, destroying schools, killing farmers, razing villages, and raping women. This has been with us for over a decade and a half in the northern part of Nigeria.

The tragedy we are facing in Northern Nigeria is the same as what is happening in Northern Cameroon, in Chad, in the Niger Republic, in Mali, and in Burkina Faso. Terrorists launch attacks on communities. Sometimes they launch attacks on military barracks. They kill women, children, and innocent people. They raze schools.

President Goodluck Jonathan was attacked, criticised, and penalised for being unable to address these challenges. When he was in power, almost everyone in this part of the country was vocal in holding him to account, criticising him, attacking him, and eventually voting him out of power over the security challenges.

Buhari was elected into office. Buhari was a retired military General who had experience of war. They thought he would address all the security challenges in the country, particularly in Northern Nigeria.

Under Jonathan’s administration, we had the Chibok abduction. But when Buhari was in power, Dapchi was attacked and students were kidnapped. Government Secondary School, Jangebe was attacked and students were kidnapped. Government Secondary School, Kagara was attacked and students were kidnapped. Federal Government Girls College, Yauri was attacked and students were kidnapped. Greenfield University was attacked and students were kidnapped. Bethel Baptist School was attacked and students were kidnapped. Federal School of Agricultural Mechanization, Mando was attacked and students were kidnapped. And ransom was paid in most cases.

Most of those making noise today were silent. They were silent for ethnic, sectional, and religious reasons. Most of those who tried to raise the issue of insecurity in the National Assembly were heckled by Northern senators. They felt we should keep quiet because the person in the position of authority and power was from our part of the country.

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Nobody says Tinubu has solved all security problems in Nigeria. There are kidnappings, attacks, terrorism, and banditry going on. But you cannot compare what is happening today to what happened under the Buhari administration. You cannot blame Tinubu for not killing Turji, for not killing Alero, for not killing Kachalla in Zamfara State when you refused to blame Buhari when he was in power.

When Buhari was in power, they saw insecurity as God-sent. And when Tinubu is in power, they see insecurity as the problem and failure of the President to address it. So we cannot address security challenges in the country when we shield our own who failed to address the problem, and now shift blame and use it for political reasons to achieve certain political ends.

When Buhari was in power, the Minister of Defence was Bashir Magashi. He is from Northern Nigeria. He failed. The Chief of Defence Staff was from Northern Nigeria. He failed. The Chief of Army Staff was from Northern Nigeria. He failed. The Chief of Air Staff was from Northern Nigeria. He failed. The DG SSS, Bichi, was from Northern Nigeria. The DG NIA, Abubakar, was from Northern Nigeria.

Also, the IG of Police was from Northern Nigeria. The Controller of Customs, Hameed Ali, was from Northern Nigeria. The Controller of Immigration was from Northern Nigeria, as well as the Commander of Civil Defence. They all failed. How many people organised protests or press conferences on these attacks? None. Let us not forget, under Buhari, a traditional title holder in Katsina State who raised the issue of insecurity was suspended.

Today, the situation is all laced with ethnic and tribal sentiments. If you are talking about insecurity today, I want to know what you said about it yesterday, so that I will know the motive, the substance, and the intention of what you are saying.

How do you see the agitation in some quarters that power should return to the North?

About the principle of rotation of power: If the North loved Atiku, why didn’t the North vote for him when he contested against Obasanjo? If the North loved Atiku, why didn’t the North vote for him when he contested against Yar’Adua? If the North loved Atiku, why didn’t the North vote for him when he contested against Goodluck Jonathan? If the North loved Atiku, why didn’t the North vote for him when he contested against Buhari? Why? If the North loved Atiku, why didn’t the North vote for him when he contested against Tinubu? There is nothing they have not said about him. What has changed?

This is a country that has come a long way in the last 66 years. We have been through crises, storms, turbulence, and conflicts. And you cannot have peace in this country until we continue to respect the principle of rotation of power. The principle of rotation makes it clear that Buhari has been in power for eight years. It is only logical and rational that the South should finish its term.

Amaechi should contest under the ADC. Peter Obi should contest under his party, NDC, and Asiwaju should contest under  APC. Let the South finish its own four years, and then power can return to the North in peace.

The danger of disrupting this rotational idea is that whatever you are doing to Tinubu for ethnic reasons, you go through the media and you see a lot of innuendoes and attacks. They are treating him as a monster, as evil. Did you do that to Buhari when he was in power? You were patient for eight years.

Even when Buhari, as a Northerner, ruled Nigeria for eight years, he could not reactivate the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project, which this government is doing now. He could not reactivate the Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill, which is in the northern part of Nigeria, which this government is doing now. He could not complete the Kaduna-Abuja-Kano road, which this government is doing now. He could not recruit the number of soldiers and policemen that we need to address the insecurity bedeviling the country, which is being done now.

If you look at the northern minorities: Southern Kaduna voted for Obi in 2023. Today they have a Minister of Defence who is in the APC and many others too. There are states that voted for Tinubu and only have a Minister of State.

If the North wants to take power, it is very easy to do that in 2031. We now have a government without being challenged, without having a moral crisis, because I believe Tinubu will win the 2027 election.

But hypothetically, if there is a disruption of power, there will be agitation in the Southwestern part of Nigeria. There will be agitation in the Southeastern part. And there will be agitation in the South-South part. And I don’t know how a Nigerian President would live peacefully with other parts of the country.

Today, the agitation for Biafra has gone to its lowest point because they are hopeful that one of their own is contesting the presidency. The agitation for the Oduduwa Republic has gone to its lowest because one of their own is in power. And the agitation for the Niger Delta Republic has virtually gone down.

Those raising these issues – the hatred and malice against Tinubu is artificially induced in the hearts of those doing it in the northern part of Nigeria to achieve a purpose. One of the instruments they try to use is to exploit the level of ignorance and illiteracy in the region for their own political ends, pushing the idea that subsidy will be returned by a man who has spent all his years advancing neoliberal capitalist ideology. By a man who subscribes to World Bank policies of devaluation and privatization. By a man who is an advocate of state withdrawal from control of the economy.

They are not appealing to the educated. They are appealing to the uneducated. And the educated ones from the North know it is not going to work, but they see it as being to their own political advantage.

We are here in Kaduna and the election is coming in 2027. I am very confident that we are going to win this election in the state. There are people who come into our state to prognosticate or meddle in our affairs. Kaduna State is not like Sokoto State. It is not like Lagos. So you can’t take the model of sentiment and hatred you have in those states and think we should fall in line. We cannot. This is a state that is multi-religious and multi-ethnic.

Can you tell us what you intend to do for your constituency?

My constituency has several local governments. About 45% of the people in my constituency are Christians and 55% are Muslims.

So how can I do politics if I take the fanatical path of attacking some people, marginalizing some people, or taking the formula that is used in Kaduna and bringing it here? I cannot do that.

Maybe the APC disappointed them in the extreme North, but in Kaduna State here, from 2015 to 2023, the people of Kaduna suffered at the hands of a man who was in the APC government. He sacked thousands of workers. He sacked thousands of teachers. He demolished the houses of innocent people. He jailed critics. And he never respected the rule of law.

Even among you journalists, Luka Binniyat was in a cell. Midat Joseph was in a cell. One of you here has been going to court up and down. At that time, he sometimes ran away. That Jacob of the Authentic News Daily, what do you call him? Dickson. Dickson, of Authentic News Daily, was in jail.

My colleague was brought into Kaduna and charged in Kaduna. Audu Maikori was charged in Kaduna for expressing his opinion. One Shehu, a first-class traditional ruler, was sent to prison in Kaduna. An Islamic cleric, Sheikh Yabo from Sokoto, was brought from Sokoto, sent to Kaduna, and put in detention under the government of El-Rufai.

Adara leaders, almost 100 of them, spent close to a year in Kaduna prison. Islamic teachers from Zaria were brought to Kaduna prison.

The man who doesn’t believe that others deserve freedom does not deserve it himself. This is a lesson for people in power. Power is temporal. There is a Hausa proverb that says, _Biri Maguzawa_ – It’s like a monkey in the hands of those who will eat it.

You are singing a song that there is no strong opposition in Kaduna State and the atmosphere somehow looks favorable. What is your view about it?

When we say there is no opposition, we are talking about a credible alternative, not the deception of returning subsidies.