Zwingina was Director General of the hugely successful Hope
"93 Campaign of Chief Moshood Abiola. Zwingina who is
one of the leading political leaders from Adamawa State in
this interview ventilates on recent political developments
including the contentions of some northern political leaders
against President Goodluck Jonathan.
Excerpts:
Are you going along with Governor Murtala Nyako to the
APC?
Let me first and foremost say that it is not entirely correct that
my State, Adamawa State is going to the opposition. What is
happening is that the Governor and a few of his supporters
have indicated interest to go to APC. For those of us who
know the politics of the State very well, the Governor had
always actually been in the opposition because as of fact, I
know that in the 2011 elections, while all of us were running
round fighting for the President, he was very actively
supporting Gen. Buhari's presidency, together with his
Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries who came down to
the Local Government where we were working.
So, we have always known that he was there. But soon after
that election, he was the first Governor to come to Abuja to
greet the President and we obliged him. If after the election he
has seen the light to come back, we are ready to welcome
him. So, he will not be a stranger in the APC as he's just
gone back home.
As to whether some of us are with him, I will like you to
observe what happened in the last bye election that took place
in his own Local Government for one of the two House of
Assembly seats. In that bye election, the PDP defeated the
candidate of the Governor.
Elected candidate
He had a candidate in one other party whom he fielded and all
his Commissioners and officers in government campaigned
for that gentlemen and he brought a section of the law
enforcement agencies that were loyal to him in that election.
But we mobilized effectively and defeated the candidate of the
Governor; we had 14,000 votes and the Governor's candidate
had 7,000 votes.
The PDP candidate emerged the elected candidate. That is the
measure of the size of Adamawa population behind him. I
agree that he has supporters but they are not in the majority
and he is not going with the State. He is going with a few of
his supporters. I can tell you as a fact now that most of his
key operators have declared support for the PDP and they are
not going with him. He has the right to go where he wants and
I give him that right. But he also should be aware that we who
are the majority in the State have the right to pull the majority
of the State in the direction that they want and that direction is
the PDP, which is where we a
re now.
Where does former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar stand in
this? Is he with Nyako?
Right now, I am not sure whether they really are together. I
have seen a number of meetings of the APC together with the
G-7 or G-5, but I have not seen the former Vice President. So,
I do not know to what extent that one can say they are still
together. But I would also want him to know that Adamawa
has been consistently PDP.
People have left and come back, but the bulk of the State has
been consistently PDP. Even at a time when the former Vice
President left, the PDP won the election. Nyako's victory on
the platform of the PDP is not his own making but the
tradition of the State. The State is predominantly PDP. People
can exit and re-enter, but the bulk of the majority of the State
is PDP.
Are you in agreement with the agitation of some of the
northerners that power should shift to the North in 2015?
As to whether power should come back to the North, I
concede the right of the North to want power to return to
them, just like I concede the right of the President to want to
run for a second term for which he has a constitutional right.
However, it is the zone and the President that strikes the most
alliance and the larger support base that will eventually get the
ticket. It is not by threat or by compulsion that that alliance
can be built. It is through persuasion, dialogue and give and
take. The language of some elements in G-7 is a language that
is very anti-Northern interest because you seek to scare away
people, rather than to endear people to their cause.
Talking about allies looking at the political configuration of
Nigeria, how will you look at the APC?
The South-West alliance with the North as represented by the
emergence of APC is based on convenience and this seems
shaky, untestable and never lasting. As someone that is also
fairly familiar with South-West politics, I not only was a
student there, but I played politics as a student there but I was
in the UPN and I was in the same campaign outfit with Chief
Awolowo as far back as 1979, I was also the campaign
manager to Chief Olu Falae and I was the campaign manager
to Chief MKO Abiola and I delivered June 12, so I have a fair
idea of the direction they take.
The South-West is the most sober political block in Nigeria
and they strike their alliances based on pure political
calculations. When the time comes, they will calculate the
direction of their votes based on national interest and based on
the ticket that will give them peace and order and based on
what they see that will promote their interest because right
now, the South-West is not quite ready for the Presidency,
both from the history of Nigeria and the history of their
leaders.
So, they are not going to do a do or die in the presidential
election. If they find the Goodluck Presidency will promote
the peace that they have had and does not threaten their
governorship ambitions, they will be better advised to settle
with it than any other presidency. The Goodluck Presidency is
not a vindictive presidency and has not taken advantage of
any group and has not in any way created hatred among the
communities.
Do you consider Gen. Buhari as a threat to the PDP in 2015?
Gen. Buhari, with all due respect, is not a viable presidential
material because he has lost the Presidency thrice. In the US,
if you lose once, nobody allows you to come back. To lose
three times and still desire to come back, for Nigerians to
resolve three time to reject you, unless you say they are
foolish, which they are not. For Nigerians to resolve three
times and reject you and you keep coming, then you need
another interpretation of the resolve of Nigerians.
I'm sure if his advisers are honest, they will advise him that
look, the electorates that rejected you three times must have a
good reason to do so. I respect him as a leader but I do not
think that these are the times for a Buhari presidency. These
times require a younger and more vibrant President that will
connect with the kind of leaders that are coming out of the
world. Gen. Buhari did well when he was a military President
but he serves better when he is in the military. I don't think
these are his times.
You can see examples in the CPC. Even in Katsina where he
comes from, there were two candidates and he could not
resolve the two of them. Bauchi went into election with four
CPC candidates, not even aspirants. If this is the kind of
inability to organize the home that will be visited on
Nigerians, its no wonder that they have said no three times
and I'm sure the fourth time will be a more resounding No.
You should not humiliate a leader like that with too many
no's. You should save him the honour of being a former
President and not be repeating too many no's at his face. It
doesn't do him any good because he could go to his grave
very unhappy.
Via: Vanguardngr
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