APC denies sponsoring opposition parties’ crises

• Basiru, party’s national secretary, clears the air, opens up on chances of Tinubu winning 2027 presidential poll, alleged northerners gang up against him, why APC will not allow Adeleke return as Osun gov in 2026, among others

From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja

Having garnered experiences as a two-time State Commissioner, Senator, party administrator, someone with a very robust background in legal practice, legal scholarship, with a strong worldview about development, Dr Ajibola Basiru, is, indeed, a bigwig politician.

The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke to Sunday Sun on a wide range of issues, including Bola Tinubu’s chances of winning the 2027 presidential election, the speculations that the North is ganging up against him, and the possibility of his party winning next year’s Osun governorship election.

He also spoke on the role of his party in the crisis rocking almost all the opposition political parties in the country and the relationship between APC, the presidency and by extension the president, among other issues.

In a few months’ time, you will clock two years in office, in retrospect, what have been the low and high moments?

Firstly, I must thank the leaders of the party, particularly President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, pioneer national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande, and the governors of our party, as well as all others, for considering me worthy of serving as the National Secretary of the APC at our extraordinary NEC meeting held on August 3, 2023. It is possibly a combination of the experience I have gathered, not only in public service, in private practice as a legal practitioner, and a legal scholar, but also as a public administrator. That administrative experience has been the very guiding principle in what we are doing at the national secretariat of our party. When we were sworn in, we promised the stakeholders at the meeting that we are going to make the party stronger, more visible, and on the part of victory at all elections. If that will be the barometer for assessing us, I will say that, it has been a very good experience to a very large extent. Talking about the functionality of the party, when we took over, the national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje and myself, we promised to have functionally efficient and physically habitable offices for our party, not only in Abuja, but also across the states. When you go round the states of the federation today, APC is actually the only political party across the local government, states, and national levels, whose offices are functional. We also re-energize the party’s national secretariat by involving stakeholders in our activities. Hardly can a week pass without one form of political engagement or the other at our headquarters and the states. One other area of innovation that the administration put in place was to decentralise the inauguration of the national campaign council. Before we took over, the inauguration of campaign councils was usually done in Abuja. But on assumption, we decided to take inauguration of campaign councils to the state where the election will take place. This has multiple advantages. One, it allows the electorate in the state to have a feel of the presence of the high and mighty in the party. Secondly, it gives confidence to our party members in those states that the national leadership is with them. Thirdly, it also affords the national officers to have a direct interface with the party structure to know their challenges and plan for the election. This we did in the Bayelsa, Imo, Kogi, Edo and Ondo states off-cycle elections and to a large extent, we only lost Bayelsa State out of the five elections. That is like more than 90 per cent performance. Another innovation we also put in place was to decentralise the re-energising of the party to a zonal level. Our administration appointed six governors across the six geo-political zones to coordinate party activities at those zones. This has enabled us to have stakeholders’ engagement at the level of every zone of the states. Some zones have even had two or three stakeholders engagements where legislators, political appointees, and former leaders of the party will come together to know the peculiar challenges our party has and be able to address them. The advantage of those stakeholder engagements is that it also helps to resolve conflicts and ensure reconciliation where there are fictions. Aside issues of leadership, we also have constant engagement with the state chairmen that also afford us the opportunity to have a feel of what is going on among the states. A more striking achievement of our party is in the reduction of conflicts. If you observe, post primary conflict usually engulf most political parties, but since Dr Ganduje and I came on board, we have reduced post electoral conflict, resulting in litigation reducing to the barest minimum. Before and after the primaries, we engage stakeholders to work out a win-win formula for whoever that is in dispute. We have been able to do this in the Edo, Ondo elections, and it helped the party to get victories in those areas. In terms of staff welfare at the national secretariat, we are also doing well. We are giving our workers the wage award that the president gave the workers, giving 13 months and a salary as a form of enhancement in the past two years that we have been in charge. We give them opportunities for foreign trips to have ideas about what is happening in other political parties in the areas. Another area we have recorded achievement is in collaboration with sister political parties, not only in this continent, but outside the continent. We have had cause to engage the ruling party in Morocco, in Ghana, and the Communist Party of China, beside others we were able to have an exchange programme and send some of our officials to understudy what is being done in those countries. Our party participated both at the women and youth conferences of the IRI, the ruling party in Morocco. Part of this also afforded us the opportunity to exchange ideas about organisation, funding, and nationalising party administration in Nigeria.

Will it be right to say that one of the low moments could be the inability of the NWC to organise NEC and caucus meetings?

It is not true that it is the low moment. The NWC, which is the working organ of the party, has been meeting virtually every week since we took over office. If we have not met in some weeks, it may be three or four weeks. We have been religiously doing that. On the NEC, you will recollect that at the last NEC meeting, it decided to hand over its power to the NWC to be able to take decisions when necessary. That was why the NWC could fill vacancies in certain offices, like the Deputy National Chairman North, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, and the National Legal Adviser that were vacant previously. There is a kind of operational mode within the constitutional framework and the power given to NWC to fill that gap. Notwithstanding, we are working seriously to hold the NEC and National caucus within the first quarter of this year.

How have you been able to deal with the banana peels associated with your office as National Secretary?

Firstly, the NWC generally and particularly myself and the national chairman, have enjoyed the confidence of the leaders of the party because of the litany of achievements I earlier rolled out. We can also hinge the survival on the fact that we are committed to the work at the party on a daily basis. We are always here. The national chairman at times remains here till late in the evening, attending to party matters. We also try to avoid conflict. When people raise some red earrings, we try, as much as possible, to avoid any such matter and focus on our primary responsibility, which is to strengthen the party and make it machinery that can win election any day, anytime.

What is the relationship between the party and the presidency, and by extension, President Tinubu?

I told you about some innovations we have put in place. They are the initiatives of the party. They are not handed down on the party by the president. We mentioned some of them like setting up of zonal coordinating structure, which was the initiative of the party. The e-registration, which is going to be rolled out in this first quarter, to have biometrics for our members, has got maximum support, not only from the president, but also from the Progressive Governor Forum (PGF), in which we must thank all the governors on our platform under the leadership of Hope Uzodimma, is another initiative from the NWC. The third initiative is the establishment of the Progressive Institutes, which has already started last year. The Institute is the intellectual arm of our party with the capability to train and develop the capacity of not only existing politicians, but also young ones. The Institute has organised at least two national workshops. One is in the area of entrepreneurship and the other in public policy engagement. It has the ability to train people from local government to the state and federal levels. That is also another initiative emanating from the party. Another initiative is the public community engagement on the part of the party. As at today, the party runs publicity programmes on national television, which was not in place before, because we believe that the party must be feasible. When you look at the kind of initiatives that has come from the party, it is obvious that the party is working as an autonomous unit without any interference from the oresident or the other leader of the party. But what we get is actually maximum support to actualise whatever programme we put in place. We must also put on record the support we have received from our governors, the National Assembly, the president, and some other leaders that are not even holding any position, in sustaining this party as the only very strong party efficient and capable to carry out his function in Nigeria.

Are you telling Nigerians that the Tinubu-led Federal Government is implementing the manifesto of APC?

Of course, our party is one that runs on stated principles to ensure prosperity for Nigerians, and to have education, health, public infrastructure, and so on. Apart from what President Tinubu is doing, you will not judge us with it alone. We have the largest number of governors, legislators, and local government administrators in the country. At all levels of government, you will see that our party is doing so much in the area of infrastructure and stimulating production in the agricultural sector to address the issue of food insecurity. The president is particularly trying to correct the imbalances and dyfunctionality in the economy. Have you ever seen a situation previously where a budget is being increased before it is passed because the revenue profile is increasing? That speaks about the prudence and the excellent public finance management of the Tinubu-led presidency.

INEC will soon release the timetable for the governorship election in your state, Osun, how mentally and physically ready is the APC for that election?

We are very much ready and we are very confident that we are going to send the rather incompetent dancing governments of Adeleke out of the Government House in 2026. We have started mobilising and engaging the public. It is a task that we must achieve. Not even being partisan, but as Nigerians, we have a government incapable of guaranteeing the primary responsibilities of government. Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution says security and welfare are the primary purposes of government. But we have a government do that. I issued a statement recently, highlighting that Governor Adeleke has lost grip of the security situation in the state. Just a few days ago, about 10 people were killed in an avoidable crisis over chieftaincy matters. When you see the way and manner Governor Adeleke-led administration is handling communal rifts, it shows that he does not have any bearing as to what the government should do. For instance, the unnecessary crisis generated in Idi Osun community was unnecessary. There is an airstrip in place since World War II yet he wants to set up another airstrip in his home state. Apart from being nepotistic, it has also created serious tension in that axis. He has also dabbled into the settled issue of chieftaincy title in Igbajo, Ikiru, and other several communities, creating unnecessary tension in that regard. The communal conflict between Ilogun and Ifo Osun still remains unresolved. Still on the area of security, which is very important, just a few days ago too, the thugs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) attacked APC members campaigning for local government election. The other area is welfare. Close to welfare in importance is education and health of our people. Adeleke-led government laid off teachers employed by the government of Governor Oyetola, without replacing those teachers till today. In Osun, they don’t have teachers in key subject areas. The same thing also happened in the health sector. Some of the hospitals don’t have reagents and test kits to carry out basic functionality. We owe it a duty to send the visionless and disastrous Adeleke-led government out of Government House in 2026.

Do you have personal scores with Governor Adeleke considering your combative approach to his government?

I don’t have any personal scores to settle with him. Are we doing any business together? We are in the public space. And when you are in the public space, you must see it the way it is. For example, the man claimed that his administration built boreholes in 332 wards in 100 days in office that will function with generators. Go and find out whether they are functioning. Let there be a discreet investigation as to the state of school and hospital infrastructure in Osun State. Even the state public sector is gradually becoming aging without any replacement for those that are retiring. In future, if measures are not taken, there will be a calamity in terms of institutional memory on those to carry on in the Osun State public service. I don’t have anything personal against the governor. If it is about being a jolly good fellow, I will say that he is one. But governance is beyond being a jolly good fellow. It needs somebody who can deliver on the prosperity and put our state on the part of peace and development.

Are you going to contest the Osun governorship election?

The notice of election is not yet out, but I will say that by the grace of God, at the risk of sounding immodest, I am eminently qualified to contest for the governor of Osun State, and if the leaders of the party give me the support, I will definitely not shy away from contesting for the governorship of Osun State. Based on my experience, having served as a two-time Commissioner, as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a party administrator, somebody who has a very robust background in legal practice, legal scholarship, and, of course, a strong worldview about development, Osun State will definitely find a very good product as a governor in Ajibola Basiru.

How true is the impression that the contest is going to be a two horse race between you and former Governor Oyetola?

I am not sure that we need to go into that area. I can’t possibly contest against former Governor Oyetola who is the leader of the party in the state, but I am not too sure he has announced publicly that he is contesting. Our conversation has not got to that extent and as I said, I will contest if the leadership of the party endorses me. I am a system man and, of course, I know a lot of people I have been around and people are already making consultations on my behalf, and I can’t stop them. The only thing people don’t contest is bad luck. So, if people decide to wish you good luck, you cannot stop them, but I don’t see myself in a contest with our much-referred Minister Oyetola in 2026. It is not going to happen.

How easy will it be for the APC to win the PDP government in Osun if you contest?

We are definitely not God and just like our leader, President Tinubu, always says, power is not served a la carte. It means that the struggle continues, but I am very confident that our party is in a good position to rescue Osun State from the claws of the administration of Ademola Adeleke. As a matter of fact, though it is too early to be talking about Osun election, I challenge anybody to do Vox pop in the state and report the outcome of my chances of winning the state’s governorship election. I don’t want to blow my trumpet.

As the National Secretary of the ruling party, are you aware that Nigerians are suffering?

We should not de-market our country just because we want to play politics. There is no country in the world where there are no challenges. There is the challenge of the cost of living all over the world, even in advanced capitalist countries. But that does not mean that there is mass misery in Nigeria as some politicians would want to say. It has been challenging in the past years in terms of food inflation, but go to the market now, the indices are showing that the price of commodities is coming down with the improvement in the security situation in the country and with the massive investment in that growth sector. We are not yet there, but we are going to get there. Just as Mr. President and our party promised, we are putting Nigeria on the right path of development and progress, which will come with certain challenges, but definitely, there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

Do you see Nigerians voting for President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election?

For now, we are not bothering ourselves with 2027 election at the national level. We are positioning to put Nigeria back in its deserved position among the comity of nations. We want to ensure investment in infrastructure that will catalyse economic development and lead to the prosperity of our people. We will cross the bridge when we get to 2027. And unlike people, who don’t have assignments, we are not thinking of 2027, we have a job to do which we applied for, and Nigerians voted for us. We have the job of ruling this country, putting it on the part of prosperity, and making sure there is peace and progress and that is what we are doing now. When it is time for the politics of 2027 election, we will be able to tackle the issue of contesting and re-election.

Are you aware that angry Northerners are ganging up against President Tinubu’s re-election bid?

What you have just said about northerners ganging up against Asiwaju’s re-election is what philosophers call the fallacy of hasty generalisation. The Vice President, Minister of Economic Development, APC National Chairman, and others supporting President Tinubu are not Southerners. It is wrong to claim that Northerners are against Tinubu’s re-election bid. In Katsina recently, anytime they shout Nigeria, others will respond Sai Tinubu. We have to ignore the pontificating of some social media and disgruntled politicians from the reality on ground. The groundswell of support for our party all over the country has been overwhelmingly increasing. In the same Katsina, during the flag-off for the local government election campaign, all other political parties collapsed their structures to join the APC, including the former governor, Ibrahim Shema, yet you are still saying that the North is against President Tinubu. In Kaduna State, our governor is fantastically doing well. It is the same support in Kano. Mr. President has no problem in the North and as I said, we are not indolent people without job at hand to think about 2027 now. We are executing our Renewed Hope Agenda and when there is time for politics, we will do that.

Do you still maintain that APC is not fuelling the crisis in the opposition parties?

If you run a meat shop and somebody sold a cow with hunch back to you, will you not be happy? A political party will be happy if its opponent is in disarray. But let us assume, without conceding, that APC has hand in the crisis rocking the opposition, in which of the criminal or penal code was it written that you should not destabilise your enemy. Where is it written that as a political party, you cannot strategise to destabilise and disable your opponent? As far as I am concerned, they are idle talks. If we are actually involved, we have not done anything wrong. In fact, we are living up to what is expected of us. If you are fighting somebody and you succeed in giving the person food that will make them have diarrhoea without necessarily poising them, you have made your job easier. What I said is that we have no business with the crisis they are having, but assuming that we have hand in the crisis, we have not done anything illegal contrary to the Nigeria law. Politics is a game of tactics and strategy, but why should they be blind to allow potential enemy to destabilise their structure? Ned Nwoko said it all when he joined our party that he was shocked and ashamed over the magnitude of the crisis in the PDP. A party that wants to implement peace and happiness should have a peaceful atmosphere at its secretariat.