2023: APC loses no sleep over PDP – Sen. Abba Ali

The Deputy Chairman of the All Progressives Congress National Caretaker Committee and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Sen. Abba Ali, in this interview with Andy Asemota bares his mind on current issues in the polity.

You are leading the APC monitoring team for new membership registration in Zamafara State. What informed the exercise and how has it fared?

It is true that I am representing North West in APC Caretaker Committee that is supervising this exercise and I am now in Zamfara to see how it is progressing. For what motivated it? You know, the governor (of Zamfara) has just joined the APC and he has a lot of supporters. So, it is only fair that since he has not been registered, we have to make arrangement for the process of registering him and his teeming supporters as APC members.

Let me announce sincerely that the exercise has been very successful. The first set of registration forms sent last week were not enough to cover the whole state. Another set of forms has been sent down. The first consignment was primarily utilized in Gusau. And to our surprise, in Gasau where many people had registered as APC members, in a particular ward, about three booklets had been utilized. So, it has been very successful. Many people that couldn’t register as APC members in the past are very happy that we have decided to register them now.

It is surprising that your party has recorded this success despite the concerns about insecurity in Zamfara. What is your take on the security situation in the state?

The situation is being tackled by various security organisations. However, the concern over insecurity is everywhere. In the case of Zamfara, there is a lot of improvement. So, I think we are making progress in that direction.

Following reports that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as well as the governors of Bauchi and Sokoto states will vie for the 2023 presidency on the platform of the leading opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, are you worried that the APC may lose the presidency if the PDP zones its ticket to the North?

We are not worried at all whether Atiku or the governors of Bauchi or Sokoto states or any other person from the PDP may emerge as the party’s presidential candidate. So long as they are in PDP, we are not worried. You know, it is clear now that so many people are defecting from PDP to APC and the PDP is now in a shambles following its so many internal crises. You are well aware of what is happening in PDP at the moment.

Let me tell you, before we closed the last membership revalidation and registration, we recorded a lot of successes in registering our members. We registered more than 42 million members across the country which is a clear indication that people are now moving from PDP to APC.

You remember quite well that in 2019, the total voters who participated in that year’s general elections were just about 29 million in the country.

When we started the last registration, we thought the maximum number of members that could register in each polling unit would be about 100 persons and that would translate to about 36 million. But, to our surprise, we recorded over 42 million and every single person we registered came willingly and gave his PVC, telephone and National Identity Management (NIM) numbers as well as his photograph and date of birth.

This shows that these persons are really interested members of the public who want to join APC. So, it is very encouraging to the extent that we don’t fear anybody from any political party in 2023.

Can you speak on the APC National Caretaker Committee’s journey so far in discharging its mandate?

We have achieved a lot. We have registered all our members. We have even started conducting ward congress without rancour. As you know, we are going to conduct local government congress and state congress ahead of our national convention. I have no doubt in my mind, from what I have seen, having participated in planning most of our initiatives and executing the plans successfully, our party is well accepted by the general public. So, we have no fear whatsoever.

As a major stakeholder in the APC, what is your take on the speculations that the party has micro-zoned its 2023 presidential ticket to southern Christian aspirants?

Let me refresh your mind that our party (APC) constitution has no zoning arrangement and we have not decided that the ticket should go to the South. Since we have no zoning arrangement, the ticket is open to everybody either from the South or the North. So long as our members present him (the APC presidential hopeful), we will accept him. Who told you that the ticket is going to the South? To the best of my knowledge, we never sat to discuss it.

Recently, the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum and the Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, opined that devolution of powers and allocation of more revenue to states will ensure stability of the country. How do you view that suggestion?

That is the responsibility of the National Assembly. Everybody has a right to present a bill to the Assembly and if the law makers find it useful to the nation, they will deliberate on it and the bill can become an Act of Parliament.

What is your position on the concerns in some quarters that APC is neither disposed to credible elections nor e-transmission of election results in 2023 polls?

Well, this is my personal opinion: we are still a developing country trying to adopt electronic voting. We are still struggling to have a stable electricity in the country where a large number of our populace are without electricity. We should not deceive ourselves. I think there are some people, who want to use electronic voting and transmission to manipulate polls results.

Even in developed countries with virtually nationwide electricity supply, they are still struggling with e-voting. In reality, I don’t think we have developed enough to embrace e-voting.

The PDP alleged recently that the APC wants to win November 6, 2021, Anambra governorship election by hook or crook. What is your reaction to this?

The APC is not the governing party in Anambra. Though we are the ruling party in the country, we have no power to compel people to vote for us. We are as a right going into that election. If the APC wins Anambra, that is an indication of people willingly voting for APC. So, there is no reason we want to win Anambra by all means. If we win, it is the will of the people because they cast their votes for us.

What concluding remarks do you have for Nigerians?

What I want to see in this country is free and fair political election. We have taking too long to perfect the process of exercising our own rights. I want us to be civilized enough, at least after 60 years as a nation, to ensure that this political dispensation comes to stay and whatever we can do to ensure we perfect the system, we should do it in the best interest of the people without rancour.

We should allow people to elect the parties and candidates of their choice without fear or rancour. It is high time we did the right thing and be mature enough to carry out political activities without acrimony. So, I wish Nigerians will now accept politics without bitterness in our elections as the late Waziri Ibrahim advised. That will ensure our progress and unity.