Chairman of Senate Committee on Special Duties, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, who represents Taraba Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, tells NATHANIEL ZACCHEAUS about his views on the recently amended Electoral Act by the federal legislature and accented to by President Muhammadu Buhari last month, and his plans for Taraba if he becomes the state governor next year, among other issues

Why do you want to run for the office of Governor in Taraba State and not contest to become a Senator again?

Normally in life, you look at what options you have, and how you’re going to be the best to assist your people. I actually would have contested in 2019 for the governorship of Taraba State. However, you have to weigh your chances and see how best your people can be accommodated. I didn’t want to actually, go against an incumbent. But all the same, we had wonderful contestants. Wonderful candidates, wonderful brothers and sisters, who ordinarily would also have been in the scheme of things to contest for governorship. That is why having 11 senatorial contestants in Taraba State, we were able to pick one that is his Excellency, Sani Abubakar who contested in 2019 for the governorship of Taraba State. However, this time we are looking at things differently. His Excellency, Governor Darius is finishing his term and when we look at it Taraba Central is the least participating constituency in terms of governorship. I want to put in my little effort to make Taraba State a better place.

What do you intend to do differently if you win?

For about 20 years it has been a PDP government in Taraba State and I’m coming from the flagship platform of APC. So, we’re going to adopt the principles of APC in running the governorship of Taraba State. Certainly, you will agree with me, that the manifesto of APC is not the same as the manifesto of PDP. Hence, we are going to adopt the principles in the manifesto of APC and that is what we are going to do differently because APC is different from PDP in all its ramifications.

What are the challenges of your people that you have seen over the years that you want to go and address?

There are lots of challenges; lack of education, poverty, challenges in wealth creation, and challenges of infrastructure. There are so many challenges that I believe we can tackle, to uplift the welfare of our people.

What are the chances of APC changing the scope of the office?

Taraba is an APC state but it is a PDP government. This time, we will try and make it possible for us to have an APC government as well. Remember Taraba Central where I contested the senatorial in 2015 and 2019 and I won. I was the only APC Senator in Taraba state until recently when a colleague of mine joined the party, from southern Taraba. I think without additional impetus, APC is going to make a good outing this time in Taraba State.

Is APC in Taraba planning to have a consensus to select its candidates, because we believe/heard that senator Emmanuel Bwacha has also indicated an interest in contesting for the same office on the APC platform as well?

Well, consensus, direct or indirect, are all options that are provided by law and it is open to the political party. The political party will look at what is suitable for each step, and then adopt whatever. if it turned out to be a consensus then we sit down among ourselves and brainstorm and look at how the consensus will work. It is all within the principles of the APC

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Was there a talk between you and Senator Emmanuel Bwacha before he joined your party?

Yes. I mean, he is a big brother of mine. We have been talking, we’ve been saying it is God that gives power to those who want to contest, and we are knocking on the door of God. It is only God that can open the door for every one of us. So, we leave it like that. I told him that we found open hearts and open minds without any challenge, any hatred, we are mature people in the Senate. We will not behave like people who are coming in freshly and want to do banditry and the like. After all, the electoral law is very, very clear this time. All those things that have happened in the past, I don’t think within the Electoral Act of 2022, will be feasible and viable again.

Will either of you work for each other, if either of you emerges as a candidate and what assurance do you have on that?

Well, I welcome him to the family of APC, I have been in APC since 2014 when it was registered. He just recently joined us about three months ago. We’ve been talking and as far as we are concerned, if I happen to be the candidate, I expect him to join me and then wholeheartedly go for a good run to clinch the governorship of Taraba State.

What assurance do you have that there will be a free and fair election?

Well, free and fair are subject to many things; INEC, is also subject to security among others. We tried to consult one another, we talk amongst ourselves and we educate and enlighten our followers to make sure that what we are doing is for the benefit of everyone in Taraba State and not to be selfish not to think that the winner takes all. My government by the grace of God is not going to be winner takes all. We can see what has been happening in this country, the moment you have a winner takes you have a lot of issues. We think that we should share power, we should discuss it with our brothers and sisters, and we will build it from where architect Darius stopped.

Talking about the free and fair elections. Do you think that the National Assembly did a thorough job on this recently passed and accepted two electoral acts because what happened today showed that there are some lapses and loopholes?

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Well, I agree but I don’t want to call them lapses or loopholes, I will call them challenges of electoral development. Remember, this is the first time we are bringing criminal aspects of people participating in the elections. We cannot have it all, we are all human beings and there is a limit to what you can do it at the same time. But I think we have tried the best that we could to at least bring up something that will be workable within the present circumstances. I have my reservations, but you know the majority will carry the vote. For instance, I can give you this very clearly, each time I look at our political parties they have been subjected to INEC. I watched to the extent that there are so many aspects of running a political party, which has been transferred to INEC. Perhaps the political parties have become appendages of INEC, and appendages of government and this are unfortunate. Clearly, these are issues that over the future, they can look at the electoral law or look at the party as a club of our brothers and sisters who come together and they want to run but the brothers and sisters that have come to run are now subjected to what INEC will say and do under the electoral law. I think we need to look at it again, to get to know the parties and give them free hand to run their business. I agree we are coming from historical antecedents where people who are under political parties had a lot of infractions against one another, infractions against the system, infractions against laws, I agree, but we are a developing democracy, as time goes on, certainly other people will come and play their role in making the electoral act better. Even in our national constitution, certain areas are not as people want them, so we’ll continue to develop and improve.

What is common in most states though unwritten is power rotation or power shift among their senatorial district, the present governor of Taraba State, and you are from Taraba Central we believe that your chances of clenching the candidate role are very high but in case you didn’t get the party’s ticket or the office what is your plan B?

Well, I have said so before, I’m not running for the Senate even if the offer is given to me. No, I’m only running for the office of the governorship. If unfortunately, we’re unable to scale through, I will go back to my profession. I’m a professional. I was a banker for so many years and a financial expert. I was also an investment advisor, there are so many areas one can fall back to, and that is why I believe I’m not going there because I don’t have anything to do but I am going there because I want to improve a lot of the people in Taraba State.

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How would you assess the current government of Taraba State?

Well, to be honest, no government is perfect. No governor is perfect. I believe any areas that we find to be lacking in the governance of Taraba and we will improve on that. Darius, as I said, has been the Governor, he is a good man, a good sportsman, but the only thing I will say is he had bad advisors. Wherever he stopped, I will take over. When I am governor, I will continue to consult him. He was there. He should be able to please accept and give us detailed technical advice, we will not run away from seeking advisors. We’re not going to claim that we are perfect, we will also not claim we have everything and we know everything about Taraba State that we will go ahead and do things without consulting people. My administration will do things by consulting stakeholders. Now and then we will discuss with our former bosses to see the best we can do.

What is your take on everybody contesting for the presidential position under the APC?

I don’t want it to look at it like is a market, I want to look at it like APC his beautiful wife. Beauty attracts, it is an attraction, it is just to tell you that this is the party to beat and we are willing to provide the best and to move on to the next level once President Muhammadu Buhari departs. If we have more to come let them come that is a democracy, that is expressing your views, and your intentions, that means all of us will comply, and we will sit down as a family and discuss. It is no matter of N100m, people were thinking that if you put an N100m price tag, you’re going to discourage people but we have not seen it. That is why in politics, you can assume one thing but you do not know how the people will react. If I was told about six of us would buy forms in Taraba State as governors I would have said no. only the six of us were bringing out about N300m to buy forms and the senators are there and other members likewise. As I said, it is not just the money it is the perception and confidence people have in APC which is beautiful for the whole political party.