Khamisu Mailantarki is the governorship candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Gombe State for the 2023 elections. He spoke with ISHOLA MICHAEL on his chances against an incumbent.
How prepared are you to compete against an incumbent in Gombe State?
The NNPP, like any other political party in Gombe State, is very strong and we have our solid structure on the ground and we have people of very respectful status in our fold. We a very good and strong structure capable of winning elections any time. We are very ready to reclaim Gombe State from the people, who do not have vision for the development of the state, no mission and they have failed students, businesses men and women, civil servants, farmers, in fact every individual in Gombe State.
Before now, it was supposed to be very difficult to face and approach an incumbent governor during election but now in the case of Gombe, it is very simple because the people of the state are tired of this kind of administration and ruling. No one is happy. The farmer is crying; students are crying; business men and women are crying. If you can think of it, every sector of the state people are crying. This is the first time that the state fell into the hands of leaders that their focus is not the common man. Their focus is what they want to get; it is a very unusual development.
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The people of Gombe are tired. We had an opportunity to represent the people in the past as a member of the House of Representatives, at least the people believed in what I did, I had just a little opportunity and with the little we were able to do then, the people were able to convince and pressurized us that we should come out and contest, that is why we are contesting and today I have the ticket as the gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). I believe that looking at my past, it is not going to be a difficult thing running Affairs of the state especially now that the incumbent Governor has proven beyond reasonable doubt that he doesn›t have the capacity to take the state to the next level.
In 2011, you fought your way to represent the people of Gombe/Kwami /FunakayeFederal Constituency in the seventh National Assembly, defeating the power of incumbency under the then Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Do you see the same thing happening in 2023?
This is a very good reminder for even the people of Gombe. In 2011 when I contested, that was the beginning of my political career. I looked at what was happening then and I saw a window that the people of Gombe are well-educated in terms of elections and what have you! So, the issue of incumbencyor god-fatherism does not work in Gombe; it is a mere saying and an imagination. I proved that in 2011 when we saw the window; when we believed that we could do better than what was on the ground. I ran for the seat in the House of Representatives under the platform of the then CPC, which was very unpopular, but when we got into the party, we were able to restructure it, got the right people and today the story is there to tell and the people of Gombe believe in our course, determination and they elected me to represent Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency with the highest votes among all of the 360 members in the House of Representatives.
Winning elections is all about effective mobilisation of voters. How soon are you starting your campaign?
We will start very soon. It not a matter of rushing that today, the campaign has started and will have to stop. We don›t want to make mistakes. What is important is to do the right thing; put the house in order, put the right people in place that are capable and know the state very well. In a matter of weeks, we will kick-start the campaigns and as soon as we flag off the campaign, no stopping us because the structure is firm, we have a lot of things we are working on, apart from the party structure; we have so many layers of the campaign. In fact, we have not officially started the campaign but a lot of people have been consulting.
There is an allegation that you did not go for the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) scheme, therefore you do not possess the NYSC discharge certificate.
Well, just as you have rightly said, the case is before a court of competent jurisdiction, so I may not want to preempt what the court will say. But what is happening is just one of the things that shows clearly that the PDP are afraid. They are weaken and they are seeing a big problem. But to me, that is not the issue. Let us discuss issues not problems. You are trying to shy away from the reality by accusing this and that.
What is your advice to the electorate in Gombe?
My last words is to call the attention of our teeming youths, this time around, is that we have to practise politics without bitterness. We have to practise politics without thugger; we have to practice politics without hurting anyone; we have to be very clear and specific on our candidates. We should not vote for people, who are asking us to go to the streets and kill ourselves. We should know that after the elections, there is life.
The entire people of Gombeare just like one family, if in the process of elections you hurt someone, you kill someone. The elections will go and we will be together. Let us practise politics like playing a football match; we just go into the pitch and after the match, we shake each other, dine and wine together. There is no permanent enemy in politics, so, this is my preaching.
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