Even with BVAS, election can be manipulated —Makarfi

Former National Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi, bares his mind on the state of the party, its chances in the coming elections and the issue of ethno-religious sentiments. He spoke with some journalists, MUHAMMAD SABIU brings the excerpts:

It seems the campaign for the general election is no longer based on issues, but on personality attacks. What is your reaction?

Right on the onset, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been running a team campaign, and of course, until the All Progressives Congress (APC), through its desperation, went too personal. There may have been issues to do with the APC candidate in the media, social media, not propelled by PDP but by other players in the society. Of all the recent happenings, you have to look at who started it. But then no matter who started it, campaigns should be issue-based. We should come back to finesse for the sake of the country. We should continue to campaign based on issues that matter to the people. The current trend is not limited to only PDP and APC, but it involves all the parties. In each of the parties, you can find issues. The three major parties are not in any way undermining other parties. But in term of national spread and the possibility of running national government, and if that is the case, we know that there are three parties: PDP, APC and Labour Party. I am talking in terms of votes and runoff. And you are talking about the fourth party, it is the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP). And it is from the top three that two can emerge.

Some Nigerians are of the view that the political parties now promote ethnic and religious sentiments in their desperate bid to win elections. Can we now say the parties do not have any ideological base?

If you look at the parties and their structures, as well as issues, the PDP remains the issue-based Nigerian party because it is not based on any ethnic or religious drive. PDP is a rainbow of people and ideas. It is equity-based. Whether you like it or not, the whole principle of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Muslim/Muslim ticket is to divide Nigerians along that line; in their calculation, along the line of religious sentiment since there are no tangible achievements they can point out. So, let them play out religious sentiment so that they can retain power. In reaction to that, it may not have started that way, it should have even started on the basis of some laudable objectives, but then what is happening, and again religious sentiments creep into it. And that is the truth. So, two political parties, whose foundation is bearing religion and ethnicity and to divide Nigeria along that line, will be the most dangerous decision Nigerians will ever make. Again, if you look at the Labour Party, it’s not different from the APC because it’s also promoting Christian sentiments. Two wrongs cannot make a right. Most of its supporters are whipping up Christian sentiments, and to some extent, ethnic sentiments too.  The PDP is not in that category of a political party right from inception and till now. So, it is the only party that you can say is for everybody, irrespective of your religious, ethnic and socio-economic status. It is a direction we should all go. We should try as much possible to avoid a runoff because it could be far more of a deficit and worsen the level of division we have now.

The way things are going do you think opposition is ready to win the election and assume political power?

As a matter of fact, I have said it time without number that it is only in Nigeria you see opposition splitting. You can remember, APC came together as an opposition to assume power.  But, we are having the reverse now; opposition is splitting. Yet, they want to return to power. That is deceptive; that is self-serving. It is our thinking that opposition should come together and agree on a common agenda on issues affecting Nigeria and how to go about resolving them. They should come up with a system that everybody will be satisfied. More disappointing is that you find leaders, who see this danger and still encourage the split by supporting this side or the other. Leaders bring people together so that a problem is solved. Leaders don’t take side. It is not good for a leader to take side but to bring people together so that you can bring Nigeria back to a normal state.

How worried are you about the G-5 governors of PDP led by Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State against the presidential candidate of the party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar?

It is a political issue; I have been very busy at home. I believe the matter is being handled by those who are supposed to handle it. I don’t have any update on what is happening, so I may not be in the right position to comment much on it. Politics is local; I have been at home leading the campaign. If you notice hardly do you see me at the national rallies because my personal opinion is that the work is at home. And the work at home is enormous.  One needs to be at home to do the needful, not to be deceived.

Don’t you think that the battle of wits can cost PDP victory at the elections?

As I said, it is a matter that is being handled at the national level. And I don’t want to go into that particular matter. Let’s assume that it is the problem at the moment to the public. But, they don’t know the problem of APC because it is not known to the public. If we have a number of governors in PDP, who feel dissatisfied, how many governors do we have on the other side that are dissatisfied and people don’t know? So, politics is not about what you see; you should be more worried about what you don’t see. I am more comfortable and confident that PDP will win this election on the first ballot, God willing. I am confident we can do that.

It appears that APC presidential candidate, Senator Bola Tinubu is so worried that President Muhammadu Buhari has not been with him on his campaign. Can PDP take advantage of this?

If it is not about following candidates on campaign, I have just told you that I have not been going on rallies with our candidate, but I am 100 percent with him. And lam at home working 100 percent to make sure that Kaduna returns to PDP. If you have a responsibility to remain at home, you remain there.  If you don’t have a responsibility to remain at home, you can be anywhere. That is it! I don’t want to talk about someone not being at the rally.  The issue is about the voters. APC has nothing to show to the voters in Kaduna that will make them to be enthusiastic to vote for them. But at the federal and state levels, they want to make use of money, religious sentiment, and I tell you from experience, this sentiment will take them nowhere. I believe people want a state that is fair and equitable. And PDP is structured in a way and manner that is fair and equitable for development in Nigeria. So for me, it is not about showing up at the rally, but about the people who are looking for an alternative and that alternative is PDP, which the people are happy to associate with.

The Sharia Council has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct all the election the same day, what is your take?

You know there is always politics behind all this sort of call. It is up to INEC to act on its own decision. I don’t see INEC, a few weeks to elections to start to juggle its own decision. INEC has come out with a timetable. It will be difficult for it to start amending the timetable with few weeks to elections. And again, it will make it sound religious. Why Sharia Council? If tomorrow the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) should make a special call, what is going to happen? And the next day, the Middle Belt Forum or the Ohanaeze Ndigbo should make contrary calls, what is going to happen? I think the group has expressed its personal opinion, but INEC is a responsible body to act on its own decision.

 You have been leading the PDP campaign in Kaduna State in the bid to win the presidential and governorship elections, but judging from what happened in 2019, do you think your party stands a better chance to unseat the APC this time?

You see each election always come with its difficulties and peculiarities. In 2019, we didn’t have the Labour Party. To me, it is a challenge to PDP in certain part of the state. But again, the sentiment used in 2019 in some parts of the state is not the same sentiment bring used today. There are efforts to use the same sentiment by the ruling party. But, the rejection of those people by the people is very obvious. So, there is dynamism in politics. Things are really changing. For us in the PDP, where we have concerns, we have been engaging with people and we are progressing pretty well. I am very confident that we will win the 2023 elections in the state and in the country. Well, I can say that we don’t have resources; the ones we spend are our personal resources. The party in power use public resources. But, people are now wiser. Up till 2015, the PDP was in power with over 20 states under its control. No matter the resources then, the opposition party took over government; people made up their mind. And I believe, this time around, the people have made up their mind because they are not satisfied with the APC government. So, no matter the amount of money they will spend, people are going to take their money and vote against them.  You can also see that our party today in Kaduna has absolute acceptability by the people everywhere. The issue now is: let the election be free and fair. Some people think that with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the election cannot be manipulated. It can. And, I believe those in authority know it can. So, let us safeguard the electoral materials and equipment to make sure that unpatriotic elements in our country don’t subvert democracy.

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