The re - elected Senator for Kwara Central and leader of
the All Progressives Congress , APC, in the State , Dr .
Bukola Saraki , in this interview he granted journalists at
his Ilorin residence, bared his mind on the 2015 general
elections and sundry national issues . Stephen Olufemi
Oni was there for TheNEWS
What is your take on the just concluded general
elections ?
This victory is not only for the APC, it is for all Nigerians .
I say this with all sincerity because it was the
determination of Nigerians and their commitment to stand
for what they believed in that got us thus far . In the past ,
Nigerians and voters in general would not come out to
vote and even when they came , it was not with
conviction ; they were frustrated with the process . But this
time around , it was clear that Nigerians were convinced
that APC represents change and it was time for a new
Nigeria . I always believe that we are opening a new
chapter in this country . Nigeria can never be the same
again and that to me is the greatest achievement . The
victory of APC in the elections is small to me compared to
that of Nigeria . The Nigeria we are starting now is the one
all of us have been craving for . We will now begin to see
good governance . Now, all our elected officers must be
accountable and deliver dividends of democracy to all . In
Kwara state , the way politicians in the opposition parties
behave is that Kwarans are fools .
They go away for three and half years and come back six
months to elections and believe they can take the people
for granted. They are not the kind of people to be trusted
with leadership of the state . Whatever you might say
about APC , they are the people that are always there with
the people . Everybody knew how President Goodluck
Jonathan told the world that they would take Kwara back
to PDP . Normally, under that kind of situation when
people see almighty power, the tendency is for them to
desert you . But the people of Kwara did not desert us and
that is why I am entirely grateful to them . They stood by
us despite the threat coming from the centre . The period
was fraught with intimidation , blackmail and all sorts of
harassment .
There was nothing they did not use to threaten the people
but Kwarans say no and they gave us a result that is even
better than that of 2011 . In 2011, we did not have the
whole 24 members of the state House of Assembly which
the APC now enjoys . For Kwarans , all I can say is that we
will continue to do our best to justify the confidence they
have reposed in our party under our leadership . And at
the national level , it is our honest view that we have now
put in place a more credible person , General Buhari , who
will be accountable and ensure better funding at both the
state and local governments levels . We have seen what
has happened to the exchange rate with the naira
appreciating for about 30 % just for the fact that
President- elect Buhari is coming and the APC is forming
the government .
As a chieftain of APC, what agenda will you set for the
incoming Gen. Muhammadu Buhari administration ?
The President- elect , in the campaign, was very clear on
this. Issues of corruption , insecurity and unemployment , I
think , are three critical problems plaguing Nigeria which
he promised his administration would tackle headlong in
order to rein in insurgency across the country , most
especially the Boko Haram , and restore credibility and
belief in our military. There will be zero tolerance for
corruption and from the backdrop of that, you begin to see
revenue coming up and you will have more money for
infrastructural development .
How about the quality of people forming the President-
elect ’ s cabinet ?
I think the President- elect has emphasized issues of
integrity and capacity . You have also heard what I just
talked about the challenges ahead ; they are , no doubt ,
daunting . It is not going to be a tea party . There is a lot of
work to be done , we have the mess to clean up . We also
have expectations to meet for all the people that have
gone around on the change slogan . To expect immediate
result , we must have people that will hit the ground
running and be able to perform . The issue now is to
secure balance between the political expectation of
people who have supported the party to win and party
performance . It is clear that with the kind of mandate we
have been given , we must ensure we perform and we
succeed so that we do not run into the same problem as
the PDP .
What is your take on asset declaration ?
We are just making a lot of noise of it . Definitely , by and
large , there is no public servant that would not declare
his assets . Now with the FOI , you must declare your
assets with the Code of Conduct Bureau and you declare
it in public . But I don’ t think it is asset declaration that
would make you less corrupt or more accountable . I think
it is your own individual commitment to your party and
the leadership provided . Leadership is very important
because if the leader leads by example , honestly, things
are bound to change and will change . But if you are not
accountable and you are stealing government money ,
people will not vote for you , they will vote you out as it
happened to the PDP on March 28 . Honestly , March 28
was a turning point in the history of this country .
With the influx of people into the APC, is Nigeria not
drifting towards a one - party state?
Honestly , one party is not good for our democracy . I
believe that our democracy is beginning to mature and all
hands must be on deck to nurture it to fruition . It is
important for us to see our sacrifice and service and not
about personal gain . When somebody after election does
not have any major or genuine reason for defecting and
he does that, then he is not providing good leadership or
prepared to serve the people. So I do not support the
issue of one party . In Kwara state , some people said they
are freedom fighters , fighting for freedom . So their
freedom fighting should not end after the last election ,
they should remain in their party to continue to do just
that except they were only deceiving the people to use
freedom to try to get what they wanted . The truth is that it
is very clear that they were not fighting for any freedom
but for their own personal aggrandisement .
How will you assess the performance of the INEC
Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega ?
This is the man that has shown us in Nigeria that we have
credible people, we have people that can stand for what
they believe , and that will do the right thing despite all
the pressures. But what I think is more important as he
(Jega ) leaves, he should ensure that the institution he is
leaving behind will continue along this line , to ensure that
his successor also has those principles that he brought
in. And he should play a key role in ensuring that he gets
a good successor so that the good things he had done
will be sustained . I think that is when Nigeria will be
better for it .
What is your comment on Rivers State ’ s elections ?
I don’ t think anybody can deny the fact that compared to
other states of the country that there was something
wrong in the Rivers State ’ s elections . That already raises
a red flag that something had gone wrong there that
needs to be investigated. I think it is only fair for the
people of Rivers to have an election similar to what
happened in other parts of the country . There is nothing
that should be special about Rivers that people should be
deprived of anything that is not up to standard that is
acceptable today in what you call election .
I think the responsibility lies on INEC and elections
petition tribunal to rectify the anomaly . I think more
importantly , we must ensure that people that violated the
electoral laws are punished . It is the only way to make
people in subsequent elections to respect the law . We
must begin to hold people responsible for the actions that
they commit during elections . In all civilized societies ,
going for an election should not degenerate to the level of
one ’ s life being threatened .
What is your reaction to the rumour that the incumbent
Kwara state deputy governor will be replaced by your
sister, Senator Gbemisola Saraki ?
I think that is just a propaganda and cheap blackmail ,
there is no iota of truth in it . You all know what the
constitution provides on the issue . It is clear to some of
these people that this kind of cheap propaganda doesn ’ t
sell . I think that is just garbage talk.
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