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Kano State-born elder statesman and former presidential liaison officer, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, speaks to DARE ADEKANMBI on the presidential election, stating the qualities the next president must possess, among others.
What is your assessment of the leading presidential candidates in terms of what they have been telling Nigerians?
I don’t think it will be fair for me to do that because if I say something as to who stands a better chance among them, in the same token, I am saying other don’t stand a chance. I don’t like to do that. I don’t want to create misunderstanding between me and any of the candidates.
Some people have expressed worry that the issues of ethnicity and religion are coming to play in the build up to the election. Do you see it that way too?
Well, I think you are going about the bush. You want me to talk about Muslim-Muslim ticket and you are making a preamble. The candidates were nominated and the nomination was done all over the country. Each and every one of them, in the process of getting the nomination, was supported by people from different ethnic groups. The fact that they emerged through that process, in my opinion, means that they are national candidates. The people who voted for them to emerge from their various platforms are Nigerians. So, who will say those who voted for them are not entitled to do that? They have been nominated by their parties in a manner as prescribed by the constitution, the Electoral Act and of course the guidelines of their parties. So, I cannot query that process.
What is important is for us to let them go to the polls and Nigerians from all parts of the country will decide who will be the next president. The issue of nomination is over now. So, there is nothing anybody can do about it. They have been duly nominated by their parties and INEC appears satisfied with the process because it has since accepted their nomination. So, we can’t change anything that might have happened during the nomination processes.
What would you like to hear from the candidates when campaign is in full gear?
I have nothing in particular that I want to hear from them. What I suppose every one of them should do is to come out and tell Nigerians what they have in stock for them and how the intend to implement their programmes if they win. When the time for elections comes, Nigerians will go out and choose the person of their choice. It is too late now to talk about somebody being qualified to run as president or not.
Are you concerned that after 23 years of civil rule, the longest in the chequered history, the political parties are yet to achieve stability?
Yes, there is instability in the parties, but the fault is not from the candidates alone. It is the intervention of the military from 1966 onwards that made the practice of politicking not the way it ought to be played. I think we need to do is to urge the electorate to vote for people on their merit. They should not vote for people because of the section of the country they come from or their tribe or even they religion they profess. Whoever is going to the next president should be a president for all Nigerians, Muslims, Christians and even non-religious people. This is a country of over 200m people. Nobody can make 200 people think alike, let alone 200m people. So, let us ignore the question of Muslim-Muslim ticket. Let us face the issue of the election. Today, we have 36 states in Nigeria. If you take an inventory of the candidates that emerged from the various parties, they will form their cabinets by appointing people not based on religion of ethnicity. This is if they win. If you take a look at the list of governors in the 36 states, you will see that is some states, both the governors and their running mates are from the same religious background and they were nominated by their parties. So, you will find out that the practice of people of the same faith running together is not new. Those who do this in the country are even in the majority when you look at the parties.
The US has raised the alarm over likely terrorist attacks in some parts of the country. Coming close to election period, what do you make of this?
The American government which issued the warning did not explain the nature and the character of the threat. So, we need more information from them to be able to decide what the nature and character of the attack will be. The information is not complete. So, we cannot jump to conclusion. Let us find out whether the statement is true.
Will such a report have any bearing on the mood of Nigerians for the elections?
Well, it is premature. We need to know the nature of the threat to be able to determine what will happen. There are a lot of speculations going on in the world, including Nigeria. People speculate a lot. So, the concern should be to confirm the story if it is true or not.
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