No party crisis can stop Tinubu’s presidential ambition — Hon. Aliu Asipita

The National Coordinator, Tinubu Door-2-Door Ambassadors, Hon. Aliu Asipita speaks extensively with OLASEINDE GBENGA about how the support group has been canvassing assidiously for forefront 2023 Presidential Aspirant, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He also narrated the rancorous leadership of the embattled former Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), Chairman, Mai Mala Buni which brought about the emergence of Niger State Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, as the acting Chairman of the Caretaker Committee. Excerpts:

Door-2-Door Ambassadors under the auspices of Tinubu Support Group have been at the forefront of mobilisation for Tinubu’s presidential ambition come 2023. You had a national summit in Abuja lately, which attracted all state executives. What is your take on the summit?

The summit was a huge success by different estimations: Do you want to look at it by the virtue of attendance from state coordinators, regional coordinators, the attendance by our critical stakeholders? At that summit, we had the Director General of TInubu Support Group in person of Arch. Umahru Ibrahim Muhammad. We had in attendance the Director of Admin, Tinubu Support Group, Hajia Safar Adam, and other members of the management. Do you also want to look at it by the robust presentation at the summit? We had a lecture on the main theme, entitled “Tinubu’s Political and Economic Philosophy: THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA IN THE BALANCE,” delivered by Dr Nasiru Saidu Muhammad from Amadu Bello University, Zaria. We also had a panel of discussants around the sub-themes canvassing for door-to-door level and other related issues, such as polling unit oversight and mobilisation of voters. So, by all standards, people came from far away, from Zamfara, Sokoto and some other groups which are affiliates of the Tinubu door-to-door ambassadors were all on ground. It was a huge success, I can categorically tell you. The response from the media during and after the summit has also shown that it was a huge success. As a follow up feedback, we have had much from our coordinators, from the trainings they received through their activities. We’ve seen responses from the South-west, North-central, North-east and North-west part of the country. And so, by whatever estimation, it was a huge success.

By March 29, Tinubu will be 70 years old. He was strong, young and agile during his administration as the Governor of Lagos state, which helped him to change the fortune of Lagos state. Do you think he has that ability to become the president, turn the situation and paddle the affairs of the largest black nation?

Well, I have answered this severally. When you ask if he has the agility; irrespective of his age, today, I don’t think there’s any aspirant who is as agile as his Excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed TInubu. He has been going round the country. We’ve seen him moving from one state to the other; we’ve seen him moving from one region to the other, consulting. We’ve seen a lot of consultations in the North. We’re currently seeing a huge level of consultation down South and we’ve seen people moving around him. So, in terms of agility, he is agile to campaign and to win the votes of Nigerians, the answer is yes. You also mentioned him being younger while he was the Lagos State Governor. Now, him being younger led Lagos on the pedestal that it is today. Take a look at it today, the movement he took while he was young is the experience he has gathered. That experience with the capacity, the legacies that we can see from Lagos and the whole of Southwest as it were, have become part of him, and that experience is what he’s bringing at the national level. Don’t forget that in life, age is a critical advantage when it comes to leadership. We’re not just talking about leadership, we’re talking about leadership of the largest and most delicate black nation on the surface of the earth, where you have a conglomeration of different ethnic nationalities, different religions, regions, different economic perspectives. And now, you need a leader not just young at heart, we need a leader who has passed through the system, a leader who understands the emotional undercurrents of Nigeria, who can relate with people irrespective of the region. He has the capacity to understand the diverse tendencies within the country. Is it at the level of the party, All Progressive Congress (APC), which is the conglomeration of different parties that fused together? We need that elderly domino; we need that matured kind of leader. You cannot use his age as a determinant if he would be effective or not, rather I will tell you that his age comes with the experience he has acquired over the years. It comes with the contacts he has acquired over the years; it comes with confidence that Nigerians have built in him across the different regions. Are you talking about the Niger Delta, Southeast, Northwest, North-Central and the North-East. He has been a leader of the APC especially after its formation, reaching out to people, reconciling aggrieved members of the party, and people see him not just as an elderly man, but as the father of the party and the nation in the making. Look at the recent crisis rocking the APC, you can see people running to him to resolve issues. This is what we are saying — an elderly leader  who will come with perspectives to national issues when he becomes president.

Tinubu conveyed an invitation, scheduled for March 16, to APC Caucuses in the National Assembly through the Senate president, Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, which they read out on the floor at  plenaries. Is he going there to seek for their support or how best would you describe such invitation?

It tells you more about the mentioned points. He’s the national leader of our great party, APC, and as it were today, the APC is in a moment of transition. It is no doubt, it is like when you have a woman who has been pregnant for nine months, for her to give birth, it’s usually a difficult challenge, and this depends on how that delivery phase is managed. That is the transition the APC is witnessing right now. This is time for us to pull together. It is time for the caucuses to pull together, the House of Assembly, the Governors, party members and the critical stakeholders both at the state and national level to pull together. We’ve seen that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has made that appeal to the National Assembly to have meeting with the caucuses. I can assure you he has two things on his mind: The unity and the legacy of this party and as well, appeal to the members to pull together, and this has been his fatherly role in the party. I can also tell you that his candidature for the next election is unquestionable. So, his fatherly disposition to help us pull together makes it imminent and this is the kind of father we want. Whether he will be saying it overtly or covertly, this is the father we want. This is the kind of leader Nigerians should look out for; this is the kind of leader APC would want to bear its flag in the presidential election.

Nigerian electorates seem to be apprehensive towards 2023 general elections. Some regions feel marginalised and bastardised, as issues that affect their welfare receive scant attention by the present administration, as claimed. How would you convince and canvass them to vote for TInubu?

I don’t believe this administration paid/pays scant attention to issues affecting some regions. We can look at it holistically and from the perspective that the challenges that confront our nation are huge and humongous. Are you talking about power, critical infrastructure; are you talking about the insecurity that was inherited, hoping that we would all pull efforts together to end it. But we saw an exuberant insecurity. Do not forget as well that the resources at the disposal of the government is confined in terms of what the government can do to meet up with responsibilities for the people. If the government is unable to meet up with certain expectations of Nigerians, it is not that the government deliberately under his excellency president Muhammadu Buhari ignored it, but because it has to be realistic within the confines of the scarce resources that is available. You further asked how Nigerians will see Tinubu. He, Bola Tinubu, towers above all; he towers above every other person that you see on the field showing overt or covert interest in running for the exalted office of this land. His legacy has shown us when he was a governor in Lagos for eight years; he brought people from other states to be members of executives at the state level. He brought people from the East, North and from the Southern region. He empowered and supports states through peer reviewed mechanisms. Having left the office, he has been supportive to Nigerians, leaders at different levels with capacities to emerge. We’ve seen him over the years aiding governmental development across Nigeria which tells us that he believes in the unity of this country by bringing in people from different ethnic groups and religions. He has also diversified his personal portfolio across the nooks and crannies of the Country. We have Tinubu’s investment everywhere, and that is to tell you he’s a leader who has confidence in this country. There’s virtually no region today that is not rooting for Tinubu. You know why? He has built contact with this people over the years, associated and empowered them, helped their critical stakeholders, helped their sons and daughters to grow within the social strata over the years. Many have said this is the time for repayment of all he has done over the years. There is no other reason Nigerians are rooting for him, but because we are comfortable that we are going to be safe by his style of leadership.

Governor El-Rufai said the President  held a meeting with the APC Governors, and he gave them a clear directive to remove the embattled Chairman of the APC’s CECPC, Mai Mala Buni who is presently out of the country, due to continuous delay of the National Convention, which necessitated the Niger state Governor, Sani Bello to take over as the Acting Chairmanship role. How true is this? And how would you describe the party rancour and leadership shakeup with the embattled chairman?

Yes, this is very true. We cannot but take a word of Gov. El-Rufai for what it is. He’s one of the party leaders that I respect tremendously, and for him to have come out in non-mincing words saying what the presidential directive was, there’s no reason anyone should be in doubt of that. Before what the president directed was actualised, we saw our dear party APC drifting to the albatross. Our party was at the verge of national collapse. We have crises across different states of the country; we have leadership tussle at the national level; we have different blocks at the party positioning and contesting for the presidency in 2023. Inspite the good work that Mai Mala Buni was able to achieve, we cannot but concede some of these to him. But I think some inordinate ambition that arise within the caretaker committee itself and among the critical stakeholders at the level of the Governors’ forum and some other blocks within the party threatens to tear this party apart. But the president in his wisdom handles this well because he’s a democratic. He left everybody because he wants everyone to exercise his own acumen and party ideology. And then we can see that the party is drifting apart, and the intervention of the president has saved us. The emergence of his excellency, the Gov. of Niger state, Abubakar Sani Bello, has the acting chairman of the caretaker committee couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m one of those who supported him and prayed for his success. He’s a man who has the demeanor to manage a party in crisis and pull us together. Every well meaning members of this party upon whom the hope of N200million Nigerians rest, as we are today and into the future, will only do better but to support him.

Will the zonal congresses and the convention slated for March 26 hold?

Concerning the convention, I can vouch by the directive of president Muhammadu Buhari, and on the unity we are galvanising right now within the party, and on the commitment of the party critical stakeholders, the Governors and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the founding fathers of the party, that by the special grace of God the convention will hold.

The CECPC has no statutory authority under the law. Any state congress or national convention conducted by it to produce any party leadership at any level remains invalid and unrecognised by the law from the states to the federal level, as well as presidential primary election. This can be traced to Zamfara and River States in  the 2019 general elections. Will this crisis rocking  APC blow up Tinubu’s ambition?

Tinubu’s ambition can never be thwarted by whatever crisis you think is in the APC today.  It is a movement; it is an ambition born out of the zeal to build national development, to contribute and improve the life of ordinary Nigerians. Putting in perspective the crisis of the party today, Tinubu’s presidential ambition is on its way to restoring the party and its on its way to restore the mission to the part of prosperity which we all deserve. The Caretaker Committee whether it has statutory or constitutional backing, the lawyers are working on this and from what we’ve seen in the Constitution of Nigeria and from what we’ve seen in the party’s Constitution, and from what we’ve seen in the electoral act as amended in public domain, every party has the ability and right to decide how it wants to run its affairs. We’ve seen different legal issues come to substantiate on the issue. But beyond that, the internal issue of the APC is on the part to be reconciled and no court of competent jurisdiction today has said whatever the APC has done by the virtue of the caretaker committee is not inline with the law. The party APC is filled with intellectuals. These intellectuals come very handy within the legal profession. We have the Senior Advocates, retired judges within the party whom in their wisdom I believe are directing the legal decisions the party stakeholders are taking. The issue at Zamfara is quite different, and it is not applicable to what is generally happening right now in APC. The good news now is that APC is pulling together and the issue that made the the Mai Mala Buni tenure rancorous are being addressed. Now, reconciliation has started and you can see some of the governors who are potentially vying for offices have started visiting his excellency Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for guidance and support. We just saw Ebonyi State Governor visited Tinubu and that is to tell you that he still remain the national leader. Irrespective of anybody’s political agenda, he remains the rallying point within the party.

We have witnessed more of terrorism, banditry, separatist activities, labour unrest and economic uncertainties. These are the issues that touch the lives of average Nigerians. Nigerians are now agitating for younger president adding that these aforementioned abnormalities have kept us down for long as a nation through recycling of old and same politicians. What is your take on this?

For young president, I have my reservation on that. I’m a believer in youth power; I’m a believer in the potential of youths because of our creativity, energy and ideology. We are on the goal because the Not-Too-Young campaign and bill which was signed by His excellency president Muhammad Buhari has brought this more to the fore, and as it is today, we have lots of youth in the corridor of power. We have a lot of youths who are local government chairmen, state governors, ward concillors and honourable members at the National Assembly. We also have youths aspiring for the president. The point here is that, is being a youth the prerequisite to the kind of leadership we expect? From across the world, we can see a lots of nations have their exalted offices for people who are in that adult stage of life, and there’s a reason because we are not talking about people who are Personal Assistant (P.A), Special Adviser (S.A) at the level of public offices. We are talking about the life of a nation, it’s economic, it’s policy, it’s sentiment, it’s emotional undercurrents and for you to lead such a nation, it takes a process of evolution; it takes a process of growth of an individual that will rise up to that exalted office. If you tell me a country as complicated as Nigeria can be ruled by a 40-year-old person, in the contemporary times that we are and you have the results that we want to see, then I want to see that possibility. I want to see in the future that a 40-50 years Old can rule Nigeria and give us good results. From where we stand today, we need people who have the wisdom, the requisite experience, the requisite exposure, the legacies, the capacity. Age does not preclude any one. For the aforementioned qualities,  Tinubu himself falls in the run of who we believe is elderly, and do not forget the elderly wisdom is very critical in solving the problems we are facing in Nigeria. We’ve talked about imsecurity we have been facing, marginalisation, bastardisation and Nigerians wanting to do things outside of the law. We need a Nigerian who has evolved through the process, through the structure, through the party and someone who understands the diverse geo-political setup of Nigeria and who can pull us together. And that is why for me, Tinubu who is not in his youth comes very handy. We can also see that TInubu is a person who empowers the youth. We’ve seen a lot of his products intellectually. We have seen some of his products becoming Governors, Senators, House of Rep members and some local government Chairmen and some within the corporate world doing well because he has mentored a lot of leaders, and they are following his footsteps by delivering qualitative leadership. I would not be surprised if tomorrow at the age of 40-60years we have a younger president whom evolved within the Tinubu school of thought, come to lead Nigeria effectively. But at this point in time, what I suggest to Nigerians especially the youth, let us look at the other leadership capacity. You can become a ward level chairman, councillor, a governor, an house of Rep member and a senator. You can get involved in the process, let us learn. It takes time to become the president of the nation; it is not a child’s play; it takes integrity, character discipline, and intellectualism. We need to see a display of these qualities from our youths before taking over.

What should we be expecting from you personally, do you have a political ambition?

Interestingly, I have an aspiration. I’m at the phase of consulting, while we’re moving across the country to sell the candidacy of His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which we have, by the grace of God, build the structure across the 36 states of Nigeria down to the local government and ward levels; we are mobilising for him. I’m at that phase of consulting before coming to the decision if I should vis-a-vis what we are doing for his Excellency already. I have had interaction with some of my close associates on this. I believe at the right time we will take a decision if we should proceed to avail ourself to our constituency which is Okehi/Adavi federal constituency and to serve them in any capacity.