A
popular Northern Nigerian politician has blasted Muhammadu Buhari led
administration as he made it clear he will not campaign for him in 2019.
Dr. Junaid Mohammed
Second Republic member of the House Representatives and
Russian-trained Medical Doctor, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, is a readers’
delight any time, any day. He is one politician, who shoots straight
without missing his target. He was a thorn in the flesh of former
President Goodluck Jonathan, during the build up to the 2015 election, a
thing, which saw him, in and out of the DSS’ offices, owing to some
explosive interviews he granted the media then, beginning from 2012.
He appears to have started with Buhari. In this exclusive interview
with Saturday Sun, he x-rayed the about 18 months of the President
Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, with a verdict that the government
has not done well, and that Nigerians should begin to plan the exit of
the current administration, through constitutional means.
He said: “I think those who are bothered about 2019, should
please start getting alliances across, and start planning of how to
bring down the APC government, through constitutional means, and to also
make sure they deny the PDP, a second chance of ruling the country
again. APC is not doing well; I don’t think Buhari is going to do any
better. The crowd around Buhari has nothing to offer.”
Similarly, he said, even the PDP, must be denied the opportunity to return to power, saying,
“in life, as well as in political life, you must be prepared to pay the
price for your own political mistakes, and the only way I know people
are made to pay a political price in a democracy is to deny them the
opportunity to return to power or get them out of power, if they are in
power. As far as I am concerned, I don’t see the deliverables of this
country, through the PDP. “
On Aisha Buhari’s recent outburst, the Kano State-born politician said: “I
have received calls from my friends from the Southern part of the
country, telling me they don’t know our women can be that bold to talk
the way Madam Buhari did, and I just laughed. Are they saying the air we
breathe in the North, is different from theirs or what? We also have to
look at the culture. There is nothing she did, which is wrong, because
she is playing politics, the way her husband is playing it. And the
truth is that the country has been badly shortchanged by the individuals
she mentioned and who we know. What is wrong with that? If you have not
elected somebody, why should you keep quiet when the person is
exercising political power? This individual is not a government
appointee, yet, he wields more powers than the President. We elected
Buhari, but this individuals even uses the presidential jets, more than
the person we willingly elected to exercise political power. And if the
President’s wife is now complaining, what is wrong with that?” Enjoy the rest of the interview conducted by TUNJI LASISI.
It is now about 17 months since the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led administration came into being, looking at the journey so
far, how would you assess the government?
Well, I sincerely hope you are not expecting me to be sycophantic.
You have known me over the years; I don’t pay lip service to mediocrity,
when in fact, it is a mediocrity. Addressing directly, the questions
you just posed to me. I think anybody who has been living in this
country since the 29th of May 2015, till this date, knows that the lot
of persons in this country has been very, very, very bad. It is also
very clear that this government has not lived up to expectations of
Nigerians. Bribery and corruption are and have always been existential
threat to the survival of this country, its progress and prosperity. So,
as for the re-energised fight against corruption, the government has
gotten it right. But beyond that, other aspects for which the ruling
party and government in power, made definite promises and commitment to
Nigerians, have not come to pass. So as far as I am concerned, it is a
record that I am not impressed about.
The picture you have painted now appears to be at variance with the
position of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, which said recently that
the North would back Buhari again, should he present himself again in
2019. You were at the summit in Kaduna, are you now dissociating
yourself from that position?
I was invited to attend the meeting in Kaduna. I was not invited as
a member because I have never been and will never be a member of the
Northern Elders Forum, and same applies to the Arewa Consultative Forum,
ACF. But where a situation arises, that I am given an invitation to
attend a meeting or conference, to discuss issues, in which I believe
matters that we have mutual concerns or interest in, can be discussed, I
will attend. Let me say it loud and clear that I am not a party to
those who believe, for whatever reason that, Buhari is entitled to a
second term, especially when that wishful thinking, has refused to take
into cognizance his performance in office. He has not performed, in my
view, well enough, to be given a second term. This is being said, not
only by me, but by also his own wife. And he cannot be closer to
anybody, than his own wife.
Also, let me also say here that there was something fraudulent in
the manner the NEF summit in Kaduna, was convened. After I left, a day
or so after, a kind of communiqué was issued, in which it was stated
that we will support him, as a northerner. That is not my understanding
of how politics is played. Forget about what they say, even if they said
so. I attended because Prof. Ango Abdullahi invited me. But if the
proceedings of the summit are anything to go by, I doubt if anyone can
tell me, the aim was to support Buhari. You cannot gather personalities,
and use them to legitimize your endorsement of Buhari, for a second
term. That is not my understanding of politics and that is not the way I
play politics. I have never claimed to speak for the North, so I don’t
know what the decision of the North will be. And nobody can claim the
arrogance to speak for the North, to the extent that if he said the
North should vote for Buhari, they will listen to him. I doubt, if the
North will listen. The North has never been a monolithic one. There have
always been divergent views on issues. Check the history. So it has
been, so it is today, and so it will always be, till the end of time.
Should Buhari decide to run, will you support him?
I will not vote for him, and I will not campaign for him.
Earlier, you said, you will never be a member of either the
ACF or NEF, our readers would want to know the reason or reasons for
this position, as they would have thought that you are a leading member
of either of the groups?
If you listened to what I said earlier, I said that the North is
not a monolithic one. So it will be fraudulent for anyone to claim the
arrogance of speaking for it. Now, the point I want to make has to do
with NEF. It is not wrong to use some kinds of people, like a pressure
group, within the context of a noble cause, to pressurize the government
of the day, to think in some certain direction, or implement certain
policies. However, how can a group, that is not democratic, be
discussing about democratic ideals? How can you talk about democracy,
when you don’t have elections? It is just a one man or two man show. I
find that very ridiculous. And these people claim to be representing us.
Who are they, to represent us? So, I don’t talk democracy with people
who are undemocratic. Since NEF was established, has there been any
election? How can you talk of democracy with people who are
non-democratic? As for ACF, they do have some semblance of elections,
but some of the claims they make on behalf of the North are totally
untenable and there is no internal cohesion in the group.
Away from the North, in less than two years, the ruling party appears to be enmeshed in crisis, are you in any way surprised?
I wasn’t surprise at all, because the party was formed for the
purpose of winning elections, and only that. It has no internal
democracy, it lacks democratic ideals. All they were after was win
elections, form government and abuse their stay in government, to abuse
public trust. So I am not surprised at all. They are bankrupt morally
and ideologically. Everything they have done so far, were not different
from what the PDP did in the last 16 years. Therefore, the APC
government as it is today has no moral superiority over the PDP. The
chairman of the party is at war with the Publicity Secretary of the
party. The party has no role in the government and Buhari does what he
likes. Some people are important because they are close to Buhari and
have access to him, while others don’t matter. A party that claims to be
a party of the left, cannot do without rigorous debates, every issue
must be discussed and subjected to a rigorous debate before decisions
are taken. But that is not happening with the APC, as a government and
as a party, which promised us change.
In view of the foregoing, what will you advise Nigerians to
do next, especially putting into consideration Obasanjo’s recent
verdict, wherein he said APC was not a strong party in government and
that the PDP was not a strong party in opposition?
I don’t know if I can prescribe an option immediately. A political
party, is nothing but an organisation, driven by politics, but driven
more so by the need to aggregate and articulate the intentions of
people, who are forming that party. It is not committee of friends, it
is not a place for people to come and become wealthy, it is not a place
for people to glorify an individual and who in turn, turned himself,
into a kind of personality cult. But in APC, what we have is a
personality cult of Buhari, and it is dangerous for Buhari, it is
dangerous for the government, it is dangerous for the country, as well
as the party. And this type of party is not the best for the country.
Someone needs to sit Buhari down, and talk sense into his head,
face-to-face, if they really want to make success of this opportunity.
No doubt, I have my disagreements with Obasanjo, but on the issue at
stake, Obasanjo is absolutely spots on. He is right. Except those who
formed these two parties go back to the drawing board, we are not likely
to have the political room for maneuver, as we so desire now.
I know God alone can determine who lives till 2019, but
being human, Nigerians are already talking about it. What should
Nigerians expect?
I think those who are bothered about 2019, should please start
getting alliances across, and start planning how to bring down the APC
government, through constitutional means, and to also make sure they
deny the PDP, a second chance of ruling the country again. APC is not
doing well; I don’t think Buhari is going to do any better. The crowd
around Buhari has nothing to offer. Apart from the fight against
corruption and insurgency, they haven’t done any other thing. How the
system rejigs itself and creates a two or three party system, I don’t
know. But those who care about 2019 should start and demonstrate their
care now, because we don’t want a situation whereby the crowd around
Buhari, provide Nigeria with a dilemma. I don’t think Nigeria deserves
that. Clearly, from what we have seen, APC has nothing to offer. And
Buhari himself has nothing to offer. They have been lying through their
teeth, and the more they lie, the more they become embarrassment to the
international community.
Are you saying the PDP stands no chance of returning to power?
In life, as well as political life, you must be prepared to pay the
price for your own political mistake, and the only way I know people
are made to pay a political price in a democracy is to deny them the
opportunity to return to power or get them out of power, if they are in
power. As far as I am concerned, I don’t see the deliverables of this
country, through the PDP.
Are you saying the PDP cannot bounce back?
The man on whose behalf the party was formed, for the purpose of
taking over from the Military, left the party and tore his membership
card. I believe the party is beyond redemption. Nobody can be more
important than Obasanjo in the PDP, and he also said so recently, even
though he has limited knowledge about party ideology and how an
ideological party is run.
Finally, you are from the N‑‑‑orth; people from
outside see you as being conservative, when it comes to your men dealing
with their wives, would you say that the President’s wife was right to
have upbraided the husband in the market place?
Well, the question to ask is, is the President right to have
upbraided the wife publicly and putting her in certain situations? Well,
I don’t believe a wife, should cease to be a wife simply because she
has a different political view from her husband. We are living in the
21st century, if madam Buhari, had commented on issues that have
affected her position as wife, vis-avis the General, it would have been
improper for me to comment. But she commented as a Nigerian citizen who
has all the constitutional right to comment. Whether the north is
conservative or not, is a matter we can resolve another day, at another
session. And you don’t look at a wife who has a Master’s degree and
expect her to behave like a house girl. It doesn’t happen that way.
I have received calls from my friends from the Southern part of the
country, telling me they don’t know our women can be bold to talk the
way Madam Buhari did, and I just laugh. Are they saying the air we
breathe in the north, is different from theirs or what? And we also have
to look at the culture. There is nothing she did, which is wrong,
because she is playing politics, the way her husband is playing it. And
the truth is that the country has been badly shortchanged by the
individuals she mentioned and who we know. What is wrong with that? If
you have not elected somebody, why should you keep quiet when the person
is exercising political power? This individual is not a government
appointee, yet, he wields more powers than the President. We elected
Buhari, but this individual, even uses the Presidential jets, more than
the person we willingly elected to exercise political power. And if the
President’s wife is now complaining, what is wrong with that?
Source: Daily Sun Nigeria
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