Nigeria Content Online

Shehu Sani is a
leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Kaduna State. He
speaks on the way forward for Kaduna after the recent political
violence in the state.

Kaduna state was
last week embroiled in a post-election crisis that claimed many lives
and property. What is your reaction to this unfortunate incident?

First of all, I
think we need to understand it clearly. People have the right to
protest; they have the right to say that an election is rigged; they
have the right to also condemn an election and they have the right to
openly demonstrate their displeasure with the outcome of the result.
But what they do not have the right to do is to burn churches and
mosques and kill people. We need to understand clearly that just
because international observers say an election is free and fair does
not make it free and fair. We must ensure at this critical time that
all hands are on deck to see to it that there is some form of return to
normalcy. What has led to this violence is not a people standing up
against a president that comes from the southern part of Nigeria.

After all,
Olusegun Obasanjo was a president of Nigeria for eight years. Never was
a time people in this part of the country rose up against him and say
he should go. The people are disenchanted with the system.

Is your party
doubting the sincerity of your members in the South-East and
South-South zones who were on ground during the elections and who have
said the elections were free and fair?

Just because a
section of the party has said they have endorsed that the election was
free and fair does not make it free and fair. The point raised by the
national leadership of the party is that there was massive
thumb-printing of ballot papers in the South-East and South-South and
they are going to bring in their forensic experts. So if you are
intelligent enough, and you choose to be mindful of the need to have a
solution to this problem, it is to come out and say okay, we will give
you a chance and then you do your forensic examination and see where we
are going to end. An allegation has been raised by the party that
contested the election, and it is the leadership of the party, and it
should be disproved that there was indeed massive thumb-printing in
those parts of the country.

Are you alleging that the South East zone of your party has sold out?

What I don’t
understand is their grievances; was it with the fact that a statement
has been issued by the party leadership without consulting them or is
it that they are saying there was no thumb-printing and Jonathan has
won in a free and fair election?

Since they were on
ground to monitor the election in the zone, they said that it was free
and fair. So why the allegation by your party leadership?

Well, they are now
speaking for both the CPC and People’s Democratic Party (PDP), from all
indications. But that doesn’t invalidate the claim of the opposition.
The opposition has made it clear that they are bringing in forensic
experts. So, if the forensic experts have made it very clearly known
from the scientific point of view that the election was free and fair
and there was no massive thumb-printing, then nobody should raise such
an issue again. But not until forensic experts make a statement on this
kind of thing can we have a solution.

During the
campaigns of the CPC across the country, pockets of troubles were
recorded and this has made some people to see the party as being prone
to violence. Do you agree with this perception?

I think there is
the violence of the CPC and violence of the PDP. The violence of the
PDP is the one that we have suffered for 12 years, and they have denied
us food and water and electricity and have made our lives unbearable.
And thousands of lives have been lost as a result of insecurity,
kidnapping, bombings and death as a result of the dis-empowerment of
the people. The violence of the CPC perhaps is the fact that they are
the most popular in this part of the country and they have ardent
supporters even though some (take things) to the point of fanaticism.

I do not believe
that a leadership of a party can instigate people to come out to
protest, but they could help the situation by calling on their
supporters and those who voted for them to give them enough time to
pursue their case in a court of law and in a manner that is in tune
with our constitution.

This is not the
first time that we are having this kind of crisis; it has happened in
Zimbabwe and Kenya. I’m making reference to violence as a reminder of
the Nigerian civil war; it is also not the solution to the problem. We
should take a cue from what happened in Zimbabwe and Kenya. And then,
President Jonathan should extend a hand of friendship and understanding
to Buhari and both of them can work together towards restoring peace in
the country. Nigeria is far greater than Jonathan and Buhari.

But assuming Buhari refuses to make room for reconciliation with Jonathan?

Well, he
understands that by doing so, now he has the moral upper hand by saying
that he has demonstrated that he is a man of peace and reconciliation.
But by not doing so and simply saying these are the people that should
be blamed and should be crushed, that would not be too good.

Nigeria should move
beyond General Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan. We are a nation
of 150 million people; we can produce 150 million leaders to lead
Nigeria. And the point of it is that we should understand that those
who are fighting for Goodluck should know that this is the same party
that has been in power since 1999, and those who are fighting on the
side of Buhari should also know it very well that it is the poor that
would continue to be killed and not those who are rich. And that before
you kill, before you burn, you should first of all ask yourself of what
benefit is such kind of act to you and your family.

Do you
subscribe to the school of thought that feels this kind of unrest could
lead to the imposition of a state of emergency in Kaduna State?

I don’t subscribe
to such. I subscribe to dialogue between members of the opposition
party and also the government. Within the next 24 hours they can sit
down, discuss this issue and iron it out. Let everyone be committed to
an election that would be free and fair. It is most likely that if an
election is rigged and the ruling party continues in power, then they
are going to rule with the military on the streets for the whole four
years. And I don’t think that would be in the interest of the ruling
party.

If you apply
pressure on the people, they will apply pressure on your own party. And
members of your party must live with people. So you can see there is a
collateral damage here. The way we are in Kaduna now is like the people
are on par with the government. The government has the police and the
army to send against the people and the people can also go against
members of the ruling party. That I believe is not in the best interest
of the state.

Most of CPC supporters are not educated and enlightened politically. How can you reach out to them to sheathe their swords?

I think the party
has a role to play; they really need to do a lot and I don’t see the
party and the government talking with each other for now, and that is
not in the best interest of peace. And, since all these happened, I
never heard the governor reaching out to members of the opposition and
it is almost a state of stalemate. In the election on Tuesday, I don’t
think anyone will wear a tag in a Muslim area and say he is a PDP
agent, and I don’t think anyone will wear a tag in the southern part
(of the state) and say he is a CPC agent. Where you have the battle
line drawn between Christians and Muslims, between CPC and PDP, between
Hausas and the minorities from southern Kaduna, that means we are
almost stuck with nowhere to go.