The National Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Dr. Ajuji Ahmed, in this interview by TAOFEEK LAWAL, speaks on the alleged neglect of the North in terms of project distribution, the chances of his party in the next general election, power rotation between the North and the South, and more.

At your recently held National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting here in Abuja, you remarked that Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso will still be your presidential candidate in 2027. Are you not considering reaching out to other interested aspirants across Nigeria, either through coalition or merger with parties, rather than handing the ticket to Kwankwaso on a platter?

The remark or statement that he (Kwankwaso) is going to be our presidential candidate is not sacrosanct. It’s not a fixed idea; it’s a hypothetical kind of thing. Of course, the party is open. We know that, potentially, he’s going to be one of our presidential aspirants, and therefore, we don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Perhaps he may step down, drop out or perhaps we will have 10 other presidential aspirants that can join him. But it’s an open field for them to compete and whoever wants to join the party in the West, the East, North Central or anywhere else in Nigeria can do so. That is why it’s a national party; it’s the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).

Therefore, it’s not a foregone conclusion that the door is shut in the face of others who want to aspire for the presidency under the umbrella of NNPP. It’s open. But so far, he (Kwankwaso) is the only person that we know will be there for us, and that does not foreclose anybody. Anybody can come and compete squarely with him. If he wins, he becomes the presidential candidate. If somebody from the South-South wins the ballot in a free and fair primary, then of course, that person will be our presidential candidate. NNPP is already a national party. We don’t even have to make any extra effort to nationalize it.

With what you just said, do you believe that power should rotate between the North and the South, considering the fact that the late former President Muhammadu Buhari completed the North’s eight-year, two-term tenure? Don’t you think the South should be allowed to complete its own eight years too?

Power rotation is an inequitable kind of practice, but it’s practically entrenched in our political life. However, it’s not a constitutional requirement that power must rotate, eight years here, eight years there. Right now, we’re faced with a situation where everybody is crying about what is going on in the country. The economic policies of the current government have been so harsh on everyone. Everyone, whether market women, student union leaders, political leaders or whoever you ask across the country, North, South, East, West, is complaining that things are very difficult.

And if you have a government like that, what stops someone else from challenging it, winning the presidency and becoming president too? Power rotation is a practice that we’ve learned to live with, but it doesn’t mean it has to be part of the constitutional requirement to run for election.

So yes, as you said, it’s fair and just to allow presidential candidates to rotate between the two regions. But at the end of the day, if you have someone who is not acceptable, for example, do you have to continue with him just because he came from one geographical location of the country?

If there are other candidates who can contest from any other part of the country, I think it’s even better for competition, better for national interest, better for the Nigerian population, and better even for the future of Nigerians. We don’t want our children to grow up believing they belong to the North or the South and, therefore, the presidency in a certain number of years should be reserved for them.

That’s what we are looking forward to. It is only by doing so that we’ll bring out the best, without considering whether someone comes from the North or the South.

NNPP runs Kano, which is just one out of 36 states in Nigeria. What do you think are NNPP’s chances beyond Kano, especially if Senator Kwankwaso emerges as the party’s presidential candidate? Can NNPP flex its muscles beyond Kano State?

We flexed our muscles in 2023 beyond Kano State. We didn’t even know we were going to get Kano, but we got it all the same. It didn’t mean that we targeted only Kano. We targeted the 36 states of the federation and Abuja, but we happened to win Kano.

Of course, in the next election, we can’t just focus on Kano or pay all our attention there. We are paying attention to every state in the federation. If God wills it and we win most of the states across the country, fair, fine, and good.

But we cannot restrict ourselves to Kano. For now, Kano perhaps provides us a launching pad to canvass for elections everywhere else, but that doesn’t mean Kano is our only focus or constituency. We are a national party, and we hope that next time, we are going to win Lagos, Ogun, Cross River, Benue and so on.

What’s your view on the allegations that President Bola Tinubu has abandoned the North in terms of project distribution and is instead concentrating on the South?

Well, as you can see, this criticism is coming from all over Northern Nigeria. People feel dissatisfied. People think they are marginalised. They feel unfairly treated, that resource allocation has been one-sided and so on.

Unfortunately for our country, every geographical region sees itself as an entity, and that shouldn’t be the case. If the North is crying that resources are mostly concentrated in the South-West or Lagos, I believe the South East and South South should be saying the same thing, and so should the North-Central.

However, we also recognize that each geographical group will only argue for itself. I think what Northern leaders did was sit down, look at the situation objectively and compare the resource allocation that goes to Lagos, for example, versus what goes to all 19 Northern states. They believe there is no fairness and that is the basis for the cry that the North is marginalized.

I hope the President and the current administration will listen to these complaints, especially since they are heading into another election. I think they must do something to address why these complaints are coming from one particular region. The government must listen to those saying their region has been marginalized or unfairly treated in terms of resource allocation.

What is your view or assessment of the state of the nation, generally?

We are doing well as a country in the sense that we are staying together as a single entity. We have a constitution that governs us. We have a democracy that is ongoing. We have a military we hope will continue to guard the territorial integrity of the country.

We have economic policies, even though we are complaining that some of these policies do not favour the common man. But at least we still see ourselves as one indivisible country.

Challenges are certainly there. As I mentioned earlier, everyone is complaining and that forms the bedrock of the state of the nation.

The state of the nation is that everybody is having it tough. I believe this situation should be addressed fairly and squarely so that everyone feels like they are part of the federal entity. In that regard, I think the government should sit up and address all these concerns so that every individual will not only feel a sense of belonging but also know that the government is doing something that affects them directly.

Right now, people complain only about the negative effects. Our pockets are empty, the prices of goods and services have skyrocketed, the middle class has been wiped out, the lower class is suffering and even the upper class is complaining.

This is the current state of the country, which I think needs to be addressed if we are to remain a stable country with one destiny as a people.

You said NNPP is looking beyond Kano and aims to win states in future elections. How prepared is NNPP for the off-season elections coming up in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states and the area council elections in the FCT next year?

NNPP is a national party in the sense that we have offices in every state of the federation. We have offices in practically all the 774 local government areas across the country. Our members are canvassing for more people to join the party. It is in that regard, and by INEC regulations, that we are recognized as a national party.

As far as off-season elections are concerned, including Kogi, Ondo and Edo states, which have already taken place, we fielded governorship candidates.

The same applies to the elections in Kano. We fielded candidates across the board. Even in recently conducted by-elections in some states, we had candidates. Whether we won is a different issue. But we had candidates who contested and we believe they were quality candidates who ran based on our manifesto, even though they may have been resource-constrained and could not win. Some of them won, of course, and others lost.

For Anambra, we have already fielded both the governorship and deputy governorship candidates. Their senatorial election just came and went and we also had a senatorial candidate for that constituency. So, wherever elections are taking place, we do have people contesting.

Only that parties like ours always complain about two things: one, resource constraints; and two, the lopsidedness of the whole setup. When you are a big party, you impose your weight on smaller parties.

And, of course, if the smaller parties fortunately become big, they will also wield their weight to the disadvantage of other parties around them. But I think that is what competition is all about. If we ensure that there is fairness in competition, that the rules apply equally to everyone and that there is no violence affecting anyone in the process of any election, then, of course, we can beat our chest and say we are a functional democracy. (Saturday Tribune)