…Says Though Tinubu Doing Well, Atiku Could Do Better
Senator Abubakar Danso Sodangi Jnr was the Senate President of Nasarawa State Students’ Association, as well as the Deputy National Director of Welfare of Atiku Youth and a staunch stalwart of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He speaks on the ongoing litigation on the 2023 presidential election, why the PDP lost the presidential election and his assessment o the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s less-than-two-month-old administration. Excerpts:
The outcome of the 2023 presidential election is a subject of litigation at the election petition tribunal. What is your take on this?
The outcome of the election is being contested because the whole process lacked transparency and inclusive democratic process as assured by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Would you subscribe to the insinuation that your party, the PDP, was responsible for its own defeat in the presidential election, especially against the backdrop of approaching the election a fragmented house bedeviled with internal wrangling?
Despite the internal controversies in the PDP, I can confidently say that my party didn’t lose the presidential election, Nigerians came out en mass and gave their mandate to the PDP and Atiku Abubakar to rescue the nation from the incompetence government of the APC. But, Yakubu Mahmud and the INEC sabotaged the process and overturned the peoples choice.
So are you now putting the entire blame if your party’s loss on INEC?
Of course, I would say INEC is the real culprit behind my party’s loss. Because before the elections, INEC gave us hope of a transparent free fair and credible polls; Mahmoud said this countless times and even promised the international communities that it would transmit the election results electronically and reverse was the case.
So, INEC is responsible for my party’s loss.
What is your expectation on the outcome of the ongoing judicial process as it concerns the presidential election?
Firstly, I can say that the Nigerian judiciary is on trial. Because considering the number of evidence and witnesses the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and its presidential candidate presented to tribunal on why the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate is ineligible to contest the election and why Atiku must be declared winner and accorded his legitimate victory in the last presidential election is overwhelming.
Secondly, I was confident on how Atiku concluded the case against the respondents, with every relevant evidences, the forensic expert also did a very good job in proving to the court how INEC deleted BVAS data for FCT presidential election.
As its, I can happily say that the outcome will be victorious for my party, the PDP, considering the high level of competency our legal counsel displayed in defending our nation’s democracy.
Equally, as a youths ambassador, I implore the judges of the tribunal to give its verdict with fairness and fear of Almighty Allah.
Whether we like it or not, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What is your assessment of his administration in the last almost 60 days of being on the saddle?
The Wazirin Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is my preferred choice. He would have performed more and do better than President Tinubu. And may the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal give him victory.
However, President Tinubu has performed very well in the past few weeks in office. I must give him that.
His assessment is so far commendable, especially the replacement of the service chiefs and the removal of fuel subsidy.
The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa is GONE. Fuel subsidy is GONE.
Multiple exchange rates is GONE. Fuel queue is GONE. Slow pace of governance is GONE.
He achieved all the aforementioned within less than two months in office, I love the new Nigeria and want her to succeed.
How would compare the incumbent Federal Government with the immediate past administration?
I have noted that fuel subsidy is gone. A single naira exchange rate is emerging. Nigeria has just posted a trade surplus. The stock market has received a boost and rallied. And there is relative peace in the country. This is better compared with what we went through in the last eight years. Additionally, President Tinubu has been more accessible to labour and trade unions in the past weeks, than former President Muhammadu Buhari was in four years.
However, a naira/dollar exchange rate affects our income and spending. Once the dollar becomes more expensive, our pockets are slighter and our spending smaller. Inflation will also go higher. Businesses will incur more costs and reduce their employment potential, thus increasing unemployment. Unemployment leads to insecurity and cripples productivity. So, all our problems are caused by the naira depreciation.
How then do we get out of this gloomy picture you just painted?
Most importantly, for any policy to work, Nigerians must play their roles. At this moment, the government cannot do it alone. It requires everyone’s sacrifice. People must learn to be patriotic and forfeit some gains that hurt the economy.
