Alhaji Ibrahim Ali Gadaka is a chieftain of the All Nigeria Peoples Party and former Yobe State Commissioner of Education. Gadaka is a key associate of Senator Usman Albishir, who is challenging his substitution by ANPP as the party's governorship candidate in 2007. Gadaka speaks recently to a group of journalists on the recent demise of Governor Mamman Ali as it relates to the litigations instituted by Albishir regarding the governorship seat in the state. Excerpts:

How did you people in the Albishir camp receive the death of the late Governor Mamman Ali?

As a Muslim, I will start by saying what is expected of me, that is 'inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raajiun' that is from Allah we come from and to him we shall all return. I want us to recall that our political leader in Yobe State, Senator Usman Albishir, has spoken our minds regarding the question you have asked. I recall his statement published in the Daily Trust, under the caption: "I cannot celebrate Mamman Ali's death." For me personally, I was deeply touched by the death because of the lessons in the incident which show the supremacy of Allah and the fact that I don't know if I may be the next to join Mamman Ali. One can die at any time.

So is Albishir considering dropping his election case against the late governor?

Point of correction, Albishir was never in court with the late Mamman Ali, he was in court challenging INEC for refusing to place his name and photograph in their election materials despite screening and clearing him as the validly nominated candidate throu-gh the primary elections. He also took the ANPP to court for substituting him without cogent and verifiable reason which goes against the provisions of the Electoral Act. He was substituted for no just cause other than political conspiracy by some party members who wanted to play God.

Give the sudden death of Mamman Ali, won't you advise Albishir to drop his court case in hounour of the deceased?

My friend, that is where you get it very wrong. There are three angles to the whole issue as it affects Albishir and Mamman Ali's death. First of all, like I said earlier, Albishir is not against the late Mamman Ali but INEC and ANPP. That aside, he is not at liberty to step down his case, because he was voted by people during the primary elections. These people who voted for Albishir have a right over their votes beside other stakeholders, they have to accept before he can step down any case. But unfortunately some of these people are dead while some cannot be reached, you know two years is very long time. Now, it's impossible to get these voters to make it legitimate for Albishir to step down his case.

The second issue and most important issue here is that Albishir must now, more than ever before pursue his case vigorously to claim his mandate because his taking over the Yobe governorship from Ibrahim Geidam is the best thing for the late Mamman Ali. The late Mamman Ali left behind a mandate that was not legitimately acquired by him which was inherited by Ibrahim Geidam and his younger brother. So, any-body who truly loves the late Mamman Ali whether as a family member, friend, extended relation, legal partner, political associate or appointee should work out modalities to hasten up and handover the Yobe gover-norship to Albishir so as to take over that burden on the deceased, in all honesty, that is the right thing to do. The case in question is not that of accusing any one of rigging or any malpractice but that of scheming and taking over some body's mandate after he has won the primaries. So, I call on those who claim they love the late Mamman Ali to hasten up and take that of burden of leaving illegitimate inheritance, there is no other name to describe the situation. You see, the issue is just like someone acqui-ring wealth through illegal means and his relations make stringent efforts to hold on to that wealth even when the owner has come forward to retrieve it.

The third aspect is that which involves Albishir and the late Mamman Ali. You will recall how some 50 heavily armed policemen went to Albishir's house to harass him and threatened to arrest him for allegedly accusing the late governor even while that particular matter was still in court. The general impression was that the then Yobe state government orchestrated the whole thing to rubbish the image of Albishir before judges at the court or to have him convicted so that his morality will be in doubt before the court. Now, the good thing here is that since what happened was between the two men, Albishir has since forgiven the late Mamman Ali, that I can tell you because I know him very well and I know his position on these issues given the demise of Mamman Ali. So, what this means is that, he has forgiven on issues relating directly to him because he is at liberty to do so since no one else is involved unlike his challenge on the Yobe governorship which he has no liberty to leave based on the reasons I enumerated earlier.

What is the stage of Albishir's case at the moment?

We have filed a fresh appeal at the court of appeal in Jos against INEC and ANPP against the ruling of the high court in Maiduguri, which declined jurisdiction to entertain the very first case Albishir filed challen-ging his wrongful substitu-tion in 2007. The last time we were in court for the case to be mentioned our oppo-nents claimed their lawyer was sick so the case was adjourned till 10 February, for mention, I think. There were technicalities here and there all along, the case was never heard on its merit, but now we are very optimistic that the merit of the case will be heard and the case is a very straight one with precedence for reference. We are filing appeal out of time with good grounds especially since appeal is a right which cannot be turned down, some one can only be fined if it comes to the worst for filing appeal late but not that he will not be listened. We have cited instances where people filed appeals several years after rulings and were entertained even in very superior courts, so we are highly optimistic.