Abuja — Alhaji Ahmed Shuaibu was gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress in Bauchi in the 2007 general elections. He defected to the PDP along with Governor Isa Yuguda early this year. What was the purpose? In this interview, the politician addresses some burning political issues including what he sees as Yuguda's undoing in a changing political context.

Excerpts:

You were in the AC not long ago but you defected to the PDP along with Governor Isa Yuguda. What was the plan?

Yes I was in AC. In fact I was the Bauchi State governorship candidate of the AC in 2007. I returned to PDP because Governor Yuguda invited me and pleaded with me to come with him to the PDP. At the meeting we had, he told me why he wanted to leave the ANPP and those reasons sounded genuine. He said the ANPP was denying him the opportunity to have Bauchi State indigenes benefit from the Government of National Unity. Secondly, he observed that Bauchi State has never been in the opposition and now that we found ourselves in it, he is finding it difficult to attract federal government projects to the state. So he asked me to come so that we could work together in the PDP. He said he foresaw no future for the AC and ANPP in Bauchi State.

I expressed appreciation for the invitation, but of course it wouldn't have been possible for me to agree with him straight away because I needed to consult with my associates and supporters in AC. So I met my allies and told them that the essence of our participation in politics is to make Bauchi State a better place. After a long discussion on the matter, they said they would follow me to wherever I go.

Therefore I went back to Isa with some conditions because we know the way things have been going on in the government. Many of his advisers have no regard to human and physical development of the state. So we urged him to dissolve them and constitute a fresh team of good people that have the interest of the state at heart. He agreed and even told me that it was the same condition that he gave to the national chairman of the PDP before he defected to the party. I also discussed with him about his retinue of aides. I told him that the size was not in the best interest of Bauchi State. I made him to realise that those who are in politics should know the essence of it and those who are in business should go and do their business so that government can patronise them somehow and he agreed that something would be done about it.

We also discussed about his commissioners because most of them lacked the experience and maturity to occupy the position. We advised him to appoint people that can walk up to him and say look Your Excellency, we have to do this because of this or that reason; not people that always wait for command from him. His Excellency is not all-knowing; he is part of a team therefore he must listen to people who know better in other fields.

But he sacked all the advisers and commissioners after joining the PDP...

Yes he did but almost all of them are back. In the new team, you could see that there are only three members of the core PDP that he came to meet when he left the ANPP. Out of the 20 advisers he appointed, 17 are from those that were formally in the ANPP with him and were also the advisers that he sacked. So he only recycled them. As far as I know, he appointed nobody from those who came in from the AC.

Are you saying he betrayed the AC members that came together with him to the PDP?

Absolutely yes, he did that. We told him that appointments in Bauchi should be based on merit but what his government is doing now is making PDP very unlikely to win the next election. There are lots of disenchantments; people are not happy.

In the first place, we worked in an alliance in 2007 to make him the governor even though I was guber candidate in a different party. I was also the first to go to his house and congratulate him when he was declared winner. I urged him then to work differently and develop the state but he betrayed the trust we had in him. With this second experience, he is beginning to make me feel he is very unreliable. In fact, before the election, the people of Bauchi looked at him as a messier, someone who was honest, impartial and promising. They saw him as a leader who was coming to wipe away their tears. Unfortunately, people including me, now believe that when Isa says yes, he could mean no. With this attitude, how can PDP make headway in Bauchi? He (Yuguda) is now at a critical situation.

What advice will you give in view of the scenario you have painted?

One of his (Yuguda) biggest weaknesses is that he does not listen to advice from reliable, independent people. That is why he does not have courageous advisers around him that can tell him the true situation of things and what he is supposed to do to achieve his developmental goals. Again, it could be that power has got into his head and he has started thinking that things must be done only the way he wants them. That is dangerous, particularly in a place like Bauchi where people hate being treated with contempt. They cherish their dignity and once you dignify them, you can get anything in Bauchi. But when you begin to show some superciliousness; you become too heady, you will be made to answer your new name. That was what Mu'azu did. In fact in terms of development, nobody in Bauchi can deny him (Mu'azu) that. But his latter behaviour made the people to change their perception of him and dislike things associated with him. Now Yuguda is towing the same line. And in his case people are asking, where is the development?

When he came in newly, he made a presentation before Bauchi stakeholders at the Government House. Every 'who is who' in Bauchi was invited to that event and we were shown video clips of dilapidated schools, hospitals and other infrastructure. He said that was what he inherited. That night, every patriotic citizen of Bauchi shed tiers. Everybody was moved but when I came back home that day, I asked myself, does it mean that the previous government had done nothing or what. Is it real? But I put my suspicion behind. Now before we left Government House that day, he told us that he would be holding that kind of event periodically so that we can assess the progress of development in the state, but we've gone more than two years and he has not called the second of its kind to let us assess him. He has not called us to say this is what I showed you in that video and this is the new situation today. Therefore I advise him to put his house in order; he must embrace all PDP members irrespective of their colour or origin. Above all, he must be seen to be honest, but I'm afraid it's getting late even though it's not too late. The way it is now, he appears to be making everybody his enemy. In such a situation, how can we win the election? People have begun asking us, what has he done and we don't know what to tell them. We can't go out to campaign without telling people what he has done. It is after telling them what he has done that we will tell them what he intends to do in the second term that he is seeking. When he came, he promised that Dangote was coming to Azare to establish a Sugar factory that will generate thousands of employment. Well we are getting to the end of his tenure and nothing is on ground. He also talked about the Kaffin Zaki Dam, but he is no longer saying anything about it.

But the Kafin Zaki Dam is getting resistance from neighbouring states...

Then he should tell the people. Even if it is facing resistance, is it not proper to call a stakeholders meeting and tell them that this is the progress we have made and this is the problem we are having? He needs to call major stakeholders and explain to them so that they can reach out to the grassroots. People come to me but I can't tell them what I read on the pages of newspapers. The best I can do is to tell them that I don't know the answer to their questions. So he needs to review his strategies.