March 20, (THEWILL) – President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alhaji Yerima Shettima, speaks on the new Electoral Act, security situation and issues relating to the 2023 general election, in this interview with AYO ESAN. Excerpts:
How do you see the signing of the new Electoral Act by President Muhammadu Buhari?
It is a welcome development. The Electoral Act should have been signed into law long before now. But it is better late than never. So for me, President Buhari has done well. That is what is expected from a statesman.
The issue of zoning of the presidential slot is still generating crises in most political parties, especially the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party. What is your position on zoning?
I am still on my stand that we are not going to accept zoning. We want true democratic principle to be respected. We want democratic principles to be practice under democratic government. Everybody should be given the right to seek political positions. Every Nigerian must be allowed to contest for the presidency. Any Nigerian who really means well for the country will not support zoning. So we are totally against zoning. We don’t have any problem with anybody contesting. But where we see that there are certain interests that are disposed to zoning, we will vehemently oppose it. We shall mobilise in every part of the country against any political party that takes zoning into consideration. We have the number to do that and we will do it effectively. However, when somebody comes out to contest on merit, we don’t have problem with that. He can contest and his popularity will be shown through the ballot. But where an aspirant is relying on a zoning arrangement, we will oppose that.
The madness called zoning brought us to where we are today. Zoning is totally unacceptable. We want to ensure that democracy is being practised because some of us put a lot of energy and resources to bring about this democracy. If it was done in the past, it was done because certain abnormal things happened and there was a need to appease the South-West, especially after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Chief Olusegun Obasanjo had an uninterrupted eight-year tenure. Umaru Yar’Adua was elected to appease to the North, but he only spent two years. The rest of his two years and another four years were in favour of Goodluck Jonathan who contested in 2011. Ordinarily, he won’t have contested in 2011. He contested and won the election. So from all indication, the idea of zoning has been jettisoned since 2011. So in whose interest is the zoning issue coming up again?
The Yoruba Youth Council led by Barrister Dotun Hassan criticised you for your opinion on the ages of southern presidential aspirants and for calling for the jettisoning of zoning in an interview you granted a national newspaper recently. What is your reaction to this?
I will not join issues with Hassan. I have made our position clear and there is no need to join issues with Hassan or the Yoruba Youth Council.
Many Nigerians have expressed concern that the security challenges facing the country may threaten the 2023 general election. What is your stand on that?
We have never had any election without security challenges, but in the midst of all we still survive. It is going to be the same with 2023, but we will still have the election. The general election will be conducted and we will still scale through. There will be winners and losers. The election must take place. We can’t stop it. It is up to the Federal Government to do the needful. Government must do everything possible securitywise to ensure that the general election is successfully conducted.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is set to conduct governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States in June and July. What is your advice to the Commission?
I don’t have any doubt about the capacity and capability of INEC under the leadership of Prof Mahmood Yakubu . I don’t have any doubt in my mind that Yakubu and INEC would do the needful and he has done beautifully well in the elections he conducted in the past. So I don’t have any doubt in my mind that he will do well. If INEC under him can do what they have done in the past in Edo, Ondo and Anambra States, there is no cause for worry . I believe he will do better.
You talked about the need for merit rather than zoning as we search for a new president. What are qualities do you think we should look for in Muhammadu Buhari’s successor?
Competence. When I talk about the next president, I am talking of somebody who has competence and experience, a president of the digital age, not analogue. And that has to do with a youth or a member of the younger generation.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that by June 3, 2022 all the candidates in the 2023 general election must have been chosen by the political parties. This gives the electorate more time to know the candidates. What is your take on this?
It is a reform and the timetable is coming from INEC. If that is coming from INEC, we don’t have any choice other than to keep to the timetable and pray for INEC’s success. Whoever is interested in contesting in the election should also work towards meeting INEC’s timetable. The prerogative is on INEC to fix the timetable and so we have to implement our programmes to tally with it.
What is your advice to the youth who usually constitute the bulk of voters in any election?
My advice to youths is that they should shun violence, be focused and be determined to take their destiny in their hands. They should not be contented with playing a second fiddle. We are championing the cause of the youths in the country. They should also let us all bring our acts together and work together. It has to be a collective effort to liberate the youths. They should be assured that we are going to have the Nigeria of our dream where everybody will have cause to smile.
Are you worried about the crisis in the two major parties, the APC and the PDP?
I am not worried or disturbed. If they like let them put their hearts together, if not, they can do whatever they like in their parties. There are other political parties as options. We have 18 registered political parties. If they do the right thing, fine for them. I don’t have any sleepless nights about anything happening in any political party.
How are you mobilising Arewa youths for the coming elections?
What we are doing now is to sensitise the people, sensitise our members and our counterparts to ensure that at the end of the day, we will have cause to smile. And that is why I talked about all inclusiveness. All our hands must be on deck and we must all work towards the progress of Nigeria. That is why I advised the youths to be very proactive in their thinking, They must take advantage of the political space and ensure that there is no more thuggery and no malice. We should use our vote strength to get what we want.
How would you assess the current National Assembly?
Despite all their shortcomings, they still believe in the existence of this country, but they cannot be compared to the Eighth National Assembly. The current assembly still has time to adjust before the end of its tenure.
What is your advice to the electorate generally?
My advice to them is that everybody should go out and get their Permanent Voters Card so that we should have power to elect whoever we want to elect or retire permanently those we want to retire. This is because we are going to retire a lot of people permanently from politics. The PVC will be a determining factor. They must all have it.
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
