A former governor of Kano state and presidential candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the 2023 elections Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, has condemned the decision by some ‘self-centred’ northern stakeholders to always get involved in the process leading to choice of candidates during presidential elections.
According to him, the system was not only undermining democracy and leading to eventual emergence of incompetent persons, but also causing some discord among the people.
The former governor said this during a recent interview with BBC Hausa Service, monitored by Blueprint in Abuja.
Kwankwaso, leader of the popular Kwankwasiyya political group, called on the region’s leaders to draw from lessons and experiences of past elections, and refrain from influencing the process leading to choice of candidates.
He said: “This wicked practice they’re doing is causing discord among people. It is important to always have good intentions in whatever you do. It is unfortunate that these elders—some of whom are our parents—are being driven by selfish motives in fielding candidates.
“They often connive to fabricate falsehood, gather people and tell them that these are the candidates the region endorses, when in reality the decision was taken by just two or three persons. Instead of going to Port Harcourt or Abuja to promote our interests (we who are their children), they rather follow the dictate of their selfish minds.”
On 2019 general elections during which the North-west produced seven candidates, the NNPP leader said: “We have all manner of people — former governors, former ministers, tall, short — but in the end they did what suited them without considering our interests.”
…NEF on tax reforms
Meanwhile, the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) has called for further dialogue and consultations on the proposed Tax Reform Bills.
NEF stated this position in a statement by its chairman of management board, Al-Amin Daggash.
It said: “Once again, it is necessary to reiterate, that indeed, Nigerians in general and Northerners in particular, are not really against the introduction of any form of good and meaningful reforms by those in positions of authority, at the federal, state or local government levels.
“Even though, we shall remain very implacable in reaffirming that, our practical experiences teach us, that, going by global best practices, successful reforms are known to be underpinned by strict adherence to certain common cardinal characteristics of the public policy-making process.
“For convenience of exposition, these similarities include, but, not limited to the under listed basic essentials: Extensive pre-reforms early engagements with experts and critical stakeholders, in order to secure their buy-in
“Establishing a very well-defined media/communication strategy, that clearly articulates the full import of the reforms and disseminates public awareness and mass enlightenment on a nationwide scale.
“Designing a robust, transparent and inclusive implementation mechanism. Pro-actively putting in place a well-sequenced process, in order to ensure that the meticulously planned reforms, really meet the society’s desired and anticipated outcomes.”
Daggash said: “The Northern Elders’ Forum make bold to say that the recently proposed Tax Reform Bills by the Federal Government, were clearly in the breach, with regards to adhering to the above listed common characteristics of reforms and public policy-making process, all over the world and in conformity with the global best practices.”
Credit: BLUEPRINT
