• ‘Makinde’s alliance with APM shows his love for PDP’

Yusuf Mamman Dantalle is the National Chairman of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM). In this interview monitored on Arise Television, he speaks on the party’s alliance with key political figures and preparations for the upcoming 2027 general elections

Your party has been described as the new bride of Nigerian politics. What’s your response to that?

The Allied Peoples Movement is one party that I would say is clean, devoid of any form of rancour. And how did we achieve that feat? We try as much as possible to work within the laws of the parties.

Every voice in the party is important. As much as we need financial resources to drive activities of the party, we do not link ourselves with any godfather to say drive this party and determine what happens in our party. So, it’s an egalitarian political party.

How did APM manage to sway two political heavyweights, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State?

Governors Seyi Makinde, Bala Mohammed and the leadership of our party felt that since we need to run an election and we are not certain about the legal status of the Peoples Democratic Party matter and time is going, we should have an agreement or alliance with this party and we did. They are welcome to the party.

And I believe that by the grace of God, they are free to run, considering the enabling laws of the land. It is about trust, relationship, foundation and networking. Don’t forget that in 2023, the APM also worked with the PDP in the presidential election, during the Atiku-Okowa ticket.

So, some of the things we did then made them to join us because they were in PDP at that time. Makinde was part of the G5 that worked with the current administration. That is evident that we can trust this party and work with it since it’s also free of any internal or external rancour.

You should also know that I’m the chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC). All the parties, both the parties in power and those in opposition, voted me into office. If I am not trustworthy and capable of managing these things, it won’t attract such. So, I think these are some of the variables that attracted this decision.

How prepared is your party in terms of reach and funding for the 2027 general election?

Don’t forget that when the All Progressives Congress (APC) came to power, it was an amalgamation of political parties and then the game is still on. I don’t believe in impossibility, but I believe yes, some things can be difficult.

What is important is to evaluate, review the difficult part of it, and see what can be done to cross over or to neutralise the difficulty. We just started, so we’ll begin to work, sit on the table to draw the map on how A can come to B, and then we’ll put things together and move. We will get there.

When you say the game is still on, what do you mean?

Are you saying that there is a likelihood that you’re going to enter into further coalition with other political parties? Let me give you a very simple example. In 2023, nobody believed Peter Obi could do anything because the Labour Party never had a single councillorship position, local chairmanship or even a member of the House of Assembly but Obi came third in the presidential election.

Now, you are talking about two sitting governors, one from the North, another from the South, and you are saying we cannot do anything. I think you should review that position again.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike said your declaration of an alliance with the PDP is dead on arrival. How do you want to respond to this comment?

Wike is still in PDP. He was a two-time governor in PDP. He was a minister in the PDP. PDP attracted this position of FCT minister to him. Makinde is a two-time governor in PDP. Both of them are very good friends.

In 2023, five of them, who were governors on the platform of the PDP, decided to insist that it was the turn of the South and that we must come together to do what is right. That means they are very good friends and everywhere you saw Wike, you saw Makinde.

Maybe, there was disagreement along the line. But as the chairman of IPAC, it is my responsibility to come up with strategies on how we can neutralise whatever is between them. Whether they would want to work together or not, I cannot say. However, I believe that nothing is impossible.

The question, therefore, is: How can we bring these parties, not just the two of them but all the parties together because I feel that if we are together, democracy will be better.

So, it is my responsibility as the chairman of IPAC to see how I can deepen democracy by reducing tension and bringing all warring parties together.

Yes, some other persons may have tries it before and maybe it was not possible but this time, I’ve appealed to Makinde and Bala Mohammed. I will also reach out to everybody because politics is not war and we must not take it as war. Nigeria is important. We have more problems in this country.

Look at the level of insecurity and inflation; the standard of living and so many other things.

These energies can be channeled to solving some of these problems rather than going into this war. So, I will do my part as chairman of APM and chairman of IPAC to see how we can deepen democracy by reducing conflict and focusing on the subject.

Is it not conflicting that you are the chairman of APM and also the chairman of IPAC and how are you able to manage the two positions?

IPAC is a summation of all the parties under one umbrella. You must belong to a party before you can be a member of IPAC. It’s all about leadership. But the parties said: Who can we trust with this mandate to lead us into a better democratic space? And they will choose one. My tenure will expire and another person will be elected. For the first time in the history of IPAC, I won re-election without much wrangle.

It was very easy. It has never happened before. So, I believe it is challenging for me to do better. Nigeria is what is important to me not any individual interest. So we will do what we can but it is the constitutional right of everybody to do what they have to do.

Let’s talk about the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) the APM and a faction of the PDP signed…

What we did, for me, shows the love that Governor Makinde and his own group have for PDP because if someone does not love an organisation or an institution, he will say to hell with that organisation.

But they still have love for PDP to say that even though they are going to seek their mandate on another platform, they will not leave the party that gave them the positions they are occupying today. I think it’s a very responsible way of playing politics and I love it. Yes, we’ll do this, but PDP must not die.

That also means there’s provision for the people who are disagreeing with the PDP to come back one day and form a formidable force. Don’t also be surprised that one day I will tell you that I’m not in the APM and I will be in PDP too. So, why can’t we make PDP better? It’s a possibility.

What you said speaks to the fact that Nigerian politicians do not have ideologies because you said that Nigeria is supposed to be the focus, but in many quarters, what you hear being said is that politicians are not thinking about Nigerians, they’re thinking about themselves…

I’ve said this several times, that the monetization of the system is not healthy for Nigeria. And that is why those who are in position of making laws for Nigeria must ensure that the doors to entry into the political space are open for every Nigerian who has attained the age to vote and to be voted for to come in.

We must not excessively stifle entry into the system, so that there will be fair competition. Recall that I’ve said that some of the provisions of the Electoral Act are not okay. We have not registered a quarter of what we want. We cannot win. It is a law, but I insist that we must go back to do some of those things.

The period for registering or reviewing the register of political parties and membership is too narrow that we can’t cope. The parties have complied, but we need to open the space.

But INEC says all political parties have succeeded in submitting their membership registers to the commission…

We submitted what was available at the time of closure. That does not mean we are done with registration. As I’m talking to you here, people are still seeking to register, parties are coming, but we are going ahead to register because it is not just for election alone, but the one we have for now is for those who will participate in the primary elections.

What the submission of membership registers of the parties has done is that it has shut the door to some persons who want to contest for elections in 2027. Sincerely, that particular clause in the Electoral Act is not something we should experiment with. It’s too fixated, too narrow, too inhibiting, as it were.

Is Makinde the presidential candidate of your party?

No, he’s an aspirant. We are yet to conduct our primaries. But if you go to Oyo, he has performed wonderfully well. I’m not campaigning for him now although I can campaign for him because he’s a member of my party.

If you were in Oyo some 10, 12 years back, and you go to Oyo now, you’ll be surprised at what he has done and the people really love him.

When are your primaries coming up?

In less than two weeks we should be having that.