THE Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, has said that contrary to opinions, the reported formation of a coalition party does not pose a threat to President Bola Tinubu.
He also said that it did not suggest that trouble was looming for the ruling All Progressives Congress.
“I can tell you today, but go and write it down and remember this day. Asiwaju has no threat,” the governor said during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday while reacting to the formation of a group, National Opposition Coalition Group, chaired by a former Senate President, David Mark.
Speaking further, he said that most of those in support of the coalition were unaware of the efforts of activists who campaigned for democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
Sani explained, “Most of the people speaking today, where were they when we were in the trenches fighting for democracy, for justice, for good governance, for the rule of law? They didn’t know anything about it.
“When we had that fight under our leader, Chief Gani Fawehinmi of blessed memory. You know what happened? We were not fighting because we wanted power. We were fighting because we want democracy and good governance in Nigeria.
“That was the reason why when Abdulsalami Abubakar started his transition, remember, and he insisted that he would register all the two political parties — the Alliance for Democracy, the APP, and the PDP — we went with our team and our leader then, (the late) Chief Gani Fawehinmi, told us we were not going to participate in that election, and we look at him and said, ‘Why?’
“He said because the battle was not over, we have to fight for the expansion of the political space in Nigeria, and that was the reason why some of us, including my humble self, took INEC to court. So when people are talking about the denial of registration or whatever, I was surprised. Where were they?”
The governor noted that such pro-democracy efforts by him and others led to the expansion of the political space and the emergence of a multi-party system.
He added, “So, Nigerians are very clever. They’re very smart. They have been following the trajectory of political events in Nigeria. When you tell them, ‘I can change things,’ they will look at you and say, ‘What did you do five years ago? What did you do six years ago? Were you not in power? Why are we still in this problem?”
The Kaduna governor also said he was not afraid of opposition based on the performance of his administration in the state.
Sani said, “I’m not afraid of anything. I will tell you why I’m not afraid of anything. When people are talking about the North against Asiwaju, the North against this, I just hope we have more time, I will come to you with the statistics.
“In 2023, let me give you Kaduna as an example. I’m sure it might be the same with many states. I looked at the poverty index in the 23 local government areas of Kaduna State. I looked at the poverty index in Kaduna; out of 23 local governments, the poverty level in 17 local governments was about 70 per cent. That was the statistics as of 2023.
“So, what did I do? The first thing I did was sign an executive order on financial inclusion. Today, 2.5 million of our vulnerable, underserved, and poor, who are mostly living in rural areas, we have brought them back to the financial services sector.
“We opened accounts for them, and we supported them with social intervention. Now, they can save, they can borrow. They can promote their businesses.”