Tsunami that swept Jonathan out of office is building up against Tinubu – Former minister of Sports and Youth Development, Dalung
Former minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung, speaks with ISMAEEL UTHMAN on the ongoing defection to the Social Democratic Party and move by the North to stop President Bola Tinubu in 2027
Why did you join SDP?
I was appointed a Director of Contact and Mobilisation by the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, in 2022 in the Strategic Campaign Council. I later met him (Tinubu) for 30 minutes, and I discovered that he couldn’t comprehend anything from our discussion. So, I warned myself that having campaigned and brought Muhammadu Buhari to power, Nigerians were crying of failure. I couldn’t continue with that with the evidence before me. So, I resigned my membership of the strategic council under the chairmanship of Babachir Lawal. The current National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, was a member of my committee. I also resigned from the APC.
After assessing all the political parties, I was convinced that SDP is a party that I would associate with because it stands to hold the future. So, I joined the party in 2022, and I contested the 2023 National Assembly election for Langtang North/Langtang South Constituency. But when INEC did what they did, despite that I had evidence, I decided not to waste my time going to court, because I was not too sure that from the drama they performed, anybody could get justice in the court.
I’m a member of SDP, and we welcome everybody who has decided to join the party so that we can join hands to sanitise Nigerian politics. Currently, we are not practising democracy, but kakistocracy. What we have now is a government of a few for themselves, their personal interests, families, and friends.
How true is the report that some former ministers under ex-President Muhammadu Buhari are leading a massive defection to the SDP?
Since the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, joined the SDP, I have been receiving not less than 100 calls every day from common and prominent people across the country, indicating their interest of joining the party. The information about 10 ministers under Buhari joining the SDP may be part of the negotiation going on between the party and other political leaders who are coming into the SDP.
Before I joined the SDP in 2022, there was a reflection I had about the party. It is the only political party that united Nigerians between 1991 and 1993. It was the only party that won the clearest and fairest election ever conducted in Nigeria. It is a party of the people because they own it. They buried their differences and united to elect late MKO Abiola in 1993. The Nigerian state has done justice to the Abiola family by recognising him, but the state has not done justice to the party with which Abiola contested the election that was annulled. The government took over the party, its assets, and all the elections. If we are now trying to reconcile and heal the wounds of the past, the government must come out and apologise, return and declare what they took over from the party and also return to the party.
The government must also declare the results of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. The principal person who annulled the election has admitted that Abiola won. Despite that, we want an official declaration that Abiola won the election, and a posthumous inauguration should be accorded to him, or as a waiver to the inauguration, his name should be included among the list of Nigerian presidents and all the entitlements should be given to the family as a compensation for the grievous injustice done to him.
There seems to be a serious resentment against President Tinubu from the northern part of the country. Can you confirm this and why is the North ganging up against Tinubu?
President Tinubu didn’t enjoy the goodwill of Nigerians. He’s the only person declared as president in the history of this country without securing 60% of the votes. He only won 36% of the votes. In a normal democracy, INEC should have gone for a rerun, but the electoral body never did. Instead, INEC declared Tinubu the President. After declaring him, Tinubu had an onerous responsibility of uniting the country and seeking legitimacy. He would have done that by forming a government of national unity, just like Shagari did in 1979. But on the day of his inauguration, Tinubu withdrew fuel subsidy, even when there was no government because it was only him and the vice president that were inaugurated. He had not formed a government then.
The fuel subsidy removal has a monumental effect on the lives of the people of Nigeria. People have been crying across the country. Myself and other prominent people have called on him many times to reconsider his decision. But in his maiden presidential chat, the President said he had no regret whatsoever. So, the president declared war against Nigeria, especially the common people. Nobody is ganging up against him.
The political leaders are just trying to manage the disaster and catastrophe that will befall this country by trying to align and regain the confidence of Nigerians to believe in democracy. As it seems now, an average Nigerian does not believe in democracy. People have lost hope. I don’t want us to promote this narrative of gangs by politicians. The politicians are also trying to protect themselves because they are afraid that if they do not rescue democracy by giving Nigerians an alternative, the country will degenerate into anarchy. People are hungry and angry at the same time. People are poor and getting poorer. That is the problem.
Who are the people involved in this movement?
We are in discussion with many people across the country, including former ministers and senators. But because it is at the level of discussion, I will have to protect their privacy. However, I will assure you that from what is going on, there is a large number of the political class from across the political parties in Nigeria.
SDP is now a bride in Nigerian politics, not because it has a white horse symbol, but because it is a party of justice. Nigeria should retrace its steps. We missed our way in 1993 when they annulled the election. In 1999, instead of the political class revalidated and insisted on having SDP as the party to contest the election, they joined the PDP. You can see that we were in the wilderness in the 16 years of PDP rule. We are also in the abyss for the 10 years of APC government.
Democracy in Nigeria will not get anywhere until we go back to where we missed our steps. We should retrace our steps. We will pick up from there and build an egalitarian society. Nigerians are elated to join the SDP because it was where their hope was squandered. Abiola campaigned with farewell to poverty, and since they annulled the election, all political ideologists have welcomed poverty into Nigeria. Nigerians who in 1993 had property and were rich cannot afford to eat today.
The SDP vision of ensuring prosperity was clear, and if we are now trying to resurrect that vision of a great leader, and declare war against poverty, Nigerians will be very happy with us. It’s not about political parties, it’s just about a new system.
Buhari has affirmed that he remained in the APC though he didn’t attend the last NEC meeting of the party. Do you think the party or Buhari is hiding something?
It is not about APC, it is about whether Tinubu is considerably fair to Buhari. Tinubu and Buhari aligned in 2013 to form APC which won the 2015 election. Buhari conceded the vice president position to Tinubu, with five other ministers. After eight years, Buhari fulfilled his covenant by conceding power to Tinubu, though many people were deceiving the President that Buhari didn’t like or support him. As a retired general, if Buhari didn’t want to hand over to Tinubu, he knew the tactics of power he could use to prevent him from coming to power. When he was elected in 2015, Buhari said he was a born-again democrat, so he worked to redeem his tyrannical legacy as head of state then.
But Tinubu is not treating Buhari fairly, because the President cannot mention one single position he considered for Buhari. Will it be fair for somebody who conceded vice president and five ministerial positions to you not to have a single special adviser in the government?
This problem Tinubu found himself in is self-inflicted. It is caused by his ego. He is an egoistic personality who sees himself as an emperor. He thinks he has conquered Nigeria. And I’m telling you that unless he changes his method of governance, we will soon know who Nigerians are.
Are you insinuating that Tinubu is going to lose the 2027 presidential election?
I will not be able to say whether he will win or lose. But I know that Nigerians have taught past leaders (who were even not as bad as how Tinubu is managing the country) lessons. So, Tinubu cannot be an exception. Those people spent more money than Tinubu, but they didn’t make it.
I’m seeing the same tsunami that swept Jonathan out of office developing, but I don’t know what it will end up resulting to. However, I think the president must warn himself to behave like a Nigerian president. There are about 538 ethnic nationalities in Nigeria with over 1000 dialects. This country has the highest number of intellectuals in the world as a country. President Tinubu cannot be smarter than all these people. He is holding a position of trust. Why won’t he conduct himself within the parameters of trust?
There seems to be a different scenario from the 2015 political tsunami that you mentioned. The opposition was united then and the majority of Nigerians were in support. Do you think there is a formidable opposition to confront APC in 2027?
The opposition against Tinubu started about two years ago, but the scenario in 2015 was less than a year, and it resulted in a political tsunami. If it enveloped in less than two years of Tinubu’s tenure, it cannot be different in terms of how early it is, and it is evident from how dissatisfied citizens are with this political arrangement as a government. So, I don’t think we should look at this in terms of the consensus of political parties. Let me make it clear and put it on record that Tinubu is not going to be defeated by a political party. He is going to be defeated by Nigerians.
What will happen in 2027 is that the political parties, which are political companies now, and the political contractors who invest their money in buying people and votes, and want to recoup their money, will be operating on that misconception, forgetting that Nigerians have already been tutored by hunger, poverty, unemployment, insecurity as a result of the wickedness of political leadership. So, Nigerians will defeat these political parties using any political platform. That is what will play out in 2027.
There are reports that Tinubu has divided the North with the northern minorities supporting the President while the core northerners are against him. Can you explain the politics going on in your region?
The northern Christians, in 2023, campaigned with religion because they campaigned against Muslims. Some of us who are liberal have to take the stand we took, because not that we are against Muslims, but Muslim-Muslim ticket was an infraction on our multiculturalism. We are a multicultural society. So, I believe that Tinubu couldn’t tell us that in the entire north (where we have Muslims, Christians, traditionalists, and free thinkers), he couldn’t find any person to be his deputy except a Muslim. That was my opinion, and my thoughts aligned with them.
But currently, Tinubu’s wife is going around minorities, or the northern Christians, and misinforming them or luring them with this argument that the northern Muslims have rejected Tinubu, so they should come and own the President. And because we are a gullible community, we have jumped into it. But my question to the Christians in the north is that, ‘you misled the people and campaigned against Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2023, what moral justification do you have to entertain a Nicodemus visit from Tinubu’s wife? Has the Muslim-Muslim situation been changed? If it has not changed, what moral ground does our clergy and Christian leaders have to receive Tinubu’s wife after campaigning against Muslim-Muslim ticket?’ So, the Muslims are more honest than us, because they supported Muslim-Muslim ticket and they declared that they would not do it again when they were betrayed. People like us who love God and know God are still maintaining our stance that we oppose Muslim-Muslim ticket, because it does not represent any equity and justice.
There are some northern Christian leaders who try to woo me into accepting this argument that since the northern Muslims have rejected Tinubu, we should come and own him. And I ask them the question, ‘if Tinubu can betray Muslims whom they meet in the mosque, where are we going to meet him if he betrays us?’ I want the Christians in the North to answer this question. It is just mere hypocrisy and greed. If the Christians are honest, they don’t need to support anyone. They need to align with the Muslims now and get a Christian candidate from the South, in fact, specifically from the South-West to contest with Tinubu so that they can defeat and teach him a lesson. But you cannot go and collect dollars in the night and come back and try to revise the Bible.
For me, I would prefer to accept the apology of the northern Muslims because as a Christian, my Bible teaches me forgiveness. If the Muslims have said, this man is not good, he betrayed us, we are sorry, I will accept their apology and align with them so that we can get an alternative to Tinubu in the South to defeat him. I will not go and embark on Nicodemus’ visit to Tinubu and say ‘Now that we should own the President that the northern Muslims have rejected him.’ That is hypocrisy.
Will you support the President if he runs with a Christian in 2027?
If he picks Christian vice-presidential candidate, it is worse. It will establish the fact that he is a dishonest leader who plays on the sentiment of people. It will be worse. And I will campaign against it, that we should not trust him. It means he can do anything to get power, and thereafter behave anyhow.
The Muslims brought him, and on day one, he unleashed trauma on Nigerians with the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, and subsequently said, he had no regrets. Now he wants to return, and he has abandoned them (Muslims), and he’s coming to northern Christians.
Let me use this opportunity to advise the Christians in the North. It is not easy for Christians to unite, but it’s very easy for Muslims to unite. Based on the statistics of voters, there are more voters coming from the North-East than the North-Central. So, if Tinubu throws out the Vice-President and picks a Christian, the North-East will just unite and rally against him. That will thwart whatever support we think we can garner for Tinubu as Christians.
Going by your 2023 elections experience, do you have confidence in INEC to conduct a free and fair election in 2027?
I still maintain my stance that unless and until there are fundamental reforms in INEC, the body has lost credibility to deliver on elections. In 2023, INEC mobilised and got the confidence of Nigerians. Even young Nigerians outside the country flew in because INEC assured them that it was going to use the BVAS, and semi-technology to secure the results. But at the end of the day, INEC introduced a concept that the judiciary has endorsed, ‘technical glitch.’ That means the referee can change the goalpost in the middle of the match. INEC is an enemy of credibility under that circumstance. I would say that for us to have a free and fair election in 2027, our electoral process should be digitalised. You can use your phone to vote, and immediately know the number of votes your candidate has got. We have been using technology to elect youth presidents, and winners of awards for the media, companies, and international organisations. I have never heard of rigging or technical glitches there. Why are INEC and the National Assembly afraid of electoral reform? If they will earn my confidence, and that of other Nigerians who think like me, INEC should embark on electoral reform by digitalising our electoral process and removing human hands in all the processes completely. The few hands that are needed should operate at the level at which they will function well without any manipulation. This will be the only way INEC can be trusted and guarantee free and fair elections.
What was your most challenging time as a minister under Buhari?
The most challenging period was the lack of cooperation from the National Assembly. I received the worst cooperation from them as a minister because they expected me to cooperate with them in a way that, in my opinion, has no backing of the law. That generated serious misunderstandings and led to a lot of budgetary starvation for sports ministry. So, I had to run sports mostly on charity and depending on the President for his intervention.
How do you mean that the National Assembly wanted you to cooperate in a way that was not supported by the law?
They wanted cooperation that was not in accordance with the law because asking me to give money before approving my budget was a serious thing I couldn’t comprehend. We campaigned on fighting corruption. So, how would I start my tenure that way? I was expected to give money before the budget was passed, and that became a serious disagreement. For the three and a half years that I was a minister, I was always excused each time I went for a budget presentation.
Was there a specific amount of money the lawmakers requested from you during those periods?
There was no particular amount. For that first year, they started a negotiation that I should cooperate with them first before the budget was passed. However I insisted that the budget was a document where there are budget lines, and I did not find in my budget anywhere I could go and take any amount to give to those who are supposed to approve my budget. As a result of that disagreement, there was zero budget for youth development in 2016.
That and other challenges characterised my tenure, but I’m happy that today, I left a legacy that has not been challenged by anybody. Nigeria was nowhere in football except women’s football when I came in. But I qualified Nigeria for WAFU and many others.
How will you access the current security situation in the North?
There are many attempts to deal with the security situation in the region. But violent crime is still very potent in the North. A few weeks ago, bandits attacked a village in Zamfara. The villagers mobilised and resisted them. The bandits mobilised greater forces, went back to the village and killed many people. There are still abductions going on all over the place. So, there are many things to be done.
