‘PDP’ll retain Bauchi despite challenges’

What will you say about insinuations that PDP is not well-rooted in Bauchi State and that some of the leaders are even working against its victory?
I don’t share in the sentiments being canvassed, but the actual truth of the matter is that initially we decided to work together as a team under the arrangement approved by the national leadership of the PDP.
We formed a campaign council that has respected indigenes of Bauchi State like Governor Isa Yuguda as the leader, Alhaji Umaru Dahiru Baraden Bauchi, Alhaji Sanusi Mai’jama’a and many other respected personalities. The campaign council was the one approved to campaign for all PDP candidates under one single structure without division, but we noticed problems when Abuja politicians refused to join the campaign organisation.
Instead of them to come so that we work together as one family, they opened a parallel campaign organisation, despite all the support we received from President Goodluck Jonathan to carry out successful campaign in the state to deliver the state to PDP.
The Abuja politicians were working to sabotage our efforts and draw us back. Their actions led to the problems we had during PDP presidential campaign visit to Bauchi, even though we know their strength; all of them became what they are today because of the support given to them by the leader of the state campaign council, Malam Isa Yuguda, who is the icon and godfather of Bauchi politics.
Will the differences among the PDP leaders mar the party’s chance of winning in the state?
We are conducting our campaign according to plan successfully under the leadership of state campaign council headed by Governor Isa Yuguda together with all PDP executives and members and officials of the campaign council. Even though we have challenges here and there, but despite all odds we are making progress because Bauchi people have accepted our word; they are ready to vote for the PDP candidates in all the places we went. After that, Governor Yuguda met with all stakeholders to show them the importance of voting for PDP candidates and people agreed with him.
Going back to your question, it will not be healthy for us to go under different family since unity itself is strength. For Abuja politicians, who always sabotage our efforts, we know their strength and capabilities; we know their antecedents. None of them could match with the leader of the party because of his experience, generosity and performance.
We believe going by the plans we have on ground, we will deliver the state to PDP, but our major problem is that we don’t want them to hide under the cover of our success stories to claim victory. If they don’t want to join us, they should remain in Abuja and allow us to take the credit that we deliver the state to PDP in the forthcoming elections.
Many of them are from Bauchi South; none of them comes to go out for campaign with us. They don’t encourage or canvass support for people to vote for PDP candidates. They didn’t support us even in kind words, that was the reason why we said they should remain in Abuja. If they cannot join us, they should leave us to deliver the state. If they fail to do so, we will be left with no option but to ask the party to reprimand them and to take disciplinary action against them.
We will not tolerate or accommodate parallel organisation and I assure you with or without them, we will deliver the state to PDP. Our leader has done it before. Remember what had happened in 2007. They denied him ticket, then he joined opposition party and delivered the state.
Even in 2011 general elections, the Abuja politicians sabotaged him, but he still emerged victorious, which makes him the decider of Bauchi politics. Since politics is a game of numbers and Yuguda is the man with the people of Bauchi State, even now that they did not give us single poster to campaign for Mr President and other PDP candidates, we will still deliver the state to PDP.
Vice President Namadi Sambo made effort to reconcile the leaders after Jonathan’s visit, but it failed. What will you say about that?
Yes, and we are very grateful to Mr President for the support and juicy appointments he gave to Bauchi State indigenes. We are grateful to the vice president for his quick intervention, even though the reconciliatory effort is yet to be concluded, and we support any peaceful initiative that will lead to the success of the party in the state. We pray President Goodluck Jonathan himself will do more and call them to order for the success of PDP in the forthcoming polls.
Some leaders of the party were not happy with the emergence of Awwal Jatau as the governorship candidate, saying most of the candidates that contested with him were far better. What is the situation now?
In politics, we know it’s the Almighty Allah who gives power to whoever He wants. In Bauchi, we thank Almighty Allah that after the primary election, Governor Isa Yuguda led the reconciliation with all the people and unite them, even though some of the people, like Yayale, Hammayo and Abdul Ningi indicated their interest to contest, but they voluntarily withdrew from the race before the party primaries.
Ningi is now contesting Bauchi Central Senatorial seat, Yayale and Hammayo are not contesting anything, but Hammayo, Adamu Gumba, Bappah Azare and Babayo Gamawa participate in our campaigns. We go out together; we have reconciled with them, and they are supporting us. We don’t have problems with the aspirants that contested the primary with the governorship candidate.
Can Yuguda make it to the Senate, going by how Mu’azu lost his bid to go to the Red Chamber in 2007?
The people of the state always support their governor; they will not betray him, because he is the only one who lives with Bauchi people. He sits with them and solves their problems, unlike Abuja politicians who only do everything for their personal gains and none of them ever comes to meet with Bauchi people.
Like I told you, our people know his performance, generosity and leadership qualities. Definitely Bauchi people will vote for all PDP candidates not only Yuguda who will beat his political contestants hands down.