‘APC will take over Taraba State in 2027’

Stephen Othaniel, former Taraba State Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), speaks with Correspondent VICTOR GAI on the party’s surprise win in Karim I Constituency by-election and its implications for the 2027 general election.

Apart from being a former Secretary of the All Progressives Congress APC), I was also a former Zonal Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and a former Secretary of the United Democratic Party (UDP). I contested for the House of Representatives on the platform of the UDP, and I also contested for the House of Assembly for Karim I State Constituency as the flag bearer of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP). Unfortunately, that mandate was stolen. That was why the incumbent member withdrew and accepted the position of commissioner. People will never trust him again because you cannot take people’s responsibility and throw it into the river. What happened on Saturday was a sign that people should be careful.

After a long time, the opposition APC took over the House of Assembly seat from the ruling PDP. How did it happen, and what was responsible for your party’s surprise victory?

Since 1999, when the country returned to civil rule, Karim Lamido has been the base of the PDP. The party was like his personal property. But the people have decided otherwise. What happened on Saturday (August 16) vindicated us. People believed in the APC under the present government. That was why they went out en masse to elect Abner Shittu.

What pains me more is that Karim Lamido is facing insecurity. This is so much so that even the international community is aware. A lot of lives have been lost, yet the government did not even respond to their call. They don’t even know where the Internally Displaced Persons are. And the primary responsibility of every government is to protect the lives and property of its citizens. Some people had to cross the river just to vote.

How do you assess the conduct of INEC and the security personnel on the ground during the election?

Generally, the election was free, fair, and credible. INEC came out and discharged its duties according to the Electoral Act. I give them an 85 per cent pass mark, and that shows they are prepared for 2027.

For more than 30 years that I have been in politics, I have never seen security personnel act in such a proactive way. Some offenders were caught. Can you imagine that a sitting member went to the extent of snatching ballot papers? Thank God the security personnel responded to the people’s call. As I am speaking to you, those culprits are in security custody. They will be prosecuted according to the laws of the land.

The APC, in an unprecedented manner, inaugurated a 55-man committee led by former governor Abdulazeez Yari to oversee the election. Is that a signal of how determined your party is to take over Taraba in 2027?

The principles and policies of the current government are enough to convince people that the APC has come to stay. They have sent a message, and the message has been received and acted upon.

You have been a ranking member of the PDP in the past and are now back with the APC. The PDP-led administration in Taraba has been in office for the past two years. How do you assess its performance so far?

The PDP I knew before is no longer the PDP I know today, because the former PDP was made up of transparent leaders who carried people along and listened. But that is not the case today. Governor Kefas is a failure! No one can point to a single completed project worth N2 billion in Taraba, yet you can see the debts he is accumulating.

He collects huge monthly allocations, too, but let him tell Tarabans where the money is going. We need to talk because the government is about the people. He is talking about free education when the masses are struggling to put their children in private schools because they lack confidence in public schools. Lagos and Kano, which have some of the highest revenue profiles, could not offer free education. So, what does the party have to offer the Taraba people in free education?

You place a lot of blame on the ruling PDP, but your party, the APC, has also experienced significant internal acrimony, which has divided the party in the state. On two occasions, it cost the governorship seat. How united and prepared is the APC now to take over power from the more formidable PDP?

The answer is simple: the outcome of the by-election has answered that question. It was a united APC that won the election. You cannot avoid a crisis in politics. We agree and also disagree. But the crisis is already a past issue, and now a united APC is coming to take over. The journey has started with Karim Lamido.

Source: The Nation