Yari will bring back aggrieved APC defectors – Aide

Engr. Abdullahi Tsafe is the Chief of Staff to former Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State. In this interview, he speaks on the chances and benefits of his principal becoming the next national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Excerpts:    Your principal, a former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, is vying […]

Engr. Abdullahi Tsafe is the Chief of Staff to former Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State. In this interview, he speaks on the chances and benefits of his principal becoming the next national chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Excerpts: 

 

Your principal, a former governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, is vying for the office of APC national chairman in the convention slated for February. What are his chances in the race?

You know when you are placed with choices in life you will always look at the person who knows what it takes to do the best. We are talking about the leadership of our great party. His Excellency was the only candidate who served as the secretary of the party at the state level during ANPP. 

Then he became the state chairman of the party and later the national financial secretary. So with these, there is no doubt that he has the capacity and knowledge of what it takes to lead the party at the national level. Tell me among those contesting who has these qualifications or has held such positions. 

Therefore A. A. Yari has everything it takes to be the next APC national chairman; he is even a professor of politics as far as Nigerian politics is concerned and will not be there waiting for someone to teach him what to do. 

The campaigns have started. How do you intend to reach out to party members in the 36 states to galvanise support?

We are working tirelessly; all hands are on deck and I believe we shall make it. We have reached out to our teeming supporters across all the zones of our country. But there are other contestants so we don’t want to open up on our strategy so that they will not hack into it. We are keeping some of our strategies to our chest.

How will he tackle the internal crisis rocking the party?

A. A. Yari is a very good manager of crisis. Remember as chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), he did a lot to unite the governors. He will certainly bring his crisis management skills to work. 

Even the aggrieved members that defected to the opposition PDP, I don’t want to mention names, I was privileged to be with some of them and they all pledged that if A. A. Yari is given the opportunity to serve as the national chairman, they will all come back to APC and work together towards 2023. 

They believe that he is the only person that can give them fair treatment because most of the people that left said they did so in anger because they were not given fair treatment but they believe that with Yari onboard, their grievances would be addressed.

The option of consensus is also on the table. What will happen if it does not favour your principal?

I don’t even believe in consensus. Let us go on direct primary because that is where a politician will show his strength.