Former Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr Anthony Sani, has thrown more lights on the feeling that the North is now angry with President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Recently, a newly founded League of Northern Democrats led by the former governor of Kano State, Senator Ibrahim Shekarau, was said to have teamed up with ACF in a bid to throw up a Northern candidate that will challenge and possibly take over power from Tinubu in 2027.

In this interview with Sunday Sun, Sani noted that Tinubu is expected to have addressed with urgency the issue of insecurity and other challenges facing the North, bearing in mind that it was the region that gave him presidential victory in the 2023 elections .

However, the former ACF scribe hailed the president for removing the fuel subsidy, saying that most Nigerians did not know why the subsidy was removed.

But he faulted the failure of the government in putting in place necessary mechanisms to cushion its effects before removing it. Excerpts:

President Bola Tinubu is one and half years in office. What is your sincere assessment of his performance so far?

President Bola Tinubu inherited an economy that had experienced recession twice from 2015, and which had been exited twice amid low production and low price of crude oil. He also met plenty of debts from ways and means. As a result, he had to remove fuel subsidy in order to free some money needed for addressing the challenges facing the economy. The removal of fuel subsidy which has contributed in no small measure to the hardship that comes with inflation has engaged the attention of most Nigerians and even Mr President who has been asking Nigerians to be patient and show understanding. To Mr President, the removal of fuel subsidy was not a matter of choice, considering the three presidential candidates had campaigned for removal of fuel subsidy since it was no longer sustainable. And when you look at the distribution of votes among the big three in the last elections, you can hardly avoid the conclusion that Nigerians wanted the fuel subsidy removed. The issue seems to be that the Bola Tinubu’s government was not fully prepared enough against the hardship that would come from the removal of fuel subsidy. So far, economic indices suggest improvements in GDP, in revenues from non-oil sector, improvements in forex reserves and in payments of debt.What appears intractable is the inflation especially that of food and transportation which have refused to go down. The CBN has been raising interest rates in its fight against inflation, but the efforts have yet to yield the desired results.The fear now is that the high interest rates have attracted investors from production to money market like Treasury Bills which in the long run can bring about recession. My honest assessment of the situation is that President Bola Tinubu is struggling with courage and in hope to revamp the economy. And this requires time since management of an economy is not by decree, but through consciously directed efforts to make desires possible and then actual.

Nigerians are suffering over socio-economic hardship in the country. Do you see any relief soon on the horizon?

I have told you that there are improvement in macro-economic indices which are likely to trickle down to micro-economic indices that have bearing on the hardship. Nigerians must come to terms with the reality that the relief we so much desire cannot come from palliatives from governments. We must learn to produce what we need and want. Government can only provide enabling environment for any surge in productivity. For example, unless the government secures the territory for farmers to farm and produce enough food, food would be expensive.That is to say, as long as there are bandits, insurgents, kidnappers and clashes between herders and farmers, production of foods would be low.

Most Northerners appear uncomfortable with President Tinubu’s government and they have started warming up to replace him at the 2027 presidential election. Don’t you think is too early for this?

I think it is too early to engage in politics of 2027. It is true that the North brought about the emergence of President Bola Tinubu in both party primary and in general elections. You would recall Bola Tinubu lost the South in the last general election, but won in the North. It is, therefore, natural and only fair for the North to expect favourable treatment by the government they helped to bring about. Northerners are also expected to complain any time they feel the North is being short-changed by the government. But such complaints cannot be said the North is preparing against Bola Tinubu in 2027. If the North has decoupled from Bola Tinubu, there would not be crises in ACF as a result of remarks made by its NEC chairman.

Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) had after its NEC meeting last week vowed to campaign for a northern candidate in protest against Tinubu in 2027. Some Nigerians have accused the ACF of regional bias for this step. What is your reaction?

ACF did not take any position against President Bola Tinubu in the meeting under reference. If it did, it would have been in the form of a communique.

I did not attend the meeting because I had to attend Round Table Summit on Youth Development in the North, which was organized by Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation in Abuja on the same day. I understand the chairman of NEC in his opening remarks listed the challenges, which the North faces right now; and that if the current government did not help address them, the North may reconsider its support for the re-election of the president. The remarks did not go down well with leaders of the forum who saw no wisdom in such remarks at this time. Hence the crisis of confidence between the two chairmen of the two organs of ACF. You would recall I have said it several times that ACF is political on issues most northerners share, but when it comes to partisan politics, please count the forum out. This is because ACF comprises members of different political parties and stripes.That is why Atiku Abubakar, Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi could get some votes in the North during the last general elections. That also explains why ACF prefers to educate voters on qualities they should look for in candidates during elections.

Also a newly founded northern group known as League of Northern Democrats headed by Senator Ibrahim Shekarau has appealed to ACF, NEF and MBF to team up with it in order to bring a Northerner to power in 2027. What is your reaction?

I am not aware the League has approached ACF to that effect. More so that ACF is older and an umbrella platform for all northerners above 18 years. It is much easier for all fora professing to promote and protect the interest of the North in the context of one Nigeria to collapse into ACF for enhanced performance. Too many effort centres is sign of managerial imperfections.

Many Nigerians have kicked against this northern political campaign against Tinubu ahead of 2027, saying that when a Northerner, Muhammadu Buhari was President for eight years, what did he do for the North. Are you of the same opinion?

Sometimes I wonder your level of fairness when you ask some questions. President Buhari was not president of North, but of Nigeria who campaigned on three agenda, to wit, tame insecurity, corruption and to diversify the economy. He did his best, but his best was not good enough for some people. It is left for policy wonks to assess his performance for posterity. It is too early for you to forget how Northern Elders Forum criticized President Buhari. Former VP Atiku Abubakar also criticized President Buhari. We in the ACF applauded President Buhari for his fight against Boko Haram and in his efforts to diversify the economy through encouragement of agriculture. He used both preventive and punitive measures to fight corruption amid some shortcomings which we pointed out. We also listed some of his short comings in the fight against bandits and kidnappers in Northwest.

Recent governorship elections in Edo and Ondo states have come under serious criticisms on alleged manipulations by INEC. What is your take on this?

It is common in Nigeria for opposition to accuse INEC of supporting the ruling party. But the practice by our political leaders to demonize INEC and make people lose confidence in INEC is not helpful. We must support INEC and trust the electoral umpire for improvement of our democracy. As our democratic institution, INEC may not be perfect. But it is not in the place of our political leaders to make Nigerians lose faith in the electoral umpire. We must note the fact that those who sell and buy voters cards are not from the moon, but are Nigerians whose civil roles include making judicious use of their democratic right to ensure votes count so the ensuing elected leaders would be accountable.

The National Assembly has again given President Tinubu the nod to take another external loan. What is your view on this, considering the fact that previous loans have not been paid?

I believe Nigerians should concentrate on how loans are used and accounted for rather than demonize loans.This is because Nigeria like any other country cannot do without loans for socio-economic development.

Why is the North not comfortable with Tax Reforms by President Tinubu?

It is wrong to say the North is not comfortable with President Bola Tinubu’s Tax Reforms. I say no because Northern states Governors Forum has rejected only one aspect of the reforms, which is about VAT that would short-change the North. You would recall the National Economic Council which incudes all the 36 governors asked the president to withdraw the Tax Bills for further consultations.I hope you are not saying the 17 southern governors in the NEC were pandering to northern governors at the expense of the South. If I were the president, I would listen to NEC and withdraw the Tax Bills for further consultations as requested by NEC.

What is your take on the scarcity of cash in the economy?

I guess the CBN is still on its desire for cashless economy. Else it would not allow the use of both the old and the new notes for too long. I hope the CBN has had enough time to prepare lest it throws the economy into chaos the way it did last time. And if it is not matter of cashless economy, then CBN should provide the economy with enough of new notes needed by the economy.

THE SUN