FAROUK Adamu is a founding member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and a former minority leader of the House of Representatives from Jigawa State. In this exclusive interview with The ICIR, Adamu speaks on the pains of fuel subsidy removal by the President Bola Tinubu government, as well as other national issues. Excerpts:
ICIR: As a renowned politician in the country and one of the founding members of the ruling party, the APC, what’s your assessment of this government in the last two years?
Adamu: Well, it has been challenging, but with a lot of progress. No matter what anybody says, if you remember back in the days when we were campaigning in 2023, all the major presidential candidates promised to remove oil subsidy. So, probably our biggest crime to the Nigerian public is the removal of the subsidy, which any of the candidates would have done anyway.
So, I think that’s really the beginning of the major challenge of this government within the last two years. I think as a government, we should be commended for that, but at the same time, we should also be knocked for that.
We should be knocked in such a way for back in the days when Jonathan was in government, myself, late President Muhammadu Buhari; all of us were on the streets all over the country demonstrating against the increase of oil prices that time, and we did everything to make sure Jonathan chicken out.
When Buhari came, I think the prices of petroleum products went up about three times, and then Tinubu removed the subsidy. But Buhari also would have done that. There are two things that Buhari did. He was to remove the fuel subsidy, but for the elections that were going to come he was advised not to do that, because it was going to bring chaos.
So really, that was the beginning of our problem as a government, but unfortunately, also for Nigerians, nobody is remembering that there is a state and local government that should provide answers to their allocations. Everybody tends to look at the federal government.
But there are also certain things that when you’re in opposition or when you’re not in government, you don’t know. So there are certain things we did when Jonathan was in government. Sadly, it was due to ignorance of all of us.
ICIR: Have there been any attempts to assess the reforms of the president, mostly on fuel subsidy removal and its impact on the people with N70,000 minimum wage hardly able to buy a bag of rice?
Adamu: All the intentions are good, and the president is not an island. So, in most of these decisions, the president is just the executor. There are economists, there are people who do this arithmetic, who say what happens if this happens. So, the president is just the head who, if convinced, will go ahead and do it.
So, yes, we never expected the hardship to be this much. The president is not an economist; he is a politician. You know, they keep telling us that, it will be better. And we believe so. And no government will intentionally hurt its people. That is the beauty of democracy. All the things we are doing now, if Nigerians feel we are not doing the right things, through civility, democracy, we could be challenged. And we could even be removed.
ICIR: The federal government is asking Nigerians to tighten their belts, but we see at the federal level what some people regard as profligacy. For instance, the FG recently splashed money on football players. In a country that is borrowing people are questioning, if the government is serious about the austerity measures while asking us to tighten our belts.
Adamu: Well, first of all, we are paying the loans we are taking. About the money splashed on the players and their officials, you see, we are at the lowest level in this country.
The only thing that unites us is sports. So, the government, in the wisdom of our leaders, says, Look, let’s do something that unites this country because sports unites the country.
Here we are with one of the former Nigerian ladies in London, Kemi Badenock. I mean, look at how she portrays this country. Look at the composition of the Falcons team, comprising Okonkwo, Ajibade, and others, who believe in this country, who are flying the flag of this country. So, I don’t think any amount is too much to unite this country. But this thing is subjective.
ICIR: The UN agency on food, drugs announced that it was withdrawing aid and welfare packages to IDPs and so on. You are from the north, where there is such a massive problem with the IDPs and we can’t take care of them. Does that not call for priority on the government?
Adamu: No, whether we can’t take care of them, I don’t think so. But unfortunately, there are pilferages here and there. The government is trying its best. You know, these IDPs spring up like daily; I mean, you can’t envisage. So, sometimes you could probably get overwhelmed. I guess the government is overwhelmed. But still, back to whether it’s a waste, honestly, I believe it was done in good faith. It was done to unite this country. But it’s subject to debate as well.
ICIR: We can also see the sharp contrast with how people struggle to even buy basic things like food. If you go to the market, you see the price fluctuations and the pains. Is there a possibility that we can see a review of this, looking at two years later?
Adamu: Nothing is cast in stone. Certainly, there will be a review. I believe the government is taking notes. Recently, the government decided to import rice which was banned in this country at one time.
Now, they lifted the ban, and the price is coming down. It’s like a palliative done by the government to make sure things are coming down. But some are not coming down. But then, it’s part of the review that the government decided to lift the ban on the importation of rice.
But then, you spoke about the float of the Naira. Back in the days, somebody close to the government could just go to the central bank and collect dollars to go and exchange them at the black market rate. Now, this government said, Look, no more favours.
ICIR: Considering the growing opposition coalition against the present administration, do you think the position of the APC is being threatened ahead of the 2017 general election?
Adamu: You see, we respect them, we don’t ignore them; they are all respectable Nigerians. You can’t ignore Peter Obi, Atiku El-Rufai, or Amaechi, all of them, but the question is, all these people I mentioned were part of our gang in 2013, when we came together to bring down Jonathan. All of them. So, what is it about? Which means we, the elite of this country, are simply very selfish. Once you don’t get what you want, you just leave.
ICIR: There are concerns about President Tinubu’s poster across the country when we had barely two years into this administration. Are you not worried that this is rather too early?
Adamu: I totally agree. Honestly, it’s a digression, and it’s not good for the polity, but then the president honestly has no hand in all these processes you see. These are busybodies, people who are trying to show they are around the government.
But I call on INEC now to try to demonstrate that they are independent. Let them wield the big stick against the APC and all other parties. But then we, as a government, do you expect us to just sit down and wait and allow these people to just be all over the place, and while we keep quiet? Yes, but we are trying to do both, doing governance and politics as well. When they stop, we stop. If they don’t, we continue. They are doing only one thing, just opposition, but we are combining both governance and politics.
ICIR: It appears we are already tilting towards a one-party system. Everybody is joining the APC…?
Adamu: No, we don’t want one party at all. Nobody is being coerced to join. And we don’t go out of our way to ask people to come. Listen to what those joining the APC are saying. I remember the governor of Akwa Ibom, he said he wanted to join mainstream politics. He doesn’t want to be in opposition.
Governor Sheriff also said the same thing. So, they want to join the ruling party; they are doing it on their own. And some governors will not join. We are not asking everybody to join the APC. In fact, we don’t want everybody to join APC. But in this democracy, can you tell somebody, don’t come? No. We want the numbers. One of your colleagues said that we don’t have the numbers.
ICIR: Do you think there is a conspiracy being plotted to destabilise the ADC?
Adamu: There is nothing like a conspiracy. But there is sand being put in their Garri. What I’m saying is politics. Now, we keep looking at loopholes in their association or the party.
And we hit at that. Let them also look at loopholes in our party and do that. Look, this is politics.
Whether you say it in the open or you don’t I am now telling one of the APC stakeholders that we will keep putting sand inside their Garri. Simple.
ICIR: Are you worried about these concerns that have been expressed about the likelihood of a different VP being selected instead of Shettima ahead of the 2027 election, and how true are those concerns?
Adamu: You see, you are just asking questions and answering yourselves. When I told you we are putting sand inside their garri, they are also putting sand inside our garri because this is also part of it. Look, what is it about the vice president and the president? The president had never, ever, shown or said anything against his vice. And politicians will always be politicians.
When the president nominated Shettima, he did not consult anyone. The last I knew, he consulted Buhari. He went to Daura.
ICIR: There are now concerns about more appointments from the South than there have been from the North. What is your take?
Adamu: You see, that is Nigeria for you. If you can remember, when Buhari was in government, there were ten ministers from the north-west part of this country. Not a single minister of state.
From the north-west, where Buhari came from, some people will still agitate, and there will always be complaints. So, I think Nigerians should just concentrate on who delivers.
ICIR: Looking at late President Buhari’s legacy of large fellowship from the north, do you think after his demise, the APC might have lost fellowship from the north?
Adamu: You see, those 12 million votes or whatever votes, they are living beings. They are human beings and nurtured under the tutelage of Buhari.
So, it’s an opportunity. Now, who will harness that opportunity? Those who are in APC will continue to be in APC. So, those votes are there..
ICIR: Aren’t the political parties thinking of coming up with a new breed of politicians, more of younger people, with new ideas, and so on, instead of gerontocrats?
Adamu: The younger ones also need to show themselves up. Because in politics if you just wait for the older ones to give you, we will not give you. You come and fight for it.
Absolutely, yes. So if you want, come and take it from the older ones. But as a party, yes. We are also expecting to see who takes over from Tinubu when he leaves in 2031.
ICIR: So related to this issue, recently, Rufai’s son, Bashir El-Rufai, said, for this country to get better, the older people need to need to die…?
Adamu: Well, it’s subjective, because, you see, in 1999, Bukola Saraki, how old was he? Donald Duke too; I mean, all of them. So, when you talk about that, Nigeria has given opportunities to the younger ones.
It’s not the first time. So, whether we die or whatever, unfortunately for him, including his father, then all of us will die together. And I’m sure he will not wish his father dead.
ICIR: Many people are worried about the repression of the media and the use of the Cybercrime Act and dissenting voices. How do you look at that in terms of our democracy and freedom of expression and speech?
Adamu: That’s one of the things I was telling you, that when you’re in government, there are certain things you know that you didn’t know while you were out of office. Some of the noise you journalists make about that we came out, nobody harassed us, is not true. We were tear-gassed with Buhari when we were coming out.
So, the then government tear-gassed us. That time, we were hounded and so on. I was detained in a police station several times. I was a member of the House of Representatives. And I was driven from my village in Jigawa to another town, on an allegation that we were planning a coup against the government, and so on. As a government, there are certain things you see, you do, and then when you’re out of it, some you regret, and then some you do out of necessity of the office. So, honestly, nobody is being hounded, but of course, the security agencies, you don’t expect the president to call the IG, do this demonstration, and go and tackle them
ICIR: What are your political ambitions ahead of 2027? Are you eyeing any political office?
FARUK: I honestly want to become a kingmaker. I’m the APC leader in my state now, and my governor is doing his first term. I contested primaries with him in 2023 and lost. So we rally around him, behind him, to win, and Tinubu, so we’ll continue with the governor and the president. I have no political ambition.
ICIR: With rising insecurity affecting food security, what are your concern?
Adamu: It’s really worrisome. You see, when Jonathan was around, part of the thing that even brought down his government was this insecurity. And when Buhari came, some local governments were not under the state control. I mean, the government succeeded in doing a lot in the Northeast. Unfortunately, it moved to the Northwest. When Jonathan was around, there was nothing like banditry in the Northwest. But I think there was a tactical mistake where some of the terrorists from the Northeast, you know, see, moved to the Northwest.
So now, it is a thing of the past, but whether we are not there yet. There’s so much the government could do, but there’s also so much people would do.
Insecurity is not government business alone. You know the ward head should inform the DSS at the local level, any new faces, but they don’t.
ICIR: Are you positive that the North will support and back President Tinubu in 2027?
Adamu: I am 100 per cent. Look, you know when you say North, some people are agitated. Some people are angry Northerners. But are northerners the only hungry or angry ones? People are angry everywhere. Are you telling me everybody in the Southwest supports Tinubu? Not everybody supported Tinubu, but then there are a lot of us who believe in our party, whether it’s Tinubu or not; we’ll do everything possible. I don’t even want us to look at it from north and south. For me, it’s about my country and my party. My country is Nigeria, my party is APC, and my president is Tinubu. So those who believe in this will continue.
ICIR: What are your thoughts about non-performing ministers and a possible cabinet reshuffle in this government?
Adamu: I’ll borrow a word from the president of Uganda. I can’t remember; they had over 100 ministers. He was asked why this large company. He said, Well, there is a minister from every tribe. He said, If that is what will bring peace to this country, so be it. I will do that. So, in this country, too, there are a lot of interests. It’s part of the reasons why the President expanded his cabinet to take care of such interests, which you cannot ignore.
ICIR: Regarding the continued closure of the land border that’s affecting modern communities like Kano even Jigawa states, which rely heavily on informal trade between Chad and Cameroon, what are the economic implications of this closure to the north?
Adamu: No, I don’t think the borders are closed anymore, but the borders were closed by Buhari because of the ‘eat what you grow’ policy. And you remember that time there was a boom in rice production in this country. I am a farmer. I’m a large-scale farmer; one of the largest in this country, in my family, you know, and when you leave those borders porous, nobody will buy your product, because the cost of production here is higher than the cost of production in other countries.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.