Deputy spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Hannatu Musawa, talks to ADEBAYO FOLORUNSHO-FRANCIS on life as a female politician and preparedness of the party for the general election
How do you feel being the daughter of Musa Musawa, one of Katsina State’s revered and seasoned politician?
There is nothing to prove. Everyone knows my dad belongs to the school of thought of Aminu Kano, especially with the way he thinks. He was part of the Northern Elements Progressive Union back then in Kano. Maybe I should also say that Aminu Kano was my godfather. And, yes, I obviously grew up seeing my father playing the role of a radical politician. My father is in support of feminism. Even though we are from Katsina State, which is a conservative part of the country, it was always a matter of a woman can do whatever a man can do if given the opportunity. My father was also in the Foreign Service where he was posted to different parts of the world. Due to the stability that was needed for the family, he took us to the United Kingdom when I was five years old and that was how my siblings and I went to school there.
At a very young age, I also met a fantastic northern lady, who had a strong impact on me. Her name was Hajia Gamba Sawaba. I had an opportunity to interact with her intimately at a point in my life. She was well educated and above all, she was a freedom fighter.
What made a lawyer like you veer into the murky waters of Nigerian politics?
I grew up with an objective mindset as I always wanted to be a lawyer. That was because I felt being a lawyer is a way that one could fight for a certain freedom that was required, especially growing up in a very conservative setting. Being in the UK at the age of five, we always had an identity. It was not the case of going to the UK and becoming a sort of British. It was a case of keeping our identity as Nigerians. One always had that mindset of wanting to come back. I came back and found myself in the legal profession. This is what I wanted to do.
At what point did you contest a political office?
Somewhere along the way in 2010 or 2011, I got a call from the inner caucus of President Buhari urging me to come and contest on the platform of the then new party, Congress for Progressive Change. I refused because I wasn’t really interested in contesting any office. But they told me that I would be in a better position to keep on writing columns every day and fight for the masses if I was in the National Assembly, especially as a lawyer. That was a big deal. And this was what I really did in 2010 when I contested the House of Representatives. It was a very tedious exercise and somewhere along the line, I found myself gravitating toward the Action Congress of Nigeria, which happened to be Bola Tinubu’s party. Even though I knew about Tinubu, it was the first time I really took more of an interest in him. Being part of the CPC and the ACN, this whole image, whole efforts, what Bola Tinubu has done in Lagos and innovations he brought were very attractive to me. I was very glad even though I didn’t win my election. We got together again in 2014 along with Buhari and Tinubu. It was natural for me to be part of that particular movement.
In northern Nigeria, women and girls are not encouraged to participate actively in politics. What are you doing to bring these people out of their cocoon?
I think the most important thing is participation. If you look at the emergence of someone like Sadiya Umar Farouk as a minister, for instance, it has had an effect on many young women in rural areas. Many believe she is there because she is educated. I remember when she was nominated as a minister, there was a complete turnaround within our communities. Now, everybody wants their children, especially girls, not to aspire to marriage, but to aspire to education. Although the sort of development of women we see in our country has been a little slow, the emergence of the likes of Aishatu Binani in Adamawa State is going to have a profound effect, and break those sorts of barriers that have been sort of hindering the emergence of women. Another example is Katsina State; I remember when I came out for the National Assembly, some people were astounded and wondered how we could have a woman in the House of Representatives.
Even in Kaduna State, Hadiza (Balarabe), who is the deputy governor, has set an example that people in most conservative parts are looking at. I think things are changing. I wish they had changed a lot earlier because there are many women out there who have an impact. This is a revolution and I think we are going in the right direction.
You hail from the North-West and from the data released by INEC, the region has the highest registered voters. What are the chances of Tinubu there?
I can guarantee that we are going to deliver. The North-West is coming out to deliver Asiwaju (Tinubu). Many things will happen in this election. One of them is that the people who may not give (Peter) Obi much credit will be surprised by how well he is going to do. And those who are supporting Obi all over the Internet are going to be shocked at how badly he will do at the presidential election. Then, the nation is going to be astounded as to how Asiwaju Bola Tinubu will perform in the North-West. Let me tell you that the North-West is the backbone of this election and the North-West is ready to give Asiwaju its support. At least, I can speak for myself because I am from Katsina State.
I am the secretary-general of the campaign council there, and our target is to even get Asiwaju more votes than Buhari got. It is like a challenge for us, especially now that we have northern candidates, who are trying to appeal to those northerners. But there are those of us who are on the ground and are willing to do everything within the legal purview to sell this man (Tinubu). Secondly, when we talk about Buhari’s 12 million votes, they are vested in one person. Everybody is trying to claim those votes. But those votes are vested in Muhammadu Buhari himself.
There are insinuations that Buhari’s 12 million votes may be non-existent now that he is no longer on the ballot. How will you react to that?
There is something about those people who support Buhari. It doesn’t matter what has happened in their lives in the last eight years, they have a cult-like following for him. You can’t go to them and say anything bad about Buhari. Even if there is insecurity in their communities, they don’t care. You cannot explain this sort of connection that they have with Buhari. I never understood that, even when I was part of the movement. Now that Muhammadu Buhari is coming out to campaign for Tinubu, especially in those areas where he knows he has those 12 million votes, we are going to give him (Tinubu) those votes.
At least for me in Katsina, I can guarantee you that I have a lot of youths in Kano. We are going to do all we can to give him those votes, because they know him, they know what he has done. But beyond that, Tinubu, more than any other politician in this generation, has built human capacity. Human capacity has not only been in Lagos, it is everywhere. For almost 10, 20 to 30 years where there were reported deaths and disasters, Asiwaju would go there. If there are parents who died, Tinubu would be the one sponsoring the children. You will not even know. Now that we are part of the movement that takes us around our villages, we hear people say things like, ‘I am going to school because Tinubu paid my school fees 18 years ago’. If you visit somewhere like Kaduna, you will also hear about how he refurbished the library of Sultan Bello and other stories. By his character and his sort of philanthropy despite not knowing he would venture into this political contest, he has been able to build so much on the ground. So, people have a good sense of him.
Thirdly, it was Asiwaju who gave a platform in 2007 to Atiku Abubakar and in 2011 to Nuhu Ribadu. Without Asiwaju in 2015, Buhari would not have become the President. Without him, those 12 million voters that love Buhari, whether he came to campaign or not, understand that it is this man who has nothing to do with the North that gave us that platform. For us in the North, there is something that we pride ourselves in, and I think traditionally in the North, when somebody does something good to you, you have to repay the person. It is part of our culture and this is exactly how people of the North feel. You will be shocked when you go to the campaign and hear people talking about Jagaban. So, they claim ownership of him.
There are allegations that Tinubu is solely funding his presidential campaign as some APC governors are not willing to finance it. How true is this?
The Tinubu campaign is invariably linked to the campaign of many politicians on the ground. For example, I always use Katsina State because I am part of that particular campaign. Tinubu does not have to give us money for us to campaign for our governorship candidate. He doesn’t have to give us money to campaign for the members of the House of Representatives and senators. This is where we talked about the structures that may be non-existent in some other parties. These people’s fate is linked to Tinibu’s and you have to remember that the governorship election happens two weeks after the presidential poll. Therefore, for every governorship candidate in the APC, especially in the North, Tinubu’s success will help them. They don’t have to wait for (him); they want to be in office as well. They are campaigning for themselves and Tinubu because they are not going to say vote for me. In every campaign, if Tinubu does not bring a dime to us, we will still campaign for him. Even those who may be sceptical about it, but it is in our interest for Tinubu to win because if the election goes the other way, it will affect the governorship election. That has tied people to the need for him to be successful.
Some North-East APC youths have threatened to withdraw support to Shettima because he has not been giving them the needed attention. They also alleged that about one million women have left the party with their former zonal women leader for the PDP. How will you respond to that?
It is politics. Some days ago, many people from Bauchi State from the PDP moved to the APC. So, it is normal that you are going to have people move, which is why everybody needs to go and vote. That’s the only way that you will be able to tell who the most popular candidate is. It is good for people to gravitate because it shows independence and it shows the growth of democracy. We don’t have any problem with that. Anybody who feels that the APC is not fit for them has the right to go.
Tinubu is a democrat, Shettima is also one. In no way do we have the urge to keep anyone within a conclave. If they are not happy, let them move and those from that (other) party can move. But if we are talking about the movement here to there, I think the one that has been affected the most is the PDP, which invariably lost five shining governors on the eve of an election. The APC has not had anything of that magnitude. I think with less than 40 days to the election, we are in good stead.
Recently, you were attacked for posting a viral video of your principals, Tinubu and Shettima, giving out what critics labelled as a bribe to a physically-challenged person. Can you explain why you posted the video on social media in the first place?
Let me tell you that out of all the things that I have done since we started this particular campaign, this is the one I stand by 100 per cent. I posted that video on purpose because I felt going around with Tinubu and Shettima, knowing them from a political standpoint and seeing their level of compassion, Tinubu is one of the most compassionate people I have known. He is kind and gentle. He is a quintessential philanthropist. It was an event held for disabled people and Almajiris. There was a man, who was really in distress. He was there at the event and you can tell that he was in need. Shettima saw his situation and brought him. They were trying to calm the man down. The man was telling them some of his areas of distress. Being a Muslim, we talk about charity and almsgiving and I know because I read the Bible as well. The Bible talks about charity. It is a quintessential part of being a Muslim or a Christian and out of the generosity of their hearts, they just came to this event, but on sighting a man in the audience, who was visibly crying and distressed, only God knows the kind of calamity that man was facing at that point. God in His infinite mercy brought the man to that place and positioned him in the sight of Asiwaju. As I said, there were a lot of disabled people, but I could see that particular man crying because he was really in distress.
After Shettima brought him, they were asking him what his problem was. It took him a while before he opened up and talked to them, while shedding tears. Out of compassion, Asiwaju and Shettima gave charity to him. And I thought it was a moment I wanted to capture to show the world. We are not even at the election. Who are you bribing? If it was an election, it would have been different. Those people who take it out of context and bring bad light, shame on them.
