Honourable Rufus Bature was a former Secretary to the Plateau State Government, and currently, Plateau State chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. He speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on the political impasse occasioned by recent judgments of the lower tribunal and the appellate court in favour of the APC and other issues.
There is political turmoil in Plateau State over the series of judgments reeled off by the lower tribunals and the Court of Appeal. How did the Plateau get to this level?
Well, you know Plateau is a very unique state; it is a microcosm of Nigeria, where you have every type of humans. And the Plateau man is a very religious person, and once the sensibility of the average Plateau person is attacked, there are certain reactions that you get. However, since 1999, when the Second Republic came into being, the politics of Plateau has been very dicey. And there are certain individuals who feel that if you don’t belong to their class, you are not projecting the Plateau project. That is an establishment class. And if you don’t belong there, you are not talking about Plateau. However, there are others who feel that Plateau should be able to integrate into the Nigerian system.
Also, we have come a long way. For somebody like me, this is the first time I am in the mainstream of politics in the state. I am in the ruling party for the first time since I joined politics in 1998. I have always been on the opposition side of politics. But I believe that you can get something from the other side, to acquire knowledge and other things from the other side. And today, some of us justified our being in opposition. Today, we are in the mainstream of Nigerian politics. There is a belief that what many are pursuing is personal interest, not the Plateau project as being projected. When people talk about themselves, they talk about the Plateau project; if it does not suit me, it is not the Plateau project. And therefore, that is why some of us have always said that we should look at Plateau. Plateau should be our lowest common multiple.
We are not born with any religion; we came to find this religion here, and some of us are where we are because our parents were there. That is why we are still where we are. But it does not preclude me from mixing with my brothers, Muslims, and African traditionalists. I am a Christian, but we should be able to look at ourselves as a creation of God and do that which we’re supposed to do: take care of one another and do unto others what we expect them to do unto us.
If I had not joined the APC in 2015, maybe up until now, a man would not have become secretary to the state government. Since the creation of Plateau State, I am the first person to be Secretary to the Government from Berom Land, the first person from the Northern Plateau to be Secretary to the State Government, and courtesy of APC, because I jumped to the other side. This game of politics should be about us, not about me. It is about us.
You have a broad idea of what you want to be, and as you said, that has also been demonstrated in the way you play politics. But have you tried to find out the minds of the other people you’re talking about? Do they also believe in the plateau that you believe in?
As a leader, integrity is the first thing to watch out for. Your conscience should be able to judge you for what you are doing. Are you sure you are doing the right thing? People should be able to tell if you are a teacher or a thief; nobody needs to tell you that you are a thief. It is maybe a madman who does not know that he is a madman.
Sir, your party, the APC, is being accused by the PDP of trying to take over governance in Plateau State through the back door. What is your reaction to this allegation?
There is nothing like taking government from the backdoor. Politics is all about democracy and the rule of law. And we are governed by a constitution. And there are consequences to violating the constitution. And therefore, you know that in elections, first of all, there are processes that lead to the emergence of candidates as enshrined in the constitution and in the Electoral Act.
I believe that PDP knew from the onset since 2021, because in the case of Alkali versus Aghah, the court told them that they should go and obey the judgment of the Justice Gang to put their house in order. They refused to obey the court order, but partial compliance with the court order is not total compliance. I believe that PDP would not have found themselves where they are today if they had obeyed that simple order: go back and do the right thing. So we have consistently followed the rule of law. We went into an election, and INEC declared them, even though we had our own doubts as to the decision of INEC, and that was why we went to court. And we have followed the court consistently at the lower tribunal. There were some cases that were against us. There were some that were for us, went to the appellate court, and won.
Today, we have two senators; one is on the way, and we have six members of the House of Representatives. The Labour Party has also gained because of the refusal of the PDP to obey the court order. We have 22 members in the House of Assembly; the Labour Party has one member, and the YPP has one member. We are waiting for the pronouncement of the Supreme Court. Whichever way it goes, APC, as a party that operates within the ambit of the law, will accept. But we are sure; we have hope and belief that the Supreme Court will not deviate from what has happened at the Court of Appeal. So the issue of going through the back door to collect it does not arise. It has happened in several places. In Bayelsa State, the man went for rehearsal on Friday to be sworn in on Saturday because of a mistake in the writing of the name of his deputy. The court said no, but he accepted it. The same thing happened in Zamfara State; heaven did not fall, so there is nothing like going through the backdoor. We believe in the rule of law. And that is why we have been consistent in whatever we are doing. We have never been shouting because we believe that we have an egg in our hands. So we cannot go to a boxing match.
Okay, so the PDP is of the belief that if there is any political party that has no structure in Plateau, it is the APC. Also, you, along with others, did not purchase a nomination form to be elected?
This is wild imagination. As far as I am concerned, I did not need to go and tell PDP where I bought it. Have they gone to the National Secretariat of APC to find out whether I didn’t buy a form? All of us, the Exco, bought our forms. I have my certificate of return from the National Headquarters. All of us have our forms, and we have our receipts for the forms we bought. If you did not buy the form, will the National Headquarters have sent officials to come and conduct the Congress?
The person who is shouting that he is the chairman of the party, was he screened? Where did they hold their own congress? Was it the form that makes you a chairman? We went through the process. We bought forms; national officers were sent to the state, and we were screened. We went to the Crest Hotel, where the congress was held, and delegates were admitted. And then it was a voice vote. When the question was put, was there any contrary opinion? There was none. This election was supervised by the national headquarters. The reports are there. The security was there, and observers were there. So for anybody to sit down and just shout and say that we did not buy form is nonsense. The documents are there for everybody to go and verify.
Former Governor Simon Lalong seems to have resigned as a federal cabinet member to go to the Senate. For the sake of equity and fairness, which part of the state do you think should produce a replacement?
As of yesterday, when he submitted his letter of resignation, the issue of minister is the exclusive preserve of Mr President, but the thinking of the Plateau man is that the Southern zone has monopolised the position of minister, the northern zone has had its share, and the central zone has had the opportunity once since the beginning of this dispensation. As a party, we are mindful of positions, but I do not want to get into that because it is the exclusive preserve of Mr President to choose whoever he wants to work with from Plateau State.
But as party chairman, what is your suggestion?
Honestly, I will want a situation where the best from Plateau is given the position, no matter where he comes from.
We are talking about a sense of belonging…
If you talk about the Central Zone now, which has the opportunity of producing one, the governor is going to come from there, APC or PDP is from the Central Zone. The deputy is coming from the Northern Zone; naturally, the Speaker will go to the Southern Zone. If we want to talk about equity, we cannot load the Central Zone with positions at the detriment of others.
There were instances in the past where the minister and the governor came from the same zone; what makes this one different?
No, I disagree with you. Dariye was a governor, and the minister was from the Northern Zone, among other instances. As for the issue of Mrs Pauline Tallen, the immediate past Minister of Women Affairs and former Governor Lalong, who hail from the same local government, if consultations were made then, the stakeholders in the state would have done a different thing in terms of choice, but the president then thought otherwise. He did not look at Pauline as a person from the same local government with Lalong; he had a reason for giving her the ministerial position, even though there was a protest, but there was nothing anybody could do about it because it was an exclusive preserve of Mr President.
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