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Suleiman Hunkuyi is an All Progressives Congress (APC) senator representing Kaduna North Senatorial District in the National Assembly. In this interview with OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, he speaks on the demolition of one of his houses by the Kaduna State Government and other matters. Excerpts:
What is your reaction to the demolition of one of your houses by the Kaduna State Government?
We woke up on Tuesday morning witnessing yet one of those bizarre, rare, unimaginable decisions of the Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai. But I wish to state that the demolition exercise affecting one of my properties has personally in no way afflicted me. But I wish to share and express concern on the medium of utilisation of power under our very hard-earned democracy.
First of all, I think Nigerians may need to know that my posture, status, disposition has led personally to the demolition of my property which doubles as the state All Progressives Congress office in Kaduna State. As part of my own little contribution to my party, as part of what I have been able to donate to the party, to house it as the structure of leadership of the party, has been brought down. I wish to say that action which was led by his own person as my own brother, I wish to let you know that I have no case. I have forgiven him as a person for doing what he did. I am not joining issues with him for leading to do what he did. He is my brother. For bringing down one of my houses, even if it is my last house, there should be no reason I should lose any sleep. But there are concurrent issues that go along with it. The first question: what will military be doing in a site at odd hours of 4am in a property private to someone, housing a public institution leading your own party, no matter the dispute in question? What will the military be doing in a location like that at that hour?
To me, if the intention of pulling down that property is to shut Hunkuyi down, it has given me more reason to maintain my direction in standing strongly with the majority of the electorate and my people in my own state.
Three, in my own opinion, this shouldn’t have happened but it has happened. But let that be an incidence for growth of democracy in my state. Let it serve as a rallying point for those who have been shortchanged, pained in any way as a result of the leadership of Nasir el-Rufai in Kaduna State. I should be one of the people to bear the consequences of bringing Malam Nasir el-Rufai to the throne of that leadership. It is not too much a price to carry for democracy to thrive. It is not too much of a price for Hunkuyi to take to express the wishes and opinion of my teeming supporters and entire people in Kaduna State. I was at the tail end of of the receiving line today. What of the over forty thousand families that have been thrown into squalor? People who have lost their essence of means of livelihood for no fault of theirs. What of the individuals who have just by way of joining issues to say ‘we disagree with you’ and the next thing they are clamped down into courts and thrown into jail? We have seen that happen. What of my brother, the Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in North West Zone whose house earlier in the year in 2017 underwent the same kind of decision which the governor found comfortable to take? What of my own party men who have been clamouring for relevance which the Nigerian constitution has guaranteed and yet they have been denied to say their voice simply because such stance runs contrary to the beliefs and aspiration of the governor in the state? This is not too much of a price for democracy to carry out; it is not too much for us to accommodate and refuse to understand that people of that nature have no business in executive positions within the Nigerian democracy because you must cohabit with others. Whether you like it or not, you have to accommodate the views of others even if those views conflict with your own views. I wish to state again that bringing the bulldozers on Hunkuyi’s house is no big deal.
You may need to know that the same property was the property that we started clamouring for support for the same governor for the people to elect. That same office he had been in and out uncountable number of times as a centre of his campaign. In case Malam Nasir forgets and wishes to push the boundary of personal feeling to express the way he feels against Hunkuyi, let me also remind him that my own residence is at Number 18A Inuwa Wada Road Kaduna. If he wishes to go the same way, he can go ahead. Let me also remind him that there is another property which I housed him which he slept in so many times and we fed in the cause of bringing people together to elect him as governor. And it is in Queen Elizabeth Road in Zaria in case he still wants to take it down.
The Kaduna State Government issued a statement saying the title on the property is a residential house converted to a public building. What is your reaction to that?
Well, I am hearing that for the first time. And I am sure with every sense of responsibility that if what has been released now is anything to go by, shouldn’t there be a contravention order? Shouldn’t there be service on us to quit the activity of a party office? Shouldn’t there be other steps to carry rather than jumping into what they did?
I don’t think there is need to say anything to justify that activity of bringing bulldozers led by his personal self. I don’t need anybody to comfort me on that. Like I said earlier, it is my own property. If I had rented the property to someone who looks on to that property for rent to pay the school fees of his children, maybe I would have been deeply saddened the more. But in my own opinion he had taken his own decision, he has done what he wanted to do and it is my own house. And I have forgiven him for whatever he did right or wrong. So, I think it does not arise whether it is a residence we used as an office.
Before now, you are known to be an ally of the governor. What is the bone of contention that led to the demolition of your house?
Like I told you simply and I have said it publicly that I started, heralded, championed, supported, rooted and stood all odds to get Nasir elected in my own small way in whatsoever form including being the Chairman of his campaign committee, including serving as the chairman of the All Progressives Congress campaign committee in my state and providing my own structure to as far as I could. But should I side with him against my people? That is not politics. That is not about leadership. I parted ways when it became evidently clear for Nigerians and posterity. We all witnessed the brigandage. It reached a point where I cannot support anything against the popular opinion, interest of my own people, no matter whose ox is gored. I parted ways with him and I declared so. And in politics, there is nothing wrong in agreeing with someone. But there cannot be anything wrong in disagreeing with someone where issues, policies become different. But you could see that if this can happen, it shows without reason when we tell him this is the right way to go, he does not listen. Let me cite one practical example: the sacking of over four thousand district and village heads. When I was Commissioner for Finance under Makarfi’s administration, I was Secretary of the committee that decided on the creation of those districts and appointing those district heads. Of course I believe in that policy. It is the yearnings and aspiration of the common people within my own state. They were created in good faith. If there is anything wrong that you wish to correct, you could correct it without raking total havoc on that system. So when he did that, I originated letters to all the district heads and apologised. This is not the government I prayed or dreamed we were bringing to our people. Now the government is unleashing terror on you. I feel you owe me that apology too that he should apologise to the people but he won’t. He sees what he has done as right and I see it as wrong. That alone, without citing further examples is enough. That affected the social structure of the people in my state. It is a havoc that has been caused and we could list tens of this kind of policy decisions under the government that has been brought to bear on my people is too much for the people to carry.
Do you believe in the reconciliation efforts of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to resolve this?
First of all, to reconcile is to agree that there are differentials. It is to agree that there are conflicts. It is to confirm that something somewhere is wrong. That is a statement of fact.
Two, the person of Asiwaju as far as I am concerned, as far as the Nigerian All Progressives Congress Community is concerned, he is one person that you can’t take away one thing from. And that is his integrity, his towering image and his ability to stand, not to bend in trying to sort out those issues in question. Therefore, in my own opinion, to have peace among one another and indeed other warring members of the party for one reason or the other is a conflict resolution mechanism procedure which organisation must be willing to have that kind of structure. So, it is a welcome development.
