He is not known to talk much, but each time he speaks, his words carry weight. Former governor of Kwara State, Senator Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi, opens up to RUTH CHOJI on politics of the Senate presidency as well as why Gen. Muhammadu Buhari must see Nigeria as his immediate constituency.

The world has been applauding Nigeria for a successful election, what is your take on the way the elections were conducted?

We have made progress. This certainly was a more peaceful election and I think the greater part of the credit should go to INEC and particularly, Jega who has been determined, consistent and has been able to prove that Nigeria can conduct credible elections. Nigerians now know that elections and democracy are close to everybody's religion because it is about choice. We now know that we don’t have to kill each other because we don't have the same opinion. Elections used to be monetised in Nigeria, it became a game of the rich, but this election has broken that notion. Judging by the way the votes were cast during the presidential elections, do you think APC can unite Nigeria?

That is a concern that has bothered me too. I believe that a mature leadership can do something about it. Government must ensure that we are one country and so there must be justice to all. What happened has called for all the wisdom Buhari can muster. It happenned in the past when NPC won most of the states and scored zero in other parts. The leaders in those states were able to come out with leadership that moved this country. Buhari must ensure that the country is his constituency because everybody has a right. I will also recommend to the APC to set up a committee to find out what happened in the East and South-South. When you get to the root of that problem, you will find solutions. Nigeria should show more maturity now than they showed during the elections. The fact that one group won should not make any difference. What happened in this election has shown that anything can happen anytime.

Should this be the first priority of the incoming government?

I think he should start with the many ills that bedevil the nation. He needs to take a critical look at power, corruption, abandonment of agriculture, lack of jobs for the youths and reduction in the massive importation that has made our economy dependent. We need to look at the causes of corruption, it is not about probing. Of course, we need to do that but we need to know how we got to the stage we are now.

President Jonathan is being celebrated all over the world because he created an enabling playing ground for the elections. But I don't think there is anything to celebrate, he did what he needed to do. Yes, he did a good job of allowing the will of the people to prevail, but I am still waiting to see the co-operation that will come along in the next few months. He also needs to get his people to do the right thing. After all, if Buhari succeeds, it is the whole country that succeeds, if he fails, it is all of us that fail. I believe that Jonathan has not finished his work yet, he has to give Buhari a strong support.

Coming back to the Senate, since the return of democracy in 1999, most Nigerians see it as an appendage of the executive, how will the APC run the Senate?

APC should not attempt to run the Senate alone because we have a huge number of people who have run it for so many years. We need their experience and maturity, they are also good people who have good leadership. We should make full use of their experience and maturity. For us to succeed, we need everybody. I appeal to the PDP not to constitute themselves as stumbling block; they must know that we have the overall responsibility to carry out the duty of the Senate to complement the efforts of the executive. It is important that the upper house sits down and plan its programme. They should identify problem areas in this country and plan out legislation that will move us forward. Why should this country be importing virtually everything we need? Take textile, for example, all the factories have closed down and cotton is produced in this country. What is wrong in insisting that all the military, police and school uniforms be locally produced in this country? What is difficult in manufacturing our own soap instead of importing them? Why shouldn’t we produce tyres and manufacture cars? All these must stop as it is because government decided to reduce duty tax from 40% to 10% which made it worthless for those who have companies in this country. It became cheaper to import them than manufacture and this shouldn't be so. All the assembly plants that were established have all gone down because people will rather import at cheap cost. We shouldn't have moved from the stage of assembling parts to making cars here and only importing sensitive parts only. Go to the prisons, you will see inmates awaiting trials for years. Look at public officers, exploiting the system to cheat innocent people of what belongs to them. People have no confidence in the system.

Tell us how zoning arrangement in the APC would look like?

It is still being handled but I learnt that the leadership wants to zone it to the North-Central. Some are arguing that it has been with the region for some years now but that is not the issue. The issue is that one state has been doing it for sometime now. Another point we must consider is that the North-Central voted massively for Buhari which is something they have never done before. We have a situation where the North-Central, North-East, North-West voted massively for Buhari but he has the mandate to rule the whole country, not just those areas that voted for him. He should stagger these positions so that everybody will have a sense of belonging. What should be on his mind is how to hold the country together? Whether they vote for APC or not because when people are not included, they feel sidelined. Buhari must win those people back so that the trait that is attributed to him in terms of honesty, fairness and compassion will be seen.

Will the incoming Senate abandoned bills sponsored by the outgoing executive?

The bills were sent on behalf of the country not the person in charge. They acted on behalf of all of us. Government is continuum; even the budget might just be reviewed so that it will tally with the APC agenda. I think we must look at projects that are genuine, we need to look at our naira, manufacturing companies and other things that are not working in Nigeria.

Going back to Kwara State , who is the leader of Kwara politics now?

It is Senator Bukola Saraki. We all subscribe to his leadership because he is continuing where his father stopped. We believe there must be a leader, that it should be free for all. It wasn't his own creation because Dr Olusola Saraki, for 42 years, struggled to create a state where we are united.

But there have been reports that people from the south of the state are complaining of marginalisation

Ask yourself. Which state do you have in this country that people are not complaining of marginalisation on religion, tribe or whatever? That is what the governor and Bukola Saraki have been trying to solve.

But the governor is also from the south...

It is just that human beings will always complain. The thing is for the leadership to look in to their complaints and not ignore it.

There have been reports that Senator Bukola is also eyeing the seat of the Senate presidency.To what exetentis it true?

He is a senator, he has been re-elected, he is over forty years, he has been special adviser, he has been chairman of Governor's Forum, he has been a governor for eight years, and he has contested for the presidency once. So, for somebody who has achieved all that, we should give him some credit.

I believe he can handle it.