Alhaji Sulaiman Buhari is the former chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State. In this interview with our correspondent in Ilorin, he argues that the defections of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and former Governor Bukola Saraki to APC have ended the supremacy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.  Excerpt:

How will you describe the recent political development in the country as regards the defection of five PDP governors to APC?

It is a very good development and it is good for our democracy. This is the time that Nigeria is practising democracy. What is happening now would challenge the government in power to sit up. The merger has created a veritable alternative for the ruling party. So it is a good development for our country.

As a chieftain of APC in Kwara State, how do you see the defection of the state governor and his predecessor to your party?

It is also a very good development as far as I am concerned. It is good for Kwara democracy. It is a good development for my party to receive new PDP members. What we are struggling for is to be in power and God has just done it without going to the poll and made the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state the ruling party. It is a good development for the party and the people of Kwara state in general.

How do you plan to manage this success? Do you think it would be possible for APC to retain power in 2015?

It is very possible. I think 2015 election is not going to be very difficult anymore. We are the main opposition party in the state and for them coming to APC, what should be paramount to all of us is the interest of Kwara. So whatever be the struggle, the interest of Kwarans remains sacrosanct and we must not compromise that. Now that the governor and his predecessor have seen themselves as part of progressives, definitely Kwara is going to benefit from it because this is a party that has agenda, you can see what is going on in other APC states: the rapid development taking place. So the merger is going to be beneficial to the people of Kwara.

What of those who remain in PDP, don’t you see them as a threat to APC’s continuous ruling of Kwara, or are you saying there is no PDP again in the state?   

Who is the PDP in the state? Is it not the governor and Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki? Those are the PDP. Once they left the party, the PDP is no more in the state. Those who are saying PDP still remains are only deceiving themselves. It is normal as a politician, as a political party, even if you are dying, you would continue to tell people that you are not dying. Besides, those who remain in PDP, most of them are not sincere. Everybody is struggling, “OK, PDP is in government at the national level, let me remain in PDP to have appointment”. If they really have the interest of Kwarans at mind, they should let us come together and see how things can be done, how things can be put in a very good shape in Kwara.

But some APC members are not happy with the merger; they are saying that they are not adequately consulted by the national leadership before accepting the new entrants. What is your reaction to that?

Who is that in the APC of today that is greater than we, the legacy chairmen? And as a former CPC chairman, we are satisfied; we are well consulted, well updated, the same thing with ANPP chairman. We passed the message to all our followers. As far as we are concerned, as far as our members are concerned, we are happy with what the leadership of APC is doing. For me I know that I would lose my position as party chairman, but it is not about being a party chairman, we are doing it for the common interest of the masses. So we were well consulted, we were informed. They called us for a meeting in Abuja, we went and we called our national leaders who updated us and gave us necessary information.

Some APC members are said to be planning to join PDP, are you aware of that?

That is political propaganda. Few days ago, we held series of meetings and I am telling you that none of our members is planning to leave the party. They are all committed to the struggle and they are ready to remain in the party. It is a lie that some people are not comfortable with what is happening in APC and they want to leave, it is all rumour. We are all comfortable with the merger of new PDP with APC in Kwara State.

Let’s assume there are those who want to leave, would you say from your own point of view that it is in their best interest to leave?

This is a political party, this is not religion. You can be in APC today and tomorrow you find yourself in PDP. The G5 governors were in one party before. Buhari was in ANPP, he left ANPP to CPC. That is just it. Those who want to leave may have one or two reasons or the other or they might think they would have opportunity in PDP. That is politics. It cannot be because some people are coming to join. If they have the interest of this state in mind, I don’t think they have any reason to leave.

So what prospect do you envisage for the merger?

I hope good things are going to happen because this is a progressive party. We have agenda. You can see what the progressive governors are doing. There is rapid development in APC states and we are going to replicate the same thing in Kwara State. You can see that the new PDP merged with APC because they fell in love with what is happening in our states and they want to share in the ideology of the progressive governors. I am assuring the people of Kwara State that they are going to witness a lot of development with this merger. He (Kwara state governor) is going to embark on massive developmental projects.

What advice do you have for your members?

My advice for our members, especially those of us in APC before the merger, is that they should remain in the party, see themselves as landlords and they should believe that this is a Kwara project, not Saraki’s project, not former CPC project. If truly we believe in making Kwara better, we should remain and join hand with the present government.