Why I Want Kwara PDP Repositioned…How I Survived Assassination Attempt At My Ilorin Residence 8 Days Ago -Haliru Dantsoho

Prince Haliru Mahmoud Dantsoho , who is the Youth Leader of Kwara state PDP, made news a few days ago when he issued a statement calling for a review of the 2023 general election and posing questions to PDP bigwigs in the state.

He had followed this up with a video clip insisting that answers must be provided for the salient questions he had raised in respect of the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on Saturday, February 25, 2023.

 Prince Haliru Mahmoud Dantsoho sat down with Team@orientactualmags.com on Tuesday morning and talked about recent developments in Kwara state PDP while warning that the party has started ‘pulling apart’.

 In this wide-ranging interview, he also disclosed that gunmen attacked him at his Ilorin residence a few days ago, and fired bullets at him which however miraculously found his body impenetrable.

 Read On:

A few days ago, you issued a statement that made you get a great deal of public attention, and you followed this up with a video clip that went viral. What really do you want from the party leaders?

 What  Iam  demanding  Is that  as a member of the State  Working Committee of the party , we want to know what was made available to the party for the 2023 presidential election, who received the money and how it was utilized , that’s all. I have not accused anybody of collecting the money because I don’t know who collected the money and I need to know.

 Being a member of the state working committee it would ordinarily be expected that you would raise this during a meeting that would be attended by other members of the state exco, why have you chosen to make this public?

 Yes, actually during the meeting attended by  an expanded exco on June   1, 2023, which comprises  all the 39  members of the state executive committee and the local government party chairmen, issues were raised and even the chairman openly mentioned that he was not aware of the matter, and that he knew nothing about it. He submitted that he was not aware of any money that came to Kwara. He doesn’t know how much  it was and, who received it.

Usually,  a campaign council  is set up to  handle all those things, are you saying the campaign council didn’t carry the exco members along?

Usually, we normally have two campaign councils; the presidential campaign council and the state campaign council. The presidential campaign council was headed by Dr Mahmud Ajeigbe, and that of the state had  Dr. Ali Ahmad as its chairman. Usually, the party plays  supervisory role and the party has  to get involved in everything that happens within the party, not necessarily until you’re a member of the campaign committee  that you can do that.  We play  a supervisory role when we talk about matters that have to do with the party, without the executive, there is no party. It is the party that appoints whoever becomes the director general of the campaign council, either at the federal, state, senatorial, or local government levels, or  even ward level, as the case may be.  Everyone is under the party officials ,you cannot keep the party officials  in the dark in respect of anything because it’s about the party, it’s not about individuals. So, whatever they are doing ordinarily should be reported to the party.  It is like  sending a boy on an errand, when the boy returns  he should report back to me. Nobody has reported to the party , the two campaign councils at presidential and governorship levels. We inaugurated them and they have not come to us to say this is what we have brought in respect of our activities and we are submitting this report.

Has the state working committee invited the chairman of the presidential campaign council in the state to ask him questions? And who are you directing the questions to?  Are you directing the questions to Ajeigbe or the political leaders?

Well, there is a confusing situation, when you even ask people who ought to  know about all these things, they  tell you that they are not aware. So, when they are saying they are not aware and we need to know.

Has the chairman of the party, Hon. Babatunde Muhammed posed questions to Dr  Ajeigbe in respect of the matter in question?

 Ajeigbe is not in the country. If the chairman has made any move or not, I wouldn’t know , ordinarily , I  as person, I have challenged the chairman earlier that what is happening, all these things that are happening we were not carried along. Why are they not carrying us along? He said he himself was not carried along that  he was  not aware. So, that was  what triggered my  reaction.

It has over the years become a common thing for party officials to complain of having campaign activities usurped by the campaign councils.

Alhaji Adamu Muazu  did this as National Chairman of PDP ahead of the 2015 presidential election, and there have been other instances. Going forward, as an experienced politician, what do you think can be done to correct this anomaly? 

 Point of correction, you  quoted Adamu  as saying  the campaign council usurped campaign activities , I want to disagree with the use of the word; ‘usurp’. Usurpation is when somebody takes your position from you without your knowledge, that’s usurpation. The one that you have delegated to somebody is not usurpation. Usurpation is when somebody is wrongly performing your duty either lawfully or forcefully. But when you now delegate your power and the person takes over that power totally, that’s not usurpation. That’s delegation the fact remains that the same person  still has to report to you. The thing is that  this question should not have necessarily entered public domain  if we had done things  in line with the dictates of the constitution, but because people are doing things the way they want, they are not accountable to the party, they are  only accountable to the leader, which is wrong.

 What do you think can be done to address the issue under discussion,?

 What can be done is when you elect people as party officials, the primary purpose of that election is for them to perform various functions of the party in their respective capacities and amongst the people elected,  one of them will be the chairman who will head the team. So, you follow due process. We are elected to represent the party at Kwara state level in our various capacities either as a chairman, deputy, vice chairman, youth leader, woman leader, treasurer, financial secretary, organizing secretary, auditor and publicity secretary and it should be maintained as such. Where you are a youth leader  and you are not allowed to function as  youth leader  and some  people outside the party are performing  that function, it’s an usurpation of one’s duty . It shouldn’t be so. We need to do things rightly and in accordance with laid down guidelines and procedures in order to get it right. 

The Emir of Jalingo said recently, that politicians who had produced what they recognize as  the constitution of their party. would still have instances of instituting lawsuits and having lawyers hired to teach them how to follow its dictates when they disagree on issues?

  It is wrong,  you know what,  once we bring sentiments  into issues, this is the person I want, this person has offended me and as such he will not be allowed to handle things. I will allow this other person to do this; we would be getting it wrong. We are bastardising the system and that is why the party is engulfed in crisis here and there. We should learn how to do things the right way so that we can get right result. It is sad that in 2019 we contested elections, we contested 35 positions in the state and we lost all. The 3 senatorial positions, we lost. 6 House of Representatives, we lost. 24 house of Assembly seats, we lost. We lost the governorship, we lost the deputy governorship.

In 2023 that we felt we have realized our mistakes and already know the reasons why we lost the 2019 elections. You know that in the 2019 elections, we attributed  election loss to so many factors, the Buhari  bandwagon effect and this and that. In 2023, all the reasons we gave for our 2019 failures were not there and yet  we lost totally. We lost woefully. That was why I  told people that  we can’t continue to do the same thing  all the time and expect different result.

 Did you ‘deliver’ your polling unit, I mean did your party win in your polling unit in the last general election?

 I didn’t deliver because there was no commitment.

 You mean you were not committed to making your party win elections  in your polling unit?

 I was not committed to winning my polling unit.  I am the highest party office holder in the state from my local government at the state level, I am the highest. All the things that transpired in my local government, I wasn’t aware , I was not carried along. When there’s information about this and that, I was hearing it from people who are not elected, people who are not as old as I am in the party, and people whose positions are not as strong and important as mine in the party.

 Did you  call the attention of the political leader to this?

Of course. I had drawn his attention to this during a meeting and it was ignored. My observation was ignored. We held an SWC meeting in his house and I raised my observation. So, when you have an observation that if  considered may have led to our victory in the elections  and it was  ignored, what would you do?   It was like a soldier going to the battle front without weapons.

You are known for powerful  oratory  and you  do give a disarming smile , what else do you need to convince the people to support your party?

The thing is that people have lost confidence in our party because of the way and manner we do things and because they have seen that we are not even hoping to improve in respect of what had made us fail .  So people  are disheartened and they  have lost confidence in the party. That is the fact.

 I want to put my question this way; among the members of the state working committee, who are those on the same page with you?

 We  have many people that we are on the same page .  Those who have come out openly and those who are  doing it covertly ,we are in the majority. And when you look at it, the big people in the party are on our side. We have the state chairman, we have the state secretary, we have myself, we have the woman leader and others who are operating from the background.

 Okay. If they are giving you covert support as you have claimed, a statement was issued stating that you would be facing a disciplinary committee   and that a punitive action may be taken against you. Have you been invited by the committee? How do you intend to defend yourself ?

You see, there are certain decisions you take in the interests of the larger society, not in your own interest as an individual.  As a party leader, Iam responsible to  so many people especially the interest of our party members. The communiqué that was issued was meant  to douse tension because the party has rules and regulations. If I say I want to know how much was received, who received it and how it was disbursed. Ordinarily, an educated person will know that  it is not a crime I have the right to say that. Look at the national chairman of the APC that just resigned.

( Our reporter interrupts)   He’s reported to have resigned, not officially confirmed yet?

 Yes, he’s reported to have resigned. When the national assembly appointed principal officers,  to their dismay, Adamu came out openly to condemn their action. He said  the party was not aware of this until they  do the required thing. That’s democracy. That’s a national chairman , who should not even say anything against his party but because what they did  in his own opinion  was wrong. The party should sit down and do a consensus  in respect of these positions ,  forward their  names to the  national assembly and the responsibility of the national assembly is to announce  those nominated not that the Senate President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives will impose them on the party.

It’s not a crime when you come out to challenge people and ask questions.

 Have you been invited by the committee?

 You know the committee has not even been inaugurated in the first place. To the best of my knowledge, the committee is yet to be inaugurated as we speak.  Some  were appointed as  members of the disciplinary committee which should be  inaugurated before a letter will be sent to me for invitation before I now appear before the panel ,all these things are yet to be done.

Are you saying the party only issued a statement without taking  action?

That is it because they know   that the position of the party as contained in the communiqué was to just douse tension.

How prepared are you to defend yourself?

Iam well  prepared

Do you think you have a plausible explanation to justify the steps you have taken?

 Even those that will investigate me  know that yes, I can defend myself because some of them have the same feelings that  I have.

Usually, when someone rocks the boat, friends do become enemies and very unfriendly, have your friends become foes?  Have you been harassed in any way?

I have already been experiencing that because after I made  my viral video on  July 11,  I received calls from some  party members  threatening my life and that of my family , they said I was being sponsored by APC,  they said they would eliminate me  , deal with me and the governor’s elder brother, Dr Alimi AbdulRazaq, who they alleged is sponsoring me . 

At my age  do I need to be sponsored  by anyone  to do anything?

 But  these questions Iam asking are fundamental and it is not out of place  for me to know how much was released for the presidential election , who received it and  how it was utilized?

These are the three salient questions , kalas.

Have you informed the police that you are being threatened?

 After they threatened me on July 11,  the following morning  I was attacked at my residence and  they shot at me twice  unfortunately for them I identified the person that fired the bullet  though my security guard and my brother saw others,  I was inside the house so I didn’t see those who were outside.

You mean someone fired  bullets at you and   the bullets found your body impenetrable?

Yes,  he fired the bullets twice.

 Nigerians will definitely like to know what stopped and obstructed the ‘bullets’? How did you do it?

I give Glory to God Almighty whether it was a miracle or whatever; Allah knows best it is not for public consumption.

 They threatened to deal with me on July 11 , and the following morning  I was attacked  . You see, when they were calling me I had already contacted my lawyer and as they were calling me I was recording it . So, my lawyer had already petitioned the police commissioner  and they were invited today ,  (Tuesday)  so I was also asked to appear but I have been in Abuja since Saturday , I have just told them I  will come between now and Friday .

Are you linking the people that have been invited with the attack?

Yes of course, Yoruba people will say ‘aje ke lana , omo ku loni , ta ni ko mo pe aje ana lo pa omo je’. So, it is not unconnected.

You have been a prominent member of the Saraki political group, have you considered it necessary to inform Dr Bukola Saraki of all these developments?

About what?

All that had happened?

We have not spoken for  a very long time  even before the elections.

Even before the last general election?

Since the time they noticed that I had been somehow sidelined  and  I didn’t hide my grievances  I was packed aside and we had no reason to talk.

You have not been on talking terms with him?

No, we were not quarrelling, he did not call me and I had no reason to call him  . It is natural, it can happen like that, we can stay two three months without communicating . You know communication is usually triggered by certain things like if he wants me to do certain things or I want  him to do certain things or there is a report on something.

  The 2023 general election is gone and you’re a politician, do we hope to see you defect to another party? Or you will still remain in PDP?

 Well, I want to appeal to those spreading   rumours that perhaps I want to defect  to another party and that is  why I have to destroy the PDP before leaving to desist from saying that. That is uncalled for , I’m one of the oldest products of the PDP, since I joined the party I have never left.

 How long have you been in the PDP?

I joined the party in 2008. I left the federal civil service in 2006. I was in Action Congress and I contested for the House of Assembly seat  in 2007 and after the election, I moved to PDP and since I joined the PDP  I have never left the party. 

When the Saraki political group left PDP for APC, you did not follow suit?

 Yes, I stayed back. I didn’t defect. That was the period I was  appointed as a member of the Onoja-led caretaker committee that produced the exco headed by  Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo .

 So the Saraki political group  returned to the PDP to meet you there?

 They all returned to PDP and met me as an elected state youth leader of the party.

So, it wasn’t Saraki that made you become the youth leader?

No, it was  the governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq  that bought my nomination form to become the state youth leader of the party in 2017. That time we had Akogun and Fagbemi’s factions. So Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq was the leader of Fagbemi group. He was the one that bought all our forms but unfortunately Fagbemi lost to Akogun by 3 votes and all others including myself emerged as state executive members.

 From the group headed by AbdulRazaq , eight of us won,  the state Deputy Chairman,  woman leader , the treasurer, assistant treasurer and other exco members. When Dr. Saraki was returning back to PDP, a meeting was held and most of these people said they could not work with Saraki. There was meeting in Abuja with the National Chairman.

There was a meeting held with the APC National Chairman  and all my people  left for APC  including Speaker Yakubu Danladi ,who is  my younger brother, but I remained in PDP.

 They all left for APC contested and defeated  us overwhelmingly. At the expiration of my tenure in  2021, I was retained as Youth Leader.

 Can you tell us about yourself?

 I am Prince Haliru Mahmoud Dantsoho. My first degree was in Criminology and Security Studies, and I later got a master’s degree in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. I was a primary school teacher before 1999. I also obtained an International Certificate in Diplomacy and Economic Management from the Academy for International Business Officials (AIBO) in Beijing, the People’s Republic of China.

You said your loyalty to  the PDP  still subsists, what if you’re pushed to the wall?

We  will have no option than to take necessary steps. I cannot continue to lose elections. What is our gain? We have lost in 2015, we lost in 2019, and we have lost in 2023. 

 The problem with our people is hypocrisy where there are not pleased with  certain things that are happening but nobody wants to come out to challenge, condemn or correct it ,everybody wants to be the  in the good books of the leader, the hypocrisy and atrocities they are committing behind him  have given him a bad image and that is why we are losing elections.

 It is not a good thing, ordinarily if I had the intention of leaving the party I would have done that without stress others have done that,  it is not strange if I leave the party. Even the founding fathers of the party had left  at one point or another , it is about interest , when you know your interest  is not protected where you are you  look for somewhere else, we have had people oscillating between APC and PDP.

You are saying your interest is to fight hypocrisy and correct anomalies in the party?

Yes, to correct what is wrong and if this is resisted I will find my way, you see,  it is not compulsory that when you leave the PDP you must go to APC. I t is not even compulsory to continue as politician  I have other things I do outside politics  but as a key player I want to leave a legacy  people will ask one time or the other when you occupied positions  and things were going wrong, what role did you play?  Also, tomorrow people will be able to justify whatever steps I have taken  , they will ask what role did you play to correct wrongs and that is what Iam doing now. it is for posterity .

 It is about taking up responsibilities and being accountable to the people, you have to give account of your stewardship .

I don’t want a situation that people will see me inside a new car and say it is campaign money that I used to buy it.  They will say ‘owo election wa lo nna’ whereas  I didn’t receive a dime.

So, people need to know what is going on. 

That is my view about the problem and APC has no hands  in  what I am doing which an internal wrangling  that is not  limited to Kwara state PDP . There are wrangling in PDP at  the national level and it is not peculiar to PDP alone APC and Labour party are also  having their own intraparty conflict. Anything that happened in Kwara people will want to  say like it is a taboo to defect.

It is not a taboo, we are practicing democracy and it is one of the features of party politics and people are looking up to us and they will hold us accountable for our actions or inactions so, this is very fundamental.

What I have done was not sponsored  by the  governor or his elder brother  I  have never met with Mallam AbdulRazaq  since he became the governor  I have not had anything to do with him and actually  you must have heard me on radio where I have criticized his administration heavily on several occasions and he has never sent anybody to attack me directly or indirectly and we have never been arrested.

So, some people  say because Iam ventilating my grievances  Iam being sponsored  they are not only myopic  but hiding from the truth and they just want to create unnecessary  distractions and divert attention away from the questions I have asked which they must attend to-Team@orientactualmags.com
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