Isah Liman Kantigi is one of the governorship aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Niger state. In this interview with journalists, he posits himself as one of the aspirants that have been maligned and castigated in the media for fraud and other practices. He explains the reason why he is a target to many, especially members of his party. ASHENEWS was there. EXCERPTS:
Why have you become a target of attack both by your and the opposition party?
I am a target because I am progressing and I am not lazy. When someone is talking about ideas, he doesn’t look back. When someone is not busy, he talks about other people but when you are busy, you talk about ideas.
Therefore, I think they are angry because I am making progress and I look forward to reaching out to my neighbours, those close to me, people who haven’t eaten, people who are thinking of how to make it tomorrow and how to have food on their table. These people matter to me a lot because I grew up in a village and I am still a village man.
Some youths have alleged that you have a case with the EFCC. What is your response to the allegation?
It makes me laugh a lot. I was a Chairman of Edati local government area for seven years. Go to the record of Edati local government and check if I have stolen N1 out of it. There are records of what the government was sending to the local government and how much I expended. It would be on record if I have stolen anything. have stolen there.
When I was chairman of Edati local government, my job was satisfactory to the Governor that he appointed me as the Commissioner for Local Government. I have no godfather. My father was a Mallam who teach people Koran, I don’t know anybody that knows anybody.
So I was appointed as commissioner for local government and from there I was appointed to be the running mate of Umar Nasko. This is because of my track record. I was one of the best local government Chairmen in the state. These allegations are what I can’t imagine.
There was a company specifically called Katah Property and Ltd and Sadiq Air Travel Agency, a petition was written that I sponsored the company to Niger state. I don’t know much about the company and even if I sponsor a company to come and help Niger state, what is wrong with that? If I say the company should come and do work for the state, what is wrong with that? Is it because we don’t have anybody. Since I was a commissioner for Local Government, no one was given a contract. Let them come and tell me what contract was given to these companies in the ministry.
The money in the ministry belongs to the local government. I wouldn’t be sitting here today if I had stolen from the local government because the chairmen wouldn’t have allowed it without raising dust. If I have a friend who has money, so I should stop being his friend?
The matter went to EFCC and Magu began making investigation, I wasn’t in Nigeria then, I went for treatment. The news got to me and I told the owners of the company to go and face the investigation by the EFCC. They went and they were charged to court. Whatever happened in the court, I don’t know. EFCC has the right to make allegations against anybody and you have the right to clear your name. They were made by the constitution.
I don’t just understand why they are after me. First, they said I can’t come back to Nigeria, that the EFCC chairman has ordered my arrest and that in all airports, I was ordered to be arrested. I said okay but said that I don’t think the new EFCC Chairman will do that. When I came back, my political rivals were very shocked that I came back and that I will mortgage their chances.
To those persecuting me, I want them to go to their track record to see what they have done to the community. When I was local government Chairman, I did a lot. My record speaks for itself.
EFCC is not a kangaroo organization. It doesn’t bother me because I know that the people working there have brains and they will ask why is this coming up at this period. Since 2016, why didn’t you come up with evidence that this is where I signed money from the ministry of local government. I was one of the Commissioners fighting for our rights and one of the Commissioners who questioned the Hajj Commission to explain how the money the ministry for local government gave to them was expended. Why are people not mentioning these? I didn’t ask people to like me, what they love is what I have done.
This type of thing, they should expect it and EFCC people know what politics can do and know the reason why they are writing this.
The judgement of Court of Appeal of 18th March 2022 exonerated me that I have not stolen one kobo from the Ministry of Local Government. They wrote a petition to the screening and appeal committee that I shouldn’t be screened but I was cleared. They wrote a lot of things to put on the windscreen of my car, going to the extent of putting something on the floor for me to step upon, all these are things done to make sure I am out of this race.
If the people vote me out, that they don’t want me, I will go and sit down. I have so many things doing but I think if they want to talk, they should talk with evidence.
Are you intimidated by all these allegations?
I have never been intimidated in my entire life. Why I am not intimidated is because the EFCC should not be taken wrongly, the EFCC acts on the truth and they act based on evidence. So I am relaxed. I celebrate my day and I am waiting for the primaries and if I win the election, I take off over the PDP in Niger state and that is what I am waiting for.
If I don’t win, as a politician, I will go to my drawing board. But I am a happy man, I enjoy myself and I am not intimidated because I know I didn’t do any wrong. My family are asking me if I am disturbed but how can I be disturbed? If I am disturbed, I will remain abroad. I am not intimidated, they are the ones being intimidated.
Do you have an idea of who is behind this. Is it within your party or the opposition?
To be candid, the ruling party doesn’t have an idea of what is going on, I know the people who are doing it. When I was abroad, they didn’t go to meet anybody that they want to be Governor. All they were doing is that they were painting me white, what do you want to achieve, don’t come back to disturb yourself, the government is after you this and that. I put a text to the Governor and said why is he after me and he said he is not after me and that there was nothing I have done for him to be after me.
I know the people who are doing this are from the same party with me. They are threatened because since all the petitions they have written haven’t succeeded, they want to join efcc into it and possibly because they are losing out, they now started campaigning to the people. But we have gone to the people earlier and explained what they are trying to do and the people are angry against them and that is because they said they have people in those kinds of establishments. I don’t have anybody in those establishments.
Do you intend to take action against these people?
The problem is that when you place charges or when you say that they have defamed your character, at the end of the day, what do you get from them? You end up wasting your time, you go to pay lawyers, you go to waste your time, and you will go to court regularly just to see a wretched man. My lawyers are telling me that we should go to court and I said, to go and do what? I will go to the court of God by winning this election.
By winning this election from the primaries, God has already punished them and if at the end of the day, I become the Governor of the state, God has already double punish them. What would the court give me if I take them to court? will they build a house for me? What will I go and do there? It will amount to a waste of time and I would not want to waste my time.
I am thankful that we have a well-established law enforcement system in Nigeria, that will analyze a lot of things before taking action. Even if they will play politics, the truth will come out. They can’t keep me there, they will have to find out the truth.
But who are they? Have you reported this to the Party?
In their first petition, they used a different name, they said they are the Association of good Citizens of Niger state, where is their office? My lawyers wrote to CAC to find out about them but the association doesn’t exist. The person said he is Dr Abubakar Isah, Dr Abubakar Isah should come and confront me, we look around to find Dr Abubakar to tell him what to look at and find the record but Dr Abubakar is nowhere to be found.
Why are you so fired up to become the governor?
If you look at the poor man, let me give you an assignment, take your car away from Minna to Enagi and see the number of old women trying to get firewood to see, the next thing is that they are deforesting our forest to sell charcoal to see to get means of eating; look at the roads; look at the schools; look at everything, immediately they discovered that they don’t have hope on this, some of them have started stealing.
If it doesn’t touch you today as a wealthy person, it will touch you tomorrow. That’s one of the things that motivated me.
How prepared are you to confront the challenges facing the state?
I have been in the government system before and everybody has his approach. In my capacity, I will look for a way, being a local champion man, I will know how to get to the roots of challenges. My father was not rich, so I have to get an idea of what is happening at the grassroots.
Where it matters is from the grassroots. Everybody is from the grassroots. So if you satisfy the grassroots, it will grow up even to where you don’t expect it. So there are a lot of things. Like putting farm implements for the people, they don’t want to come to the city if they have their farm growing, they can have people coming to buy from them. Make the roads available to them, make social amenities available to them, and you will find out that whatever they have, they will be contented and the state will be growing. If you approach it this way, and they find out that it is not working, we will approach it in another way.
What would be your priority in the state if you eventually win?
I want you to take me by my word. If I have the ticket of the PDP, the struggle starts from that moment. If by the grace of God I become governor, first and foremost is the road construction, if a person can’t move, there is no difference between that person and a prisoner. So I will concentrate on the roads.
My 100 days in office, I made this promise to complete two roads and make them motorable. Whatever we can do as a state, the road that comes from Minna to Bida, the road that left Minna to Kontagora and in addition, the road that left Kontagora to Rijau. Those are the roads that are having lots of issues. There are many roads but in my 100 days in office, I will make sure that some roads that are not motorable would be motorable.
