Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has said that
defeating godfathers in Lagos and in the country at large requires having the
people’s support, time and hard work.
He said he defeated and retired four political godfathers in
his state saying the feat could be replicated anywhere, including Lagos State.
The governor made this known at an event organised by the
Bridge Club in Lagos at the weekend.
El-Rufai, who argued that godfathers existed only on paper
or in the minds of the people, said the key to defeating them was in going
directly to the people.
In his main speech, El-Rufai had encouraged the club
members, who are businessmen, not to shy away from politics, saying it was more
important than making money as bad politics could mess up their businesses.
He said Nigeria had permanently remained a country of
potential because good and competent people had distanced themselves from politics.
El-Rufai said, “Godfatherism. This is Lagos. Let me tell you
something sir; you know, Kaduna State used to be like that. There were three or
four politicians in Kaduna that you could not become anything unless you had
them on your side. Those were the godfathers of Kaduna politics and you had to
carry them along and you know, the three words, ‘carry them along’ mean paying
them regularly.
“But we chose a different path and the long and short of it
now is that after this election in 2019, we have retired all of them; we had
to.”
El-Rufai added that the fact that only one million out of
the six million registered voters in Lagos voted in the last general elections
was an opportunity to end godfatherism in the state.
He said, “Here in Lagos, you have over six million
registered voters, only about a million voted (in 2019 general elections); five
million did not vote. If I want to run for governor of Lagos, I will start now.
I will commission a study to know why those five million registered voters did
not vote; where do they go on election day? Then I will start visiting them for
the next four years. I will try and get just two million of them to come and
vote for me; I will defeat any godfather. The key is to go to the people. The
card reader and the biometric register have given us the tools to connect
directly with the people. I assure you if you do that for the next four years,
connecting with the people; the tin godfather, you will retire him or her
permanently. But it is hard work; it requires three to four years of hard work.
So, if you want to run in 2023, you should start now.”
On the question of money, El-Rufai said it would require
about N2bn to do the job, which he said the businessmen could provide.
“With about N2bn; if you start, you see these guys with
black ties, they will give you the N2bn. Many of the godfathers are either on
paper or in the mind of people in politics. They are defeatable. We retired
four of them in Kaduna State within a four-year time and they are gone. One of
them boasted that he put me in the government house and he would take me out.”
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