The lawmaker representing Kaduna South in the Senate, Senator Danjuma La’ah, talks to TOPE OMOGBOLAGUN about the National Assembly, Kaduna politics and others
In terms of your experience as the deputy minority whip, how has it gone?
Well, since I became the deputy minority whip, I have managed to follow the rules and regulations of the Senate. Of course, I was not surprised that my being the deputy manager was delayed due to some kind of fraction and friction, but I absorb it as it is and take it the way it comes. This is so because I took it into recognition as the only Peoples Democratic Party flag-bearer in 2015, when President Muhammadu Buhari began his first term in office.
I was the only PDP senator in the entire North-West; I withstood Buhari’s tsunami; and during the second term elections, I was also the only PDP senator until others started to defect to PDP.
They were supposed to give me a position that I deserved at the time, but I was denied.
However, I took it in good faith, and eventually, I got it without struggling for it. God knows best, and I took it in good faith.
It must have been tough for you then as the only opposition senator in your entire region. How were you able to surmount the challenge?
The challenge then was just being the only one standing when my colleagues were all moving to the All Progressive Congress at the time. I chose to stay because our people believe in the PDP and the way things are done there.
However, the tides have changed; people have started to think about elections differently. I can tell you that this election, people will vote for people based on character and not political party.
That is the reason why we have been rooting for Atiku Abubakar, hoping that, by God’s grace, people will give him that opportunity to make sure that he gets into the desired position.
Over time, he has understood all of the obstacles to ensure that he stands within the period of time in which he has understood all of the obstacles in the presidency as a vice president in 1999 and 2007.
So, it is not going to be new to him, and he is someone who carries everyone along.
While others were defecting back then, why didn’t you defect with them?
I didn’t see any reason for me to defect. I recall the president himself asking me why I didn’t want to rejoin the APC, and I told him that I was protecting and defending your prosperity in the PDP and that I would continue to do so.