Speaker of Akwa Ibom House of Assembly is a politician with immerse knowledge of grassroots politics. In this interview, he shares his beliefs about the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), which he asserts has evolved in line with what is obtained globally, stressing that the party is not just in safe hands but has been able to return power to the people. He also speaks about the contribution of elders in the party but questions the motive why elders in the caliber of Professor Jerry Gana will protest now that power is with the people. Excerpts.
Assessment of the South-South congress
First, I give God the glory for what has happened. I thank God for the journey mercies granted the delegates to arrive here in Port Harcourt for the South-South zonal congress. What I saw here was the beginning of a new Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). When I say new PDP, I am talking about a reformed party where power is returned back to the people.
Let me say here that this is a culmination of what has transpired at the state level, using my state, Akwa Ibom, as an example. Right from the ward congresses, it was left for the people at their respective wards. This is unlike what used to happen in the past, which is imposition where a few elders will sit and determine who takes what without the input of people; where there was exclusion. This is actually one of the reasons for our losing the last general election, especially at the federal level.
From what has happened at the ward congresses, the level of inclusion, using my state as a case point, to the chapter and state congress, you could see that it was peaceful, transparent and rancour-free. That has culminated in the zonal congress we held here in Port Harcourt today [Saturday]. You can see that there was no dissenting voice. The party has come together and they have had their candidates and the voting process was peaceful. There was no disagreement; that goes to show that this is a new party where things are going to be done according, first, to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which is the ground norm and, then, according to the constitution of the party, which is the guiding laws and principles that abide the PDP members. So, I can see something good happening to us and the party.
Ahead of the PDP National Convention, coming up Saturday, some founding fathers of the party, including the likes of Professor Jerry Gana, are protesting. How do you see this development?
Yes, I read something like that somewhere in the news yesterday [last Friday] that some people were protesting. There can be protests but, with due respect to them and their age and position, the question is, if you must protest, what is the basis of your protest? Are you protesting that we have returned back power to the people at the ward congresses? Are you protesting that we have returned back power to the people at the chapter level? Are you protesting that we are not having metropolitan politicians who sit in Abuja and don’t go back to their respective constituencies, their respective villages, units and wards to see how they can win elections?
They have the right of protest; that is the beauty of democracy, yes, people will always disagree with what has happened. There is no way you can please everyone. But they must come out with the specifics.
It appears that their grouse has to do with the zoning arrangement in respect of the position of the national chairman of the party.
Fine, you can protest, but you can do this through the power of the ballot. Let us all come here to Port Harcourt on May 21, 2016 and if you are a delegate, come with your delegate tag; be accredited, get into the hall and you are given your electoral materials to vote. Vote for the candidates of your choice.
But to begin to say that you are going to nominate a steering committee, the PDP Constitution does not give opportunities for such. Yes, we gave them that opportunity as founding members of the party, I want to say it here and I want to say it with all sense of responsibility that some of them have made contributions to the party that has led us to where we are today. Now, we have persons with a clear heart and with sincerity of purpose to the people; who are these people? They are the people who had given us the mandate. This is because the sole aim of the party now is not only to occupy positions or offices.
Political parties, by their manifestos, are supposed to take care of the welfare of the citizenry. Now, we as a party, have been positioned to take care the welfare of the citizenry; not to begin to struggle for party offices, not to begin to struggle for who occupies what. What is the agenda of these protesting founding fathers? Let them come out and protest to say that what has happened today in the country [the myriads of problems], we have a better option. For example, let them talk about the fuel subsidy, which was assumed to have been removed. Let them say, okay, we don’t want the removal of fuel subsidy, just like the opposition party did in 2012. Let them say, this is what we think should happen for the welfare of Nigerians. It is not to protest on the basis of selfish agenda.
But, with due respect to them as the founding fathers of the party, the PDP of 16 years ago is not the party of today. Six years ago, I was a drummer boy; 16 years ago, I used to wear T-shirts; 16 years ago, I used to run around and come to this Port Harcourt City as a boy. But 16 years after, I am in a position, first, as a member of my state House of Assembly. Now, what was available 16 years ago; the idea, the innovation, even the technology that was available some 16 years ago is not what we have today.
Look at the structure of governance worldwide; look at who has been made the Prime Minister of Canada. Could it have been possible for such a person to emerge 16 years ago? Look at the person who emerged as the Mayor of London. Could this have been possible 16 years ago? There is need to be rethinking within the party and that is what we are doing.
Professor Gana further said the party had been hijacked by thugs and hoodlums. Is this the set of people you have in mind in seeking to reform PDP?
Who are the thugs and the hoodlums? Let him come out and identify who are the thugs. Are the state governors from the party the thugs? Are we the members of the state Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly hoodlums? It is a generalized statement. Today, I am a party delegate and I am saying that all those who gathered in this hall for the zonal congress and those that would gather are not thugs and hoodlums. The party is manned by respectable persons in their respective offices, as senators and representatives in the National Assembly, as state governors and as chairmen of different chapters of the party, from the ward level to the chapter level, to the state level, to the zonal and to the national level. So, I beg to disagree; the party is in safe hands.
