A former National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prof Wale Oladipo, shares with TUNDE AJAJA his thoughts on the party’s chances in 2023 in spite of its festering internal crisis
There are concerns that the crisis within your party is gradually eroding its chances in the 2023 presidential election, are you hopeful these issues would be resolved in the few months left?
The Peoples Democratic Party is well positioned to take over the reins, considering the experience Nigerians had with the party in the past. I think it is obvious that the All Progressives Congress government has failed woefully. All their promises turned out to be empty statements they made just to grab power. I’m very positive that everyone has seen through the shenanigans of the APC in the last seven and a half years. Nigerians now know better. It was proven in the Osun State governorship election that when the people get tired of a particular government, they speak with their votes. Before the PDP came to power in 1999, this country was on the verge of collapse and even investors didn’t want to come to Nigeria, but when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came in, they quickly assembled reputable Nigerians and they started reforming our country. The result was very glaring for all to see by the time the PDP government left office in 2015. We did not only entrench the culture of democracy, there was good governance.
But the crisis within your party has refused to abate and it could scuttle your chances, don’t you think so?
I agree with you that we have issues in our party, just as there are issues in the APC. Theirs may be latent and not as sensational as ours for now, but any democratic organisation that is as large as the PDP tends to have issues from time to time. We are not a gathering of zombies or morons. We have politicians of very high calibre with big ego that you have to massage. You have big interests you have to put into consideration. So, it is normal for us to have this sort of disagreement. The beautiful thing about the PDP is that we have internal mechanisms for resolving our differences and that is ongoing. I’m sure we will overcome this current situation and I can assure you that we will win next year’s election by the special grace of God. Considering what Nigerians have gone through, especially in terms of the economy, insecurity and general welfare, I am very sure Nigerians will choose the PDP.
You said the crisis in your party is more sensational than that of the APC for now, are you hopeful that the APC will have a crisis in the future?
Have they started campaigning? Why are they not campaigning? In any case, the APC is led by PDP leaders in exile. Their national chairman (Abdullahi Adamu) was a PDP leader. He was a two-term governor of Nasarawa State on the PDP platform. Their national secretary (Iyiola Omisore), who is my kinsman, was a senator under the PDP umbrella for two terms. So, we have lent them quite a large number of seasoned politicians. We know ourselves and with time, you would see what would happen in the APC.
The Director of Strategic Communication of your presidential campaign council, Chief Dele Momodu, said the South had some lessons to learn from the North in the way they play politics. What do you think the North does differently from the South in that regard?
Chief Dele Momodu is a fantastic person. I’m lucky to have been his friend since 1973 when we were in Form II at St John’s Grammar School in Ile Ife. He was my schoolmate and we went to the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) together. I know he says things as they are. The way politics is played in the North is a bit different from what obtains in the South. One of the reasons is that in the North, their leaders have the ability to form consensus and it played out during our national convention, when Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State agreed to step down for Atiku, whom they felt had a better chance of winning not only the ticket but the general election, given his pedigree. We usually find it difficult to forge such consensus in the South, but that is also not an attribute to acquire overnight. Eventually, I’m sure the South will start playing such smart politics.
Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, said a few days ago that they were not consulted when the campaign council was to be constituted and they might not support your party, how else does your party intend to handle this festering crisis?
Governor Ortom is someone I respect a lot. He used to be the national auditor of our party. He later went to another party and won an election but he came back and we welcomed him. Governor Wike has always been a strong pillar of the party. He’s a personal friend and I respect him a lot. Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State is also someone I know. I knew him since he was in the House of Representatives. He’s a wonderful human being and a committed party man. We nominated Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State when I was the national secretary of the party. Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State is my brother and somebody I respect a lot too. Our relationship dates back to when I was the secretary and he was introduced to me by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. These are people we respect in the party. You know why those enemies should not over-celebrate? It might interest you to know that Governors Ortom, Ikpeazu and Ugwuanyi are senatorial candidates of our party. Makinde is contesting for a second term on the platform of the PDP, while Governor Wike has preferred party candidates for the governorship and other seats in Rivers State. The presidential and National Assembly elections will take place on the same day (February 25), time and venue, if you understand what I mean. So, those who are jubilating on the other side should tarry a bit and use their senses. I’m assuring you that the PDP will work as one party in this election and we will win the election.
What if these governors refuse to work for the PDP for the presidential election, do you think you can still win?
You mean if they work against themselves? You mean someone like Governor Ortom could refuse to vote for himself or ask people to vote for another party? Nobody’s picture will feature on the ballot paper. It is the party’s logo and it is one party. You can’t cut your nose to spite your face. They are not the first set of people to be aggrieved. I have also been aggrieved maybe up to two to three times, but I still worked for the party. I was the chairman of the governorship campaign council in Osun State, after I had been cheated roundly in the party. I still went to lead the campaign and we won. Here we are today. All of us eventually will calm down. Necessity will compel us to work together for the victory of our presidential candidate.
Was it true that they were not consulted when the campaign council was being constituted?
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Let me correct an impression about people not being consulted in forming the presidential campaign council. To the best of my knowledge, the National Executive Council of our party, which is the highest organ after the convention, formed the council. I think the composition is fair enough. We wrote to all the state chapters and all of them were consulted. We should not bicker over such things. What is important is for the PDP to win the election. We also want to have the majority in the Senate. That is why we need people like Ortom, Ugwuanyi and Ikpeazu in the senate. The only way to rescue this country is Atiku Abubakar becoming the President. We know what he did with his boss, Obasanjo, when they were in government. As you have seen, one of the opposition members then said any government that is serious would fix power in six months, but he has led that ministry, and seven years after, the problem has not been solved.
He has denied it.
No, he cannot deny it. They even promised that one naira would be equal to one dollar.
The government also denied making that promise.
They have denied many things, but we know. Maybe what they wanted to say was that one dollar would become N1,000 because that is where we are headed now. Diesel now sells for N800 per litre. It was N132 per litre when we left the government. When we come back, we will reverse this trend. We did it in 1999 and we will do it again. We are on a rescue mission.
Wike and Ortom have said repeatedly that the national chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, promised to step down if a northerner emerged as the party’s presidential candidate. That issue is central to the crisis in the PDP now. Would you know if he made that promise?
He never told me that. I was not at such a meeting. Why will you shave my head behind my back? I’m a senior member of this party. By the special grace of God, I was the national secretary. I’m a member of NEC and Board of Trustees for life. I’m not a nomadic politician, so I don’t intend to leave the PDP anytime. God forbid. If such decisions (by Ayu) were to be taken, I expect it to have been taken at the level of NEC. I never heard that in NEC or BoT. So, I’m not going to get involved in an argument I was not privy to. However, if the argument is that Ayu should go just because he’s the national chairman, people should read our party’s constitution very well.
You were the national secretary of the party, what does it say should be done in a situation like this?
Even if you force Senator Ayu out today or if he resigns, (the deputy national chairman, North) Umar Damagum from Yobe State becomes the national chairman automatically. Damagum is from the North-East like Atiku himself. So, that arrangement will even be worse. Ayu is a Christian from the North-Central while Damagum and Atiku are both Muslims from the North-East. So, if Ayu is forced out, the situation they are complaining about will be like jumping from frying pan to fire. You would have even compounded the problem. So, why don’t we just wait. People should read the constitution of our party. There is no point forcing him out.
But those who want him out could be thinking there is a way to organise a special convention to reorder the positions?
God bless you. That could be considered after the elections. If you organise a special convention, how many people would have to go?
How about swapping positions like it was done during the last general convention?
To swap all positions, you have to do ward congress. People should study our party constitution and INEC’s guidelines. You don’t run afoul of the law just like the APC is in some trouble now when they had a governor as their national chairman for so long. So, we should not create unnecessary problems for ourselves. Let us just wait. It is unfortunate that many of our leaders in the party, including some who are senior lawyers, don’t bother to read our constitution.
Does it mean a special convention is out of the way if Ayu has to go?
It is good to organise a special convention, but there are conditions for organising it. Who are the people who would vote? National delegates. To elect national delegates, you have to start at the ward level and you need to give sufficient notice to INEC and the security agencies. That is a lot of money and time. It also means you have to suspend your campaigns and give 21 days’ notice of ward congress. After that, you would give another 21 days notice for the local government congress where you will elect national delegates. It is only then you could sell forms. So, it is complicated. However, there is a simple way for us to resolve this issue; every four years we have a national convention, but that’s a long haul. Every two years, we have a mini-convention or national conference. That’s what our law says. By next year, we will have that national conference and it is compulsory. It is like a convention. We can take serious decisions there and we can swap positions. People should just be patient a bit. I’m still appealing to them. Let’s just take it easy and work together, especially in the interest of the people they have nominated for offices. Governor Wike has nominated a successor, senators and people to contest the House of Representatives seats in Rivers State, and they all have to win. Former governor Ayo Fayose’s son is contesting a seat at the House of Representatives. We just have to work together.
What does the constitution say when a presidential candidate is from the same region with the party chairman?
There is nothing in our constitution concerning that. Anybody who has anything on that in their own copy should bring it out. All the constitution says is that all positions should be spread to reflect our federal character. There are six geopolitical zones in this country, so we should stop restricting it to North and South. We should not continue to sell falsehood. So far, we have not breached the constitution. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar won the nomination and Ayu was not appointed, he was elected. Interestingly, his emergence was not without the knowledge of some of these key individuals. But like I said, all we need is patience.
There are some elders in your party who seem to be detached from what is happening, like some former national chairmen and former President Goodluck Jonathan. Are they still members of your party?
Of course, they are. Former President Jonathan is still in the PDP. There is a proverb in Yoruba language that says an elder does more listening than talking. They don’t need to go to the marketplace to advertise their involvement in resolving these issues. He’s doing what he should do. Our former chairmen who are still very active are doing what they should do. It is not everything that should be taken to the press. An adage says the peaceful resolution of a communal crisis does not necessarily take place at the market square. I can assure you that they are doing their best.
