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• Uzodimma pays N104, 000 minimum wage; Abia gov struggles to pay N29,000
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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant for the 2027 Abia governorship election, Chief Olugu Kalu Ugba, has said that, like the phoenix, the party would rise from the aches to reclaim the seat of power in the state.
According to him, PDP is coming back alive, as members who have tested what is obtainable outside have decided to return to rebuild the party and restore its former glory.
The foremost legal practitioner, poignantly told VINCENT KALU, in an interview, that some people who were made by the PDP, found solace in decimating the party.
You have been a consistent member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a party that was once a behemoth, and claimed to be the biggest political party in Africa, is now asphyxiating. Why?
A political party is like a church, you come and you go as it pleases you, but sometimes the interest of the masses are not being carried along by the leaders.
From 2014, 2015, some people decided to destroy the party that made them because of their selfish interests. Most times, it is when you have this kind of problem that you see dedicated people that really believe in the system; that really believe in the party, come together to try to salvage what remains of a great institution like PDP, and they make the best out of it. And that is what is happening.
What you have now is a gathering of people that believe in the party. Despite what is being seen outside; a party that is disintegrating, the reverse is the case.
You know, when the children of God were scattered abroad, all over the world, there came a time when they regrouped and gathered in a place called Israel right now. And you can see what they are doing. So, PDP is coming back alive. The fire is burning. The members have tasted both ways; they have tasted what is obtainable outside, and have decided to come back. We have decided to welcome everybody that is coming back for us to rebuild this giant called PDP.
Have Nigerians forgiven PDP because they believe that the party laid the foundation for the present rot in the country?
Well, I don’t understand what you meant by, if Nigerians have forgiven PDP. You see, almost all the politicians in Nigeria today, have their roots in PDP. When you are importing goods, in the documentation, you will see the country of origin and the destination country. So, PDP is a certificate of origin of almost 95 per cent of the politicians we have around today. If you are staying in your father’s house, and maybe tomorrow, you move to your new house, and from there you start talking down on your old father’s house. Was it not in that your father’s house that you lived to acquire your education and other things that leveraged you to build your own house?
So, anybody who says that PDP laid a faulty foundation does not understand the dynamics of society. Government is a continuum. You do your bit today, and the next person does his bit tomorrow.
With the court cases going on right now, given the time table that the parties are supposed to start one thing or the other, don’t you think that PDP in the fullness of time may end up not fielding candidates?
You have seen the recent happenings; you have also seen that the thing has been narrowed down. Now, there’s a timetable for a convention in Abuja. And after that convention, a true and united leadership of PDP will emerge. So, even if the other people go to the Supreme Court, I’m sure that they will still come to the negotiating table and sort things out. In my first degree, I read History and International Studies. I was told that even after the war; even when you win, you still come to the roundtable to discuss terms of surrender and all that. I believe that PDP will still come to the roundtable to discuss our future.
I want to assure you of one thing, PDP will field candidates. And we are going to field candidates that are knowledgeable about the economy; candidates that are humane, candidates that will know that when you are building a house, your children should still eat. Not that you are building a house and everybody is starving. So, have no fear about that. In contract law, when you have done a project as an agent, you come back and it will be validated. So, even if we field candidates and anybody goes to the Supreme Court, we are still on the side of victory. And that victory will still validate the candidacy of the person being fielded.
How are you going to market PDP in Abia State for 2027 election?
PDP in Abia does not need marketing. What happens is that there was a gap in communication, and those shouting for 24 years we didn’t do anything were part of those 24 years. Nobody came to meet Abia as a desert.
Like I told you earlier, government is a continuum. There were so many good things that were done by the past administrations.
Let me tell you a short story of what that happened somewhere in Ohafia, Abia State. A certain very influential man owed one young person. I don’t want to mention names. The creditor, a young person, was going about trying to get his money from the man, but he refused to pay because of his position in the society. One day, the man was coming out from an event which he chaired to see the boy lying down under his car. People were dragging the boy out, but he insisted that he would not leave this place until he is paid. The man agreed to pay, and told him to be at his house the following morning to collect his money. Eventually, the young man went there as agreed and he was paid. The rich man implored him that since they have mended fences, that he should help him give this very important and urgent letter to the Divisional Police Officer.
However, the young man gave the letter to another person to help him deliver to the DPO because he had an urgent assignment to do somewhere. This new person took the letter to the DPO, and he was arrested and locked up, because the letter says, ‘detain the bearer for four days’.
After four days, the rich man came to release the young man believing that he must have learnt his lessons. So, when they brought out another young person, he said, it wasn’t the person; that they should bring the person that brought the letter. The DPO asked him, who again are you looking for?
Meanwhile, the young man he owed had heard what was going on and so was outside the police station booing him.
Later when the community convened a peace meeting between the two, they asked the boy what was the issue and he narrated. The man said that the worst thing was that wherever this boy went, ‘he would be telling everybody that I’m a bad man, that I’m not good, that I’m a criminal, that I’m a thief.’
And the boy said, but sir, I’m quarrelling with you. We are struggling over our reputation. You think everywhere I go; I should be telling them that you’re a good man. But you are lucky that we have settled this matter today because the one I was going to release tomorrow, you would not have loved it. So that is what is happening in Abia. Because we are fighting over who controls Abia; over who will govern Abia better, the people that are in power now will do everything in other to demonise PDP, and that is what they are doing.
But, PDP still has the grassroots. If you check out the last local government election held in the state, our party swept the polls, but they went back to write whatever they like. But it was obvious that PDP is still on ground; it is still in control of the grassroots. What they need is to be galvanised. And if we put a credible candidate, everybody will come back; it will be a happy homecoming.
Abia has what they call the Abia Chatter of Equity; rotation of the governorship among the components of the state. Does that favour your aspiration?
Yes, of course. For justice and equity, an Ohafia man should occupy the Government House by 2027, because Abia North went first, followed by Abia Central, and Abia South went third. The normal circle of things was for Abia North to go again, but Abia Central hijacked it. Now, we are asking that, what belongs to us should be given back to us. We are not ready to take anything from anybody; just give us what belongs to us. It is our turn. If we start applying the principle of might is right, maybe, one section of the policy may hijack power and keep it forever. If you remember what happened in 2014 2015, the Ochendo administration insisted that power must shift to Abia South, and it did, even when Abia North was seriously contending and contesting for it, but power shifted to Abia South. It is the turn of Abia North, and every well meaning Abia man should align with Ohafia and help to realise that. For justice and equity, it is the turn of Ohafia man to occupy that position because, we were robbed in 2023.
Let me tell you a little secret that many people don’t know. In the run-up to the 2015 election, Ambassador Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, the immediate past Abia governor and some of us went to the late Reverend Uma Ukpai’s house to seek his blessing. The reverend pointedly asked him: ‘If Ohafia supports you, who would you hand over to after your tenure?’ Dr Ikpeazu said everybody should wait. He asked his driver to bring his diary from his car. In that diary, he wrote and signed that after he has finished, he would make sure that an Ohafia man succeeded him as the governor of the state. That never happened. The last time I visited Rev Uma Ukpai before his demise, he was very sad that in his lifetime he never saw it come to pass. This is the time for amendment; that’s why Ohafia people are calling on our brothers from the other divides and also the Ngwa nation to help in fulfilling the pledge that was made that an Ohafia should produce the governor in 2023.
Since we didn’t make it 2023, there’s always a time to make amends and the timeline is 2027, to ensure that what was promised to Ohafia is given to them.
Power is not given a la carte; you fight to get. How prepared are the Ohafia people ready to grab it?
The Abia people are very resilient when it comes to things like this. What they want is the proper motivation. And when they are properly motivated, you will see wonders. The journey of 1,000 steps starts with one step. So, we’ll take it one step at a time. But I’m assuring you that whoever thinks that politically he is a big tree, we the Ohafians and the Abia North, are the small axe that is ready to politically cut down the person.
You are going to have the Labour Party, APC, ADC and other parties on the ballot. What will stand PDP out?
There’s an adage that says, if you say you know how to heal or cure whitlow, show where it has happened to you before. So, PDP has the experience, it has the know-how. The party made a mistake in zoning the governorship tickets to Abia Central in 2023, and because of that, PDP voted against PDP. There’s nothing like Labour Party or whatever that won the election. There was a protest vote against PDP. So, when things are done and put in a proper perspective, it’s a good thing. You will see what will happen in Abia in 2027.
When you are fighting with your brother, you will not show full strength, but when you are fighting an outsider, you will show full strength.
So, in 2023, it was PDP against PDP. And now if the right thing is done and power is returned to the people, then you will see what will happen; you will see the people’s power. PDP is power to the people, because we recognise and realise that power belongs to the people. When leaders try to arm-twist the people, then the people show that power truly belongs to them.
What is your cutting edge, your unique selling point to the Aba electorate?
Even the most stupid man on earth, if you give him enough money, he will do something remarkable. Who much is given much is expected. I’m not going to reel out all now. Most Abia people know me. Throughout the eight years duration of Ikpeazu, he never got what Governor Alex Otti has gotten so far.
A situation where you say you are doing infrastructural development and everybody is crying in the state is not development. Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma is paying minimum wage of N104, 000, while Abia governor is struggling to pay N29, 000. In Enugu, the governor has delivered five bus terminals without making noise about it, but there is so much noise about the only one that is being done in Abia. We are going to do something, the normal way of governance, not by using skit makers and building an airport and skyscrapers on the social media. We are going to fully utilise the resources of Abia to the benefit of the people.
