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… Says party’s govs joining APC looking for crumbs
• Dismisses Nigeria’s constitution as shambolic
• Tasks Amupitan to live up to meaning of his name
By Agatha Emeadi
Chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), Chief Bode George, has reaffirmed the determination of the party to rebuild itself the same way an eagle goes into seclusion to grow new feathers and then comes back strong and ready to continue the fight for existential survival. In this regard, he is convinced that after all the governors and other members eager to jump ship have left, the party will rebound, strong and confident because PDP is like the Iroko tree that will never fall.
PDP governors are leaving the party, to join the All Progressives Congress (APC). What do you think about this? What is the hope for PDP?
A tree does not make a forest. A former Bayelsa State governor brought Douye Diri to take over from him. I want to say emphatically that Diri was given an assignment to supervise the congresses in Lagos. He handled the congresses in a shambolic manner, very disgracefully and ran away. I told him that it took the grace of God for me to forgive him. Something must be attracting him to the other side. I ask, what exactly is attracting all these governors that are jumping ship? What has the APC government done for Nigeria? Has the party put a smile on the faces of Nigerians? Yes, they are in government and in power. I hope Diri remembers that it was on the day of inauguration that the Supreme Court granted him victory through PDP. Is this the way to say thank you to your party? All of them cross-carpeting to APC will see the sharp difference between PDP and APC. In PDP, we start from the ward to the local government, state, zonal and national levels, where we hold congresses.
During the congresses we listen, hold meetings and discuss. That is the standard practice. I have sat down to ask myself, what is it that we are doing that is not worthy of recognition in PDP? As a political party, you must be able to debate, hold meetings, disagree to agree; that is the essence of a political party. Even former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, who is talking now, I remember how he became governor. After God, I was the one who stood and fought for him; but he is talking now, I also wish him luck. The party-political office is like a police station where one walks in and walks out. Our commitment is to the people of Nigeria – the electorate. A time will come, when we will present our manifesto to this country and the people who will be on our platform. We are well organized. I have told several people that this party is like an Iroko tree. The founding fathers knew the problem of this country was tribalism and religious bigotry.
They also knew we have the majority and minority tribes. The First Republic collapsed because the majority tribes were winning while the minority tribes were just onlookers, which did not augur well for nation building. Therefore, the PDP founding fathers came together and redefined how well to solve this problem because it was penile. The founding fathers agreed that everybody should be one and that is nation building. As the layman puts it, do unto others what you would want to be done to you. Love your neighbor as yourself. On the day of the election, it is the PDP logo that would be voted for. Just like in South Africa, where there were no names, the electorate voted for the party. In South Africa, it was after they would have won, they party would then decide who takes each position. I think we need to revisit that in this clime because the party is supreme.
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Let us emulate South Africans. It will be absolutely shambolic that people voted on the platform of the party, then one person will disorganize and disrespect them; thinking he will win. They will see the difference between our party PDP and APC. I am a diehard PDP man. The principle and procedures that we follow are still the best solutions for the problems of this country. In PDP we do things when it is your turn. We have a zoning principle. We have a way of managing ourselves so that every Nigerian will have that sense of belonging. That is the spirit of great Nigerians who conceptualized us like Pa Alex Ekwueme, Jim Nwobodo, Solomon Lar, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma, Bola Ige etc.
The British left this country with tribalism and religious bigotry. Now ask, what have the two issues got to do with nation building? Again, a call was made to divide this country into six geopolitical zones (Northwest, Northeast, North Central, Southwest, Southeast and South-South) with the six top positions in the land namely the President, Vice President, Senate President, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the National Chairman of the party, shared so that each zone could fit in differently. This will ignite sense of belonging and it is called nation building. We remain one country. In the same PDP, after eight years, we made sure all the positions zoned to the north would come to the south and vice versa. So, Section 7, subsection 3c of our constitution guarantees rotation and zoning of these positions. APC copied us because it is not written in their constitution. Those who want to go there are looking for crumbs because as they get there, there are people already waiting. So, what will they do? To jump people who are already in the party? Even during the time of President Jonathan. We had a convention and they all trooped out, but later came back. Our primary interest is the electorate, who we will talk to during the campaign. While I was talking passionately about my party, someone reminded me: “Have you forgotten what former Edo State governor, Senator Adams Oshiomole, said about APC? He said, ‘If you join our party, your sin will be forgiven.” So do not be surprised.
What message do you have for the new INEC chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan?
First, let me explain his name, Amupitan (it means someone who will go home and tell the true story to his people). Let his name resonate in his head that he will go back and tell the story one day. I pray, let him go back home one day with a good story. Again, let him know that no manipulation will be tolerated. Let him also know that the will of the people must prevail. Let there not be any cheating like what the previous INEC chairman did. Let him also know that his capacity, ability and performance will live after him. Former INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu created a glitch. The Amazon Company that sold the technology to Nigeria said there was no glitch, you switched off the system. The Ghanaians used the same system, the sitting governor lost while the opposition won.
Severally, I have said that we have a shambolic constitution in Nigeria. It is completely military because I have served those two sides. In the military your boss is your boss, the order comes from the top. If you do not adhere to the decisions, you will be locked up and be dealt with. But in democracy, power must come from the bottom of the base. Look at the mess we are running and call a country. Lagos State is the largest electoral and most populated state with just 20 LGAs. Ogun State that is not up to Alimosho also has 20 LGAs, then Kano has 44, Jigawa (27), Katsina (33) and every local government goes to Abuja every month to collect their allocation. Is that a system? Why are we deceiving ourselves with what is not working? Former president, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, had the guts to invoke a constitutional conference to review what the military did. We did not know the importance of the local governments then. But now, the number of seats in the National Assembly is divided by the number of local governments you have. One does not need to have a university education before you know this is not right. These are the things we should look at. So, let them go to APC, those who remain we will face the public without fear.
Is PDP ready to look inwards to salvage the party?
We will have our convention in Ibadan on the 15 and 16th of November. The convention is more of a carnival/re-union/festival because of the procedure established by the founding fathers. Every position has been zoned. We know the position going to different zones. The people within that zone will appoint among themselves. Then we go to convention to ratify it.
What are your thoughts on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project?
This coastal road project is a joke. I am a naval officer who has sailed on water of our coastal line from Lagos to Calabar. When it gets to Epe and Ibeju, how does he want to do it? What exactly is the essence of the coastal road? Ask Chagouri who is the contractor when and how do they want to complete it? There is another highway through Ore, why can’t they fix that one and get to Calabar?
