Alignment of democrats will remove APC in 2019 —Jerry Gana

Professor Jerry Gana, a Minister of Information, chairs the Strategy Review and Inter-Party Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). DARE ADEKANMBI cornered him during his visit to Ibadan, Oyo State. He speaks on what the party is doing to return to power in 2019, among other issues.

Your visit to former Governor Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo State is unusual. It must, of course be politics that brought you.

I am here in Ibadan on behalf of the Strategy Review Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Having sat for two months, we resolved as a committee as one of the key recommendations which is to touch base in a very realistic and meaningful ways with prime movers who were solidly part of PDP or who are friends of the party, who may still very well want to consider shaping together with us in the interest of sustainable democracy, peace, security and good governance in Nigeria. We are here to talk to people who may want to consider coming together with us again. I am here to convey our good wishes to former Governor Rashidi Ladoja, who is a key leader in Accord and one of the founding fathers in PDP. So, we are touching base with genuine democrats; those who truly wish democracy well in the country. We are here with a very clear message that all democrats must unite.

Do you think your political homily will resonate with those in other opposition parties who might consider PDP a platform that is unstable?

All democrats have united. By saying we have crisis, you are kind of overstating the reality. 95 per cent of PDP leaders and members are together. All our governors, senators, House of Representatives members are together. Even in the non-PDP controlled states, 95 per cent of us are together. It is only one or two people like Senator Ali Modu Sheriff who are contending the leadership of the party with Senator Ahmed Makarfi. I have been in the PDP right from the start. The body of the PDP nationally is solid together.

We are all together and very soon, we are trusting God that the Court of Appeal will give its judgment on the issue of leadership. There is already a High Court judgment which is in our favour. They have gone to appeal and the Appellate Court will soon give its verdict. I want to assure you that that judgment will be very clear and very fundamental. We in PDP are not only, as it were, redefining the party and making sure that within we are strong again, but also making sure that we take note of all the mistakes that have been made in the past and correct them and then reach out to any democrat who will like to come together with us because this country is such a huge asset and we can’t allow Nigeria to go to pieces. Nigeria must remain a solid democracy and this democracy must deliver development and the development must be for all Nigerians.

But the way the All Progressives Congress (APC) government is doing it, I don’t have to say much because there is a lot to be desired. So, PDP is reaching out to all its friends and those who share the ideals of democracy and good governance for us to just again consider the issues fundamentally and then move forward together. That is the position.

Do you think PDP, as presently constituted, has the capacity to mop up smaller opposition parties?

I would not want to use the word mop up because we respect the leaders of these parties tremendously. We will think together and move together with them. Political leaders are very powerful people and we hold them in high esteem. Rather than mop up, I will prefer synergy and working together. We will surely work together for 2019 and there will be a flow and we shall become a movement that will move APC out of government and power in Nigeria.

Is it also part of the national reconciliation in PDP that former President Goodluck Jonathan visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo?

I can’t comment on that. It is good that he visited Chief Obasanjo. PDP is a very disciplined party. It was so disciplined that, although we lost power while in government, we relinquished power when the people of Nigeria said they wanted a new government. We didn’t make any move to create problem for Nigeria. That is the height of discipline. Believe you me, we appreciate that decision by former President Jonathan. It has earned PDP international recognition because of the peaceful transition of power to APC. This was done because of the high premium we put on the lives of Nigerians. Jonathan made a very profound statement that his ambition was not worth the blood of any Nigerian. That was a strong statement for human rights, dignity of human being. We want to assure the country that we may differ with some of our leaders, we don’t disgrace them.  We don’t as it were, belittle them. In that case, his visit to former President Obasanjo is good, but it was not part of the mandate I was given.

Do you see APC doing same if upstaged by your party or any other party in 2019?

APC should follow suit because that is what democracy is all about and that is why Nigerians will rejoice. There is a government in power that is not performing and there is a party that is solid and will be given the mandate to rule. This is how democracy should be. There should be no arrogance of power. If you are voted into power, you must serve the people and respect their wishes. If you don’t, the people will vote you out of power.

By the grace of God, PDP will take over the reins of power in the country in 2019. We have a track record of good governance and development. I can enumerate to you if you have the time one thousand and one things that PDP has done for Nigeria that many people have forgotten so easily. I was Minister of Information under PDP. When we came in in 1999, we had less than 100, 000 telephone lines nationwide. By the time we finished with the telephone revolution, over 84 million lines were in use and growing. People thought that the GSM thing had been there before PDP came on board. We created it. So many things we have done. I was listing our achievements when I was compiling the report of the committee that I chair and before I knew it, I had listed over 100 major achievements. Even the anti-corruption fight, all the institutions were created by PDP.

In other words, we have every reason to be proud of what we have done. We made mistakes and we are human beings. So, we want to go back and correct those mistakes. This is why we are reaching out to all friendly parties and allies. By the grace of God, Nigerians will give us the power again and if they do, we shall do much better.

Some leaders in PDP have voiced concerns about what they term growing intolerance of opposition by the current government through crude means, a development said to be partly responsible for the defection of some of the leaders in PDP to APC. Senator Ken Nnamani, who is a former Senate President under PDP is now in APC…

The truth is that so many people even in the ruling APC are just waiting for things to stabilise before they will move out of the party to PDP. There will be an avalanche. What you mentioned are little cases in the PDP. On the other side, we know many that are waiting. I won’t say more than that for now. But when it happens, you will call me to remind me I said so.

We in PDP are very much concerned about the health of our democracy, the integrity of our nation, the sustainability of democracy and the progress and development of the country. We worry about people’s welfare right from when we started. PDP is a people-oriented party because that is why our slogan is power to the people. In a democracy, the people decide. So, we have created PDP as an alternative party to the ruling party. If the current party in power is not performing, Nigerians will give us power back to continue good governance. In older democracies, there are two parties in the main. When a party in government is not performing, there is an alternative party. We want to do that for Nigerians and believe you me, Nigerians will be happy for us to return to power. The way things are in PDP now, I think we have a very bright future come 2019.

Will there be a change of name as being said by some leaders?

When we move together, the new movement together will decide on fundamental matters. If I say anything now, it will be an imposition. We don’t like impunity in PDP. We don’t like imposition. We want to take decisions together.

Are you confident that Senator Ladoja will go back to PDP and leave Accord?

Don’t use the expression come back because he is a founding father of the party. We are going to think and discuss together. When the time comes, he will announce it. I am not qualified to make the announcement.