Honourable Fred Agbedi is representing Sagbama/Ekeremor Federal Constituency of Bayelsa State at the House of Representatives. A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the lawmaker, in this interview by TAIWO AMODU, speaks, among other things, on the implications of the dispute over the chairmanship of the party and the party’s refusal to pick its presidential candidate from the South.
What you think is the way forward for the PDP regarding the crisis dogging the main opposition party, given that it is only a few months to the general election?
There is always a way forward. Yes, elections are fast approaching. Campaigns will soon start and all parties will be crisscrossing, asking Nigerians to support and cast their votes for them. Of course, it is not only the PDP that has crisis. You know, because of the fallout of the primary elections, these are very challenging times for all parties – be it opposition, be it majority party, be it small party, be it big party. It is a normal thing but what is important is for members, leaders and other stakeholders of the party to continue to dialogue, use conflict-resolution techniques and strategies as well as the rules in the party to ensure that peace is brokered. I am very convinced that we will be able to do the horse-trading, the give-and-take, and then we will arrive at an amicable resolution that will make us go into the general election strong. That, I am hoping, will happen.
You mentioned horse-trading as part of the measures to resolve the crisis but in spite of the fact that after a PDP National Executive Committee meeting, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Walid Jubrin and the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, purportedly resigned from their positions, aggrieved Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his loyalists insisted that Iyorchia Ayu must step down as the chairman of the party. Do you see them as hardliners?
I wouldn’t take your line of argument and describe them as hardliners. The NEC meeting was not intended to identify soft targets and hardliners. The essence of the NEC meeting was to ensure that a purpose was achieved and certain decisions were taken, particularly as regards preparation for the general election. So, as a member of NEC, the essence of the meeting was to look at how we were going to constitute campaign committees and set up the structures preparatory to the party’s campaigns. Since campaigns are going to be declared open by 28 September, as stipulated by the law, the party needed to put the machinery in motion. That was the essence of the meeting. If, at some point, motion was moved or vote of confidence was passed, it is not the end of dialogue. The dialogue continues. Whatever the party and stakeholders agree upon at end of the day, the party is for all stakeholders; it is for all members.
The fact remains that if there are issues we must attend to, we must attend to them because if you abandon them, you do so to your own peril. I will always give the example of Bayelsa. In that state, if you are looking for votes, who are you looking for votes from? The stakeholders in the party are the governors who are the people that mobilise votes, not we the ordinary people. So, if some governors feel aggrieved, the stakeholders must ensure that they broker a truce; that everybody is onboard. We had this bitterness in 2015 where some governors and stakeholders, including Atiku, moved out of the party, and we understand the consequences. They say once beaten, twice shy. That horrifying experience has made us minority in the National Assembly, the Governors Forum and all that. I think that people will not handle this issue with kid gloves; we are going to ensure appropriate negotiations, dialogues.
What is your take on the argument that the general election is too close to find a replacement for Iyorchia Ayu; that replacing him at this time could be an unwise decision?
There is nothing you can’t resolve with negotiation. It is not about too far or too close. What is the extent of dialogue, negotiation? For me, that is the issue. If you do that, you are certainly going to arrive at a compromise and move on.
Some are of the opinion that this PDP crisis is, in a way, self-inflicted; that it could have been avoided if the party has listened to the agitation to concede its presidential ticket to the South?
Of course, the crisis could have been avoided if the party had considered zoning, as it were, and zoned the ticket to the South. You will remember that southern governors across parties insisted that it was the turn of the South. The APC got it right, PDP got it wrong. I can tell you confidently that I was strongly in support of the view that was the South’s turn but it didn’t happen. What could I do as a loyal party member? Because it didn’t happen, I would not rock the boat. So, I have to comply. That is what happened exactly. If it were about a southern candidate, these issues might not arise. But you can never tell, maybe some other issues would have arisen. You will remember that there were these arguments, some from the North, that it was their turn. Yes, the APC has a northern president but the PDP is not in power and so the PDP still has to give power to the North and all that. But today, it has happened and I don’t think that anybody is saying that it should come back to the South. A candidate has emerged; there is nothing anybody can do about it. But if there are issues that people feel strongly about as a party, as a people, you must dialogue and ensure that you resolve them so that you get united and strong to go for the battle ahead. That has always been my recommendation.
Two former governors from the North, Sule Lamido and Babangida Aliyu, said the party had massaged the ego of Governor Wike enough; that it should now call his bluff. What do you make of such pronouncement? Is it really helping the reconciliation process?
I think they are only adding petrol to fire so that it can burn more vociferously, which is not good enough. Some of these names you mentioned, in 2015, they were part of the people who said they were going to destroy this party and rebuild it. It is very easy to destroy but to build is extremely difficult and takes time. They actually destroyed the party but they have not been able to rebuild it up to today that we are talking.
Today, most of these people don’t bring any votes. The governors, in their states, are of the APC, not the PDP, if they were that strong, failing to realise that everybody was what he was because of the position he was holding. Now they realised that they are out of power, they destroyed the party and they couldn’t rebuild it, they couldn’t seize power in their own states, not to talk of at the national level. So, this is not the time for throwing such kinds of tantrums at one another, particularly when you have a storyline. So, for some of us, they shouldn’t be the ones to be talking because the 2014/2015 experience is still fresh. They walked out at the Eagle Square where President Goodluck Jonathan and other party leaders were seated. We are in the same situation. So, it should be dialogue, dialogue, dialogue, to ensure that we agree on the way forward and go into this battle united and strong.
As regards going forward, do you think Wike is still with the PDP?
Wike is a party man, as far as I am concerned. The much I know of him, he is a party man. The presidential candidate just needs to address the issues with him; broker a truce with him. I don’t believe it is something so many others can do, no. I think the presidential candidate of the party should engage him by himself for as long, and as short, as they continue to talk, put the cards on the table; agree and disagree and finally broker a truce.
Let’s talk about the single-faith ticket. One of your colleagues in the National Assembly, an APC senator, Smart Adeyemi, is seeking the amendment of the Electoral Act to make it an aberration for any political party to go in the direction of a single-faith ticket. What is your take on that?
Well, that is his own proposition and when you make such proposition, you also have to look at what the constitution says, because that you bring bill does not mean that the bill is going to pass. The bill will be subjected to legislative principles and if it succeeds, it succeeds and if it fails, it fails.
However, the present situation of this country is not good enough for a single-faith ticket and, for me, yes, it is not my party, but, clearly, it is a wrong decision. As a candidate, as a party, they have the right to whatever decision they take but I think that it is not the best of decisions to be taken now. Even if you say yes, [MKO] Abiola did this with [Babagana] Kingibe – I was in the National Assembly, I was a member of the House of Representatives – they were not sworn in as president and vice president. That election was annulled. Could anybody confidently say that that couldn’t have been one of the reasons for the annulment of that election? And then, can you compare the Nigeria of 1993 to the Nigeria of this current Buhari’s APC government? No. So, someone did it and it almost worked for him. They say nearness cannot kill a bird. That was a case of nearness which never killed a bird. So, they can try again. Yes, they are trying. They can try. We will see how it goes.
Many are of the opinion that Nigerians are rejecting this single-faith ticket not because of the character of [Bola] Tinubu or [Kashim] Shettima but because the [Muhammadu] Buhari administration has created a serious disconnect and thrown up distrust along ethnic and religious lines. Do you align with that submission?
But that is the truth of the matter. Majorly, that is it. There are other ancillary reasons but that is the main reason and that was why I said the government of President Buhari and the APC has taken us to the point where this cannot be the best decision, and that is the truth. So, if you look at Muslims, there are Muslims who are against it. It is not because it is a Muslim-Muslim ticket and so the Muslims are celebrating, no. There are those who are opposed to it. There are Christians in their party who say no, you can’t do this. But for the APC flag-bearer, maybe he feels that that is the only way he can win the election. So, it is trial by error. So, let’s see what is going to happen at the end of February 2023.
You are from the South-South and Atiku’s running mate, Delta State governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, is, incidentally, also from the South-South. But some people from the zone are not taken with Okowa. The Southern Governors Forum’s declaration on power shift tagged Asaba Declaration was made in Delta State. So, Okowa’s agreement to work with Atiku is perceived as a betrayal of that declaration. What is your take on that?
Well, yes, first, I agree with the proclamation that was done. There was follow-up as to saying we will sustain this. At the end of the PDP primaries, it didn’t happen and then the presidential candidate said he was going with a serving governor as his running mate. Whatever it is, yes, he made a choice. If you look at the PDP, more of the governors that the PDP has come from the South-South, so there would have been no way for him to leave the South-South and go elsewhere.
You will remember that last time, he (Atiku) ran with Peter Obi and we couldn’t make it and particularly in a situation where he said ‘I want to run with a serving governor’ and more of the governors (PDP) are from the South-South. I think it was a right decision to go to the South-South. As to whether it is Okowa or some other persons, it was a choice for him to make, and I think that is about it.
The APC has been boasting that it would take the South-South states in next general election and it parades the likes of Festus Keyamo, Ovie Omo-Agege and Godswill Akpabio who are from that region. Would you dismiss that as empty boast?
I think that is not possible. They have been in the APC. It is not as if they just went into the APC. They have been with Buhari for 17 seven years or thereabouts, serving in Buhari’s government. So, it is not the first time for them to say that the South-South is up for grabs. We heard it before. They went and failed and came back and they are trying again. So, let them try again and see if they can overrun the South-South. But, you know, the South-South is dominantly a PDP zone. That is where former President Goodluck Jonathan came from and became the president and, of course, we are still standing by the magnanimity of the PDP to the South-South and the Ijaw nation and that is now further strengthened by one of us being the vice presidential candidate and so what are we talking about? Is a South-South person the presidential candidate of the APC? No.
The point remains that the people are even saying that if the APC wanted a presidential candidate from the South, it shouldn’t have been from the South-West because [Olusegun] Obasanjo did eight years. It went to the North, Yar’Adua didn’t finish but Goodluck took over. Goodluck finished, Buhari became president and a south-westerner is the vice president and then you want a president from the South-West again. There is no fairness. That is even an argument that the people are buttressing in the South. So, why didn’t the APC go to either the South-East or South-South to also take their presidential candidate? So, if the South-West finishes, its presidential term, assuming Tinubu wins, then it will give it to the North and when they give it to the North, they will take the vice president again and when it comes back, maybe they are forming an alliance.
All these are issues running through the minds of the people; that if we are talking about fairness and equity, then you should ensure that you also allow others to go. But when you begin to say ‘Emilokan’ (it is my turn), Nigeria has become something like ‘it is my turn, not as to whether I merit that position’. We are not talking about meritocracy anymore; we are talking about ‘it is my turn and so, whether it is good or not, it is my turn and you must give it to me’. No, you don’t lead a county that way. I think that is where we are. So, 2023 will show a new vista and Nigerians have to rise up and take the bull by the horns and liberate themselves. They have to take the right decision – elect somebody who can change the situation from what it is today to something that can bring hope to our nation.
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