Era of impunity is over in PDP —Bode George

Chief Olabode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) speaks on the situation in the party aftermath the Supreme Court’s verdict on the leadership crisis that rocked the party for almost two years and the path all members should follow, among other issues with Senior Deputy Editor, JACOB SEGUN OLATUNJI.

WHAT is your position on the Supreme Court’s verdict on the PDP leadership crisis?
My position is that, it is a victory for the country. It is a victory for democracy, for the PDP members. If you remember many years ago, we had a June 12 on the issue of democracy too. The Supreme Court verdict was on July 12. It is significant to me, because I believe God loves this country. The judiciary has re-established itself as a retaining honest arbiter; it believes in the rule of law, and that the rule of law and the constitution must be respected, and honoured. That judgment now has brought us some kind of sanity in the polity. If PDP has been working as it is, if would have given the government in power a constructive criticism. We would have been able to prove some certain laws on what not to do, how we could do better on policy matters. But now we thank God that the crisis has been put to rest. I believe from the very beginning that it was a matter that has to do with our constitution. At the convention, some people were even saying we should reconcile. I said No, let us make sure that the issue is resolved by the court of law. It is a constitution matter, let it be resolved. There is nothing personal in this. Some people refused to obey the rules and respect the constitution; that was the decision. It has nothing to do with personal issues at all. We have said No Victor, No vanquished. They don’t close the doors in a political organisation; it is like a police station. Anytime you get to the police station, there must be a sergeant that must be at the desk to attend to the members of the public. The same principle applies in political parties. If you want to join us, join us. But the lesson we have learnt now is that if you are going to join us, obey the rules. No more impunity. No more godfatherism. The will of the people must be respected. No short cut again. And if we go through that, we will be able to convince Nigerians that there will be no impunity by any member elected on our platform to any office. As I said earlier, democracy has ‎been re-established; the rule of law has been re-established and sustained by the highest court of the land. I pray also that the lower courts, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, need to be a little bit careful. Somebody will come with a case on an issue, you will run to a parallel court on the same issue. Maybe they change the language a little bit. And, of course, we should cleanse and clean out this rascality in our system. It does not augur well for good governance; it doesn’t augur well for the stability of the country. So, for me, it is a lesson. We are going to go back very quickly to the drawing board for a way forward.

Now that the Supreme Court has resolved the logjam, what is the next step?
We will immediately go into series of consultations and meetings and kick-start the party again as if nothing has happened. You see, our party is not like All Progressives Congress (APC). I am proud to say it anywhere that we have the solid structures of our party on ground, the caucus, Board of Trustees and the managers of the party, which is the National Working Committee (NWC),and the National Executive Committee and it is reflected at every level. So I cannot understand why the people in the executive of the ruling party are at loggerheads with the people in the National Assembly and their party went asleep. Where is the national caucus of their party? Where are the members of the board of trustees of their party whose job is to moderate the activities or differences between the legislative and the executive arms? They are all flying in different directions. We have practised party management, governance for 16 years, but the experience in the last one and a half years is a wake up calls for us that if we get it right and do what is right, we have no problem. The electorate themselves are watching. Vox populi vox dei, that was what happened in Osun State recently. We have a governor and the people in Osun West Senatorial District trooped out in hundreds and voted against the government in Osun. It is a sign of what we will overcome in all elections from now on.

Do you think PDP can still make any headway?
We will make a headway. The good thing there is that, if you fall, don’t sit down and God didn’t say once in a while you will not fall. But the good thing is that, if you have the fear of God in you, you will obey the rules and regulations and do what is righteous, what is just, equitable and what is fair. There is no short cut in life. Let us follow what is sensible; what the rule says and what the law says. You can go wrong sometimes. The highways in life go into valley once in a while and if you stick to your belief in the goodness of the Almighty God, you will go through the tunnel of tribulations and you will come out on the highway triumphantly. There is no magic, no Babalawo there; it is a tenet either you read Qur’an or the Holy Bible.

The leadership of the party has assured general amnesty for those who caused the crisis. What is your take on this?
As I said to you, the major thing is that there is that “No Victor, No vanquished” having realized that, I said to you, political parties don’t shut their doors. What we will do is that we will all resolve that there will be no lawlessness again in our party. We cannot repeat the impurity, the lack of respect for our constitution and the rule of law. If you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen. If you don’t like the laws as stated there, you either work with us to change those things or to obey them. But all these legal tussles are very unnecessary; legal battles intentionally eroding the credibility of the party must stop. In fact, one of the issues for disciplinary actions in our party is, if you go to court without the approval or going through every level of authority within the party, you are liable to be punished or sanctioned. It is not going to be business as usual. Disrespect for constituted authority will no longer be tolerated. It is very important.

While the crisis lasted, some of your members, especially former governors elected on the platform of the party, former and serving National Assembly members, former ministers and a host of others defected to the ruling APC. Are you expecting them back or what is your advice to them?
Well, some of them, whatever excuse they gave, some said that it was because the party was in crisis, the party was divided. Then they left; they had gone from frying pan to fire. Where they are, can they boast that they don’t have problem there? Is there any organisation, any system in the world that is controlled by human being that will not have trials, tribulations or experience some darkness? Is there such an institution? When you stumble, don’t stay down; you get up and keep going. Those who used that as an excuse have jumped into a party that is the congregation of stranded fellows. But our doors are widely open for them to come back home now that the Supreme Court has spoken.

What will be their fate if they come back?
We are not going to close our doors against anybody willing to come back. They are not tenants here in PDP. They are landlords. They have gone to be tenants in the APC. They should come back to their own house, their own building and repair the leakages and ensure that the mansion doesn’t collapse. The founding fathers established the party in 1998. We were in government for 16 years, uninterrupted. We have the experience. Yes, we made some mistakes and to err is human. But you cannot continuously be at the top of all at all times. As I said, the highways of life go into valley ones in a while, but if you get disbanded and lose hope, you may remain in the valley. But if you take it up, learn from the experience, avoid the mistake of the past, you will get out of it. But as for those who are jumping ship, they must come back to strengthen the party. This party has a solid tap root in this country. With the kind of tornado that hit us, we have survived it. You know what, when you see an Iroko tree that is hidden among trees, they are not as strong as the ones that have been exposed to a lot of winds and rains. Even gold that is so beautiful, do you know how the kind of heat it has gone through? That is life itself and we will take it off with that spirit. We will quickly bounce back, re-establish ourselves. All the various organs of the party are still there and because we have now learnt that we are in the opposition to behave ourselves, there was no violence; we did not go killing ourselves and firing many thing, we allowed them. But now that the Supreme Court has pronounced, there is peace. We have never at any time attack the Sheriff group physically. That is part of our civility. We allowed them. Even in my own state, Lagos, members of the Sheriff group at the time went to the party secretariat, forced themselves into that place. I told our people not to go and fight them, let us wait for the judgment.

The crisis spread to the state chapters, local governments and even wards. What are you going to do to reconcile the various groups or factions?
Before the pronouncement of the Supreme Court, you had Makarfi’s faction, Sheriff’s faction, but the majority of our people are with Makarfi. Now the court had ruled that the convention (The decision of that convention was to have a caretaker committee) followed the tenet of our constitution. Therefore, Makarfi’s appointment is authentic. Now those who are with Sheriff, if they want to come back, nobody will throw them away As I told you, those young people in Lagos who were with Sheriff, they stumbled into the secretariat and I said don’t fight them; let us wait for the day of judgment. The same in Abuja at the National Secretariat Wadata; we didn’t go there to force anybody out. But when the judgment was given, we went back to our house. [sings] “Onile wo’le, Ile Baba omo kii ba omo leru.” We went back and so nothing happened. There had been a court pronouncement that we were within the ambit of law. I believe that very quickly we will sort it out. If they are ready to come back to PDP, we cannot drive them. But that they will come back now and break the law again? NO. Because, as I said, it is no longer going to be business as usual.