Thank God we lost power, Nigerians now know better —Ayu

In his first interview, after emerging the national chairman-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Iyorchia Ayu, speaks to a few journalists on his vision for the main opposition party. LEON USIGBE, who was there, brings the excerpts:

YOU have just become the national chairman-elect of the main opposition party, the PDP. Of course, we know that this comes with enormous responsibility, especially coming against the background of, so to say, the fall from grace of the party. What are your priorities as the incoming chairman of this party against the background of the fact that the party desires to take power in 2023?

My priority is for the party to take power. Political parties’ priority is always to win. I reviewed the reasons why we lost power in 2015 and I am going to work to unite the party, to sharpen the programs of the party, market the party to the Nigerian electorate in a way that they will be prepared to vote for us. In a democracy, it’s normal for political parties to lose power. If we didn’t lose power, maybe we would have become a dictatorship or become complacent. To believe in democracy, there must have been something we were doing wrong or must have done wrong that the Nigerian electorate shifted. But today, if we didn’t lose power, they won’t experience the policies and programs of the other party. They would think there is something better than us. Thank God we lost power. Today, Nigerian people know better and I believe we will re-energize the party and take over power again, not only at the centre, but across Nigeria. There was time PDP was controlling about 20 states. That has been reduced to 13. We hope and pray and we will work very hard to increase that number from 13 to control over 20 states, possibly, we will win the federal government. So, that is really my vision for this party. We will unite the party as I have said and I believe that very soon, we will have a very united, a very focused political party.

Now, one of the planks the PDP has anchored its success on is the zoning formula embedded in its constitution. However, so much controversy surrounded it this time. People are wondering whether the PDP will stick to its zoning principles in the selection of its presidential candidate.

We are a very democratic party. We don’t have problems in resolving our problems within the party. Everybody thought the zoning of party offices will destroy the party. I think Nigerians were pleasantly surprised that we resolved it without any controversy whatsoever. So, those who are visiting controversies on the party are not getting it right. I believe that when the time comes, because today, we have separated the zoning of party offices and zoning of the executive and legislative offices and it’s very tactical; when the time comes, we will subject ourselves to another democratic exercise and we will come out with a winning candidate. I believe Nigerians will be very happy with what we will offer them in the next couple of months.

Do you think the ruling party will allow electronic transmission of results to happen in 2023 since there could be fear that it may upstage them?

Nigerians will be ready to defend their votes in all ways possible. It is clear that PDP won the 2019 presidential election, but we had difficulties with the ruling government because they don’t believe in democracy. So, they were manipulating things. We’ve learnt our lessons. We will take necessary measures to ensure that does not repeat itself. There are many other things they did that were undemocratic which Nigerians didn’t know, which we are aware of, and which we have taken necessary measures to ensure the votes of Nigerians count. If that doesn’t happen, then, it means we are not running a democracy.

The PDP has pockets of crises across the states. How do you hope to address the issue of intra-party crises?

Nigeria is a very diverse country but there’s unity in our diversity. Every organization will have some conflict here and there but we are not a divided people. Nigerians are a united people. What they need is good leadership, justice, fairness. Once you have that in any organization, I think Nigerians will rally round and move forward. In the party, the previous administration had started processes of reconciling the differences among members. There was a committee set up headed by Senator Bukola Saraki to investigate what the problems were and to reconcile the party. So, that process is on. I intend to build on that when they submit their report. Necessary reconciliatory processes will be undertaken to reconcile party members and to resolve issues in chapters in various states. We have already started that by talking to people. I am happy to inform you so many people have already indicated interest to return to the party, even those who are aggrieved that left the party. If you recall, a few days ago, former governor of Ondo state, Governor Mimiko, returned to the party. My colleague, Senator Ladoja from Ibadan also returned. There are some people who are trooping back. A few months ago, the traffic was one-way; we lost about three governors to the APC. But I believe before the end of the year, you will hear so many people coming back to the PDP because they now have confidence that the PDP is getting it right. So, we will build on that and work very hard to make sure that the PDP is a unified force to fight in the next election.

The governors are the main financiers of your party. ANC in South Africa for instance has pockets of businesses that help to finance the party. Do you have any strategy to ensure financial independence for the PDP?

You’re are right and wrong. First, when we formed the PDP, there were no governors. From 1998 to 1999, there were no governors. There were so many financiers of the party. The people who formed the party contributed to stabilize the party. We didn’t have governors. The governors came after the party was formed. And many of the people who became governors had no money to run the party. Contributions were made. Even the N1 million form that they had to buy in 1999, its people who contributed and paid for them. What has happened over the years is that we now had governors, we had the president, the federal government. Therefore, those governments or governors, president and so on, made contributions to the party. But people were still contributing to the party.

Meanwhile, ANC is about a hundred and something years old. So, the party has evolved and they evolved in struggle. ANC is a party that evolved fighting apartheid in South Africa. Even they didn’t depend on just those businesses you referred to, they had massive contributions from outside. Even the Nigerian government gave a lot of money to the ANC and many other people who supported anti-apartheid struggle. Even I, as a student in the 70s, participated in anti-apartheid. We contributed; we raised money and donated to ANC. So, it is not true that they rely entirely on businesses. But going forward, the PDP will try to look at other sources of funding instead of depending on just a few financiers. We have contributions from other supporters of the party who people normally don’t know. There is this misconception that only the governors are funding the party. We have only 13 governors. They cannot possibly fund the party in 36 states of the federation including Abuja. We will diversify our funding anyway. It is something we are going to discuss as a party. We will look into it and hopefully, we will come out with ways of strengthening our funding of our own activities. So, be rest assured that the PDP will not only be democratic in its politics but it will also be democratic in its funding processes.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Viral Voice Note On WhatsApp Billing False

Claim: A viral WhatsApp voice note, purportedly made by the director and CEO of WhatsApp, claims users will have to start paying for WhatsApp services.

Verdict: The viral WhatsApp voice note claim is a hoax. The content is not new and has been circulated as a broadcast message several times in the past.

Experts Say Mixture Of Snail Slime, Evaporated Milk Cannot Cure Stroke

CLAIM: A Facebook user claims water gotten from snails (snail slime) and peak milk can cure partial or full stroke.

VERDICT: The claim that water gotten from snails (snail slime) and peak milk can cure partial or full stroke is false.

FULL STORY: On July 26, 2020, a Facebook user, Prince Nnamdi Enyinnaya Emelelu Eluwa, in a post claimed that water gotten from snails (Snail slime) and peak milk can cure partial or full stroke. The post which is over a year old has recently been reshared by other Facebook users.

Marburg Virus: What You Need To Know About Disease Recently Detected In West Africa

On Monday, August 9, 2021, the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed the first case of Marburg virus in West Africa in Guinea. This development has sent shivers down the spines of West Africans who are still grappling with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. But before this dreaded disease is greeted by rumours and misinformation, here is what you have to know about the virus.APC states to establish Health Emergency Trust Fund…

FACT CHECK: US Did Not Give Nigeria 48 Hours Ultimatum To Detain Abba Kyari

CLAIM: Several social media posts claim the United States of America (USA) gave Nigeria’s Federal Government 48 hours to detain suspended Deputy Police Commissioner, Abba Kyari, or face severe sanctions.

VERDICT: The claim is false and misleading. The US did not give Nigerian Federal Government 48 hours ultimatum to detain Abba Kyari.