The only string sustaining APC is governance; it lacks grassroots support —Goa’r

Emmanuel Goa’r is a former Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly and also a former member of the House of Representatives. He speaks with ISAAC SHOBAYO on the level of preparedness of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2019 elections, the alleged looters’ list released by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and other national issues. Excerpts:

The factors that led to defeat of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Plateau State in 2015 are still fresh in people’s memories. Would you say the party has put its house for it to win the 2019 elections in the state and at the national level?

We are more determined than before; 2019 is very dear to us. I want to tell you that we have learnt our lesson and as well have put our house in order. The era of impunity  is gone. What you are seeing now is a re-branded PDP both at the state and national level. It is a very big lesson to us and that lesson is helping us to address all the shortcomings and grey areas. These hard times will definitely ginger us to perform better when given another opportunity to be in power again. When we were in power, the opposition then, the APC, felt governance was a child’s play and promised heaven and earth, but I believe God wants to demystify them hence the reason He gave them the power. You can see now they have the power, but don’t know what to do with it. They are running the government like a party without manifestos. They promised so many things, but three years down the line they are yet to fulfill just one. The corruption they claimed to be fighting is eating deep into the fabric of the administration, which means they are just interested in power, not to serve the people.

So what happened to the PDP in 2015 has its own good side. For me I am happy that it happened; we have learnt our lesson and as well exposed the characters behind the APC. But as for PDP, those mistakes will not repeat themselves again.

Coming to Plateau State, the slogan now is changing the change; we are rebranding and angling to take over  power in 2019. People have seen the difference between the PDP under former Governor Jonah Jang and the present administration under Governor Simon Lalong.  Though some people left the party, we are not bothered. I can tell you that in the past one year quite a lot of people have defected to PDP, especially at the grass roots.

With the performance of the present administration in Plateau State, can you beat your chest that PDP would win 2019 governorship election in the state?

When you talk of performance, what do you mean? Is it negative or positive performance?  Everybody in the state can see what they have on ground, at present. There is infighting among the APC members on the performance of the administration. The PDP is not complaining about APC performance in Plateau State; it is the APC members that are even complaining, questioning some of the projects they brought Mr. President to commission during his visit to Plateau State recently.

Can you imagine that this administration removed the name of the person of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, an illustrious son of Plateau State and renamed it after President Muhammadu Buhari just for cheap political score? Even during the president’s visit, people were being killed in Bokkos and  Bassa local government areas and yet this government refused to tell the president the truth; instead they were busy deceiving the president that all was well. The president was here to have firsthand information on what is on the ground, but the government ended up deceiving him. It is quite unfortunate.

Look at what Benue and Taraba states did during the president’s visit; they used the opportunity of the visit to outline the security challenges facing their respective states. But in our own case, reverse was the case.

•  Buhari qualified to contest in 2019, but…—Pearse

Recently, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed, released the names of some people alleged to have looted the treasury while in power and the name of the former governor of Plateau State was included in the list alongside other PDP staunch members. What is your take on this?

It is a shameful act. It was done without considering the image of the country, and the minister may think he is running down some people or the PDP as a political party. But I can tell you that he is destroying the image of the country. There are quite a lot of people in APC that have been openly indicted by one committee or the other. Some are in court facing one form of corrupt charges or the order, a typical examples are the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal; Mainagate scandal is there. Above all, most of the former governors and others who left the PDP now in APC have case files with EFCC. So is Lai Mohammed telling the country that APC is a shelter or shield for corrupt government officials? I can tell you that most of the actions APC is taking presently will lead the party to destruction, because Nigerians are watching. It is quite disturbing that Mr Mohammed can call people looters without court judgments in the guise of playing politics and the same person has the audacity to be talking of hate speech. I want to say that the Minister of Information has no moral right to campaign against hate speech, because he is promoting same. I am not all that concern about the internal politics but the image of the country.

But how can money be de-emphasised in Nigeria’s politics?

I can tell you that come 2019, it is not going to be business as usual, and people are wiser and now know the implication of selling their rights. It is going to be a different ball game. The level of awareness in the country presently is high. Go to the street and talk to people or go to church and mosque, you will definitely feel the pulse of the people concerning 2019. It is not going to be money but quality representation at all levels. That is why in PDP, we are rebranding, focusing on the grass roots, but the string still holding the APC is governance. The party is not at the grass roots at all. It is a floating party waiting to be washed away. This time, PDP is not ready to compromise quality; the era of imposition is over.

In Plateau State, the issue of zoning will be strictly adhered to; there will be no compromise on this. Just as I said, we have learnt from our mistakes. Before 2015, Plateau State was one of the strongest PDP states in Nigeria, but we lost that election because of imposition and by circumventing the principle of zoning. So in 2019, it is going to be a different ball game.

• I can’t be intimidated by Fayose ―Olujinmi

You have indicated interest in the Plateau Central Senatorial seat; what advantage do you have over other contestants?

I have spent more than eight years in this legislative business in the three tiers of government. I have worked in the executive and legislative arms; so I am not going in as a novice. It is only the judiciary arm that I have not tested. So I know the function within the context of separation of power as enshrined in the constitution. I cannot assess myself; the people should be able to tell more about myself, especially who they think I am, based on my relationship with them over the years and what I have done as a legislator for solid eight years. I moved from being a member of the State House of Assembly to become the Speaker and then to be in House of Representatives for four years. So if I am elected into the Senate I will not go there as a novice.

From my observations, your senatorial zone has the largest senatorial aspirants, how is your party going to cope with this without controversy? 

That is to tell you that PDP is still strong and a force to reckon with in the central zone and the state as a whole. If it is not a potent and veritable platform, you will not see people struggling to contest on the platform. It is a sign of good image. Assuming I am the only one contesting, I will not be comfortable but now that we are many, it is left for the party to choose whoever they want. I strongly feel that as the primary approaches, the people will be able to separate the grains from the chaff.

Senator Joshua Dariye has been on the seat for the past eight years. Do you think it will be easy to dislodge him, considering his experience and political pedigree?

I will say something that might not be comfortable to the electorate, but, to me, the longer you stay in the chamber, the more experienced you become as a legislator and also the better for your people. That is how it should be under a very good atmosphere and in an ideal democracy and situation. But the question is on performance. Is that person performing? Or is he using other indices to get to power? Are people satisfied with his performance? Those are the fundamental questions.

The former Senate President, Senator David Mark, will be getting to 20 years in the Senate, yet people are not tired of him simply because of his performance. Because of his long stay in the red chamber, he has become an experienced senator and his people are happy. That is why they keep on electing him and he has been consistent by using the same platform. But when you continue to jump ship, moving from one political party to another, scheming for survival without any performance, definitely people will be tired of you. I am not afraid of Senator Joshua Dariye. In fact, if I emerge as the candidate of PDP, I will be happy to square up with him at the poll. In fact, that is what other senatorial aspirants in PDP are praying for. We are waiting for him.

Senator Dariye seems to have mastered politics, hence the reason he is referred to as the head boy of Plateau politics. What joker do you have to defeat him?

I am keeping the strategies that I will use to my chest;  I am a hunter by hobby. Your success as a hunter is not determined by the number of bullets you have in your gun, but the tactics and strategies you have will determine your success. When the chips are down and we get to the next level of the game, the strategies will emerge.

Would you say your people have been well represented at the red chamber in the last 19 years?

Everybody has his principles and objective of going into the Senate. So I will not waste my time in blame game as the present administration is doing. Whether they perform or not is not my business; the people they represented will judge at the appropriate time.