Lagos State publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), GANI TAOFIK, in this chat with Assistant Politics Editor, DANIEL KANU, says the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has no genuine and practicable roadmap for Nigeria, contrary to its claims, describing the party as lacking in credibility.
All Progressives Congress (APC) recently rolled out what it termed roadmap for a new Nigeria. What is your reaction to the initiative?
GANI TAOFIKAPC cannot claim to have a genuine, practicable roadmap for Nigeria because, indeed, it has not shown in the areas it has presence or in states it controls that it has something better to offer Nigerians or the residents of those in the states it governs. Supposing it has turned the states it controls into Eldorado, one may be forced to agree with its claim that indeed it has a roadmap. The only thing that APC has come to represent is castigation of the ruling party, PDP. It is merely an opposition that sees the PDP as its worst enemy and not suitable to govern. APC is only after power, and I can bet you that it doesn’t even know what it will use the power for. Our great party, PDP, I can tell you, is not perturbed or distracted in anyway by the APC propaganda and antics. Nigerians cannot be deceived because they are not convinced that APC will provide the alternative through the roadmap it claims it has to move Nigeria forward. Its claim of having a roadmap that will build a new Nigeria is empty because the party cannot claim any fresh idea from what it has already showcased in the different states it runs. The indices that ordinarily should be in place to confirm its claims do not exist in the various states it controls. Can the party criticise the PDP federal government on education? All the federal government universities today are cheaper than all its state universities. As a matter of fact, the universities in the APC-controlled states are more expensive than very many private universities in other places. Lagos State University (LASU) which they usually rush to use as a model is so expensive that some students, like those in Medicine, pay close to N400,000. In the area of transportation, APC government is always quick to use the railway transportation as incentive for the people in its areas of influence, especially in Osun and Kwara states; but all these were put in place and revitalised by a PDP government. So, the members are rather ingrates. They should begin to commend PDP’s efforts and accept that the PDP has better agenda than they claim to have.
Lagos PDP says it is ready to move now. What exactly is it putting on ground to show seriousness and that it can now do things differently?
The greatest asset the PDP has to win the next election and take over Lagos is the disenchantment the people now have with the APC government. Unfortunately, Lagosians had been so hypnotised by the identity of the late sage, Pa Obafemi Awolowo. When we had the AD (Alliance for Democracy), they used the coloration of Pa Awolowo; we had the Action Congress (AC) and the ACN (Action Congress of Nigeria) all using the identity of Pa Awolowo, and the people had sentiments because they loved Pa Awo. But today, APC cannot claim it can still retain the Awo identity; so, obviously, it cannot hold on the Awo identity to deceive Lagosians again. It is not that we have never been ready, but circumstances which always gave advantage to those groups of persons as being Awoists had always been against us. Now we have an apparently disenchanted populace, because their life has not been bettered but has gone worst. So the people now know the truth; that APC runs a government of propaganda and deceit. The economy of Lagos State has been hijacked by just one man, and Lagosians no longer have trust not only in that person but in the party. So, our strategy will remain undisclosed for now; but whether we like it or not, it is written all over the faces of the people in Lagos that this APC government is no longer popular. That is why they are jittery, running around doing all manner of registrations, trying to now want to compel people, victimise people, intimidate people to accept them. But we say no to intimidation. I am cocksure that Lagosians will resist them at the right time.
There is always this issue of leadership crisis in your party and the planting of moles…
(Cuts in) We have taken care of that, but you should know that leadership crisis is not peculiar to Lagos PDP. The issue of moles as well cannot be said to be peculiar to Lagos PDP. What we have done is to remove those moles. We may not claim that there may not be remnants, but we have further strategies that will make those remnants as useless as possible. We have also decided that, come 2015, we will give to Lagosians what they demand from us – that we should come and be in control of governance. Because of that, we are going to make sure we have a more united front to engage APC in the game. We have articulate programmes that will convince Lagosians that we have arrived and ready to take over the mantle of leadership. What will kill APC is its over-confidence, but it cannot build something on nothing and expect it to stand. We cannot allow any rigging now from the APC. Now that it has disappointed the people, it is finished. APC does not have grip anywhere. It just has this penchant for making noise. Lagosians now see the PDP as the only potent alternative. PDP states like Akwa Ibom and Delta can, at least, boast of one airport built by the state. Let Governor Babatunde Fashola point to such infrastructure in this state. Any infrastructure in Lagos that is functioning is by concessionaire(s) or private developers. APC is living in false confidence and that will be its greatest undoing.
APC is said to be zeroing in on General Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate in 2015. Can President Jonathan face Buhari in the contest?
But he had won him before, and now that President Jonathan has performed creditably, the next votes for him will be massive. Buhari is not a democrat; he was part of the bad news that truncated democratic growth. So he needs to apologise to Nigerians. Jonathan will beat him hands down.