Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chyna Iwuanyanwu, in this interview with Assistant Editor (North), CHUKS EHIRIM, talks on his problem with the leadership style of the Acting National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, and National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, accusing them of running the party as private estate. He also speaks on President Muhammad Buhari’s administration, accusing him of neglecting the South East zone in his discretional appointments.
Confusion in PDP between the Jerry Gana committee, Uche Secondus and Olisa Metu over conference
Well, my position is very clear. Olisa Metuh and Uche Secondus are now running the party as personal estate and business empire. But a political party is a public institution, particularly with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It is all about the people, not about the leaders. So, as far as I am concerned, any concerned leader in the party has a right to come together to discuss.
After all, the outcome of such dialogue will be presented to the National Working Committee (NWC). I am a member of the Renaissance Group, which in the last four or five years has been advocating reforms, and our position on this matter has been made very clear. The present NWC has no credibility, no capacity and no integrity to be able to midwife a reform.
The present NWC failed us. They led us into a battle that we lost and in the name of integrity, as former President Goodluck Jonathan was going, they should also have gone, so that we have a new beginning. There is need to inject new leadership. I don’t think the present NWC has anything to offer. They have outlived their usefulness and the only path of honour is for them to quit. I am in support of re-engineering, reforms. But the question is, who midwifes it?
Jerry Gana group midwifing a new PDP
I have my reservations. When I went through the names that are there – I don’t want to call names – some of them are part of the problems of PDP. Another major problem of the party is that some of our leaders do not want to look beyond their nose. You can see that they are all members of the same political tendency, who, over the past 15 years, are part of the problem of the PDP. I am saying that any reform must be all-inclusive.
That list is not inclusive. Some of the names there should never be involved in the rebirth of PDP because they were involved in the death of the party. Professor Jerry Gana, for me, is the last man standing, in the sense that he is among the founding fathers of the party. He is supposed to be an embodiment of the vision of the founding fathers of the party. But again, he was the chairman of the last convention that was actually the beginning of the end. He was in that convention that people walked out. That convention led to the birth of the new PDP (nPDP). It was from that convention that our governors left, our National Assembly members left, and subsequently, nothing was done to arrest the drift. He was there. Ken Nnamani was there. They had that opportunity of reforming the party in 2012. That is my concern. I have my apprehension.
But having said so, somebody has to do it and I believe that he has the credentials if he wants to do it this time around. But it should be broad-based. Governor’s forum has to be involved, the BOT (Board of Trustees) must be involved, the Renaissance Group must be involved. Even the NWC cannot be excluded, so that we have a family dialogue on how to move the party forward.
PDP leadership playing the role expected of the opposition
Confrontation is not the same thing as opposition. What the present leadership of PDP is doing is like what the APC did to Jonathan – confronting, insulting the president and finding fault in everything. I don’t think that President Muhammadu Buhari has been 100 per cent bad. There are some good things about him. Even in the name of opposition, we should be able to acknowledge these. But to find fault when a man breathes in and out, you will lose credibility.
And it is because this crop of leaders in PDP lack the intellectual depth, credibility and passion with which to drive a constructive opposition. Opposition is a very demanding thing. First, it calls for intellect. It is not something that a breezy person can handle. So as far as I am concerned, they have no moral platform, no credibility, no integrity. They have no capacity to be able to drive the process. That is the reason we say it is time for them to pack their load and leave, so that we can inject new ideas, with a clear vision as to where we are taking the PDP.
Assessing Buhari’s first 100 days
The truth is, all we have seen is motion without movement. And they acknowledge it. All that has changed is body language. Just like we couldn’t run Nigeria with good luck, we can’t run Nigeria on the basis of body language. They say a lot of things have responded to body language, but they forgot that these are some of the structures that were set up already by the PDP government. The man is reaping where he didn’t sow.
It is just a matter of being at the right place at the right time. He hasn’t invested a kobo in the refineries and they are working. Somebody made it so. The Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) has been on-going. He hasn’t put any kobo in some of the things we have been talking about. As far as corruption is concerned, all we have is advocacy on the pages of newspapers; no prosecution! I am not aware of any money that has been collected.
So I don’t want a situation where we do the same thing. When Buhari came 31 years ago, it was the same pattern – a lot of noise and no concrete achievement. But the direction his body language is taking the country is acceptable. At least, there is the consciousness now that corruption is unacceptable. Before, it was as if there was complacency and even complicity. But now, it is said that there is a new sheriff in town. But you don’t drive a country with body language. That is what some of us are saying. We need to see concrete plans, programmes and actions.
We want to see something about education, about health, about infrastructure. All we have seen is security and anti-corruption. That is not the problem of this country. There were so many promises made by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that made Nigerians to demand change. The expectations are high and there is a sense of urgency. We should have seen some concrete steps in the last 100 days, but they are not there.
He has accepted that he is slow, that he is steady. Well, if the president succeeds, it is for all of us. If he fails, the consequence is for all of us. As a true Nigerian, I want him to succeed.
Buhari and the South East on allegation of imbalance on appointments
Even his spokesman, Femi Adesina, had said that they are going to make amendments and balance it in subsequent appointments. Even when that statement is vacant, it is an acceptance of the fact that there is imbalance, there is injustice. It is against the constitution of Nigeria and letters of the Federal Character principle, to exclude the whole zone from the kitchen cabinet of the government. It is a total violation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. There is a Federal Character principle, so that every Nigerian will have a sense of belonging.
You can’t tell me that one section of Nigeria has the monopoly and integrity and capacity to run the country. Can you imagine that in the whole national security architecture, nobody is from the South East? Don’t we have security issues, kidnapping and others? So when they are going to be discussed, we will not be there.
On the committee on anti-corruption, there is nobody from the South East. It has a psychological implication of a people who are unwanted. And that feeling of alienation and exclusion is a danger. It is a threat to the corporate existence of Nigeria and to the unity of Nigeria. I believe Buhari, in his wisdom, means well for the country, but he should remember the complex nature of the Nigerian society. No section of the country should be excluded, not just the South East. There should be a sense of belonging, a sense of ownership of both the country and the government.
He has failed the South East and that has always been the fear of the South East. That was why we didn’t vote for him in the first place. He is only justifying the fears of the people. And it is not good for the country.