Edet Nkpubre, erstwhile National Vice National Chairman of PDP (South South), tells Special Correspondent, EMMA AYUNGBE, the intrigues behind former President Goodluck Jonathan’s loss in the March 28 election, resignation of Adamu Mu’azu as PDP National Chairman, as well as reasons for his apathy on Akwa Ibom politics under the administration of Godswill Akpabio.
You earlier told us that PDP governors should be blamed if Goodluck Jonathan lost the presidential election and the former president actually lost the contest. Do you still insist that the governors were responsible?
I said it because I knew the intrigues that were going on. The governors did not want to be truthful to Jonathan. They knew that the North would vote against him en masse. You know why? When Jonathan was confirmed Acting President, Vincent Ogbulafor was the National
Chairman of the party. He went with the governors for negotiation and it was agreed that Jonathan should serve the remaining term of Yar’Adua; after that, power would go back to the North. Ogbulafor came out from that meeting and made the announcement to the public and the governors persecuted him. He was forced to resign on trumped-up charges. None of the governors who were in that meeting defended Ogbulafor and he was booted out. Jonathan served the remaining tenure of Yar’Adua.
When he was vying for election in 2011, the party caucus met and there was strong argument for power to go back to the North. The Northerners stood their ground on the agreement that was made that Jonathan was to serve out Yar’Adua’s term and leave; and that he should not contest the 2011 election. The South South pleaded with the North that they had always been in support of the North since the creation of Nigeria and even during the civil war. Sam Ogbemudia was the one who made the statement that brought peace. He pleaded that he himself was a beneficiary of federal character. What they call federal character is what we call zoning and rotation. He said that by the party’s arrangement, it was clear that the presidency should go back to the North.
Then he brought out another sentiment and said that, as a sitting president, Jonathan had the constitutional right to go for a second term and he went on his knees. When he rose up, there was a standing ovation. That was what brought peace. And Jonathan stood up and said in his acceptance speech that if the house had told him not to run, he would not run; but since they had allowed him to run, he would run for one term.
Somebody needed to have told Jonathan that he agreed to do one term, so that power would go back to the North. Few governors in the North tried to bring that case up, but some of the PDP governors, particularly the so-called PDP Governors’ Forum (PDPGF) and some cronies who fed fat on Jonathan’s government instigated him to use Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to haunt them and they relinquished their stance. Jonathan lost because they refused to tell him the truth. If PDP had picked up a Northern candidate against Buhari, PDP would have retained power.
They deceived Jonathan and said no other person should contest against him; that he was a consensus candidate and the man accepted and reciprocated by giving them unlimited powers to strangulate their states with unimaginable impunity. That is why Jonathan failed, simple.
Why do you think the governors deceived him?
Most of them believe in gangster politics, violence and rigging. They believed that, as incumbents, they would encourage Jonathan to rig, bulldoze his way, use violence and instal himself. Fortunately for Nigerians, we have an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which came out with the innovation that made rigging a bit more difficult.
Following its loss of the presidential election and the recent resignation of Tony Anenih and Adamu Mua’zu from their positions, do you consider these clear indications to the imminent collapse of PDP?
PDP called for what is happening to it today. PDP is a party that believes in manipulations and intrigues. They (PDP members) manipulated Mu’azu to resign; he didn’t resign voluntarily. They insulted Anenih and in anger he resigned. They are leaving the party aggrieved; it would have been better if they had voluntarily resigned. They probably would have been useful to the party in the future. But the way it is, the party is in a mess and very crippled. The blame game going on and the insult on the elders by some upstarts within the party are not helping issues.
I don’t know when they will restructure the party to have the strength to provide a formidable opposition to APC. I don’t know when and I don’t see who. With May 29 over, you will see more crises in the PDP.
There will be more extensive and deep crisis in the PDP and that will cripple them the more.
As a chieftain of the PDP, why do you have soft spot for the APC?
I was a chieftain of the party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State. I was for some time not invited for the caucus meeting of the party. As a statutory delegate, I was delisted; I wasn’t allowed to be a delegate.
So, they virtually chased me away from their party because I spoke the truth. I told the party (members) that they were allowing the governors too much power to trample upon other members, and because of that the party in the state was not happy. So they virtually pushed ex-Governor Victor Attah, Don Etiebet and myself out of relevance in the party affairs in the state. I am in support of APC today.
After the PDP lost the presidential election, there were trading of blames. Some people, for instance, blamed Mu’azu, Governor Isa Yuguda and Bala Mohammed for allowing the party lose Bauchi. The same thing was said about Governors Sule Lamido of Jigawa and Mu’azu Aliyu of Niger. What is your take on this?
Those are individuals; they had just one vote each. Mu’azu had one vote; Yuguda had one vote. Whatever they could have done for the PDP would not have changed the general opinion of the North that power must return to the North. They might have pleaded with their supporters to vote for the PDP, but the people decided to vote according to their conscience. Even within the PDP, Yuguda and Mu’azu have never been political friends. You remember that Mu’azu frustrated Yuguda out of PDP.
Yuguda, in turn, picked the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) ticket for governorship and defeated Mu’azu’s candidate. Also, the ANPP candidate defeated Mu’azu for the Senate. When he became a governor, he came back to the PDP. And you brought Mu’azu from the same state to start sharing power with Yuguda and think it would work? It is not possible. Two of them were pretending. I knew from my own calculation that Lamido in Jigawa wasn’t supporting Jonathan. Niger wasn’t supporting Jonathan; Bauchi wasn’t supporting Jonathan. They were all deceiving Jonathan because of the simple reason that presidency should go back to the North.
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, had before their inauguration alleged that Nigeria was indebted to the tune of $60 billion. Is this debt justified?
I am not going to quarrel about debts; I am going to quarrel about what we did with the debts; what quantum of that has gone into private pockets. I am going to be worried about corruption. You earn so much, yet you borrow so much. What have you done with the money? That is why some of us are saying that President Muhammadu Buhari must probe. He must probe not only the federal government but the states, particularly the rich states. What do they do with their money, particularly some of the South South states where you have so much unemployment, so much youth restiveness? What have they done with all their resources? Have you been able to change the lives of your people with all the money that came into your state over the years? Have you been able to change the economy? We do few projects and celebrate them to high heavens; nobody looks at the underlying cost of such projects. That is the more reason Buhari should probe. I am sure if Buhari looks into some of these things, we would recover enough money to run the government. Some years ago, a court in the United States fined Julius Berger $5 billion for bribing Nigerian officials to secure jobs in Nigeria. Who were those officials? The government of the United States knows them and their accounts. Buhari should look into that case. Buhari should look into the states, re-invigorate the EFCC, and put a good Attorney-General. He should chase these corrupt people and recover the stolen money. Some states and the federal government stink.
You seem to have sympathy for the APC. Are you aware that the APC leadership has said that new members from the PDP would have to queue behind others who were in the party before them?
I am not interested in my own benefits. I am interested in what happens to the system. I am capable of working and living in the system and ensuring that the system is normalised for the ordinary people to thrive and make a living. Politics has never put food on my table and, politics, I don’t believe, will put food on my table. I have worked hard enough to be able to put food on my table at any time. So if I am supporting APC, I am not supporting APC because I want to run away from PDP, but because I want change; a change from this present impunity; a change from this present gangster politics; a change from this violent politics.
Buhari is said to have stated that he would not allow governors, irrespective of their political parties, to nominate ministers for him. What do you make of this?
That is what we have been saying. Why should only the governors be the ones that would sign for you to be a minister? The governors wielded so much power in the PDP to the extent that they chose who would be senators. The governors would choose who would go to the House of Representatives, who would go to the House of Assembly and who would be a local government chairman, federal board chairman, state board chairman and so on and so forth. Governors should go and concentrate in picking their commissioners who will work with them to deliver their campaign promises to the people. The president should have a way of picking his own cabinet and aides. In those days, it was the party and the elders who would pick and recommend to the federal government, not governors. I am happy Buhari is starting that way because these are some of the ways of trimming down some of the powers that were vested by the PDP in the governors.
Don’t you think it would put him on collision course with the governors?
No. When people understand that it is the procedure and the culture of the party, you will leave that aspect and concentrate on where you have your powers.
During his valedictory speech, former Akwa Ibom State governor, Godswill Akpabio, said he had forgiven all those who blackmailed and opposed him. Are you one of the beneficiaries of his forgiveness?
He has never told me that I offended him. I never offended him. I only said what I believed in. I had never insulted him. He was my governor. I may express my opinion on certain issues, but I do that with all amount of civility. I don’t go out of my way to insult people in authority; so I don’t think I am among those he had forgiven. Even if I was, general forgiveness for those who had offended him is not enough. He should go to them and tell them that he has forgiven them.
That is his personal problem. If people offended him, he should go to them or such people should go to him and reconcile.
Judging from his performance in office for eight years, would you say that Akpabio left Akwa Ibom better than he met it?
Akwa Ibom had never been at a standstill. Even the Jonathan government that people were criticising for non-performance was not at a standstill. The issue is the quantum of development and its cost. That is what the people are asking for explanation.
What is your take on the emergence of Udom Emmanuel as governor for Akwa Ibom?
Well, he is there. They say he won the election. Other people are challenging his election in court. I am just watching. I wish him luck.
What are your expectations from President Buhari?
I expect he would be very strict. If he is not, a lot of Nigerians would be disappointed. He should tackle corruption as if Nigeria depends on that. He should guarantee Nigerians security, employment and power. But my priority is corruption. If it was a military era, my advice would have been for him to pick them first before even finding evidence. When the military took over in those days, they would order all the governors and ministers to report at designated military barracks. Unfortunately, in a democracy, you get information first before you pick them.
