Dr. Cairo Ojougboh was member, House of Representatives, Senate Liaison Officer to late President Umaru Yar’ Adua and currently National Vice Chairman, South -South of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In this interview, he said for the PDP to get it right after its loss in the last elections the truth must be told. He attributed the loss to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s refusal to adhere to an existing agreement. He also, among others, spoke on Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s election as deputy Senate President and the illegality of President Muhammadu Buhari’s bail out to states. Excerpts:
By Henry Umoru
ON why the PDP lost the presidential polls after boasting that it would rule Nigeria for 60 years
Let me take you back. When Abacha died, the South came together to say it was their time to produce the president of this country because Abiola had just won the election that was annulled and he was a Southerner. So the North put themselves together and said this agitation if not well handled could break this country. As Northerners, we love this country so we will give power to the South. That was how cleverly, Obasanjo and Olu Falae contested the election in 1999 and that was how power was transferred to the South.
Then, there was an arrangement by the 34 great men that formed the PDP that they would start shifting power eight years to the North, eight years to the South. It was a gentleman agreement. It was enshrined in the PDP constitution but it is not in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The South-West had the first shot, everybody co-operated, Obasanjo became president. After eight years, it was the turn of the North to become president then problem started. Some people started toying with the idea of third term. PDP said ‘no,’ PDP members of the National Assembly and other parties said ‘no, it will not work.’ The PDP had to produce a candidate and that was how Yar’Adua emerged.
Unfortunately, Yar’Adua did not survive, so the North said, ‘look this presidency is our own, we have to utilise our allotted eight years’ and they were right.
Ojougboh
Jonathan himself said he would do only four years. Emirs, leaders and stakeholders in the country accepted that Jonathan will do only four years so that power can shift to the North. When time came, a lot of Maccaba dances started; people started putting pressure here and there and people started encouraging Jonathan to contest.
Unfortunately, Jonathan didn’t have the nerves to say, ‘no, I will keep to my agreement.’ So Jonathan contesting meant that the zoning formula had been breached. The North didn’t take it kindly; they said ‘this is not what we agreed. Even the Christian North that used to be very friendly, especially the North-Central said we had an agreement. Some governors, about five of them left the party because of that, because they saw what was happening. So it was this pressure that the North now agreed that they must take power back, that it was their turn.
Fortunately or unfortunately, only two candidates were presented at the election: Jonathan and Buhari. Buhari is from the North, Jonathan is from the South. The South had done more than enough for the time being for the agreement of 1998/1999. So the North said look we are going to vote for our son whether he is good or bad.
Well, the members most of them, stood on their ground and worked for the party; if you look at the margin, it’s just two million and where did the two million votes come from? Kano and Katsina.
The North and some Nigerians said that look Jonathan could not be strong enough to keep to an agreement that has been well accepted. When Obasanjo said it, nobody believed him, but the elders of the party should have had the courage; the founding fathers, the BoT, they sould have had the courage to go to Jonathan and said: ‘look why don’t you keep to the agreement? But party members and stakeholders went ahead endorsing him. So from now on, any agreement reached, the PDP must abide by it.
You were quoted as saying that Nigerians would beg the PDP to return to power, how will this happen?
It is very clear. The PDP is a party and if you look at the APC, there is only one member in APC and that is Buhari. You see, the APC came to power as a result of a gang-up against the PDP and obviously, it is not going to stand the test of time. There will be a lot of confusion and there will be a lot of problems. Buhari is not going to agree with the persons within the APC because they are not of the same parentage and Nigerians will be very tired because it will be all motion and no movement. In fact, in the next one year, Nigerians will be fed up. You have already seen it and that is the truth of the matter. There will be all motion, no movement.
Will the PDP have a hand in it?
Why would the PDP have a hand in it?
How is the party strategizing to bounce back?
We are repositioning our party and it is when the leaders of the party begin to accept the truth, speak the truth and allow people, who are uncontrollable to take control, work their best and contribute their quota that our party will take over power again. The PDP has remained the most viable and well-built party that this country has ever had.
Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu resigned recently as the national chairman of the PDP, following pressure from the presidency and other stakeholders that he led the party to failure. Is the entire National Working Committee of the party going to be dissolved?
No, you must follow due process of the law. The NWC members were voted into office and their tenure will expire in March. There are two ways to remove them; number one is they voluntarily resign. Second is that National Executive Council, NEC, with a vote of 2/3 will remove them. Anything short of these two, you can’t remove them. So the party must be patient to wait till March, 2016, to be able to effect any change in the NWC. So far, they have woken up and they are working.
Buhari has bailed out states with money the PDP claimed was part of funds saved by former President Jonathan, what is your take?
Yes, it is money left by the Jonathan administration. President Buhari has been in office for just one month, where did he get the money from? But the issue with it is the method of disbursement, did the National Assembly approve it? You see, this is where democracy comes in. Was it appropriated? Does it have legal backing? The PDP is a party and is watching.
APC has produced Senate President while the PDP has produced deputy senate president. How do you look at this development?
The emergence of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as deputy Senate President is a welcome development. You see, it shows you that PDP is the party to beat. It allows you understand that the PDP is a great party. We speak with one voice. It is a wonderful experience and it is to show any party that you cannot impose your will on Nigerians. The unfortunate incident that led to the failure of PDP in the presidential elections would not happen again. We are one family and from now on, the PDP will learn to obey zoning because this matter called zoning is very important in Nigeria. It is the Nigerian system of democracy and if you don’t align, there is always a problem.
Is it possible for one man to change the Senate rules?
No, one man cannot change the Senate rules It is because the whole thing didn’t go down well with people, that is why they started casting aspersions and looking for scape goat. Ekweremadu could never have changed the Senate Rules on his own. Because he is the deputy Senate President, which was never expected, they now want to give him a bad name.
LA Galaxy
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