…says PDP not only poised for comeback in 2027 but takeover
The new National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Comrade Ini Ememobong, in this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO, reflected on the crisis within the party as well as talked about efforts being made by the Kabiru Taminu Turaki led leadership to reposition the party ahead of the 2027 general election. Excerpts:
Your party went through its convention despite several odds that dodged its path such as litigations, factionalisation and some distractions. As the Public Secretary of the party, looking back what lessons do you think the party has learned from the whole process that threw up this new National Executive Committee of the party?
While the political party anywhere in the world is a hotbed for conflicts because of clashes of interests, what we have learned is that no organisation survives without discipline, the capacity to look people in the eye and say you have crossed the boundaries and to set boundaries and to protect those boundaries.
If there’s anything the road to the convention has taught us it’s the fact that resilience must be matched with discipline where rules are agreed to, boundaries are set and respected and if people go across the boundaries there must be consequences. So, I think that is the most significant lesson learned, that discipline is important.
Will discipline now be the cornerstone of this new leadership of the party that whenever there is any need to do so, discipline will be meted out to any errant members?
(Cuts in) Discipline is core, it’s something we’ve adopted and I’m sure you heard the national chairman repeat it. But on the foundation of discipline is understanding because I mean you’re not just carrying a cane to flog everybody, you are simply saying these are rules we have agreed to abide by and if there are sufficient conciliatory, reconciliatory, negotiating internal processes within the party, that if people consistently exhibit acts of indiscipline then the leadership of the party will have no option but to uphold the discipline of the party.
Your party was once a dominant party and some people now believe that PDP is now a shadow of itself. I mean considering the fact that you went from having 27 governors at the peak of your popularity now to maybe two or three governors; does that in any way worry you and what are you going to do to make sure that the party comes back into reckoning?
If you look at the general curve of life is, it is not a spike. If you find a spike then as you go up remember that the steep slope will bring you down but life is an undulating plane. Life is like when you see a mountain and a valley. So you go up the mountain, you come down the valley and you go up the mountain again.
The PDP has been on the mountain and without controversy we are in the valley but we have learnt lessons of how to be on the mountain. We have seen and experienced our valley times and therefore we are preparing this vehicle for another mountain time. And from the experience of our past mountains and our valleys, we can assure you that when we get back to the mountain, we’ll stay longer on the mountain.
Even when you get to the tip of the mountain, you can decide to play for a long while. I can assure you that if you also study political parties around the world, whether it’s Republican, whether it’s Democratic in the United States (of America), whether it’s the Conservative or the Labour in the United Kingdom, you’re going to see that there were times when these parties were out of power for a long while. I mean it happens. After all, politics is a concentric circle of conspiracies, momentary conspiracies that happen at the time. So, it is true that we have learned from the mistakes because where we are today is a combination of both internal and external factors. But we have learned from the mistakes of the past and we are using that as a building block for the future. A future where we are building a party on justice, on discipline, on equity, on returning to the people who matter most, which is the people.
Now we are saying that the qualitative voices of elected officials will not completely drown the quantitative voices of the people who make these people. I’ve said it before and I’ll say again, by 1998 when we started we did not have governors or senators, but the people made these governors and senators. And today we are taking back the people who were made by these people, they haven’t left us. The most strategic thing to do is to go back to the maker. If the made has left, then we go back to the maker who is capable of remaking the made. So, that is where we are, where we are going back to the people.
How do you now want to woo the people again to see your party as the best option for them?
Well, you’ve seen that we are clearly aligning with reality. We are aligning with the thoughts of the people. We are proposing better alternatives to what is in existence and you do know that if you juxtapose the achievements of this administration of the APC administration in the past 10 or so years with our 16 years, you see clearly where we picked it from, and you see where we left off.
When you juxtapose, you’re going to see that the 16 years of PDP were the glorious years of this country. Just by providing a very solid foundation for this APC administration, but you have seen that they find it very challenging to handle even very simple tasks.
You talked about reconciliation. What will form the basis for this reconciliation that you talked about?
The reconciliation is already ongoing. We are talking to people across the board who are vigorously with many people who have had reasons to say, ‘look, we didn’t like this part, we didn’t like the other things.’ The reconciliation must be based on common interest. What is the common interest? Number one, PDP must not die. Number two, PDP as an opposition party must play its role as an opposition party.
And more importantly, PDP must have candidates in all positions, and not just having candidates, PDP must be willing to field candidates capable of winning elections. Those are the foundations of the reconciliation. We won’t reconcile with someone who says, ‘look, we are supporting the president. Look, we need to negotiate to allow this party.’ We won’t, because reconciliation is based on achieving the purpose of the manifesto of PDP.
Do you believe that your party will be properly primed to stage a comeback in 2027?
We are strategically repositioning the party, not just for a comeback, but for a takeover.
You believe that from the situation of things, you have all it takes to achieve that?
The potentials are there. When we add the energy and add the work, the result will be determined by God and Nigerians. Potentials, we have. Capacity, we have. Work to achieve, we have. Result is dependent on God and Nigerians.
Looking at zoning, from the position of hindsight, will it be correct for us to assume that the office of the president will be zoned to the South now that we have the national chairman from the North?
The presidential candidacy has already been zoned to the South.
There has been this speculation that former President Goodluck Jonathan is being considered by your party come 2027 as its presidential candidate. What has been the relationship between your party and Dr. Jonathan?
Dr. Jonathan is a former president of Nigeria, who is well respected. It is his decision to run or not to run, and he has the right to do so, and so if he decides to run, I mean, that would be for him to determine. But for us in the PDP, we are preparing a platform that can deliver.
So we are looking inwards to consolidate internally, also have our strategic alliances externally. For Dr. Jonathan, he’s a respected gentleman who led this country, and I’m sure you’ve seen people coming out to say that they accused him wrongly. So if he chooses to run, then I’m sure he’ll make that announcement.
Will your party will be willing to field him as your presidential candidate should he decide to run?
Our party is open to all people who have positive agenda for the country and who have the capacity to lead this country out of the woods that the APC government has led it into.
What would your assessment of the current government be if you were asked to do so?
My verdict is predictable because I’m of the opposition party but let me adopt the verdict of Nigerians, the everyday Nigerians, the Nigerians in Plateau, Nigerians in Benue, Nigerians in Zamfara, Nigerians in Akwa Ibom, Nigerians in the South East, Nigerians who are unable to travel by road to any place outside their states, Nigerians who travel by rail and get derailed in the 21st century, Nigerians who were buying fuel at a hundred and something Naira and just by reckless statements of someone whom leadership was thrust upon, the next day they were buying fuel for almost two thousand Naira. I am also talking about Nigerians who were exchanging Naira for dollars for far less than 500 Naira, who now have to do it at 1,500, 1,400 Naira to a dollar.
Nigerians who are struggling to feed, Nigerians who have had to buy rice almost at N100, 000 when N70,000 was their minimum wage. What rating do you think those Nigerians would give? If you open the pages of newspapers and read, you watch television, you listen to Nigerian TV, they have given the government their verdict.
Today, we feel most insecure than we have ever been in this country. Not even during the Civil War, I hear, people did not feel this insecure. Today, you have a situation where a Brigadier-General is killed and it’s just swept under the carpet. You have a situation where the president promised to fight from the front, but now has not showed up where active combat is ongoing. You have a situation where government now has direct link access and coordinates release of people who are kidnapped through direct links to bandits.
