Udengs Eradiri was the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in Bayelsa State gubernatorial election. In this interview, he speaks on why he decided to dump the party, the crisis, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU writes

You have left the Labour Party and you say you are looking for another platform to advance your political career in Bayelsa State politics. Were you pushed out by opponents within the party?

To put it lightly, they showed me pepper on both sides, the side of the people and the side of the party. First, let me say the people, because every time you hear that Nigerians are suffering, once you bring money, they will forget that suffering. I was fooled. I thought that Bayelsans and Nigerians were ready, and I did everything possible. I told them, look, I don’t have money.

If it is money they are looking for, I don’t have it but I can change the society, so work with me. When it reached election, even my agents, will call me and say, sorry, we want to pay house rent, so we have taken the money. It is so bad.

Then on the part of the party, the party is just a transactional instrument. People just put themselves together to see what they can get from the system. When I talk about the system, I mean either the ruling party or those who have deep pockets.

I told them clearly that I’m an engineer who has raised money by myself, because I felt that having gone through university, being president, Engineering Students Union of University of Benin, coming out to be Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) secretary general, later IYC president, and then going to be commissioner for Youths, commissioner for Environment and special adviser on Youths to the NDDC, I have seen the thin line between failure and performance, and I believed that I could do this job.

The only thing to do is instead of sitting down to be complaining, as a lot of people do, take action. I’m a man who likes taking action. I started the journey; the pitfalls and hurdles started in the party.

They come and tell you integrity, and capacity, when the chips are down, you don’t see any of these qualities. And don’t forget, I was in the Labour Party way back in 2011. I contested for the House of Representatives and know what they did to me.

They thought would be this young boy that has come out to command us. I just believed that look that I can do it and anything I put my mind to, I pursue it. I saw the gimmicks. I didn’t go to Labour Party because of the Peter Obi mantra. I wanted a party that we had used to campaign before. When you are talking to community people, what they want to hear, is ‘Papa, Mama, Pikin.’

We used Labour Party to campaign 2011, so if I bring in a new party, the job will be difficult. So, the question was: Why not go to a platform where you can easily communicate with people? That was why I decided to go with the Labour Party. Then the general election came and Obi mantra came. Of course, I would benefit.

Having supported and put money into the party, I should be able to benefit from it. Unfortunately, the judiciary and INEC killed the morale of Nigerians. That’s what affected people like us in the election. We did not have the deep pocket to throw money around.

So, I was betrayed. In fact, the betrayal by the party was shocking. Even the party will sell the code given to you by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to your opponents. So, before you know it, the opposing party has uploaded agents on your behalf. By the time you are trying to upload, it will not work.

I went through a lot and I’ve decided that as a young man, who has something to contribute to the society, I want to dissipate it in public space. I don’t have time for people who are not serious. The Labour Party itself by now should have had a national chairman from the North because we did poorly in the North.

It is only expected that you look at your weak points and strengthen them, so that when you are going to the next election, you are prepared, having done your homework. These guys are not ready. They just went into a small room and started juggling the offices. I don’t have time for that, so I moved.

People are quite curious as to where your next move would be…

First of all, I’m focused on my practice because I have a second address, so politics is secondary.

So, I’ve gone back to my first address where I need to work and generate resources and reorganize myself because I’m disorganized having gone through that process, trying to fund it myself.

Yes, there are shenanigans in every party, but you get to certain areas where you can manage them.

Human beings are the ones who can navigate through those hurdles in those parties, probably because there is a structure. Some of them have structures that no matter what, you will be able to find somebody to talk to. But I was in a place where there’s nobody to talk to.

We did not have the deep pocket to throw money around. So, I was betrayed. In fact, the betrayal by the party was shocking

You can’t say, look, let’s plan like this, let’s work like this. In my state, we do rotational politics and that’s why I was very keen in the last election.

The next is rotating to another zone. So, I’m looking at working with like minds, and then gradually from there build and see how I can also be able to add value to the system.

I have seen these things. Thank God that the way the world is moving now, younger ones are beginning to take most of these party positions and I look forward to engaging my like minds, so that we can look at the problems because we are all suffering.

People of like minds is very broad; it would be great to know what it is you’re looking for in a political party…

If you say get my own party, no, I’m not going to. We don’t have independent candidates. If we had independent candidature, maybe we would have through that independent candidature drive our political aspiration through personal exposure to society. But I think that I’m consulting when I get the platform that satisfies what I’m looking at. I will work with them.

You want to be governor and there are probably about three scenarios that might play out like working with Governor Duoye Diri, David Lyon’s faction or Timipre Sylva’s faction. Which part of this entire scenario is working out in your head as we speak now?

I’m a very frank person and I’ve been thinking about it. I said, come, what’s going to happen? The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is practically dead. There are no structures. You look at what is happening in Abuja. If it is 2027, we are looking at, it will be possible.

And then there are lots of scenarios that are playing like you said. There are young people in Bayelsa within my age bracket who are beginning to talk. And I believe that at the appropriate time, the direction will be clear. I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag.

You will most probably align with the All Progressives Congress (APC)? As I said, I’m looking at the best scenarios. And for me, I think that there are young people within the state who are also expressing this. And again, if you say APC, what’s wrong with APC?

What’s wrong in also going there to work with like minds and get the country moving? There has to be a platform now. If you want to do an election, it’s not just about saying you want to be governor. You must walk through a process. And that’s why I walk through a process in the past.

That past did not work for me. I’m looking at what is sustainable right now. Is it a place where we can go in as young people and say, come, what do we do to try to strengthen things? I have seen a lot of people in this same APC, who are doing so well in the positions they have been given.

They didn’t allow the system to overwhelm them, but they brought their personality into it and used that to create a niche, wherever they found themselves. So, I don’t think that there’s anything so bad about the APC that it shouldn’t be on the table for this cause.

If zoning of the governorship does not favour your senatorial district in 2027, and maybe the APC offers you an opportunity to go to the Senate or House of Representatives, will it be something you can hold on to?

You know that the election is over, so now it’s about governance and completion of tenure. There are some areas that Governor Diri has done well and there are some areas he has not. So, I don’t want to be sounding as if we are still in an election period.

I’ve been in Bayelsa in recent times, and I’ve seen some of the jobs that they are doing, some of us have canvassed that we need to open up the state capital to the ocean economy.

Those routes are going as planned. There are other routes to Southern Ijaw, I have seen it, I went there myself, I went to the back of the government house, and I saw a lot of routes that they are doing.

But I think that there’s still a missing dot, which I think the government needs to connect. If you award contracts for projects, you must monitor it to ensure that 70, 80 per cent of those projects are done by people from the states, so that this money begins to rotate around the state to ensure growth in the state.

Those are some of the areas that I think they have not been able to tie together. Those dots need to be connected. For me, it’s about Bayelsa State. I wanted to be a governor at the time, but I couldn’t get it because of the circumstances that I found myself. It does not mean that everything should go down.

What can we do to push it to the next level because they say authority not used is authority lost. Anything we don’t get now; we would have lost it. So, if I’m in a position to add value for it to be gotten, of course, I will do that.

I’m not saying I’m not going to work under a governor. I will contribute my quota to my state. I employ labour in that state, I contribute to the GDP of the state, and I can also talk to the system and say, look, what you are doing here is not right, why not we do it this way, which I have always been doing.

On the issue of zoning, I am a gentleman, we know that we do rotation, so I’m not going to distort that process. I want to work with the system, with my mates who are also looking at a way forward for Bayelsa State.