Austin Nwachukwu is the Imo State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview, he speaks on the just concluded elective convention of the party in Abuja, why the Kabir Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC) will not succeed at the Supreme Court and why the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has the right to support President Bola Tinubu or anybody in the 2027 general elections, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU reports
For you and the group, its victory after the convention but we also do know that this isn’t the last chapter of what’s happening because the Turaki group, who knows, I think has gone to court. And so, at the end of the day, for you, would you consider this the closure of the matter?
I’m happy the way you started this programme by saying that you know that the other people might go to court. You don’t put something on nothing. If they decide to go to court, they have no locus to go to court.
There is no faction, as it were. If people are aggrieved, as we are having right now, the Turaki people are aggrieved. They cannot be availed of any opportunity of going to the Supreme Court. And the reason being that in the judgment that the appellate court gave, a comprehensive judgment, no dissenting voice. It was mentioned that the only recognised ethical working community of the party is that which is led by Abdurrahman Mohamed.
And it was also mentioned that the National Legal Adviser of Ajibade was suspended in November. And that the suspension is only for one month or 30 days. So up until the first week of December, his suspension has expired. Ajibade resumed office as the National Legal Adviser of the party. And if you go to our constitution, chapter 42 of our constitution, it is well spelt out who brings legal issues for the party.
It is Ajibade (SAN), who can file a matter in court for PDP. So as it were, are you going to sue the man who is supposed to sue? Ajibade is the only person authorised by the party’s constitution to go to any court for legal matters. So if they are proceeding with the Supreme Court, it means that nobody there has filed anything until Ajibade, if he decides to file, which I know he will not file against, the part of the party that he belongs to.
One other thing that also was dominant was the question asked to you. If, because that’s what we understand, so you could correct it if it’s wrong, the PDP or the minister himself will not be supporting a presidential candidate for the PDP. That gives people the impression that Wike supports the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Doesn’t that in some way weaken the opposition?
I’m glad I knew you were at the venue of the convention. Did you hear the minister say, he’s supporting this president? No, let me clarify. The minister is an individual. He might wake up to say I’m supporting this person for president. That’s his own personal opinion that he has canvassed. And nobody can fault it. He has a right to support whoever he wishes to support.
The party hierarchy, the national chairman of the party, and the party structure, have they disclosed who they are supporting? So he can canvass his own opinion, which we must respect. And as a party member, if I feel that our candidate is not going to do well, and we’re going to waste our opinion, there’s a necessary war we can’t canvas.
I like the definition. He’s an individual who just happens to be the national leader. We just heard of that title of the national leader of the People’s Democratic Party. When a leader says he’s going somewhere, he doesn’t go alone. Well, the only rule is that he has not called the party to say he’s Wike has the right to support anybody in 2027 –Nwachukwu supporting XYZ. Not until he does that, then the party takes a position.
Right now, he canvasses his own personal opinion, which nobody can take away from him. Let me bring you back to the issue of reconciliation. We had hoped to see at the Abuja convention more members of the people who had done a convention in Ibadan. That didn’t happen yesterday. At least, we didn’t see a lot of the big wigs who we had seen at the Ibadan convention, at this convention here in Abuja.
We saw a few people, but some of the main actors were not here. So, the big question is as to what exactly is happening around reconciliation right now, because we know that in the run-up to this convention, especially after the courts had delivered judgment, there have been moves, even conditions set, is it that it has been difficult for the parties to meet, is in that no side is willing to yield ground. What exactly is happening in that regard? Because some people will say, if the PDP is going to be a formidable force going ahead, we must see actions around reconciliation.
They know that what happened in Ibadan was not a convention. What happened in Ibadan is a mere jamboree. That is not a convention of the Peoples Democratic Party. What happened yesterday was a conventional convention. It was a conventional convention where the only organ that monitors political activities, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was physically present, and that officers were led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who is a top person in INEC.
In Ibadan, did you see the INEC presence there? So when you are talking about convention, people should jettison this Ibadan, because the courts have also hammered on it, that it never existed. Before they went to do it, the courts said, don’t do it. And they stubbornly went to do it in a jamboree, that’s what we call it. And today, it’s not new to law.
The only convention new to law is one that happened yesterday at the National Stadium, and that is the convention of the People’s Democratic Party, a convention that has departed the party from discouragement to encouragement.
Whether it was a jamboree, whether it was a convention, people of the People’s Democratic Party gathered in Ibadan. They went there without the conscience of the party. So, what my point is this, the hope was that these people that gathered in Ibadan, from whatever name you call it, would also come back and be part of this convention you held yesterday.
There are moves in that regard initially. What has happened to that?
No. Reconciliation is an ongoing exercise. You also know the man that is calling for reconciliation. What is he looking for? What does he want you to do? Suppose the people who are coming to reconcile say they want to pick up the party, are we going to say, yes, come, we’re going to reconcile?
The issue here is, if they show good faith, the convention of yesterday has sped up where the party is, and that is where the conscience of the party is. So, anybody who wishes to join that moving train, will come in good hands and in good faith. If they do, the party will even consider them.
Did they not come in good faith when they came to negotiate initially?
If you are coming in good faith to negotiate, and it is rumored that they have run to the Supreme Court, you cannot be negotiating when you are also fighting. What we understand from what they said was, they had come to negotiate. When they saw how the position had already been taken up, they didn’t give them any opportunity to present any leadership or anything whatsoever.
So, they said, well, if you’re shutting us out, we’re going to continue to talk on this. Nobody says to me, I’m aware, as a fact, that the sale of forms was made open. The sale of forms for this particular convention was thrown open. You will make up your mind and buy forms. Nobody will cajole you. You saw the boxes lined up in that place. It is for people to cast their votes for their candidates.
What do you say about consensus?
What I’m saying is, if, for example, you have only one person buying form, the party is obeying the new electoral act, which is either direct primaries, or consensus. And consensus was the order of the day. And we took it. Let us not over emphasise this issue of shutting people out. PDP is a large family. Nobody who comes to the party will be driven away. The national chairman of the party in his acceptance speech clarified that.
Was he elected or was he confirmed?
He was elected in a national convention. He witnessed it. If people agree about the electoral act which has told political parties what to do. And if we choose not to do A and we do B, that’s an election. Because the officers were advertised, and they were called up, and the motion was moved, seconded, and it was carried on. Myself and some of my colleagues were looking through the programme and we just realised that it seemed that the PDP was already working to the question from the answer.
And they already had the answers, they just wanted to ask a few questions. Because yes, you admit that there were boxes and ballot papers and what have you, voting podiums for people to go to, voting rooms as the case might be.
But yesterday on the programme, we saw a vote of thanks to be given by the newly elected National Secretary of the party. In meetings that you already knew he was going to emerge as the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party. The party organogram is such that the National Secretary has his function to do, whether he had not been elected. There was a name attached to the newly elected, already on the programme.
For those of you who want to come and negotiate, what is there to negotiate at all, if they were to come to you?
So much. Everybody will not be National Secretary or National Chairman. There are a lot of things the party has and we can be allowed to participate in. We are talking about raising candidates for the forthcoming elections.
Are they not going to draw candidates for the party? Are they not going to put people to run for House of Assembly, National Assembly and Governors? Must everybody be a party official? The answer is, no. Is the issue of national officials of the party the problem? That is not the problem.
Don’t you think that there will be some candidates or aspirants, who will not only be aspirants or candidates but supporters, who will be a little confused as to how to proceed now?
Because initially they thought the Ibadan group was it. Now they are back here because of the judgments. And now, as you have heard, the Ibadan group has gone to court. They don’t know what to expect.
Wouldn’t that confuse them a little bit in terms of putting all their machinery in motion immediately rather than wait until the judgment is over? The appellate court has given a very sound judgment that says this is the way to go for PDP. Not until that judgment is overturned. That is the law.
Anything we are doing now is predicated upon that judgment that subsists. And that is why you saw INEC present at that convention. So let nobody get confused. The party has moved on. And I assure you that every issue can pass into judgment, from what was shown in the federal high court. Remember, I am one of the litigants in that case. Then to the appellate court.
The reason why that convention should not hold, is because it was not followed by law. They have not fulfilled all the requirements before the Ibadan group event. 14 states of the country, 14 of the PDP states have not done their congresses. Leading to this convention we saw yesterday. Leading to disenfranchise, those states. Yesterday, you saw that every state was there.
Do you think that they will stand a chance against the ruling party because if this incumbent governor, who, for instance, assumes he is bent on ensuring that his party retains the government house seat, what chance does PDP have?
Imo State is a pure PDP state.
What about the APC governor?
The current governor, Hope Uzodinma, who is in the APC now, was a board of Trustees member of PDP before he moved to another party. There is nobody in the APC from Imo that did not come from PDP.
I can assure you that Imo State PDP has come to be and surprises will be good in this election. Because the people who speak, the people of Imo, are PDP people. Even those who are wearing the toga of APC in Imo, are PDP.
We saw yesterday a letter written by the national leader of the NNPP, or the former national leader of the NNPP, resigning his appointment, or resigning his position, and joining the ADC. Which opposition force do you think would be more formidable, the ADC or the PDP?
I’m telling you for free. Remember that, all these parties you are hearing of today, came from the PDP. PDP is the mother of all political parties in Nigeria. So I am surprised that they are asking which one is stronger. Even in your village, the grassroots are all PDP people.
The local people are PDP people. So, when people talk about ADC, because I know that it is a marriage of convenience, and at the appropriate time, they will find their way. The PDP remains strong, bold and famous. And PDP is the alternative to no other political party in Nigeria.
