What we are now seeing is a grand deception which has been used
to attain government by a party which is not organised, which has no cohesion
and history. If you look at the high profile members of the APC, 95 percent are
made up of the “PDP thieves”, according to them; former governors, former
senators, former vice presidents, former ministers, former everything who were
of the PDP's creation and PDP's invention. The whole thing (APC government) was
built on quick sand and it is going to collapse.
It is a fact, no matter how well you may wish the APC, no matter
how hard you will pray, it will be difficult for them because they don't have
capacity for anything. There is no way you can load a two-tonne of pickup with
60 tonnes of Dangote cement and expect such vehicle to move. It can't move
because there are bigger trucks for conveying such kind of haulage. The
Nigerian load, in terms of its own weight, intensity, contradictions, divide,
problems and crises are beyond the capacity of the APC as a vehicle to drive
Nigeria.
President Muhammadu Buhari has
severally blamed the present Nigerian woes on the past government led by the
PDP. What is your take on that?
If there is any great beneficiary of
the PDP in Nigeria, the person is Buhari. From 1998 to 1999, there is no way he
can get into any contest in Nigeria. He can't contest, I don't mean to insult
him. But it is simply a historical empirical fact. With all those who are now
calling the shots, all thanks to the PDP because the country has been
stabilised and reconciled. One thing I find very funny is the claim that PDP
left nothing in the kitty. To me, I find this very laughable because nowhere in
the Nigerian constitution is it mandated that you must save for the incoming
government.
They said we have taken all the money
and left nothing. And for 16 years, we have done nothing in Nigeria. We
couldn't have been so totally dormant for 16 years. Having done nothing as they
claimed and then there is no money, the two don't add up. We left nothing.
Therefore, they can't work.
How do you see the future of
democracy in Nigeria, considering the manner of campaigns in the last general
elections?
I've been saying this over and over
that the strength of the APC, their propelling force, was simply a desire to
remove the PDP and harm the PDP. That is why in their campaigns, they said a
number of things. There is no big deal when anybody says anything. But then as
leaders, you don't cross beyond the red line which serves as a benchmark.
In trying to go contrary, you are
coming below the level of decency and leadership. You can say anything simply
because you are trying to appease your constituency. The APC comes below level
and said a number of things most of which were pure lies. That the PDP is Boko
Haram, they look at the Nigerian terrain and begin to apply slogans that fit
that environment. In the North, where there are Muslims, they talked about
Islam, when they go around Kafanchan, Plateau or Benue, they changed their
style. When they go further south, they said a different thing. But in the PDP
because we are talking about the nation, wherever we go, the appeal is uniform.
It is about Nigeria and the Nigerian federation.
Most of those who are under EFCC
investigation were those who served this country at one point or the other
under the PDP government. What is your assessment of the war against corruption
under President Buhari's administration?
Nobody condones corruption. But you
don't go on such smear campaign terrorizing people and demonising a political
party in a country that we are supposed to be equal. With this, it means there
are two Nigerians; Nigerians of the PDP, people of evil, people who are
thieves, who did nothing for Nigeria and then the other Nigerians of the APC.
Even if you might have been tagged a thief, after joining the APC with the
power and piety of Buhari, you will be clean.
When justice is lost, there would be
some problems. Today, no matter how big you are as a thief, if you go to the
APC, they would accept you. Look at those going to the APC in the last two to
three weeks, they are people who are on trial by the EFCC. The APC
willingly received them with celebration and fanfare.
The APC is a huge sanctuary for
thieves now. The leadership should be able to exude confidence, respect and
trust, not fear. A leader should be wishing that by his coming to office, he
gives you the kind of inspiration, the kind of confidence, and then, you
respect him, you love him, not that you fear him. So, fear is never an
instrument of governance. Fear will make you desperate and when you are very
desperate, you know the consequences.
The future of the PDP is bleak,
considering the problems confronting the party. What efforts are you putting in
place with a view to rejuvenating the party?
The courts and the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) can't solve Nigeria’s problems in the PDP.
It's none of their business. All the PDP state chairmen are on the side of the
Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee, including the zonal chairmen
from six zones and the state's assemblies of the 12 states we are controlling;
the governors of the party, all former ministers, ambassadors and presidents in
the PDP are on Makarfi's side because that is where the party is. So, if
somebody like Ali Modu Sheriff, who is my very good friend and brother whom I
like a lot, is ignorant of the tradition, culture, mission, vision at
formation of the PDP, I can understand. He was an ANPP governor, senator, party
leader and part of the amalgamation of the APC. He is coming from an entirely
different background. So, if he fumbles, don’t blame him. If he fails to
understand, don't blame him. If he can't comprehend, don't blame him. If he
fails to know the vision, don't blame him. The courts or INEC can’t help us. It
is not their business. It is we, the members of the party, who are coming from
a background and history that should look at things and say ‘what do we do?’
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