In this interview with ADELEKE ADESANYA, a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party’s defunct Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, says the ongoing uproar in the party on the inability of the South West region to produce a chairman at the recent convention, is being taken too far. According to him, the region is well placed to secure positions greater than party chairman. Excerpts.
People believe that the issue arising from the Convention is quickly tearing the Peoples Democratic Party apart, thereby degenerating into another challenge for the party. What is your take on this?
Well, if we are to be sincere with ourselves, there is no Convention held by any party anywhere that will not be followed with issues like we had recently. But let me tell you this; before the convention, we had envisaged this, and PDP, as a leading party in Nigeria, had constituted a post-convention committee, which will ensure that issues arising from the convention are contained and all members are brought together for the party to gain its strength and move forward.
And I can tell you that the committee has not been sleeping since the inauguration, and since the winners have been declared, the committee has been moving around to meet people that lost out and those that withdrew and I believe that we will definitely surmount the situation.
What do you have to say about the election, which some people have criticised?
For me, I have to know what was unfair in the election; what is perceived to be unfair in the process, before I can say anything. The election went through the normal process and winners emerged as it should be.
But some of the contestants raised the alarm on a certain ‘unity list’ that was forced on the delegates during the election…
There was nothing like that during the election. We were all there, and observers too were there. The delegates were not forced, and no delegate had a list going to the pool on that day. On that day, the process was sincerely transparent for all to see. The only thing I can say, which has been a tradition in politics is that people traded with each other in order to have support. And that has been in every political party. In a geo-political zone, states can decide to negotiate and seek support for candidates based on their agreement. And I don’t see anything wrong in that. For me, I didn’t notice any illegality during the election.
But the list, which had been in circulation, later became the list of winners.
Well, PDP has been known for zoning since inception, and a lot of consultations are always done before the convention day, and in the process of this, we have people doing some barter, based on their interest and the position they are interested in. They talk to each other for support so that their candidates for different positions can win. And I believe that is politicking, which is not fraud.
But how come the South West was side-lined?
On the issue of South West, it was at the convention venue that they came with a resolution that they had agreed on one candidate. And even then, another candidate came out and said, ‘No, we never resolved.’ So it was total confusion. Imagine, somebody said, ‘Look, we have a common candidate due to consensus, while another person from the same group rose and said, ‘There is nothing like that.’ Then, they created confusion among themselves. The whole issue about South West is the inability to put their house in order in good time and they allowed some characters with no good credibility to occupy the political will of their region. But we cautioned them, that the negative campaigns by individuals were damaging; as a people, it was damaging them. We called them to order but they didn’t listen. A personality among them made sure that he spoilt the whole thing, even when the court ruled against him. And the party decided to suspend him; he still went ahead and derailed them.
Are you referring to Senator Buruji Kashamu?
Yes, of course. Let me tell you; he has been so problematic since the regime of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. He has been engaged in different dangerous politicking that will not help the party.
So, where do you think the South West belongs now, because some people believe that leaving out the South West may not be good enough for the party?
Of course, you know the presidential candidate is coming from the North and whoever that might be, everything is open; so we are going to work together to achieve the goal. The South West can never be sidelined or neglected. I know that, in the long run, the position the South West will find themselves will make them happier. I believe that, as a member of the party, they should relax, this is just the beginning. They will definitely smile because there are a lot of things that will benefit the people of the South West.
Do you think despite what happened at the convention, PDP has come to stay as a credible opposition party in Nigeria?
Yes, of course. The whole process of the voting was very transparent and no candidate can say anything negative against this, because they were all carried along. So, this has actually bought us credibility as an opposition and will even work in our favour, to win back our mandate in 2019.
Don’t you think some delegates are already aggrieved with the situation in which the party is now?
The result of the election had proved that all is well and we are moving forward as a party. Of course, we understand the need to meet our people that were aggrieved already, but we don’t see that as a big problem. Already, like I said, we have a committee doing that, and very soon, the party will be back as a bigger force, and forge ahead.
How do you intend to carry along the South West with this situation?
Well, like I said earlier, there are lot of coming positions that will make the region happier. For instance, government can accommodate positions than party, and we believe with this, everyone will smile in the party.
Some people have said the region was punished for not voting former President Goodluck Jonathan. What is your take on this?
I don’t believe in that. Jonathan and President (Muhammadu) Buhari almost shared votes in the South West; let the people go back and look at the figures. There is nothing like that. Though I agree that people need to be pacified, and PDP has already started moves as we have been going round to talk to people that lost and also withdrew from the race, and other party leaders. The political landscape is wide, as I said earlier; the South West may end up with something better than having the national chairman of the party.
APC believes nothing changes in PDP; therefore, there is nothing to fear. What is your view on this?
Well, for APC, their ‘change’ is making promise and not fulfilling it. They made a lot of promises, which they couldn’t fulfil at all. And that goes a long way to tell the citizens that if they are there for a century, there is nothing they will achieve. But for us, we have started our serious work, especially at the grassroots to ensure that we come back and save Nigerians from the mayhem they are into already. This time, we will focus more on our people at the grassroots because this is where you can have sincere citizens and supporters. We are not leaving any stone unturned, to ensure our glory is reclaimed in
2019.
