The state chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Chidi Chidebe sat down to an interview with journalists to explain some of the steps his leadership is taking to reposition the party for the November 12 governorship election in Anambra. THE RAZOR NEWS brings you excerpts of the conversation.
You have been four months in office as the chairman of the party in Anambra, what have you been doing to reposition the party which used to be the toast of all the bigwig politicians in the state?
We have been doing a number of things in the party. The party had challenges before now and we agree, and the challenges led us to where we were, but since then we have been doing things to get the party back on track. We have reached out to members who were indifferent about decisions in the party, some of them aggrieved and some not. We have reached them, some in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt and other towns. Are they all back into the party? The answer is no, but this is a process, and We will keep working on them to build back the party. We will not mention names of those we have approached to avoid calling some and not calling others, but the truth is that we have been getting good feedback.
We have been able to put in standing committees, this is the first time we are having such committees in the party, not adhoc committees that get disbanded immediately after serving their usefulness, and the essence is to see that people who want to do something for the party get the opportunity to serve in any capacity they deem best. We have created five standing committees and the sixth one is the elders committee. In doing so we considered very good areas of interest and we also considered the membership and the committees are working and making sure they reach out to more people who are still aggrieved.
We have the grass root mobilization committee headed by Tim Egboka which is working to ensure that we mobilize people at the grassroots, we have another on policy development and planning which is headed by former chairman, Ndubuisi Nwobu, we have the media committee headed by architect Afam Mommah and so on. These five committees were inaugurated in February and the committee was constituted after wide consultations and the members of the committee came from stakeholders. We did not just sit and write names. We met stakeholder and every stakeholder who was interested made their input in it. The collation of names started from November last year and this was to ensure that we captured all interests. All these was in effort to get the party united, get more people involved so that we can generate activities
What have these committees achieved so far?
The standing committee have started working. They are just weeks old and as I talk to you, more persons are being drafted into this committees, so they are at their planning stage. I just told you that it was this February that the committee was inaugurated.
We have seen many of the people who made Anambra State PDP thick,eave the party. This include former governorship aspirants like Prof. Obiora Okonkwo, and even you candidate in 2021, Mr Valentine Ozigbo. With this exodus, can PDP in Anambra still claim to be formidable?
For us, We are very much formidable. What makes a political party is members not stakeholders. Stakeholders are good but the people are more important, that is why when you have membership you remain formidable. The controversies in the PDP in the past have been from the elite. Today you will see that we are happier because most of the problem was from those so called stakeholders. They fight like elephants, they fight like tigers, and when they fight it affects everyone, and the grasses begin to suffer. Today what we need is a family that is united. Our problem is disunity, bickering, rancour and issue of rights, but as of today we are bringing that into a manageable level. That is why I can say that we are set for the coming election.
The people that are leaving have the right to leave, but what is painful is that those who are leaving are people who the party made whatever they are today. Take Valentine Ozigbo for example, it was the party that moulded him and made him who he is politically, but whatever the reason for leaving, we wish them well. When next you see him ask him why he left the party that moulded him. Just like many of them, who parade themselves, they still owe their rise to PDP. As a party we are working, we are looking forward and not backwards and we know that it the bear future, whatever we are positioning PDP for will manifest.
As for whether we’re are ready for the election, I can say yes, and that we ready to take over Anambra, and that we want to take over the state because we as a political party have better things to offer. PDP is the only political party in Nigeria with a defined ideology, defined agenda, other don’t. It is only when people feel aggrieved that they go to other political parties. Aside that, we are all PDP and one family. PDP is one party you can stand today and say that is it not owned by any region in any manner. Go to other political parties, you will see that they have leanings and people in one region or the other are always complaining of losing out on power sharing formular and things like that.
Go to the states where there is PDP governors and compare it with places where other political parties are ruling, you will see that the difference is clear. It just that in that mentality of looking for something better, Nigerians revolted and voted for APC in 2015, but what has happened now? They have seen that they were better off under PDP because the current rulling party has totally crashed Nigeria. Insecurity has worsened and everything has gone from bad to worse and this goes to show that PDP was doing very fundamental things while in power, but just that their efforts were not good enough and people decided to try another party. The government we have today is very unpopular, Nigerians never voted for this government. More than 24 million people voted in that election and the president won with just eight million votes. That goes to show you that it is an unpopular government. Some people may want to argue this, but that is true, the people who were against this government coming into power were far more in number.
We are looking for a day when Nigerian people will realize that they actually had the best when the country was in the hands of PDP and also return under the umbrella, that will be good. So that we can take this nation to where it should be. Any nation that has divided opposition can not make progress, so the only big tree that other politicians should rally around for us to remove this unpopular government is the PDP.
You talked about my colleague in the APGA who said all politicians in PDP have joined them, but he can tell you that things are not done the same way in APGA and PDP. APGA is a place were dictatorship rules. Only one man is calling the shot there and everyone else is obeying, you can not compare that with what we have in the PDP where democracy is fully at play and people are given the opportunity to air their views. Here in PDP, people’s view are harnessed and so we want to come back so that we will give the people the best.
You said you will contest in governorship election in Anambra in November, but up till now, we have not seen any strong aspirant in your party?
It depends on what you describe as strong politicians. May be you are referring to money bags. For us, we want to field only credible people, and I can tell you yes that we have credible people who will run for governorship in PDP. The sale of form just started and it is ongoing and it is moving smoothly. It will not be fair for us to begin to mention the names of people who are already angling to contest on our platform, but I can only ask you to beam your searchlight well, and you will see the people coming out from our political party. We will field candidates and we will ensure that only credible and electable people are fielded. What we want today in the party are not people who will come and cause confusion, but people who will come and help us to build the party.
Can we say that your party is waiting to harvest aggrieved aspirants from other parties who will join you after losing nomination in their parties? How are you also planning to check against the usual movement of aggrieved aspirants out of the party after primaries?
For me I can’t speak for splinter factions, if they want it, it is their choice, but the good thing is that many of you witnessed the congress that brought us to power. It is something that has not been witnessed before in any major political party. It was transparent and it will be a shameful thing for anyone after witnessing that to still think of a splinter faction when we all know that the leadership in place is popular and very well elected.
Let us talk about your desire to unsit Soludo, what will you do better?
There are so many things that are not going on well, starting from insecurity down to many policies of this government, but let me tell you the one that is most important. We need a liberal government, a government that is very participatory. Government can not sit in the hands of someone who thinks he knows it all, such a government can never go far and that is the kind of government we have in Anambra today under Soludo. Remember, most times when we go to look for leaders, most people base it on academic qualification, but the best thing is to look for a leader who can harness talent, someone who is open to ideas, strong ideas and be able to put them to use. You must be able to put together a team that can think and advise, but This government today does not have a team. He directs, he dictates and he is not open to any contribution because he feels he knows it all. It is in harnessing ideas that you can touch different sections. You can see what is happening on our state today, touts everywhere and he is trying to use touts to fight touts and we don’t know how that can happened.
Is your party interested in the Anambra South senatorial by-election to replace late senator Ifeanyi Ubah?
We are very well interested in that election, we are working and putting things in place to ensure that we send someone from our party there, but you already know that up til today INEC has not been able to release a guideline. Already, you know that they (INEC) has said that they have not been communicated about the vacancy, but you know that is a lie because even before the burial of Ifeanyi Ubah, the Senate did so. It is left for INEC to do what is right, and we will get down to work about the contest.
