Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali, former national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), in this interview with TAIWO AMODU, moots trouble-shooting initiative as a necessary ingredient to inspire confidence building in its faithful ahead of 2019 general elections.
YOUR party’s national convention conducted last December has thrown up a crisis of confidence. Those who lost claimed the whole process was an imposition. What is the way forward?
Well, before I say anything let me address the mood of the nation. I commiserate with the people of Benue, Zamfara, Kaduna and Taraba states, who have been victims of violent clashes. Now to your question. As you know, every time there are primaries, congresses leading to a national convention of a big political party like the PDP, there is bound to be some fallouts. Part of the fallouts may arise from whether the procedure that was followed, the approach or way and manner, either a congress or the convention was conducted. All the time, we always have people who will be aggrieved.
So, it depends on how these issues are addressed after a political activity like the convention. It is common to find out that some people may be aggrieved and they keep quiet. Some may be aggrieved but they will not keep quiet. Some may fight within the party but some may fight outside the party. So, that’s why it is important that after every election, there must be stock-taking. Given the nature of what happened to our party in the last two and a half years, I don’t think we can afford to repeat the same mistakes— that is, take people for granted.
Many people have been hurt over the years; many feel alienated; they feel that they are no longer relevant in the scheme of things. Now, if people are quiet and patient in the past now as 2019 is approaching, you find out that new voices will begin to emerge. So, everything depends on how the party’s administrators manage those forces. I believe that the earlier most of the issues are addressed, the better for us.
Are you confident that the new leadership has the capacity to placate aggrieved chieftains of PDP?
Well, it isn’t for me to speak for the party, but I know some of them. I have worked with them. Some of them are my close friends. But you know talking about membership of the party as a whole, no matter what happens now, if people approach the party’s administration with the same past method— the attitude that people don’t matter, nobody is important, therefore, we can continue with the way we used to do, frankly I think we will have more problems ahead.
The party has the machinery to know these problems and anticipate them and to work towards resolving them as quickly as possible. What we went through in 2016 up to 2017 was really rough. So, it was by God’s grace that the party was able to recover itself. As we approach the coming elections, definitely we have to be much more careful. In fact, we should be more worried about people who are quiet than people making noises.
It is widely acknowledged that the PDP is a national party. But there is the perception thrown up by the emergence of the new leadership, that your party has reduced itself to a regional platform. How?
The national chairman, Senate Minority Leader, House of Representatives Minority Leader, and the most senior person holding elective position, the deputy senate president, are all from South-South and South-East. The PDP is being given the tag of a regional platform. What is your take on this?
Well, some of these factors I am sure are coincidental and I am not sure they were designed by the party, because if you don’t have a senator from a particular zone, how will you expect him to be in the Senate talk less of being leader of the party in the Senate or House of Representatives? I think what matters most is that the party, as it was known, is a national political party, not just because of the leadership but its structure, organisation and membership nationwide. That’s what makes it a national party. So, you can say it is organically connected to its members throughout the ward level, the state level. Because of what happened in the past few years, some of these structures have been shaken. Like I said, we need to have confidence building and then re-strategise. But I know that there are difficult times facing the party unless we put our house in order.
There is the fear that since the PDP Governors’ Forum played a significant role in the emergence of the new executives, it is going to be the one calling the shots. Do you nurse that fear?
The governors are part of the arms of the party which is the National Executive Committee and some of them also attend the national caucus; some of them attend the Board of Trustees (BOT). Therefore, they are strong members of the party and you cannot discountenance their role in managing the affairs of the party. So, what I am saying is that irrespective of what happened, we have to open our minds, open our hearts and look beyond what is happening, reflect on where we were before. There needs to be a lot of caution because there is no way you discountenance your own governors and say they aren’t important in party administration.
Some Nigerians see the 2019 presidential election as one that has been won and lost. Their claim is that no opposition political party has the kind of cult followers that President Muhammadu Buhari enjoys in the North. What is your take on this?
There is nothing that is definite in party politics. Everything depends on how Nigerians perceive the political parties, what they have done in the past and what they are doing now. That’s why I said no party should take anything for granted. Every political party has its own strength and weaknesses. Nigerians are sophisticated; they are gradually coming to understand what they want and they are beginning to come out and voice their interest. Fortunately, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has brought out the timetable for elections. It has given fairly a good notice. That’s the more reason anybody who wants to win the election has to really strategise and look at all the issues facing Nigeria today and see how he can make an impact.
It isn’t easy to say what happened in the previous years, let’s say in 2015 would also repeat itself in 2019 just as what would happen in 2019 wouldn’t be repeated in subsequent elections. So, I think we have
to put our act together—– all of us.
But does PDP stand a chance?
You are asking me the same question! I have told you that we also need to put our house in order because I think the last convention has at least given a breathing space for the party to take stock. So what happens now is what happened from December 9, 2017, as the journey forward. That’s what matters most now. Those outside the party keep on criticising us. Sometimes, we want to say we reject those criticisms. They accuse us of imposition, we say no; they accuse us of lack of internal democracy, we say no. They accuse us of so many kinds of things and the issue of membership. But if the answers are no, then we must also look at ourselves: Is it true? Is the No, Yes, because if you are saying ‘no’ because you are just reacting to what other people are saying, we also examine our conscience, look at what we have done and what we have been doing. That’s all because everybody wants a sense of belonging to the party, especially those who stood by the party in its most difficult moment. So, you cannot push them aside and say it is going to be business as usual. It will not work.
In picking your presidential candidate for 2019, should zoning be an issue? We have seen the like of Donald Duke showing interest.
I don’t know yet because as far as I am concerned, zoning hasn’t been removed from the party’s constitution and secondly the convention that took place in 2016 in Port Harcourt reaffirmed that the coming election in 2019, the presidential candidate must come from the North and I am sure it hasn’t been reversed. That was the reason the position of national chairman was zoned to the South. So, in so far as the organ of the party hasn’t reversed this position and the party’s constitution hasn’t been amended to remove zoning, I don’t think it is an issue that we can debate now. I don’t think there will be too much outcry over zoning because it is important not at the party level alone, it is also relevant for the executives and other arms of government even civil service under the federal character. If you just allow winner takes all if you allow everybody to stand on the same level. Some are weaker; some are stronger. That’s why there must be a system that guarantees equal participation in the affairs of our country at all levels.
There is the agitation for the generational shift to exclude people who have attained 70 and above from seeking the exalted office of president. Do you think it is something we should buy into as we plan for 2019?
Is it constitutional? I understand the National Assembly is making some amendments. Is it one of the issues that have been tabled before them? If the constitution hasn’t made specific categorisation of who should contest or not, so whatever amendment the National Assembly wants should be in line with what the constitution has provided. Anything outside what the constitution has said and what National Assembly recommends as an act for the president to sign, there is no way you can exclude somebody. In fact, my suspicion is that in trying to open up the system and that’s why in the constitution amendment now we want to reduce the number of years for certain categories of positions so that the younger elements who are vibrant, well-educated to come on board and have a sense of belonging and I think I will support such move. But that isn’t to say that, ok because you want to open up the system, you should also close it and create a lid on top of the steam. The constitution is very clear on who should stand for elections and that’s why it is done through amendment. Otherwise, it is very difficult.
Are you in the race for the Gombe governorship ticket of your party?
We are consulting very widely with our leaders and elders, both within Gombe and outside. As you know, I contested in 2011. Politics is dynamic. We have to look at all the factors and forces and see what may follow. Once we have a clear picture, we notify our people.