PDP has learnt from its mistakes, will not repeat them -Alkali

Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali was the Special Adviser on Political Matters to the immediate past President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan. He was, before then, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The former University don speaks on a wide range of issues in this interview with LATEEF IBRAHIM of our Abuja Bureau

Judging from the experience of the PDP in the 2015 general elections during which it lost the presidential election to the All Progressives Congress (APC), will you say PDP is ready to maintain the zoning formula in future elections?
There was a zoning formula before August 2017, but because the party had zoned the presidency to the North, it has decided that the chairmanship of the party should be zone to the South now. Subsequently, a zoning committee was set up to come up with a zoning formula. Now that the August convention has held, I think the party will look back and see whether the zoning formula will be adopted or if there will be need to do any adjustments. We are waiting for our party to take a decision on this matter. I don’t want to be preemptive.

Having zoned the presidential ticket of your party to the North, what will happen if persons from other zones contest the presidential ticket?
Ideally, if you have a zoning formula and it is approved by various organs of the party, it allows for everybody to fall in line because it is easier to handle and people know ahead what position they can vie for. If a position has been zoned to your place, then you can contest, but if it is zoned to another place, already you know that you are handicapped by it because it is not meant for you to contest.

The PDP has a history of impunity. Would you say your party has learnt lessons since it lost power in the 2015 elections?
I don’t want to be specific in my comment concerning this, but what worries most members is that they want a level playing field. Everybody wants to be treated fairly and be given a chance to show what he can do for the party. No member wants to be short changed under whatever guise. I don’t think with what has happened to the party, anybody will want to come from somewhere and insist that, a particular person must be given a certain position. Impunity is a tendency that people have complained about in the past. It is not the best. It is better for the party to carry everybody along. This will minimise litigations and defections. It causes acrimony and tension. I believe the party has learned from the mistakes of the past. The new PDP must move away from anything that seems to be bad, that has been associated with us. We must consolidate on the gains we have made to rebuild a strong party

What impact do you think that those members, who had earlier left and are now returning to the PDP will have on the party?
The principle is that it is people that make a party. Yes there were people who abandoned the party during its difficult period but there were others that stood with the party till the end. But shutting the door against some people will not help the system. I am sure the party will come out with various guidelines on how to tackle this issue. Some people left the party for serious reasons which they feel they couldn’t take. You cannot force people to remain in a party. But you have to be fair because some members stayed with the party. We have to consolidate and see that people are treated fairly.

With the agitations coming up from various parts of the country, what impact do you think this will have on the polity ahead of the 2017 election?
This issue is very sensitive and delicate. If you look at the evolution of modern Nigeria, you will find that we have passed through difficult periods. This is not the first or second time we are going through a difficult time. In building a modern nation, you will experience such things. There are those forces that try to unite us and bring us together, but there are always others that come in between with the tendencies to move us apart. My take is that, people should not hide under the guise of democracy and right to freedom of speech and then cause crisis in the country. I will suggest that people should lower their voices. Whatever you are agitating for; it is easier managed when you follow the constitution. If you go outside of that, it is an invitation to anarchy. Today we have political parties, National Assembly, INEC, judiciary and the government. Off course the President is sick, but we are all praying for him. But people should not take advantage of the President sickness to cause division and confusion. It is not healthy. I will suggest that those people with issues should seek redress constitutionally. If you allow these things to go on like this, it will get to the stage where you cannot control them again. Nigerians must remain calm and law abiding. We should allow the system to operate else it could undermine future elections.

Now that the PDP has concluded the non-elective convention, what is the way forward?
The non-elective convention was to give the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led national caretaker committee time to conduct a proper convention where election for various offices will be held. We look at the time when the Supreme Court passed judgment on the party and the date for the convention, it was very short. So, we decided to go for the non elective convention so that we can extend the tenure of the caretaker committee which had almost elapsed. This is to give them time to do more consultation, tidy up party structures at all levels and then plan for the elective convention. It has been slated for the first week of December

Is there a mechanism in place that will discipline those that caused the protracted leadership crisis in the party?
Traditionally, there is always a standing committee at the national level and sometimes at the state level, that is supposed to ensure that rules of the party are followed. Most times the party does not want to go for punishment. As much as possible, their objective is to allow people to express their displeasure so that it can be handled internally. Punishment is discouraged. It is just like the same members of a family that have issues, you will try as much as possible to resolve it within the party. Even after resolving the matter at the court, you find that there will be friction here and there. So we have to bring in internal mechanism to solve it. Where somebody persists against good counsel and continue to do things that will affect the party, then disciplinary action will be considered. We give people opportunity to express their anger, we listen to them and then if there are ways to remedy it, we do it internally so that everybody will be carried on board.

Is the PDP planning to go into alliance with other parties towards the 2019 general elections?
This is not something we can discuss openly. Whether we will do it before or after elections, it is not something that we can talk about openly.
****** Anambra State gubernatorial election is around the corner. How prepared is the PDP for it?
Anambra is a PDP state. Since 1999, that state has produced people who made lots of sacrifices in building the party. But when they approach election, instead of the various actors to put their heads together, you find that there is always division and this has led to defections. At the end of it, votes are shared among our members. That is the tragedy. At the end of the day, a small party wins the election. We hope they will learn from the mistakes of the past. This is a new season for PDP in Anambra State and we expect our members to show that we are having a new beginning. The people must put their heads together and show the new face of PDP because if we repeat what we have always done, it shows we haven’t learnt anything.

What are the chances of the PDP in 2019?
Having gone through the rescue mission, we are now consolidating. That is why you hear cases of reaching out to get new members and former members trying to come back. Our concern is to ensure that we consolidate the gains of the party. Even APC had to consolidate before they were able to stabilise. You don’t take things for granted. The Sen. Makarfi-led committee has done excellently well. He led the party at a most difficult time, they remain dogged, they refused to be dragged into controversy, and they focused on the larger picture. Even when the case was in court, they allowed things to follow due process. So our desire is for the party to move forward.

There are reports that you are planning to contest for the governorship seat of Gombe State in 2019. How far is this true?
Who told you that? My concern for now is for the party to stabilise. As Nigerians, we must defend and protect our democracy and ensure that this party is not allowed to go down the drain. It is only when you have a strong party that you can contemplate contesting an election. My concern is to make sure we continue to do our bit so that when history is written on Nigeria’s democracy, our names will be mentioned. As for personal ambition, time will take care of that.

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