Leading Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairmanship aspirant in the just concluded convention, Chief Rex Onyeabo has given reasons why the aspirants pulled out of the race at the last hour. Onyeabo, who, like the new national chairman of PDP, Chief Vincent Ogbulafor, was a former national secretary, said “the late decision on Ogbulafor’s candidature made it impossible for any body to plot a counter offensive”.

The PDP Chieftain, who is unfazed by his loss in the race, shed some light in this interview on what actually happened and what could be done to assuage frayed nerves and grow a democratic PDP at all levels.
While wishing the new executive well in their victory, one of the PDP founding fathers urged any aggrieved aspirant and their supporters to forget the past and work towards a united and virile party.

He however set agenda of action for the new leadership, stressing that unless the wounds are healed through a deliberate reconciliatory programme, trouble is ahead for the party. He maintains that the only pathway to a democratic PDP and polity is for the party to develop elective tendencies that will grow our much-vaunted internal democracy. Excerpts

Your party PDP at the last convention fooled delegates and most Nigerians when the power brokers within the party settled for a consensus new party executive rather than an elective one. Were some of you chairmanship aspirants expect such development?
Well, I will say that most of us contestants were not involved in this business of consensus. Nobody consulted us. I thought they (party leadership) should have called us to a meeting and tell us after due consideration of our qualifications and contributions to the party and to the nation, that they think that Vincent Ogbulafor should lead the party for now. That way, the consensus would have been a little bit democratized. But the way they went about it, state governors decided among themselves that it should be so, so and so person. It was a faith accompli.

By the time we arrived at the Eagle square venue of the convention. In fact, it would be fool hardy, if not outright stupidity for any aspirant to think at that point in time, that he can win the contest. The governors control most of the party delegates. I hear Senator Pius Anyim had considerable followers in the National Assembly, but that is nothing compared to the power and influence the governors have. And again, most of the National Assembly members are not entirely independent. Most of their governors have strong hold on them. When they say one thing here in Abuja, by the time some of them get back to their states, the person will be advised to toe the line of the governor. To that extent, I think our politics is developing. We don’t have a full-blown democracy yet. We can’t apply the American style of democracy now because theirs took many years to mature to this present level. It is a learning process. I hope that whatever happened at the convention we can learn from there.

You and Vincent Ogbulafor were both National Secretaries of PDP at different times. He Ogbulafor comes from Abia while you are from Enugu. If the idea was to get somebody out the two states (Ebonyi and Imo) that the South East caucus re-zoned the chairmanship to. Why did Ogbulafor have the edge over you?
Well, I’ve asked myself that question several times. I have a similar qualification, a similar background with Ogbulafor; I also have the advantage of being one of the founding fathers of PDP. Nevertheless, I regard the decision that was taken as act of God. I have made all kinds of positive contributions to the party. I even heard at one point that I was seriously being considered, but at the end of the day, the governors had their reasons for choosing whom they chose. I don’t want to argue or worry over their (governors) decision. The important thing is that somebody must be chosen for whatever criteria.

I will assume that you lost because you were unable to market yourself well before the governors. Am I right?
I want you to look at it this way. When a man goes into an election war, you have your plans; you have your war cabinet and you’ll be as creative as possible to arrive at your goals. I planned my strategies very well. But suddenly the whole thing shifted to governors. Because of the short time given to the governors to come out with a compromised/consensus chairman, I could not reach most of the governors and personally market myself to the best of my ability. Perhaps if I had done that, the situation would have been different. This not withstanding, I have really not much regrets. I gave the contest my best shot.

Is it correct to say that all of you chairmanship aspirants feel bad individually and collectively losing to Ogbulafor?
Well, I cannot speak for the rest of the aspirants. I can only speak for myself. I am very philosophical about it. I felt that, if it was the will of God that I will become the national chairman of PDP, God would have led me to where I would have found favour with the governors. So I personally do not feel very bad about the way the whole things happened.

Some people are of the view that the governors were allowed to amass so much power and influence during that convention. It was expected that all the aspirants should have protested the action of the governors and stalemate the entire convention. Why was this option not attractive to you guys?
Well, at the time the decision by governors to back Ogbulafor came at about Friday (March 7, 2008), most of the aspirants were not even in touch with one another. Most of us were fast asleep. When we came to the convention ground in the morning, we were trying to accredit for the event. Nobody had the time to call a meeting to decide whether we will oppose or agree with the decision. But before we went to the podium to announce our formal withdrawal, we looked at the issues on ground and what other options available, and we felt there was no need fighting the governors. Nobody except Mr. President could do anything about the decision taken by 27 out 28 governors. The only person who could do anything about it, I repeat, is President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. I think the president decided that whatever the decision the governors take, he will abide by it.

Going by that development at the Eagles Square, what kind of relationship do you think will exist between all of you aspirants and Ogbulafor?
As loyal party men, we intend to cooperate with the new executives of the party. It is not a do-or-die affair for some of us. We are in politics for the long haul. It is not either a today or tomorrow affair. We will try to work with whatever system that is in place and try our very best to perfect things in the interest of the party and the country at large. This is the way I am looking at it and I can assure you that a lot of the aspirants think in this manner too. We have pledged to cooperate with the new leadership in our party.

A lot of people reasoned that whoever becomes the new national chairman outside the like of Dr Sam Egwu would curtail the overbearing influence of former President and Chairman of Board of Trustees (BOT), Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in the party. Is Ogbulafor in the mould of the kind of person who can do that?
I think it is too early to tell. The future will tell actually. We can’t begin to make far-reaching projections now. One can’t answer such hypothetical question in a definitive manner. It is not possible for me to do so. As we go on, we see what happens.

What kind of PDP are you looking at in the next four years with the caliber of national executive leaders in place now?
I don’t even know half of the new executive members. They came from different background based on zonings and allocations. So nobody can have a feel of the character of persons there now. The same applies to the members of the National Working Committee (NWC). It is two early for me to say how this new executive of PDP will play the game.

The BOT (Board of Trustee) Chairmanship position which is currently being occupied by former President Olusegun Obasanjo seem not to go down well with a larger proportion of the party members. As a matter of fact, they want him removed for fear that he may want to control the party to his whims. The main grouse of the members being that the party constitution was authored in such a way that it is only a former civilian president or an ex-national chairman that can occupy the office.

Well, I think I have had occasion to read the party constitution. I have read the 2001 constitution and the 2006 constitution produced under Dr Ahmadu Ali and Ojo Maduekwe (now minister of Foreign Affairs). The qualifications for a BOT Chairman specified a former President among other qualifications for the job. Specifically, article 12.77 of the 2006 PDP constitution says that
a) : That Board of Trustees shall elect a chairman and Secretary from member of the board.
b) : Without prejudices to provisions of this constitution, ensure that an elected chairman is: (i) is either a former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria produced by the party and in the absence of such: (ii) a former National Chairman of the party who has distinguished himself in the service of the party: (iii) a person of proven integrity who has contributed immensely to the growth of the party.
To the best of my knowledge, the constitution did not restrict the office to the two officers you’ve mentioned. In fact, one of the main requirements specified by the constitution was that the BOT Chairman must be somebody of proven integrity. So the word “proven integrity” is essential here. It then went out to say that the person could be a former president. So where we find a former president that does not agree with the party or who jumps ship after his presidency to another party, such a person cannot be a BOT Chairman of PDP. That’s the way I look at it. I think people have over flogged that aspect of the constitutional requirement. Being a former president is one of the qualifications but not the only criteria.

Based on the authoritarian inclination of the BOT Chairman, do you agree that the party constitution should be reviewed immediately as some have canvassed?
To the extent that the party’s law so permits, he (Obasanjo) can continue to be BOT chairman. Until the constitution, in the wisdom of the party members is amended. Again, to what extent the BOT Chairman directs the affairs of the party depends on the other players like the national chairman, the secretary and the president who is the leader of the party. If they hand over the party to him, by all means, he will run it the way he wants. They say power abhors vacuum. If there is a power situation and you don’t take it, somebody else will. If everybody in the leadership of the party does their work according to the constitution of the party, I don’t think Chief Obasanjo will run away with the PDP. The party is not a perfect institution yet, but it will grow into one as long as people do their work well.

Are you aware that Nigerian’s in and out of PDP often wonder why your party is so fixated to selections rather than elections in the conduct of its affairs? Does it mean that the leadership of the party is insecure and averse to simple due process?
I cannot as Rex Onyeabo speak for the PDP. I can only speak as one of the founding fathers and member of the PDP. I can only also speak as a contestant or one of the candidates for the PDP Chairmanship. But that notwithstanding, I might have to take you back a little bit into history. In the first place, as a former national secretary of the party, I was the only man who ran an elective convention of PDP in 1999. Since that time, no other elective convention has been done by the PDP. Whether by voice voting system, show of hands, or balloting, an election has taken place.

There is also as in the USA, a situation where the votes of privileged delegates (super delegate) is the decisive factor that could/produce a candidate. A political party can also draft a non-contestant. In all this, the decision that serves the best interest of the party is invariably the best decision. Furthermore, in 1999 PDP convention, I conducted election into 62 elective positions. I stood on my feet all through the 2 days of that exercise and I almost lost my life in the process. I fainted in my hotel room due to physical exhaustion and was revived. It was after that convention that some members of the party felt that the number of positions to be filled at the national convention should be whittled down. The remaining positions were subsequently referred to the zones. So the number was streamlined from 62 to 13 and was later increased to 20 positions presently. But since 1999, all attempts to have PDP elective conventions have failed. So I am looking forward to the new executive going back to elective congresses and conventions from the ward level. It has its own problems, pitfalls, but it still remains our best option in a democratic PDP and Nigeria.

I would like you to do a brief assessment of the tenure of Dr. Ahmadu Ali led national executive committee of PDP? Is there any thing to learn from that era?
I don’t think I’m in a position to pass judgment on anybody at this point in time.

Would you say we are likely going to witness the garrison approach of the previous regime in the conduct of PDP affairs?
Well, I have heard about garrison commanders before. You see, we have a democracy that is very nascent. We need to give it time to grow. We can’t rush democratic apparatus/tendency too fast. I think it was one professor of international politics in the days of Bismarck of Prussia, who once said that Prussia used to have an army but now the army has Prussia. I think the same can be said about Nigeria. The influence of the military in our body politic cannot be wished away too soon. May be in the years to come, civilians will eventually take over.

I want you to set an agenda for the new PDP. What are those things the Ogbulafor and co needs to do to properly reposition the party in the interest of all?
For the new PDP to be very effective, they have to embark on a fresh re-registration of membership where all politicians of like minds will come together to resume the building of formidable party structure as envisioned abinitio. A system so strong that the army will think twice before overthrowing it. We should not again marginalize people and exclude them from the system. Everybody who shares the PDP ideology should be given the chance to register as a member of the party.

Full scale registration of people who are willing to join. And I think the new PDP should be financially independent of government. Because if the party is not, then it can always bend to the wishes or whims of the government. The PDP is supposed to be the conscience of the government; to make sure that the policies and programmes of the ruling government is in tandem with the basic provisions of the party manifesto or its objectives and principles. All members of the PDP must be amenable to PDP constitution. The new PDP should work with other political parties. The idea of government of national unity (GNU) should be pursued with renewed vigor. The winner takes all syndromes should be done away with because it makes the opposition or the aggrieved feel terrible. These are so many of the things the new regime at Wadata Plaza can do.

How can the issue of parallel congresses that produced multiple executives in the states be addressed by the new executive of the party. Your state Enugu has the Governor Chime faction and Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani group?
They can do one or two things. They can set up panels the way we did before, electoral appeal panel to look into these cases. After that, the party can now take a decision on who is duly elected or which executive is the correct one. The idea of parallel executive is just a way of people fighting for control within the party and this should not be encouraged. The PDP has sufficient internal mechanisms for taking care of such matter and one of them is through the appeal panel. If it is not in place now, it should be set up immediately. Appeal panel is supposed to precede the national convention. But since that did not happen, an appeal panel should be set up. People of integrity should come on board as members to ensure that justice is done and done quickly. Justice delayed is justice denied.