Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
Senator Godfrey Utazi represents Enugu North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, where he is the Senate Committee Chairman on Anti- Corruption and Financial Crimes. In this interview, Utazi who was returned unopposed by his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the party primaries, speaks on a wide range of issues, declaring that PDP can regain power at the centre if they play their cards well. He also praised Governor Ugwuanyi for being a servant leader in the state.
Few weeks to the presidential election, some political analysts are of the view that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock while some are saying that PDP can regain power at the centre again. What is your take on this?
Well, democracy such as we have it in Nigeria operates with tenure of office for four years. The last one we had in 2015 is supposed to expire by May 29, 2019 but before then, there is a process in motion to get new persons. Each time you are going to do a national election, you presuppose that there is vacancy and that’s why people buy nomination forms from different political parties to run for election. At the end of the day, the person who wins will determine whether there was vacancy or not.
In 2015, there was a sitting president who was poised to continue in office but at the end of the day, after the election, vacancy existed and he left office and Buhari became the president. We are in the process again and people are jostling for offices. For us in the PDP, we are working very hard to regain power at the centre. We saw the credible personalities that vied for the party ticket and we have seen the person who emerged. If we get it right, Nigerians are going to vote for PDP. The experience we had in 2015 is not new, in Ghana, a sitting president ran for election and lost and opposition took over. It happened to Rawlings and Mahama. We know that if the PDP puts their acts together, they can take power again during the general election and dividends of democracy will be given to Nigerians. The mistakes they made while in power before will be corrected and nobody will chicken out of power like they did in 2015.
But President Buhari is said to have a cult followership in the North, do you think Atiku can defeat him?
The experience we had before in 2015 will not be the same this time. That time it was a contest between the North and the South but today it is North versus North. This time, North will be divided with the people from the South now joining to decide who wins the election. Today, we also need a younger person to lead Nigeria because take it or leave it; old age is a factor because one cannot cheat nature. Nigerians need somebody who will hit the ground running from day one and the essence of an election is to present several candidates who will canvass for votes and tell the people what they want and the people will then have the option to choose what is best for them.
Block votes or not, it can move either way, Nigerians of 2015 are not Nigerians of today because they are learning every day; the insecurity that is here with us, how far? Before we do business all over the country, today it is no longer the same. The other time, under the watch of a sitting president, northern youths asked the southerners to leave; herdsmen are killing and things like that. We are talking about restructuring , where we are saying that a situation where everybody moves in the same pace is not good, practicing a unitary system of government in a federation, these are some of the issues that should be at the front burner and should become the deciding factor in the voting patterns during the election. A situation where quota system denies many qualified candidates from certain parts of the country from gaining admission in the university while another less qualified person gains automatic admission in the same institution is not an ideal federal system. In normal settings, a federal system can only be there to set the standards while the private firms and states/regions will do their own business and ensure that the system runs well. Federalism is all about diversity in the manner of doing things; you don’t say you are federal but run things in unitary system.
Back to your home state, APC has boasted of not only going to take over Enugu but the entire South-East in both governorship and other elective positions. How do you see their threat?
I’m happy you used the word boasted. It remains a boast. I wonder how they will make that boast real in Enugu State, Enugu is entirely PDP not even now but since 1999 and we have done well as PDP governors including the incumbent governor, Ugwuanyi. Our brother Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is a man of peace and man of God. A humble servant leader who has been working for our people here, he has engendered peace like we never had before in the history of Enugu State. He has also remained prompt in fulfilling the state’s obligation to workers to the extent that even on Sundays, workers can get alert for their salaries if it falls on the stipulated payment date. Governor Ugwuanyi is criss-crossing everywhere in spreading development and that is what we call triangular equilibrium in Enugu State. He is a good manager of resources because if you consider what accrues to Enugu State, we are among those that get the least allocation but Governor Ugwuanyi has taken the state to the first three states in Nigeria that can work without monthly allocation even without oil while Rivers and Lagos are far much endowed.
How do you go and uproot such a person from office? What are you going to tell the people so they can vote for you? Meanwhile those who are challenging the governor are people who just came out newly and said they have joined APC as new entrants. There is no magic the contenders can do. I call it a wild goose chase for them because Enugu State is firmly in the hands of God here and Ugwuanyi is piloting its affairs very well. That’s why I said The Sun Publishing Limited management team were very right when Ugwuanyi was named Governor of the Year. No governor has received the kind of endorsement he had garnered here and we are following his good steps too. I have also made a good account of my stewardship because I’m following the governor’s good steps. He hardly travels outside the country and is always in touch with the people. Since I assumed office , I hardly stay in Abuja over the weekend, I’m always here in my constituency, it has always been three days in Abuja and four days at home feeling the pulse of my people here and following them up in implementing constituency projects I’m doing here including consistent empowerment programmes too.
Through our struggle in the Senate, I’ve also ensured that the 9th Mile –Makurdi road project has been mapped in the budget with a fund of N5.4Billion for the project. The Adani –Nsukka road is being handled to stop the menace of kidnappers on the road not to talk of Omor, Nsukka-Isiuzo, Okpuje-Idah , Ada Rice farm and the greater Nsukka Water Scheme among others. In the past, they budget money for this water project but during implementation, the money will develop wings and fly. We have made sure things are working here. The opposition in Enugu will canvass for votes but the people know who their servants are.
Can your points be taken as reasons you and the governor didn’t have any challenger during the primary election but were returned only with affirmation votes?
In the history of politics in Enugu State and Nsukka Zone in particular, this is the first time it is happening. We never had it before that a governor is going for election without a challenger in the party but this time around, nobody did. The reason is because of Ugwuanyi’s personality as said earlier. He is accepted by all people even beyond party affiliation. Why will anybody change a winning team? In terms of performance, he has made the job very difficult for anybody to come after him that when he leaves office, he is going to leave a very big oversized shoe. Governor Ugwuanyi is a reconciliatory of opposites and a man of God who listens to both the big and low people. He has many selling points and we are tapping from his experience. We are people who don’t believe in cult followership or sir mentality. We are open to our people because we follow his example. It is a humbling experience to me too and I’m giving them assurance of doing more for them. Governor Ugwuanyi is the best book to read on leadership.