From Gyang Bere, Jos
Member representing Barkin-Ladi/Riyom Federal Constituency of Plateau State in the House of Representatives and PDP Senatorial candidate for Plateau North, Simon Mwadkwon has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has brighter chances of winning the 2023 general elections. Among other things in this interview, he said what the party needs is to close ranks and unite all members across the country to retake power from the failed APC.
The aftermath of the presidential primaries in PDP has generated internal wrangling in the PDP; do you think your party has what it takes to win the 2023 general elections?
I assure you that we have everything it takes for us to win the 2023 election because there is no party primary that has come without any form of disagreement; people contest election with the aim of winning and if they don’t win, there is this feeling of dissatisfaction you will find out in virtually every party. The APC at the moment has the worse internal wrangling now because they have not been able to pick their vice presidential running mate for Ahmed Bola Tinubu but for us in PDP, we have been able to pick our own vice presidential running mate. However, I would have loved PDP to pick their presidential candidate from the South but if you look at the voting pattern during the convention, you will realize that they themselves don’t want it. Most people from the South East voted for Atiku Abubakar which means, he is the preferred candidate. Therefore, now that he has emerged, no matter the grievances, no matter the misgivings and no matter our reservations, we have to bury it and ensure that we face APC squarely at the general election.
Looking at the pedigree of the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and the choice for the Vice presidential running mate, don’t you think this will create more animosity in the party?
At a point in time, I have had Wike say he won’t want to be Vice President, that he wanted to be President and he was unequivocally clear on the day of the convention that what ever is the outcome, he and his campaign Directorates are ready to accept it, and that all he wants is that there should be a change; APC should vacate that seat and allow PDP to come in. He made that public statement and the delegates have spoken, they have taken a decision and I think we have visited Wike and from his presentation, he still maintained his position that the party has taken a decision and he will abide by what decision the delegates have taken. You should know that he was very much loved by the screening committee for the running mate. It was only three people that didn’t vote for him out of 19 members; he got 16 votes, therefore he is somebody the party likes so much. From the explanation of Atiku Abubakar, he said Wike is a force to reckon with and that why he had to pick Okowa was a strategy by the party because the Igbo now having Peter Obi as their presidential candidate may all go there and then there is a tendency for us to suffer lack of votes there. Okowa is like a stop gap, although he is also a force to reckon with in the party.
The PDP has its governorship candidate in Plateau and you have lost power for almost 8 years, how will you assess your chances of coming back to power in 2023?
For me, PDP has the bright chances of winning the 2023 election in Plateau. The situation can be described as when you have ripe mangoes, you don’t need to jump to get them, right at your sitting position, you can plug them; this is how I can best describe the situation for PDP to win the election. APC has done terribly bad, even the projects that were under construction by Jonah David Jang, the APC has been unable to complete them. Also, the so called legacy projects that Lalong prides himself with, he has not been able to complete even one with the huge loan that he has collected. We have been suffering in Plateau because this government has failed and we shouldn’t bring another failed government again; PDP has very bright chances to retake power in 2023.
Are you worried that not many people have been able to do voter’s registration?
Yes, that is why in all the places I have visited, I have appealed to the people to make sure that they obtain their PVCs, that is the only instrument they can use to change the APC government. We are trying our best to mobilise the people, given the deadline of 30 June, 2022, the House of Representatives has made an appeal through a motion to INEC to extend the deadline for the close of registration to enable people access their PVCs; you can see the queues nation wide, it is a national problem and the process of obtaining the PVCs is very difficult. I don’t know why they have not been able to make it easy like some one who go to access ATM card in the bank. I think the technology that INEC need to apply now should simplify the process so that people can get their PVCs. As it is now, a lot of people will be disfranchised if the date is not extended and the process is made a lot more easier. I am aware of people who have gone to INEC offices and spend hours and days without getting their PVCs. I am appealing to INEC that they should extend the time for the registration. Time will come that it will be operation show your PVC and if you can’t show it, we will not take you serious. We will bring in some palliatives to help motivate people to key into the INEC registration, that will not be a party thing but a strategy to encourage people to do their registration.
You are going into another phase of election, what will you bring on board if you are elevated by your constituents from the House of Representatives to the Senate?
Well, the people already know me and I know them, these are my people that we pride ourselves as grassroots; we go down to their level, you don’t just sit down and assume what the people are feeling. Now that I have larger people to contend with, I am more prepared to meet their demand. If you look at how I carry out my employment, it cuts across the entire Senatorial District even when I am in the House of Representatives. In the commissioning of the projects that we are currently doing, you will see people from the six local governments that made up the Senatorial District. I believe that will be an eye opener to them, they will also get more of the positive impact projects when I became senator. I have a lot to give out but as a Legislator, we don’t have access to fund but the little that is allocated to us, we will make use of it judiciously to ensure every local government gets adequately from it. We will also lobby for projects outside the constituency projects; we will lobby for job opportunities for the people, we will give credible voice to the constituency; we will help people who are going into business because the jobs are not forthcoming and that is why we have entrepreneurship being thought in the University. We will also ensure that small scale and business enterprise are given priority; we have that done in Riyom and Barkin-Ladi and we will replicate that in the entire Senatorial District.
Will you say you have impacted your constituents positively in the last three years in the House of Representatives?
We had the opportunity of being voted into power and we had campaign promises, so the projects we have commissioned are some of the things we agree with the communities. Basically, I had three main constituency projects, there is electrification, and education where we constructed classrooms and presented instructional materials and then we provided health centres to ensure access to healthcare delivery. What inspired me into doing all these is the mutual contract we entered with the people after we won the election.
It is noticed that you have given more priority on education in terms of your intervention programmes in the rural areas, why did you choose education?
If you look at Riyom and Barkin-Ladi Local Government Areas, you will realize that there are communities that don’t have educational facilities, coupled with the fact that I am coming from the background of education. You can imagine the number of children that live in the various villages and travel far to access education; so I feel it is important to take the facilities to their door post. That is the only way we can raise the younger ones to have access to education but our emphasis is not entirely on education. If you look at Wereng Community, the electricity they are enjoying now, I was the one who brought it to the community. I tapped the light from Kassa in Barkin-Ladi down to Wereng in Riyom as parts of my constituency project and I am happy that they are now distributing the light into various villages to help fight insecurity in the areas. So we are not just looking at education alone but we wish that every child in Riyom and Barkin-Ladi have access to education, we feel that is what will make the people understand the importance of having somebody whom they have voted into power.
What will you want the younger generation to learn from your kind of politics that each time you contest election, you always come out victorious?
You have to get down to the people, you have to know them and know what they want. You have to interact with them, you have to come to their level and you don’t have to give fake promises, you need to be natural. You don’t have to be so artificial in everything you do, the people will get to know and they will understand the kind of person you are. You don’t need to be moving always with high number of security men that your people cannot come close to you, I don’t believe in that kind of politics. I love to sit with people anywhere and interact with them on issues that affect them, I think that is what has given me the kind of opportunities I have got. I have tried by all means to avoid the word failure; I have always tried to achieve what I say I will do for my people.
