A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees, Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien, has called on the five aggrieved governors of the party to sheathe their swords and join hands to work towards the victory of the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in the 2023 election.

In an interview with VINCENT KALU, the president of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) said the train was about leaving behind the governors and others in their camp, asserting that nothing would stop the PDP from winning the next presidential election.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crisis has lingered for so long. How can this be laid to rest?

As far as we are concerned, the PDP will win the presidential election. I have said many times that, when you dance too much, you dance naked. We have not exhausted the reconciliation process with the aggrieved members, so we have not done with that. We know that those five governors will come back and join the train, because they don’t want to fail. They know that the PDP will win and therefore, they won’t want to be in a team that failed. That is our take in the party.

Because of this intractable crisis in the party, political analysts say that the PDP has lost the election even before voting, as no group goes to war with a divided house, and comes out victorious?

What I’m telling you is the gospel truth that our party will win the election. Wait till next month, December; these five governors would be part of the presidential campaign.  An outgoing governor is different from a governor that has two or three years to stay. There is a great deal of difference, and that is why we are appealing to them to come back and join the train before it leaves them.

How do you mean that an outgoing governor is different from another that has some years to stay?

We have been in this business for a very long time. When your tenure is finishing, you don’t have the same kind of support that you had if you still have many more years to stay. Particularly in Nigeria, people are not interested in the person; they are interested in the office and on that seat.

So, when you are about to exit the seat, people are looking on to the next man who is going to be on that seat, and, therefore, as an outgoing governor, you lose your support base. That is what I’m trying to say. Governors who are rounding off their tenure do not have the same support base with governors who are having maybe two or three years to stay in office. They have barely six months to go, and they don’t enjoy the same support base with those who have years to vacate office. You find that people make their decisions based on what they see or think would be happening in the future, especially in politics.

You are very emphatic that PDP will win the election. Some say from 1999, the strongest support base of the party has been the South-East and South-South. Can you say that that party still enjoys that same support?

We still have that strong support base in the South-East and the South-South. It is not everybody who is in the train of the governors or with them. However, the party is still talking with them to reconsider their position and move on with the train, or the train will leave them.

What I was driving at is that the South-East and South-South regions have been the strongest support base for the PDP, but with the emergence of the Labour Party, the support base is weakened…

If you look at the demography right now, you will even see the trend that shows that our party is ahead. If somebody goes to take the polls now, you will see that the PDP still enjoys the strong support in these two regions. It now has a very strong support base in the North, and even in the South-West. This is more so because of the kind of governance we have had in the last seven and a half years.

We are still on with the presidential campaigns; the governorship, national and state assemblies are yet to kick off, but we have recorded very high incidences of political violence. What is your view on this?

It is very unfortunate that Nigeria is degenerating. There is no basis to attack opposition parties when they are going on their campaigns. Everybody should be free to campaign anywhere within the country. It is very unfortunate, and I do not support it. It is condemnable; people should be very free to go anywhere to campaign for votes for their party within the confines of the electoral guidelines. We saw how Atiku was attacked in Borno and other places. I’m pleading with Nigerians to respect the laws by allowing free and fair campaigns to usher in a free and fair election.

We heard some governors are not allowing opposition parties to mount billboards in their states and depriving them of access to facilities. When added to the political violence, are you not concerned that this may affect the 2023 election and its outcome?     

I’m very much concerned, and it is unfortunate. I’m pleading with Nigerians to play the game by the rules. Anybody who has something to offer should be allowed to do so. The law enforcement agencies should also sit up so that the perpetrators of these crimes should be brought to book in order to stop it from escalating.

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Instead of issues, we are witnessing mudslinging among the candidates and their aides. What does this portend for our democracy?

Even in the United State, sometimes, verbal attacks between or among candidates are witnessed. Sometimes, you want to prove that you are of a better quality than the other person. If you can remember Donald Trump and Mrs. Clinton, there were lots of personal, verbal attacks between them during their campaigns. So, sometimes, it happens, but, in the PDP, we encourage people to campaign on issue-based policies and manifestoes that would help the country out of the present economic doom and the insecurity in the country.

What should be the campaign message?

For the PDP, we want to rescue Nigeria from the present economic doom. That is our message. We want to rescue Nigeria.

But the ruling party is saying that it has done very well and exceeded its campaign promises?    

You, as a journalist and other Nigerians can judge this government whether they have done well. In which areas can you say they have done well? Is it in the area of insecurity, where people are not free to move around; where people cannot sleep with both eyes closed? A few weeks ago in Abuja, America and other foreign nations had to close their embassies and evacuate their nationals. Has it ever happened before? People are afraid of travelling by road from one location to the other. Is it the exchange rate that a dollar is almost nine hundred naira; a pound sterling is more than one thousand naira? Is it in terms of prices of fuel, a litre of diesel is about N900; is it in terms of flight ticket that was between N24, 000 and N27,000 by January this year, which has gone up to N100,000? What are they saying that they have done well? If this kind of government continues, we will have the Zimbabwean type of situation, where even bread was rationed that a family cannot buy more than one loaf of bread a week. It is very unfortunate, it’s depressing that we have degenerated to this kind of level where almost all hopes are lost in the country.

The only way out we have is the election in February and March next year to flush out this government in order to rescue Nigeria.

But the APC is saying that the PDP took the country to a very deep pit and it has tried to bring it out from that abyss?

You were an adult when PDP was ruling. How did PDP take the country into a deep pit when Nigeria was the largest economy in Africa, the dollar rate was 175 naira and, now, it is about N900? How did the PDP take Nigeria to a pit when the debt profile of Nigeria was minimal, but today the debt profile has gone so high? Only people who didn’t live in Nigeria can say that. They think Nigerians are fools.

Some say the South-East and South-South have benefitted more from APC, citing the Second Niger Bridge and the Ikot Ekpene-Calabar Road…

Have you ever driven on that road? Is it the road Governor Ayade of Cross River State invited President Buhari to come and lay the foundation? Go and see whether any work has been done on that road. No work has been undertaken on that road; there is no road there. There was a time I even heard in the news that the Obong of Calabar and the people of Cross River State went to thank Mr. President that the Ikot Ekpene-Calabar road that goes to Uyo has been completed when nothing has been done on that road. What are we talking about? The construction of the Second Niger Bridge you were talking about was already more than 60 per cent done before this present government came in. They only completed the project, just like the railways that were done by the PDP government and they only came to take credit for finishing it, because it was finished in their time.

You’ll find out that more than 90 per cent of the job was done. So, I don’t really see what they have done in terms of infrastructural development in the South-East and the South-South. The other day, I spent up to four hours from Ikot Ekpene to Port Harcourt, which is a distance of about 100 kilometres. I almost missed my flight. What have they done? They have not added one kilometre of construction on the East-West Road. What have they done to merit the votes of these two regions? We are worse off than ever.

The G-5 has changed its name to Integrity Group, and it is expanding. In the event that these five governors refused to be reconciled, is that not the end of the ambition of PDP to return to power?

Mark my words, whether they return or not, PDP will win this election next year, and, when we win, be kind enough to bring a drink to me.

What will be the fate of this Integrity Group?

The best thing for them is to come back and join the train before the train leaves them, because we are going to win the election, as Nigerians are fed up with the ruling party.