Why Rivers PDP is in crisis –Opara, Ex Deputy Speaker, House of Reps
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AfricCon Latest Nigerian Report: Why Rivers PDP is in crisis –Opara, Ex Deputy Speaker, House of Reps
Africcon Media, Nigeria
From: Africcon Media – Nigeria
That the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in crisis is stating the obvious. The latest development was the move to suspend the Speaker of the state House of Assembly and his other colleagues. In this interview,
Honourable Austin Opara, former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives and a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party ( PDP) from Rivers State spoke with journalists on the festering crisis rocking the party in the state. Excerpts…
What exactly is happening in the Rivers State chapter of the PDP?
What has happened is that there was a court judgment, a competent court for that matter, which declared the Chief Felix Obuah-led executive as the real and authentic executive of the PDP in the state. That was the declaration by the court. And this is a democracy where everybody is guided by the rule of law, so everybody has to obey the court judgment. There is nothing extra-ordinary at all; there is a subsisting court judgment which is being obeyed by all.
But there have been rallies both for and against the judgment. Some stakeholders have denounced the judgment and have even vowed not to obey or honour it.
Obviously some people are aggrieved. Those who lost in the exercise are aggrieved but that doesn’t mean that Rivers PDP is in crisis. It’s up to Nigerians to decide whether in a democratic system, where we should be governed by the rule of law, people should be allowed to say they will not obey a court judgment. To me, that is rascality. But I don’t think any right thinking individuals will say they will not obey court orders. The worst that has been said, which you probably heard, must have been as a result of anger or disappointment and they have the right to feel so but not that they will not obey the court judgment.
What do you consider as the way forward?
I am very sure that all the frayed nerves will soon calm down because we need to reconcile, we need to ensure that everybody is carried along and that everybody falls in line. But sincerely, if anybody feels or thinks otherwise, we can’t force that person to stay or remain in PDP. The issue is, and I have made this point recently, why will anybody pick and chose which court judgment to obey or not to obey and which to respect or not respect? Must it be the one that favours you only that you will obey? Let me ask you, how did the present Governor, Rotimi Amaechi get to power? In 2007, during the campaigns, Amaechi was somewhere outside the shores of this country. He never campaigned, he never voted nor was he voted for but the Supreme Court declared that he is the governor. It’s like the court declaring that a man is a woman. What did we do? We all obeyed it. Rivers people could have gone to the streets to protest, especially since there was no opportunity to appeal because it was the Supreme Court. But we all obeyed. Why should it be now that some people are not ready to obey a court judgment declaring somebody the real and authentic leader of the PDP in Rivers State? So to me, what is happening is a minor misunderstanding, which is being handled by the appropriate authorities. I know that the new executive has set up a reconciliation committee, people will go and talk to people. It has happened before and we didn’t leave PDP. We are still in the party and we delivered it in 2011. This one will not be different.
It is being insinuated that what is happening is a fallout of a frosty relationship between President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Rotimi Amaechi though the Governor denied it two days ago in Kano. Is that true?
As you have said, I also read in the papers too, where Amaechi said he does not have problems with the President. I don’t understand why we should impute meanings into what, in my view, does not exist. The man has said they don’t have problems. I have not heard the President say he has problems with Amaechi. What is happening in Rivers State now is just a situation where an aggrieved party or executive that felt cheated went to the court to seek redress and got judgment from the court. It has nothing to do with the President. It is a local Rivers PDP affair.
…Or perhaps can it be the 2015 governorship ambition of certain individuals as it has been alleged elsewhere?
Every living being is ambitious. You have an ambition, perhaps to either be good or bad. You are aspiring for one thing or another. So, if there are people aspiring to be governor in 2015, it is legitimate. They have the right to be ambitious. But what I want you to understand is the fact that the present situation is as a result of the fact that some people felt aggrieved, they felt deprived and they went to court and got the judgment they desired. People should stop imputing unnecessary interpretations and meanings into ordinary issues. The fact, as I know it, is that Chief Felix Obuah and his executive went to court and got judgment.
The PDP in Rivers State used to be a model in terms of being one strong, united family. Where and when did it all go wrong?
It shows you that some rascality has come into the system, that is as far as I am concerned. Rivers has always been a PDP state and we I’ll remain so. In 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011 the PDP consistently won, and overwhelmingly for that matter in the state . It will not change this time. The fact that a few persons, minority for that matter, are aggrieved does not remove the fact that Rivers is a PDP state. I want to assure you, Nigerians and the PDP at the centre and the PDP-led Federal Government in the country that Rivers is a PDP state. In the last election, we delivered 2 million votes. We will still deliver the same whether some people are aggrieved right now or not. The state is a PDP state and it will remain so. Let me tell you quickly, my local government area, which is Port Harcourt, has a voting strength of over 400,000. Obia/Akpor has over 500,000 votes. So when you talk of 2 million votes, we know where they came from. These are only two local government areas accounting for almost a million votes. Rivers State has a voting strength of 2.4 million. Yet some people will always shout at the top of their voices that they delivered 2 million votes when their local government has less than 100,000 registered voters. They use votes from other areas to negotiate and brag all over the place. Please, enough of the rascality going on in the state. It’s time to move Rivers State forward and the process has just begun.
So, where do you see Rivers State after this stormy moment?
There is nothing stormy about what is happening and I still maintain that. We will come out stronger. Let me tell you, within the past six years, most of our strong members left the party. Some to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), others to the All Progressive Grand Alliance ( APGA). But now, we are going to bring all those people back to the fold. What led to their exit are the issues we are addressing now and they will come back again.
Issues like what?
Issues like dictatorial tendencies, lack of consultation, lack of respect for very senior people of the state, the politics of exclusion and others. These are some of the things that sent many of these people parking. Suddenly, they were no longer in reckoning, they were forced out of the system, and marginalized . Once you air your opinion, the immediate explanation will be that you have been asking for money, that you want the state money shared. That is blackmail and many people felt that it was best to stay away instead of being blackmailed. So, everybody stayed away. But we can’t continue like that because in governance, especially for a state like Rivers, we need all hands to be on deck to move forward. In effect, we are in the process of rebuilding Rivers PDP and to strengthen it ahead of 2015. That is what is happening. So there is nothing to worry about. We would come out stronger. What has happened in the past couple of years is that the majority has been excluded and the minority dictated what has been happening . But because everybody wants peace, and like I said, once you speak your mind you are labeled as a favour seeker and blackmailed, many chose to stay away. But where we are now is bringing everybody back to the fold. I am aware that the new executive will set up a reconciliation committee, a disciplinary committee and a contact committee. There would be so many activities that some of those in the outgoing executive would be involved in at one level or another. It is a party for everybody. I expect the party to give me assignments and I will do them very well because I am a loyal party member.
What would be your appeal to the stakeholders back home in Rivers State?
My appeal is that everybody should be calm. The matter is before the Court of Appeal, the Justices of the court will decide. Nobody should take the law into his hands. The days of moving people to Abuja to demonstrate; hiring people from Nasarawa State University and University of Abuja to come and demonstrate here are gone. We are in a civilized society. Go to court, get your lawyers and let the court decide. That is a more civilized thing to do. It is no use calling the judiciary unprintable names because those calling the judiciary names today are direct beneficiaries of the rulings of the court yesterday. Somebody said , on a lighter note, that this is a situation where an armed robber is complaining when a pick-pocket just stole a little from him. How would you compare this to the ruling of 2007? If anyone is dissatisfied, let him appeal; they have even done that anyway. There is no need to make the heaven fall.
What’s your ambition come 2015 ?
What we are doing is to rebuild the party. What I am interested in is to consolidate on what is on ground right now. To bring back all those who left because of one grievance or another . We have to make the party stronger than it is now, that is the first thing, ambition will come later. There are very many things, many positions to contest, many appointive posts to hold. There are many contracts for people to do. It must not always be an elective post. But first, let us rebuild our party and build our state. That is the most important thing. We have so much human capacity in Rivers State that we are yet to tap from . Instead of doing that, what we have had is the politics of exclusion, people being chased out, people being marginalized and blackmailed and tagged with different names . But we cannot continue like that any longer. We want all hands to be on deck so that each and everyone can contribute whatever he can to the development of our state.
The kind of resources or money that has gone into the state, when placed side by side with what is on ground doesn’t add up. It is difficult to explain. We go to places like Lagos and see what is happening there but when you go back home what is on ground is irreconcilable. All you hear is mega this and mega that, yet we don’t see anything.
Talking about the new executive, there are insinuations that it’s being powered by the Presidency. What is your reaction?
As far as I am concerned, the President has no hand in it. Chief Felix Obuah and his team felt aggrieved, oppressed and deprived and they went to court to ask for remedy which was granted after due consideration of the facts of the case. So what is happening is strictly a Rivers State affair. It has nothing to do with outside influence. It is an internal thing that we must settle internally and that is why I am reassuring the PDP at the centre that we would come out stronger. The state is a PDP state and that is the truth, the records are there to show. But being a PDP state doesn’t mean that it was the efforts of one person, be he a governor, past and present or chairman of the party or lawmaker at the federal or state level. Rather, it was because of the people who own the party. As a governor, on an election day, you will be at your unit, or at the most your ward or local government. And you have just one vote like any other person. I will also be at my own just as another is at his. Nobody can be at two different places at the same time. So I advise people to stop the unmerited claims they make everyday. It is disgusting when people say “ I single handedly delivered Rivers State or I single handedly delivered 2 million votes”. Democracy doesn’t work like that.
