26 September 2021
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A former presidential spokesperson, Dr Doyin Okupe, speaks with SUNDAY ABORISADE on the growing agitations for Biafra and Yoruba nations in the South-East and South-West geopolitical zones, and declares that only a southern presidency in 2023 can stop the impending break-up
Why do you think people are defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party, is there a major crisis?
The defection in the PDP is not a measure of crisis. It is a normal occurrence when a major election is approaching and a party in power is experiencing a strong political pull. Of course there are cases of blackmail to woo politicians in the opposition. By 2023, the All Progressives Congress would have been in power for eight years. Only a few politicians like the idea of being out of power for long and not having a piece of the action. There is also the issue of some party faithful feeling dissatisfied with what is happening within the party leadership in their local communities. There could be irreconcilable differences that could come up between strong stakeholders in the state and at the local level such that an individual would feel that there was no way he or she could continue to operate on the same platform with the people they have issues with. They will forget about the principles of commitment and shift to another party.
Beyond the issues you’ve enumerated, it is obvious that the PDP is currently having a leadership crisis….(cuts in)
Yes, there is a storm particularly over the tenure of the National Chairman, Uche Secondus. Some people are saying that he should stay, others believe that he should go. That may appear to be a major crisis but I think having agreed that there would be a convention and arrangements are being made towards that, the seeming crisis has a terminal date already. This is because once the National Convention takes place, a new chairman evolves, that’s the end.
Some critical stakeholders in the PDP from the southern part of the country claim their defection was caused by alleged plans by the party to zone presidency to the North again in 2023. What’s your comment on that?
I cannot say yes or no. This is because I am aware some of those who defected and cited the plans to retain presidency in the North actually have personal issues with the party leadership.
There are rumours that some governors would soon defect from your party…(cuts in)
Let me tell you, if the PDP loses any other governor, it means the party is finished and we cannot afford to go down.
Why is the PDP delaying in announcing the zoning arrangement for the 2023 election?
I don’t think there is a delay in the zoning process. The activities for the National Convention have just been rolled out. The committee that will come up with the zoning arrangement had been constituted. I believe the panel has started work already. I am sure they will soon submit their report which would be a recommendation of how they have agreed to zone the party offices and the executive positions. The National Executive Committee of the party will then take a final decision on the committee’s report.
But some strong northern political groups like the Northern Elders Forum seem to be preempting the outcome of the zoning committee…(cuts in)
Yes, there is a strong indication that strong politicians from the North and a few southerners are erroneously tilting towards zoning the party to the North again in 2023. I say erroneously because zoning is a veritable instrument that ensures equity and balancing in the nation. It also gives hope, confidence and support for our national unity. That was why the PDP instituted it in 1998. The arrangement was put in place on the assumption that the party will be in power on a continuous basis. However, the moment the party lost power in 2015, and power went to another party, the zoning arrangement has to be reviewed, taking into consideration the larger interest of the society.
Is that why you are reviewing the zoning arrangement now?
Yes. When we lost power in 2015, we had a southern president in the person of Goodluck Jonathan. If we did not lose power then, and he completed his term, we would have gone to a convention and we would have automatically zoned the presidency to the North in 2019. However, Jonathan lost the election in 2015 and the party that won the election had a northern candidate who by 2023 would have ruled for eight years. What we did in 2019 was to still carry on the zoning arrangement as if our former arrangement was in place, hence we zoned the presidency to the North. That was the borderline period that such an assumption could have been made. It was justifiable within the PDP at the time to field a northern candidate. However, in 2023, with the APC having fielded a northern candidate who had ruled for eight years, it would be unjust and uncaring for the PDP to retain the zoning formula which had expired the moment we lost the 2019 elections. There should be a reset of the zoning arrangement towards 2023. Failure to do that is to be playing with another major defeat.
How would you react to the northerners’ claim that they have the voting population that could produce candidate from any part and win?
I wonder how that would be possible when we already have strong secession agitations in the South-West and the South-East. Let me tell you, these agitations are real. The separatist’ movements in these two regions are real. The people are having feelings of lack of belonging or over-domineering by the North. This is not the time to pretend as if we are not aware of all those things and be making moves towards replacing a northern government of eight years with another northern government that would be in place for another eight years. It doesn’t make sense. Therefore, the PDP should zone the presidency to the South.
Do you foresee a major crack in the polity with some northern governors disagreeing with their southern colleagues who are saying power must shift to the South in 2023?
The southern governors are the political leaders in the South-East, South-West and the South-South. It will be foolhardy, reckless and insensitive for any political party to totally ignore the position of the southern governors who are leading more than half of the population of the country. The people of Lagos for instance have openly supported the position of their governor on the issues of valued added tax and open grazing. That means the people that the governors are leading actually believe and support their position on their demand for zoning. It doesn’t then make sense for any party to zone presidency to the North.
But some respected members of your party from the South have been quoted to have said only a northern candidate could win presidency for the PDP in 2023?
It is because some of our people have been brainwashed to believe that we cannot win an election if we don’t field a northern candidate. Their calculation is that if we push a northern candidate forward and the APC goes to the polls with a southern candidate, the voting population in the North would go for a northern candidate not minding the political party he or she represents. Evidence has shown that the assumption is not correct. Bashir Tofa of the defunct National Republican Convention, was a northern candidate who is beaten by the late MKO Abiola who was a southern candidate of the Social Democratic Party. So, precedents do not back such assumption. It is a lazy and defeatist tendency. Such parochial thinking cannot guarantee the stability of the country. If the PDP zones presidency to the North in 2023, then we are toying with the country’s unity and stability.
Why did you say so?
Where will the northern PDP president rule over when the entire southern Nigeria will be in conflagration? Nigerian leaders in the past were sensitive and delicately managed the affairs of the country. That was when they agreed in 1998 that southern candidates should fly the flags of the two strongest political parties in the 1999 general elections as presidential candidates. The North and the South-East believed that they should do that because of the pains that the Yoruba had suffered following the death of Abiola. That was a national concession and that is how we’ve managed our affairs and things have been stable. Such consideration must prevail now. The two political parties; the APC and the PDP must pick southern candidates for the 2023 elections. That is the only way we can guarantee the stability of the country, the safety of our people and sound economic growth for Nigeria.
There are assumptions within the PDP that no member from the South is prepared to be President in 2023. Is this true?
No, the assumption is not correct. Let them zone the presidency to the South first and you will see eminently qualified contestants coming up. I want to be president for instance I also believe that consistently ignoring the desire and aspirations of the people of the South-East is inimical to the growth and development of the country. It does not show equity and justice. It is criminal to preclude somebody from the South-East from contesting. As much as I truly and really want to honesty run for election, if the PDP zones the presidency to the South-East, I will withdraw and support the best person from the region.
Do you honestly think that an Igbo presidency would end IPOB’s separatist agitations in the region?
The agitation, no doubt, is real and that is why the governors are looking at the political solution to it by demanding that presidency should come to the South in 2023. Don’t let us think that the South-East politicians are on their own. They know the feelings of their people. There are governors and ministers from the South-East, yet a non-state actor like the IPOB is declaring sit-at-home and the people are complying willingly without intimidation. No governor in the South-East could declare otherwise. No governor has the capacity to convince the people to the contrary. The people’s will has taken official authorities in the South-East. So, we ignore it at our own peril. Politics is about dialogue
Is it the same thing with the agitation for Yoruba Nation in the South-West?
Let me tell you, within my immediate nuclear family right now, if we are to vote on whether the Yoruba should secede from Nigeria, I will lose if my position is that Yoruba should remain in Nigeria. That is in my household. Can you now imagine the thinking of an average Yoruba man or woman? That speaks volumes. An average Yoruba man is tired of being in Nigeria. They desire their own nation. Nigerians are running away to other countries as if they are in a boat that had sunk already. We should find a way to halt this unwarranted dissent