Despite the recent vote of confidence passed on Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu by the party’s National Executive Council (NEC), agitations for his resignation have not abated. In this interview on Arise TV’s morning programme at the weekend monitored by Truth live.net, former National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Chief Olabode George goes down the memory lane to provide a historical perspective on the agitations rocking the party.
There seems to be a division among members of your party in the South on the call for the resignation of National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu. How do you respond to this?
Of course, we will have one or two dissenting voices. But, facts are facts; and fiction remains fiction. I am looking at the thought processes of the founding fathers of our party. They gathered together in 1998 and looked at the problem that had befallen this nation called Nigeria. They came out with a solution that Nigeria should be divided into six geopolitical zones. This was because in the First Republic we had the majority of tribes that had their way, while the minority tribes were just onlookers. This scenario played out both in the North and in the South. This created that friction that led us into all kinds of coups and counter-coups that culminated in the civil war. That problem led to the incursion of the military into government. Having considered all of these, these leaders thought of resolving the conflict by dividing the country into six geopolitical zones.
Some have said every zone deserves to be at the top of the nation’s government. What do you have to say to that?
Besides these factors, there are six top positions in this country that include the presidency, the vice presidency, the Senate presidency, the speakership, the secretary to the government, and the national chairman of the party. So, we have six zones and six positions. The idea is that every zone will go home with one of the top positions. This was done to remove the associated anger of side-lining the minority in the affairs of the country. There was also a proviso that after eight years, the North and the South will swap positions, as all the positions occupied by the North will go to the South and vice-versa. If you look at it, number one is the presidency and number six is the chairman of the party. So, number one and number six cannot be from the same zone for balancing.
From the party’s angle, we have the executive, the legislative arm, and the party. It was a brilliant concept. This allowed us to stabilize this country for almost 16 years. Now, where are we again? Some people came up and said there was no need for zoning anymore, and that shocked me. The need to have zoning is more important now than in 1999. This may be because some of these people don’t understand the concept that led to the thought processes of our founding fathers. It is a norm but an unwritten law.
I hope we will have the opportunity to put it down in writing so that everybody will be able to read and understand it. unfortunately, some people are saying they don’t believe in zoning anymore. But I am talking because I have been part of this system from the very beginning. We have a saying in my part of the world that when you have old people in any association, they always make sure that they correct the mistakes of the young ones. I am trying to refer you back to that concept that was established, which brought about this sanity in this nation.
Is that why some are bent on removing Ayu as your national chairman?
If you remember, the APC when they came into government told everybody that they don’t believe in zoning but what did they end up doing? Now that this thing came from us, and we are trying to manoeuvre it to suit certain purposes, certain personal ambition is going to drive us aground. And that is what I’m saying. We are not asking that Ayu should be thrown out or forced to resign. But in the sense of oneness, in the sense of inclusivity, let him throw in the towel and let us balance the top positions.
We are going to campaign in my zone and we want our party to win. If it’s not going to affect the party, I won’t bother. But how do I go on the rostrum in Southwest and tell the people that we are ready and that they must vote for our candidate? They must realise that the ruling party has its candidate from the Southwest. How do I face them? He, the candidate of the APC, will tell them that he has the presidential ticket, and what has the PDP got to offer them?
Let’s reverse the role. Let’s say the presidential ticket and the chairmanship of the party are from the South. Will our brothers from the North take it? Will they be happy? What is good for the goose is good for the gander. But, if they say they don’t want it, history will be on the side of the truth. What am I looking for? If at this age I cannot tell the truth, then, what am I doing in politics? This is not a matter to say someone is forcing Ayu out.
Remember that Ayu himself stated that if the presidential candidate emerges from the North, he will resign as the chairman of the party to give room for balancing. We are saying, let us be mindful. How do I convince my people that they should vote for us? What do I have on the ticket? What do I have on the plate? And if we are still manipulating the mindset of Nigerians, it’s creating a lot of injury for our party.
For your suggestion to have a new chairman before the commencement of campaigns, what’s the constitutional roadmap within the PDP and how can this be achieved?
It is possible. In our constitution, people decided ab initio that there was no need to talk about zoning and that we had passed the stage of zoning but our constitution is so clear on that. Section 7 (3c) states “We must adhere to zoning and rotation of elective and party offices”. But when we gathered and there was a report of a zoning committee, only the party offices were zoned. They left out elective offices. Due to that, when we met at NEC, we told everybody that there was a need to ensure equity, justice, and fairness.
The national chairman then set up a review committee, where I was initially I was a member. The first meeting was very stormy. This was because people were talking about no need for zoning and that anybody that wanted to contest can do so until we showed them this particular section of our constitution. That meeting ended in chaos. After we confronted them with that provision, the people were then sober.
Then, they said they accepted but added that in the last six months, everybody has been going around campaigning and had expended a lot of money and energy, and why can’t we be kind enough to allow at least for now everybody to go out and campaign for votes? They pleaded that we should not throw the baby and bath water away.
That committee accepted with a caveat that from now on, six months before the commencement of the sale of forms, the party must come out pointedly to declare where each of the elective offices would go. And we said all right, let us look at it despite what is in the constitution. We did that at that time to bring about peace. So, what is so sacrosanct now? We are saying in the interest of balancing, inclusivity, equity, and justice, the chairman should step down honourably.
Our stand is based on facts and for the people to trust us, as we go into the campaign. Ayu pledged that he will resign if the candidate emerges from the North. Now that the candidate has emerged from the North, he is breaking his pledge. How will the electorates who are more in number than those of us who are card-carrying members of the party trust us? We are saying that we in the South are on the disadvantaged side; let us look at this issue holistically and see how best we can win the minds and the hearts of the electorates. We want to win this election.
But he who comes to equity must come with clean hands. That is all we are saying.
Constitutionally speaking, if Ayu steps down, the person to take over is the deputy national chairman, who comes from the Northeast, the same place as your presidential candidate. How do you work around this to achieve what you want?
Let me start with the issue of constitutionality. I referred you to our party constitution which explicitly states that there will be zoning and rotation of elective and party offices. If we had stuck rigidly to that, Atiku will not have emerged as the presidential candidate. So, now it is not a question of the next in line to succeed Ayu. It is not when it suits the North, we refer to the constitution and then it doesn’t suit them, we back away from the constitution.
We decided for moral purposes, to make it a family affair because people had spent and gone round to canvas for votes; that was why we relaxed zoning, which paved the way for the emergence of Atiku. If Ayu resigns, the same principle will apply. We had altered the constitution to get the presidential candidate. We must go one more step to allow the South to produce the national chairman when Ayu resigns.
