Governor Nyesom Wike-led Integrity Group, a group of five governors (G5 Governors) and party elders demanding the exit of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Chairman, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, may not be dropping their demand as the presidential election approaches. A member of the group and former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, in this interview, explains why they are unperturbed that their stance may lead to a disastrous outing in February next year.

The presidential primary apparently laid the foundation for the current crisis in the PDP. What is your perspective?

With the formation of PDP, for the first time in the annals of our history, we had a party that was completely national in outlook. The flowers of this country and the emblem of this country were all carried by the PDP. I have traveled around and I have campaigned around, there is no village in this country you will not hear about PDP. They tried it and it worked. That was why we spent 16 unbroken years in power. Our founding fathers gave every zone something to hold on to. They ensured that there was inclusiveness. That the tripod of justice, equity and fairness created a stable platform for Nigerians. The moment you remove one leg, the platform becomes unstable. Why? The North -East has a presidential candidate. North-Central has the national chairman. The director-general is from the North-West. South -South has vice president. They gave the South-East acting chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT. But his role is advisory. He has no powers.

South-West has nothing. Can there be stability? We are saying they should give us something to take home, to enable us to campaign for the party. Buhari is just winding up his eight years. After his tenure, all positions are supposed to rotate to the South. Now that they want to manipulate the process, they are turning their back on equity, justice and fairness.

Buhari

They said Buhari is not in our party. Is Buhari not a Nigerian? Is he from Oyo or Anambra? Is there no need for zoning again?

There was a meeting we attended before the convention and Ayu was presiding. People were ready to fight over zoning at the meeting. I challenged those who said there should be zoning. I brought out the constitution and read Section 7 sub section 3C. It states unequivocally that zoning and rotation will remain sacrosanct in the party for purposes of justice, fairness and equity. I pleaded that they do not destroy the party. Ayu then set up a committee. At the time, they had already set up a zoning committee that only zoned the positions of the party and left out executive positions. I don’t know why they did that when the constitution stated that all positions must be zoned at the same time. Why they didn’t do that for elective offices, I don’t know. Maybe it was part of the same game plan.

Some of us who have been there since 1998 rejected the move to abandon zoning, warning that they may end up destroying the party. Ayu listened and said the visitation committee report will take care of it. I could remember that on the first day, Ortom was the chairman. We scattered the whole place. We fought. A week after, we reconvened. They came and said they had seen the constitution and understood its position on zoning. These are the same people who said there was no need for zoning. They had said anyone who wanted to contest could do so. When Obasanjo was leaving, he convened a meeting of four people. I was there, Ahmadu Alli was there. The late Tony Anenih was also there. I was the youngest person there. Someone among us said baba had just finished eight years there is no need for zoning again. The person said we should throw it open. And if we had thrown it open at the time, Peter Odilli would have become President. Odili was ahead of other aspirants. Obasanjo objected, saying we should be careful. He said he was elected based on zoning. He said we should keep the tradition as it was conceptualized by our founding fathers.Baba said no, that the presidency must go to the North. He said Odili could be the Vice President. That was how Yar’ Adua emerged. People say politics is dirty. I think ‘’politricks’’ is what is dirty.

But we learned that Governor Nyesom Wike opposed zoning at one of the meetings…

I’m telling you what I know. He wasn’t a member of our committee. It was a committee of elders that they set up. We said the constitution is clear on who should go where and how it should be done. Since they didn’t do that, they now came and pleaded, saying there was a monumental mistake made that they should have announced all the offices six months earlier. At the time, they had started selling forms as if it was open-ended. They said people had spent money purchasing forms that we should allow all of them to contest. Some of our colleagues there said no, but they begged us to save the party.

Some eventually did not agree. Jerry Gana wrote the communiqué. The first statement was that zoning and rotation will remain sacrosanct in the constitution. It was also stated that we should never repeat the mistake of allowing all to contest for the presidency again.

Six months before the sale of forms, the party must set up a zoning committee to decide on zoning. The statement was signed by all of us. We brought it back to the National Executive Council, NEC. We discussed it and submitted the report. It was unanimously adopted and that was how Atiku , Tambuwal and all other northerners were able to contest.

Ayu made a statement that in case the presidential candidate comes from the North, he will honourably resign. Everybody said thank God. The game later changed. It is a confirmation that the only being that can be trusted absolutely is the almighty God. On the selection of vice presidential candidate, we set up a committee. The committee voted for Wike, Atiku still said no. Legitimately, he has the right to choose whomever he wishes. People are now saying Wike is fighting because he lost, but that is not true.

What in clear terms does the Wike group to which you belong want?

When you have built a house, make sure you don’t tamper with the foundation. Maneuvering can take you to the Villa but what sustains you there is character. If Nigerians decide to vote for Atiku, I will not because of this principle. If he becomes the President, it is his character that would sustain him.

He is my friend but if you are not bold enough to tell your friend that what he is doing is not right, someday the larger being will ask you. I will not vote for Atiku because of that principle. If we accept the injustice, we are going back to those days of darkness when justice, fairness, and equity could be thrown away because of tribalism.

Yes, he can win. He can manipulate. If they call me, I am ready for any debate based on the truth. We know what our constitution says. Now, you want to start tampering with the taproot. You are trying to reinvent and rebuild the super foundation. It will not stand, let it be. We must have conscience. We must be bold enough to tell truth to power. For all of us that are there, everybody is shouting Wike. He is a courageous young man. He has showcased the capacity to impact positively. I saw what he has done with his share of 13 percent derivation.

Everybody now knows that he was not just complaining because he lost the election. That is gone. Let us do what is just, what is equitable and what is right to stabilize Nigeria. We are wobbling. The mistrust between tribe A and tribe B is so much now. I am not saying maybe we will get there or not, but let us do what is right. Let us tell the truth to power.

Are you not worried that insisting on getting your demands met may cost the party the presidential poll?

For me, I can talk about myself, if we do not change that concept by doing what is right, how do I climb a podium as the .Omo Oodua of Yorubaland and ask my people to vote for Atiku? Do you know what that title means? It means the pathfinder of our progenitor. We are saying give us something to take home; you are saying you would do it after the election. Are we zombies? If reverse was the case and we told our northern brothers to wait until after the election, would they have agreed? Don’t do unto others what you will not want them to do unto you. I am begging them to do the right thing. That is why we said we weren’t closing the window of reconciliation.

If southern chairman is what your group wants through the resignation of Ayu, how do you achieve that since the party’s constitution provides that the deputy chairman from the North should take over in the event of the chairman’s resignation? Is it not like asking for an impossibility?

It’s easier said than done. How did Atiku get the ticket to be a presidential candidate? Is it not the same constitution that we put aside? Now you have a campaign council. What is the function of the NWC?. For now, they are telling our people we have recognized you. There is no inclusivity in the matter. We can handle the situation the same way zoning was handled to allow Atiku and others to contest. I saw Oyinlola dancing with Atiku’s group recently. What was he doing there? I am so ashamed of him. What was he telling them? Tomorrow, when people read the history of what happened, some names will be permanently in the dark.

I am not fighting for myself. They ask if it is because I wanted to be chairman and didn’t get it. At what age am I seeking the party’s chairmanship? I can’t even run from here to there. What am I looking for? What we can see, a young man who climbs an Iroko tree will not see it. How did he get the ticket if we didn’t put that section aside? The political expediency of the moment requires that you bring everybody on board. The constitution should wait the way we waited for him. If we had gone strictly by that constitution, Atiku wouldn’t have emerged.

The game plan of the Wike group appears to be to get their supporters to vote for party candidates in other elections and vote against Atiku for President. This is a recipe for confusion. Will this not boomerang against members like Makinde who is seeking re-election and even Wike’s governorship candidate in Rivers as well as Ortom, Ugwuanyi and Ikpeazu who are contesting senatorial elections?

The Nigerian electorate understand what is happening. If they know you have the capacity and the ability to resolve this whole problem, they can trust you when you have a bigger problem. When you explain yourself, you will earn their trust. How did you emerge? The constitution says this thing must come to the South. Is Buhari from Anambra, Oyo? Is he not from the North? Imagine the millions of votes here and he is abandoning them. You think you are deceiving them. If they like, let them vote for him, I will go down in my grave that I told the truth and I didn’t waiver.

There is no absolutism in democracy. All these stories are a load of trash. We solved the constitutional question for him to emerge. I was there. Why can’t we employ the same process for the sake of peace? If we had allowed the Presidency to come to the South, would we be arguing now?

It’s been suggested in some quarters that members of the Wike group should be punished for anti-party activities. Are you prepared for any scenario?

Those people who are talking are first-class illiterates. They have no idea of what we are fighting for. I have served this party at the highest level for 10 years. I am ready for a public debate on the issues we are fighting for. I was the Director-General, DG, of a national campaign. I know exactly what a DG does and what we did with Yar’Adua, I didn’t fight for myself. In the end, they colluded and sent me to Kirikiri for committing no offence. All those who conspired against me, not one of them is safe today. Vengeance is for God, not ours.

Can’t the Integrity Group make sacrifices by allowing things to remain the way they are in the party and end the crisis in the interest of the PDP and the nation?

All the actors came here including Atiku. I am not their enemy. We have met with the G5 and all the other groups. What is so vital about Ayu that Atiku can’t let go? Is he bigger than the party? This is where leadership comes in. They thought Baba, Obasanjo, didn’t beg people. I couldn’t believe it. In fact, during the 2003 convention, he came to the South-West forum on the eve of the convention and everybody was shocked. Baba said we shouldn’t fight anyone. He said the South –West people are the ones looking for something. He said if they slap you, turn the other cheek. You must stoop to conquer. What is this brazenness? I have only one vote. I have said that if they don’t change, I will not change.

It has been suggested in some quarters that Wike is not fighting for the South as he would like to make Nigerians believe but for his selfish interest that manifested in his positioning for Atiku running mate when he had previously said that he will not accept the VP position. What do you think?

Atiku as an individual has met all these five governors at least three times. When he left them, he promised he would make amends. Maybe he will do that tomorrow. Why has he not done that? Your word should be your bond. How can just one individual be the issue? When people say the integrity group is selfish, they don’t know they are fighting on our behalf. What does the South-West have? My brother from the South-East said they have got something having got the BoT.

All these people junketing and pretending, the electorate are watching. Why are they asking Bola why he wants this and that? Explain this and that. And once you start a story here, it will spread. I am begging the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure the election results are electronically transmitted. Can one individual be bigger and larger than Nigeria?

From the way things are and if elections are to be held today, Tinubu appears to have the brightest chances of emerging president given the crisis in PDP. Are you still serious about relocating if Tinubu wins the presidential election in 2023?

What chances? There are not so many hurdles for him. Atiku should call his friend and ask him to resign for the sake of Nigeria. Five governors and many elders are speaking with one voice on Ayu. It is not a matter of life and death. He has had a good race. Let justice be done. Let him be honourable for his name to be in good pages. (Sunday Vanguard)

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