Debo Ologunagba is the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview, he speaks on the crisis within the National Working Committee (NWC), why the National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu deliberately stayed away from the 607th NWC meeting, the controversy over the change of state NWC of the party in Akwa Ibom State, among others.
JOY ANIGBOGU
brings the excerpts:
You don’t look like someone who has the capacity to fight in a battle but it looks like you’re fighting one in your party?
You will find out that I am not even fighting a war because there’s no war in the party. We are making a clarification of the situation in the party. And make no mistake about it, the idea in your opening remarks is talking about a messy house of commotion, it is far from it. The PDP is solid. The PDP is together.
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Do we have irritations? Yes, we do. Do we have people who disagree with certain things? Yes, we do. That is the beauty of democracy because we’re truly a democratic party. And we have contestation of ideas. People come with different backgrounds, different views, and different interests, so there will be clash of interests.
But the capacity of the PDP that makes it a truly democratic party is that we have inbuilt in our constitution, what I call a dispute resolution mechanism. That is what has come and brought this party from inception up to date and we are doing exceedingly well when it comes to that.
The beauty of your party, as you have described it, or whether or not it’s not in a commotion, is debatable because the optics is saying otherwise. Who gave you the authority to release recent statements from the party?
Thank you very much for this clarification because it is important for Nigerians, and indeed our members to understand that membership of a party is free. It is a free exit and free entry, so you can decide to enter. But what is key in a political party is that the moment you subscribe to the constitution of that party, you are bound by the provisions of that constitution. And to that extent, I come to your question. Number one, there is a National Working Committee (NWC) that sits and takes decisions on behalf of the National Executive Committee (NEC). That’s why, in the wisdom in the party’s constitution, the expectation is that every quarter, the NEC shall meet and the NWC shall present to the NEC, report activities it has taken on behalf of NEC, which they can ratify, vary or reject. The constitution of the party is almost complete in the sense that it makes room for every foreseeable situation. The national chairman is the chief executive officer of the party. That is provided for in section 35. And in that, it says, the chairman shall summon. Summon means to activate and that is the only officer of the party that has the power. Section 29 of the constitution talks about the meeting of the NWC; that the meeting shall be at the instance of the chairman, failing which two-thirds of members can summon it in case the chairman becomes difficult and unavailable. On the other hand, the role of the secretary is purely administrative. What happens is this; the chairman summons meetings, presides over the meeting, and then directs the secretary to issue a notice. If the secretary refuses to do that, part of the powers of the chairman is that he can actually direct any officer of the party to accomplish his role. So, it must be put in perspective.
Having stated the principles, in the instance that we are talking about, when did the NWC meeting hold?
The 607th meeting of the NWC took place on Monday and the national secretary was absent. So, we can put it in perspective. You see, this is all intended to achieve a goal, to create the impression that the PDP is not together. And the reason for this is because of the panicky mood of seeing that the PDP is walking towards Ibadan for the convention.
Everything that is required to be done has been done including inviting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to each and every of our meetings to ensure that we have a seamless national convention that will produce new officers. That is why you see all of this happening. But I will say the meeting that was held is on authority and is on record that the chairman directed the secretary to issue the notice but he did not. And the chairman, by virtue of the powers conferred on him, called for the meeting after consultation and was attended by 16 members out of 19. So, we have above the two/third that is even required and the meeting held. When there are other constitutions beyond the constitutional provisions and our actions, then it’s a different ball game.
The provision for the meeting says the NWC shall meet not less than once every fortnight. There will be meetings online. If you look at it to that extent, it will not be a meeting but it is a meeting because there are other modes of meeting. But the meeting was real-time and everybody was present with photographs and videos at the NWC hall.
Why do you think Senator Samuel Anyanwu disowned your statement?
I can’t speak for him. I don’t want you to begin to calibrate this and raise it to a level as if there is an issue between people. There is nothing personal here. But I need to let you know that there was a meeting. People were present, members were present, and decisions were taken. And when decisions are taken in the NWC, anyone that requires communication by the publicity secretary, then I am directed to do so at that meeting. I will take note and I will go ahead. So, I do not need any additional information from any office to do that. However, if you look at section 36, it provides that the secretary is the chief administrative and accounting officer of the party. It says he should supervise the day-to-day activities of the party. That’s one. Two, conduct and direct the conduct and cause to be issued notices of meetings. He will be summoned by the chairman, and then he will be directed to what to be issued.
Who do you report directly to in the organogram?
I report to the chairman and to the NWC because we are all members. We are all equal members. But we have a first among equals, the chairman, who is the chief executive officer of the party.
Why does it look like you are up to something against the interests of some other members of the NWC?
I like the word when you say, it looks like but I am not. I follow the instructions and this is very important in party politics in Nigeria. For democracy to grow, people must understand that at some point, you must go above personal interests and recognise that the overall interest of the party is important. And I’ll tell you this; on each and every statement that I have issued, go and find out from the majority of members whether that was the decision or not. I don’t want to be boxed into a situation where it would be said that I have an interest. No, I don’t.
But there are those who have established that you belong to a faction and interest in the party. Is that true?
That is their estimation; I don’t belong to any faction. I belong to the party because I have a job to do, which is to report the activities of the party to members and to the world.
Why is the decision about Akwa Ibom an isolated issue?
Let me tell you this, so that you can understand that. You want to compare that to Delta State but I am going to tell you this, Delta State left with the whole structure of the party. The whole structure of the party and the governor defected. So, what we did was to say let the zonal caretaker committee for South-South oversee the affairs on a dissociative level, create and constitute a caretaker committee. In Akwa Ibom State, the government had left and we have noticed at the NWC level and the party level that there seemed not to be a difference between the members of the executive in that state and their alignment with the All Progressives Congress (APC). Section 10, subsection 6 of the party’s constitution says that no member of the party shall align with other parties or groups to undermine the party or any of its elected government. So, it is an anathema that you belong to two parties at the same time and you can’t even do that.
It is seen that the Akwa Ibom executive that you announced its change is being controlled by the governor who has gone to the APC?
We believe so and not only that, there have been public comments by the governor on tape. He says that he is going to be in charge of the two parties in the state. It is there in the public domain. Again, you referenced something about perception. The optics should be such that you can’t belong to two parties. Some behaviours that seem normal in this country and we are normalising them should not be condoned. You are either in PDP or you are in another party and we respect anybody’s decision to do what he or she likes. But to stay in one party and say you are aligning with another party, the NWC in its wisdom believes that’s not okay and it decided, look, for the peace and orderliness in Akwa Ibom State chapter. Majority of the people in Akwa Ibom State are PDP, but that is for them to make a determination. But as a party, the NWC in its wisdom considered all the issues. We didn’t just wake up one morning and make a decision. We said: What is the perception of members of the party in the state? Are we in this or not? We can’t be hermaphrodites. We are either PDP or we are not. And that is the only consideration. So, that is the distinction between Akwa Ibom State and Delta State that I referenced.
There are those who will say it’s a big failure for those of you who run the affairs of the party. How would you lose Delta, Akwa Ibom States and many members to the African Democratic Congress (ADC)?
I don’t know where you are getting these failures from. But I can tell you that this NWC has not failed. And when you say lost them, again, you will be taking away some of the dynamics that’s happening in this country today. 80 to 90 per cent of the so-called defections are not defections based on principles or policies. They are based on coercion and intimidation by the APC government. The reality is that facts are facts. The alternative facts cannot be the reality. We know what is happening; look at the issue of Osun State, it is either you join us or we are going to stress you even when the issues are clear, legally. So, please, look no further for the perceived failure of PDP. It is all about inducement, intimidation and harassment of the people.
Atiku Abubakar and Aminu Tambuwal used to be members of your party, were they coerced into the ADC because you’ve lost them as well?
I don’t speak for those individuals. I have said to you there are several considerations. Some were coerced, some moved by their personal interests. They might say we can’t stay with some people in a particular party but I can tell you that the only challenge why we are having the seeming disagreement at NWC is because the PDP is now stable. We can’t speak about PDP six months ago in this way. The PDP is stable now. We have people who are standing firm for the party and we are moving methodically and seamlessly towards the national convention and they are afraid that we have put ourselves together.
What of those who say that PDP is dead?
If the PDP is indeed dead, why are they still looking for the PDP? Why are they still interested? I am saying when people say the PDP is dead, why are they still interested and afraid of a dead party?
Is the Ibadan convention on track?
It is very much on track. In fact, the train to Ibadan has arrived in Ibadan in terms of venue, preparation, transportation and security.