Senator Hope Uzodimma who represents Imo West Senatorial
District and Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff, is
a member of the Board of
Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He
spoke to reporters recently on the challenges in his party, his governorship
ambition and other issues.
There
are speculations that you plan to contest for the Imo governorship seat in
2019, and it is causing crisis in your state’s chapter of PDP. How true is
this?
I am happy
that you said they are speculations, meaning that people are just guessing.
There is no way something that is not yet certain can be the cause of our
differences. We should look for concrete issues to address, not mere
speculations. I have not told anybody that I will run for governor in 2019 but
since you are talking about it, why should my own speculated ambition be the
issue? Are there no other people in the Imo PDP that have governorship
ambitions even if it is also in the realm of speculation?
Maybe
it is because you come from the zone that has produced the most
governors?
It is wrong to
say that any zone has monopolized the governorship seat in Imo State. What we
have are the forces of democracy at work. In 2007, the forces of democracy took
the governorship seat to Okigwe zone. In 2011, the same forces of democracy
were at play. You saw what happened in 2015, the PDP governorship standard
bearer who is from Owerri zone got a lot of support from even the same Orlu
zone we are talking about. When you say monopolize, it would appear as if some
people sat down somewhere and said, “We hereby monopolize the governorship
position”. It must be made clear that no zone in Imo can win the governorship
seat without the support of others. Imo people generally are desirous of having
the governorship seat go around and I believe we will get there, but we should
not make enmity over that. I personally stayed away from contesting the
governorship contest in 2015 because of the same sentiments. We are concerned
about the survival of our party. Yes, we are all brothers and sisters from the
same state but we are talking about party politics. Democracy is hinged on
party politics.
In Imo, we
have to make PDP survive first and for that to happen, we have to go beyond
sentiments. As I noted earlier, we all saw what happened in 2015. People across
the state expressed sentiments that the governorship seat should go outside
Orlu Zone but that was not enough. So, this time around, we have to go beyond
that. The party must look for a candidate that has the structure to win the
governorship election for it. I am not saying that I am the one, but what I am
saying is that in that context, it means that we cannot limit ourselves to
geographical delineations. For 2019, so much will be at stake for both the PDP
and the entire state that there will be need for pragmatism. Like I said
before, we are all one and for there to be equality, there must be stability.
We have to see ourselves first as one people, not necessarily on the basis of
zones, to be able to make progress. You can see that the insistence that the
governorship seat must rotate has tended to destabilize the state. We have to
find some stability by looking at the state as one constituency. As I said
earlier, the same forces of democracy will eventually restore rotation and at
that time, it will be effortless.
How
true is it that you plan to dump the PDP?
The true
position is that there are no such plans by me to leave the PDP. Those are mere
speculations. I have no plans to leave the PDP. What am I leaving PDP for?
People move from one party to another out of desperation in search of political
office or patronage from those in power. But personally, I have nothing more to
prove. Even if I do not go beyond where I am today, I am completely satisfied
with what God has done for me. I have been elected senator twice by my people.
God in His infinite mercies has blessed me and I am not complaining, though, I
have become poorer since coming into politics proper. So, I am not desperate
for anything to warrant going from one party to another. Rather, I am taking it
as a challenge to ensure that PDP bounces back. It doesn’t matter how long it
takes but I am personally determined to stick to the party that gave me the
opportunity to serve.
The
rumour is probably based on the crisis which seems to have defied solution.
It is not true
that the problem of the PDP has defied a solution. A solution is in the offing,
in the sense that very soon our other brothers and sisters will express their
support for Senator Ali Modu Sheriff’s leadership and we will move ahead. From
the present situation, will rise a greater PDP. What we are witnessing today is
only a reflection of the fact that the PDP is a citadel of democracy in which
different interests want to make their voices known. I want Nigerians to
realize the fact that for a party that exercised power for over 16 years, a lot
of powerful blocs had been created, each with its understanding of how things
should be done. Nigerians should remain steadfast in their support for the PDP
because what is happening in our party is temporary. PDP has what it takes to
grow democracy in Nigeria. This is our longest republic since independence and
it is to the credit of the PDP that our democracy has been sustained this long.
Under the PDP, Nigeria produced three different presidents through a democratic
process. The party supervised an election from which power transited from one
political party to another, for the first time in Africa. Remember that before
the 2015 general election, there were all sorts of speculations that Nigeria
will collapse. But that did not happen and the credit goes to the PDP.
There
is this speculation about a mega party being put together by the Makarfi-led
faction in conjunction with other top politicians in the APC. Is your own
faction not frightened by that?
PDP is
recognized as one corporate entity, not two. So, any other party can only merge
with the PDP as one corporate entity, not with a part of it. So, there is no
fear. Politicians in APC or whatever party know that for the mega party
idea to work, there has to be involved the entire PDP which is the
only party apart from the APC that has a national structure as of today.
Nigerians would rather prefer that the PDP remains on its own. There really can
be no mega party that can be bigger than the PDP. But, of course, politics is a
dynamic thing and ideas rule the world.
Let’s
come to your state, Imo. The people, I mean the members and supporters of the
party in the state are confused and afraid. What do you have to tell them?
Let me ask
you, is anybody still occupying the party secretariat at 47 Okigwe Road,
Owerri? If your answer is yes and you know it is yes, then that is where to
find the leadership of the party in Imo state. You should ask yourself why the
others who claim leadership of the party are not operating from the registered
secretariat of the party. The other so-called groups have no addresses and you
cannot lead a party or a people by being a fugitive. So, if they are genuine
members of the party, let them return to the known address of the party so that
together we can build the party.
Are you
not worried that PDP members may begin to leave in droves out of anger and
frustration?
Where will
they leave to? If they would leave, they would have done so long before now. It
is not a hidden matter that Imolites are not enthusiastic about any other
political party than the PDP because of the character of leaders of other
parties in the state. Of all people in Nigeria, Imo people are perhaps the most
progressive. They will not follow a party that has shown gross insensitivity to
the feelings of Imo people.
I can assure
our teeming members and supporters that PDP remains their best bet. I thank
them for their support and solidarity with the party.
They should
remain steadfast and resilient. We will soon overcome.
There
is the talk that even if reconciliation takes place at the national level, it
will be difficult if not impossible to achieve such in Imo. What do you have to
say about this?
There is
nothing to reconcile in Imo. I told you earlier where to find the leadership of
the PDP in Imo state. That is where ultimately everybody will return to.
Contrary to the fear you have just expressed, the Imo matter is quite easy and
simple to handle because the people know where to find their leaders in the
state.
By the grace
of God, I am the most senior political office holder on the platform of the PDP
in Imo State today, being a ranking senator with due respect to my colleague,
Senator Samuel Anyanwu. Together, we are the party’s highest representatives
from the state. It is therefore wrong to ask members of the party in the
state to look elsewhere for leadership. The Imo people don’t do things like
that. So, that is where we are now and like I said earlier, the PDP leadership
in Imo State is one and the same. People know where to find their leaders; not
in make shift attachments scattered all over Owerri.
SUNNEWS
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