PDP Lost Because it Didn’t Market its Achievements - Uzamere

ThisDayLive – Senator Ehigie Edobor Uzamare was in the Senate for eight years (2007-2015). A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State, he discusses the challenges his party faced in the last general election, and what the ruling All Progressive Congress  is not doing right. He spoke with Iyobosa Uwugiaren

Looking at the unfolding political events in the country today, what is your assessment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s activities?

I think it is too early to begin to assess the government of President Muhammadu Buhari; he has not been able to form his government. But as a party, it seems to me the All Progressive Congress (APC) does not have ideology; it is a party of about four political parties, and I think its leaders need to come together and ask themselves what they really want.

Senator Ehigie Uzamere

Some people think President Buhari is very slow. Do you share that view?

I don’t think President Buhari is slow; many Nigerians were carried away by APC’s slogan: ‘’change’’ before the last general election; unfortunately, they failed to ask for the meaning and definition of ‘’change’’ APC was talking about. What we are experiencing now is APC’s definition of ‘’change’’. But is the change positive or negative? Buhari is not slow; that is his style. He is a military General; if he decides to appoint his ministers next year – that is his decision. It is now left for Nigerians to decide whether this is the ‘’change’’ they voted for or not. For now, may be the ‘’change’’ APC has decided to give to Nigerians is ‘’Go-slow’’. We warned Nigerians against APC; my party PDP wanted drastic and positive change but Nigerians were deceived by APC.

But the thinking among people is that PDP was voted out in the last general election because your party was pushing Nigeria into its grave. So, which drastic change are you talking about?

In a democracy, people have different perspectives to issues; we have done 16 years and we shall see what APC will do in the next four years. It happened in Ghana, where a ruling party was voted out and opposition took over. But after four years of that regime, the opposition was rooted out again. What PDP needs to do now is to sit back, re-assesses itself and see what went wrong in the last general election. I sincerely believe PDP is still on ground and we will surely come back with full force with better strategies.

Why do you think it was easy for APC to defeat PDP in the last general election?

Our party failed to look at the ethnic configuration of the Nigerian politics. In spite of the huge agitation by many people from the North — that it was their turn to occupy the presidency, former President Goodluck Jonathan contested the presidential election and many northerners, including within PDP, worked against the party. That was where the problem came from; we failed to see the handwriting on the wall before the elections. However, we have put the issue behind us; Jonathan did his best for this nation and he has stepped aside. And we are waiting to see what the present administration will do. But, like I said, we have learnt our mistakes and we are ready to correct them and come back with full force.  Many of our leaders and well-known-politician are still in PDP; they have not left; they are comfortable as opposition members. And those who left out of annoyance will soon return. We do not loss because we failed to perform. We did very well. I think what went wrong was because we could not market our achievements very well to Nigerians and the international community, who had a misconception about Jonathan-led government. Again, many aides of former President Jonathan failed to advise him very well. If Jonathan was convinced he would not win the election, he wouldn’t have contested the election. As for Buhari, the ethnic and religious factors played a huge role in his victory; the entire north was in agreement over what they wanted and they got it.

So, you did not see the failure of PDP to tackle corruption and insecurity as major set-backs for PDP in the last general election?

In any advanced democracy in the world, it is the nation’s institutions that fight corruption and PDP-led government invested hugely in institutions to fight corruption. Different anti-corruption agencies like EFCC and ICPC were empowered to fight corruption, and if they failed or refused to do their jobs, should we blame Jonathan or PDP? No, you cannot blame Jonathan for not fighting corruption. This is democracy; you cannot just arrest anybody and put him in detention or prison without following due process all in the name of fighting corruption. In any case many people were arrested by EFCC and charged to court during Jonathan’s regime. I do not think Nigerians wanted him to interfere in the court trial process. In democracy, there is separation of power among the three arms of government.

Boko Haram has sustained its act of terror in Nigeria; do you think there is any change – in terms of strategy, between what former President Jonathan did and what Buhari is currently doing?

The difference is that a section of the international community led by US refused to support Jonathan’s effort to fight terrorism. And we do not know why they refused to offer support.  It will be difficult to fight terrorism in Nigeria without the support of the international community.

Let’s go to Edo State. In the next few months, the process for the governorship race in the state will start. How prepare is PDP?

We are currently reconciling aggrieved members of our party. A committee has been created to do that. Meanwhile, the party has already zoned the position to Edo South senatorial district. We are set to produce a credible candidate for the election. In the next two or three months, the process for the reconciliation will be completed. We are set to go.

Are you interested in the race?

I am currently consulting with leaders of my party and other stakeholders. I have what it takes to be the governor of Edo State. What I did in my eight years in the Senate will speak for me. I pray that the Almighty God will give our party leaders the wisdom to pick a credible candidate that will represent the PDP in the election. Because every one of us eying the position is qualified to be governor of Edo State. Unfortunately, every one of us cannot be governor at the same time. We are battled ready, so to say; we are going to approach our primaries in a mature way and I am sure the process will be transparent and credible. And once that is done every aspirant will congratulate the winner.

PDP Lost Because it Didn’t Market its Achievements - Uzamere