PDP Crisis’ll End Soon –Jalo

In this interview with JOHN ALECHENU, the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party,  Alhaji  Abubakar Jalo, speaks  on the efforts being made to resolve  the crisis rocking the party.

 

What is the way out of the current crisis of confidence between the party leadership and some aggrieved members, especially the seven governors? 

The Peoples Democratic Party under the leadership of the Dr. Bamanga Tukur came into office with what I call a three-point agenda, that is: Reconciliation, Transformation and Rebuilding the party. If you look at it, there is a popular saying in Hausa Language that duk lokachin da ka ga fada yakichi, yaki chinyewa to za’a shirya. When you translate it, it means, where there is a fight and it has not deteriorated to a level of hopelessness, certainly there is a way out. There will be reconciliation, and an agreement will be reached. Here I mean, as Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State rightly said the other day, the opposition will  be put to shame on the issue of the infighting within the PDP family by God’s grace. We are going to resolve our differences, that is what Lamido said.

This has also been re-echoed in the statement of Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State that they are loyal members of the party. Now that they have gone to Saudi Arabia for the Muslim pilgrimage, certainly one would expect that they went there to pray to God to accept our prayers for this reconciliation not to  fail so that we can build a stronger PDP under the leadership of Tukur. You know, a governor, who has done so well  cannot  go elsewhere where he will become irrelevant. For example, Lamido and Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State.  Kwankwaso is building a new Kano, for him to come and be subservient to Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu or any other person, you know that is difficult.

Then, with the track record of performance, they know that they stand a better chance of contributing more to the development of their individual states and even the nation when they remain in the PDP, a party they have a hand in building and nurturing to the level where it is now. Tukur as national chairman will not do anything that will spoil the chances of the party. You cannot expect a leader who has served successfully for eight years to come and serve a governor who may have done nothing compared to what you have done for your people within the  same period of time.

One thing most people don’t know is that neither the leadership of the party nor the aggrieved governors will succeed if the PDP loses elections at the federal level because no opposition party will take over power and say it will come and spare the leadership of the PDP and even the governors. In this light, it is better for you to go with the devil you know than to go with the angel you don’t know.

This is straightforward, this is something that is known to us and then if the PDP has a problem, it is the country that will have the problem. In this light, I am calling on the aggrieved governors to have a rethink, to pray in Saudi Arabia for this matter to die down.

Why is the problem proving to be an intractable one?

It is normal if one has a family, especially if you are married with four wives and have children, sometimes there are bound to be quarrels no matter your performance as the head of the  house, it is normal. The President has taken it upon himself to ensure that the PDP remains strong as one united family. That is why like the true father that he is, he cannot bear to see one of his children being thrown out of the house or leaving the house to a place where he will not be comfortable. No opposition party will get power after spending 16 years outside will call upon any other person, especially those who have kept them outside power to join them. Our prayer is for the PDP to retain the Presidency and the party should get more governors into the fold because infighting will not do us any good.

Is your party not nursing the fear that the opposition will succeed in luring these aggrieved members into their fold?

We have options A, B, C and so on and so forth. All this rush that people are expecting that something will go wrong within the PDP family, God’s willing nothing bad will happen only good things will happen, to the PDP.

All those who expect that because of the little disagreement we have in the party they can rush into other political parties so that they can be nominated as senators, members of the House of Representatives and so on, if eventually they lose, they will hurriedly come back. So, it is better right, for everyone of us to look at the efforts being made by the President, especially in his transformation agenda so that we can assist him to move this country forward.

Do you agree with those who say that the timing of the National Dialogue is a way by the Jonathan-led PDP administration to divert attention from more pressing issues?

No. Some people are condemning this national dialogue for nothing. What the President has done is to give a blanket cheque for all to come and speak out. He has not restricted the committee in terms of what it can or cannot discuss. The wisdom behind it is that any Nigerian who has wisdom can benefit from  the dialogue. You have a right to write, and to make submissions. It is only when Nigeria becomes healthy that the black race will be taken seriously.

What is your appeal to PDP members, who have formed a splinter group?

If you go to the opposition and form a faction you can succeed, it is normal because the opposition has no government. But where there is a sitting President for someone from the same political party to say he is going to form a faction, if that faction is recognised by INEC, it means that it is a coup d’état against the President.

Factionalisation can only succeed in a party which is outside power. But where a party (which has a sitting President in its fold) is in power and you recognise any other faction of the party; it means the President is no longer in control.

As far as we are concerned, and as far as Nigeria and Nigerians are concerned, President Goodluck Jonathan is President and Namadi Sambo is the Vice-President and Tukur remains the duly elected National Chairman of the PDP.

The ministers, all of us appointed by Mr. President including Baraje. Baraje and I are on the same board appointed by the President. If our board is not legally constituted with the Minister of Transport as the head who is subservient to the President, if we cannot recognise that we are members at the discretion of Mr. President, it means we have another President other than President Jonathan and that is to say, we have to resign because as it is now, we are products of Jonathan.  Baraje is fighting the cause of Senator Bukola Saraki who has a case with the EFCC.

The Kwara of Abubakar Saraki is not the Kwara of Bukola Saraki. If that state which is now under the PDP is lost to the opposition, that will be the end of the Saraki dynasty. What Abubakar Saraki did in his lifetime, Bukola cannot do.

So there is a need for Baraje and Bukola Saraki to have a rethink. In spite of the EFCC case against Saraki, he is still a Senator and if he can prove his case beyond reasonable doubt, he can continue with his life. It is better for him and Baraje to sheathe their swords and join us to build the party. Don’t forget, Baraje was the acting national chairman who stood firm and ensured that Tukur won the election. There are facts on ground, I was an ex-officio member when he was in office, and we knew what happened, this is a story for another day.