Ex-PDP Govs Will Fail In APC — Babatope

Third Republic minister and member of Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Ebenezer Babatope, in this interview with LEKE BAIYEWU, says the G-7 governors who defected to the opposition party, All Progressives Congress, will soon meet their waterloo

What do you think is happening to the Peoples Democratic Party, particularly with the defection of five governors to an opposition party?

We are only relying on what the media have reported on the event. The media have reported that these people (governors) said they have merged with the All Progressives Congress and we are hearing some discordant notes among them. All we know is that the Nigerian media reported that the G-7 governors, who have been revolting for some time in the PDP, have declared that they want to join the APC. They have the democratic freedom to go to any party they want to go and it has no impact on the PDP operations now or in the future.

Don’t you think their departure is a big minus to the PDP?

Nobody wants dismemberment of the party; nobody wants them to leave. But if they want to leave, there is nothing anybody can do about it. We cannot hold them; they are adults and it shows that they know what they are doing. What I can assure Nigerians is that we in the PDP are not going to be deterred by whatever they are doing. We will go ahead and organise ourselves like we have never done before, and ensure that the party is strong enough to win elections in 2015.

As a leader of the party, would you advise that the PDP executive and the Presidency should continue with the peace talks between them and the aggrieved governors?

The PDP has never closed its doors to negotiations. It has always announced that it wants to meet with these people and hold negotiations with them because we want them to remain in the party. What is happening is that it appears that they have planned this for a very long time and they are playing it out stage by stage. The Presidency has never renounced negotiation. The President (Goodluck Jonathan) is ever ready to talk with them and I know that there are some of them too who would be prepared to listen and ensure that there is peace between the party and themselves. They made the case worse by floating their own party and joining the APC. And they are not even sure of the future of the APC itself. The APC itself, with the confusion within it, will go into extinction anytime from now. That is why the English will say: ‘The devil you know is better than the angel you’ve never met.’

How true is the insinuation that there is a northern agenda behind this and that the rebel governors have the backing of some northern political powerbrokers?

I will not say so. In the 2011 elections, the PDP lost the presidential election in five of the seven states governed by these same people. If they want to create that scenario again – this is not the worst that will happen to us – we can throw them away like it was before. But I can assure you that the PDP will secure the required 25 per cent (votes) in those states or more. What this development has taught us is that we should now increase our political organisation all over Nigeria at a very early stage and we will not underestimate the potentials of the APC.

Some people have blamed the PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, for being harsh to the aggrieved governors rather than pacifying them. Is this true?

It is not an issue of individuals. Tukur is an individual even though he is the national chairman of the party. But his actions cannot be those solely thought out by him. It would be wrong for anybody to say that Tukur caused what is happening. Let me use myself as an example. I contested for the national secretary of the party and they denied me. It teaches that the party is above the interests of individuals. Whatever  I want to become can’t be declared by myself. Whatever happened, those who have gone to the APC should have exercised patience, and by doing so, they would have won the race and the battle. By dumping patience and jumping into the APC, they have shot themselves in the foot and it is a pity. They are in a wild goose chase in a party organisation such as the APC.

Would you agree that the APC is a threat to your dominance of the PDP in the National Assembly, particularly in the House of Representatives?

Not, at all. The National Assembly members, particularly those in the House of Representatives can declare their membership of any political party and they can remain in the PDP. However, if they decide to jump the ship and join the APC, I wish them good luck. Nobody should be embarrassed by whatever they do. Whatever number they are in the House of Representatives does not amount to  dominance over the PDP in Nigeria. We are not afraid at all.

Don’t you think there is danger for the PDP ahead of the 2015 elections?

We are not afraid of the 2015 elections. You will see what is going to happen. We will work harder; we will not underrate Nigerians and we will ensure that we organise ourselves like we have never done before. Like I told you, in 2011, we lost five of the states these people (G-7 governors) come from. They cannot do more than that. Let’s watch the events as they unfold. We must also note one fact; no organised intrusion of any group within a political party has ever succeeded, either here or abroad.

Governors Babangida Aliyu (Niger State) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa State) have distanced themselves from the defection. What do you think could have been responsible for their decision?

I place no premium on the statements made by Lamido and Aliyu. They are individuals; they can do whatever they want to do. If they want to change their decisions tomorrow, they can go ahead. But for Lamido, I will be extremely baffled and be too surprised if the ideological Lamido decides to go and join them. Lamido is a political son of late Aminu Kano, the leader of the noble Peoples’ Redemption Party. Lamido is ideologically too beautiful to announce his movement into a political party that contains those kinds of people we are seeing. For him, I can be too surprised he decided to go. But if at the end of the day he goes, so he goes. The PDP will not be worried by it; it will move on, move ahead and ensure that we win elections.

One the grievances of those in the breakaway faction, New PDP, is that there is injustice in the PDP. What are you doing as a party to ensure that you don’t lose more members due to that?

I can assure you that whatever issues we have with the party will be taken care of by the party. But how are they sure that there are no worse cases of injustice in the party they are going to? We have seen a former chairman of the PDP who joined them, where is he today? There are so many cases from which you can cite examples of people who have moved from the PDP to join them and who are now lamenting that they should have not joined them. Let us leave them. When they get there, they will know what they are to face. That is why I said that the devil you know is better than the angel you have never met.