Culled From Punch Nigeria.
In this interview with OLUSOLA FABIYI, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Dakuku Peterside, speaks about the crisis in Rivers State and the PDP. Excerpts:
The Rivers State we used to know was a peaceful one, but peace appears to have now eluded it, what happened?
Rivers State is the second largest economy in the country after Lagos State. I still feel proud coming from the state. The state has decent and contented people. It is one of the most decent societies in Nigeria. But unfortunately things have degenerated to this level where violence rules instead of reason.
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How do you reconcile the recent behaviour of members of the State House of Assembly with your description of the state?
What has happened in Rivers State is that some external forces who are hell-bent on controlling the resources of Rivers people, controlling the economy of the people and the politics, have found allies among the rank and file of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state. They have also set out to truncate the will, aspiration, hope and dream of Rivers people. That is what is playing out now. You can see very clearly. There are two strands of problems going on in the state. The first one is the external wing of the struggle and the other one is the internal wing of the struggle aimed at displacing the government in the state so that they can have access to the resources of the state and run it the way it pleases them. The resistance by the people is the product of what you are seen.
Who are these outsiders?
I would rather do an analogy and allow you draw that conclusion. There were several attempts to muster the oil wells that belong to the people of Rivers State. That was not done by the Rivers people. There was an attempt to stop Governor Rotimi Amachi from contesting the chairmanship of Nigeria Governors’ Forum. Yet, he contested that election and triumphed and was elected by 19 of his colleagues against 16 by his closest rival, Governor Jonah Jang. That was also not done by the Rivers people. There were several projects approved earlier by the President Umaru Yar’Adua administration for Rivers State. After his death, all those projects were removed from the state. That was not done by Rivers people as well. Now, for emerging the chairman of the NGF, the National Working Committee of the PDP pretentiously said that they were asking the governor to reinstate the chairman of Obiokpor Local Government Council he did not suspend. They suspended the governor from the party that also was not done by the people of Rivers State.
With this analogy, people may say you are referring to the national leadership of the PDP and the Presidency?
You may not be far from the truth.
What are these projects that were approved by the Yar’Adua administration but were later cancelled?
I don’t want to talk about that now until the appropriate time.
Rivers State is known as PDP state. Why is it difficult for leaders of the party to amicably resolve the crisis?
It is quest for power and desperation to retain power at the centre. These are the two great factors that combined to destroy the strong foundations PDP had in Rivers State.
As it is now, will it be correct to say that the governor has lost control of the party in the state?
That is not true. The governor may have lost superficial control of the structure of the state executive committee of the party, but he has control of the local government and the grassroots in the state. In fact, 98 per cent of the membership of the party are still loyal to the governor and look forward to him for direction. So, it is wrong to say he has lost control of the party in the state.
People are asking why must the governor be the chairman of the NGF?
He has the right to vote and be voted for. In exercising that right, he put himself forward and his colleagues voted for him to be their chairman. He has a sacred mandate and we expect him to protect it.
Some people said he should have listened to his party and shouldn’t have contested?
In the NGF, the issue is not party. The governors are there as governors and not as governors of a particular party. It is not a party business. In the constitution of the PDP, you cannot find anywhere where you talk about the NGF or the PDP Governors’ Forum. Should PDP tell lawyers, tell doctors, tell journalists who to choose as their leaders? The answer is no!
Do you agree with those who say that the crisis has to do with 2015 presidential election?
That is very true.
…And that Governor Amaechi is working against the interest of President Goodluck Jonathan?
That is not true. It is not. I have said it before that there is a perception by some people around the President that Governor Rotimi Amaechi wants to contest as vice-president. Do you contest vice-presidency? The answer is no. Moreover, the governor has said that he is not aspiring for such office. He said he has never discussed that with anybody and has never held any such meeting, but they will never listen because, it serves their interest to sell to some forces within the Presidency so that their own interest not that of the president could be served. These people do not mean well for the president. He is being misadvised. They are selling a dummy to him to serve their own interest.
Why has it been difficult for the President to get to know this?
Well, you put that question to the President.
The wife of the President recently blamed elders in the state for fuelling the crisis. What are the elders doing to restore peace in the state?
Nigerians are very discerning and they know when they see the hands of Esau and the voice of Jacob. Nigerians cannot be easily deceived. All I know and I am sure of is that all of us will face God at some point when we die.
She is a stakeholder in the state, don’t you agree?
Yes, she is a stakeholder in every part of the country. Yes, she is from the state. No problem. But her greatest concern should be for peace. Her greatest concern as a mother should be for the development of Rivers State. We expect that she should use her position to attract projects to the state. If she is doing that, her conscience would tell her and if she is not doing that, her conscience would prick her.
Will the governors support President Jonathan in 2015?
The President has not said he is aspiring.
Can’t you read his body language?
I can’t. I have not mastered the act of reading body language.
Some people from your state protested against the recent visit of some northern governors to Amaechi. Do you think this action could spark off security problems in the country?
I can describe it as barbaric, primitive and most unfortunate. It portends danger for our democracy and the continued unity of Nigeria. Some people hired thugs and ex-militants with the protection of the commissioner of police, to go and embarrass governors at the airport. That is most unfortunate and barbaric. You expect these people to visit Kano, Jigawa and other states where these governors who were embarrassed come from? Danger is staring us in the face. The other day, ex-militants took over the streets of Port Harcourt and the police did not do anything about it. They went and recruited them and took them to the Rivers State House of Assembly to use six lawmakers to sack 27. Yet, there was nothing wrong with it.
What is the way out?
Leaders should come out and behave as leaders. We don’t have leaders in the PDP; we only have authority figures. Until people begin to offer leadership, until people begin to act as statesmen, we will continue to slide into anarchy.
True talk.
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