Honourable Jungudo Mohammed
The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caretaker Committee, Honourable Jungudo Mohammed, in this interview with JOHN AMEH, speaks on current disarray in the party, the search for recovery, the role of governors and FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike. Excerpts:
THE PDP once boasted it would rule Nigeria for at least 60 unbroken years, but right now it appears we don’t even have a party. What’s your take on this?
How can you say we don’t even have a party? You just addressed me as the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP and at the same time saying that we don’t have a party.
It is natural to have misunderstandings and disagreements and of course even crisis in the party but that is not to say there is no party. It is only INEC that is authorised by law to declare that PDP is not a political party and not citizens of this country. As you can see INEC has not said so, they have in fact not only recognised us but also invited us as the PDP to take part in the quarterly strategic meeting with party stakeholders. So as regards the issue of PDP having boasted of ruling this country for 60 years or so, well, it is unfortunate that such a plan has been broken by internal interest and internal squabbles, but it is only going to make us understand ourselves better and learn internal democracies better. So I want to believe that democracy itself in Nigeria is somehow evolving and is developing; so as time goes on there will be a day that even if we don’t rule for 60 years, we will at least take over power and stay for a considerable number of years.
The APC has been ruling for a number of years now, do you see the PDP competing favourably in 2027 considering that it is fighting from a very weak ground?
The crisis in the PDP is not one which has affected the structures of the party at the ward and state level to a very large extent. The major issues are basically at the national working committee level and I can tell you that all the state structures are very much ready to align with the particular leadership that will be fully recognised by INEC and fully recognised by court; so in the event that the national leadership issues have been resolved finally the structures are there well positioned and well ready to slog it out with the APC. I can tell you authoritatively that we are very much ready and very much strong enough to participate in the 2027 elections and indeed even give APC a run for their money.
But, many Nigerians think otherwise because they believe the PDP can’t go to an election factionalised, what do you see to that?
Yes, looking at the present circumstances, it is normal for Nigerians not to have confidence in the PDP. But for those who are very much familiar with the facts of the issues, they remain very hopeful and they remain very confident that the issues will be resolved. And I can tell you that the PDP will not go into the 2027 elections factionalised. As it stands today, the only recognised leadership of the party is the one held by Abdulrahman Mohammed. And if elections were to be held today, it is that which Abdulrahman Mohammed and Senator Samuel Anyanwu, who recognises and forwarded their names to INEC that will be recognised by INEC and will be on the ballot. So I don’t see how we can go into the elections factionalised.
However, we may go into the elections with a fraction, you know, a fraction of our members who will be aggrieved and possibly not even support the party. But I know that for the APC, there will be an implosion, indeed the ADC as well. So, PDP will be a fallback for all these people. And I can assure you that before the window closes for the submission of names to INEC, we will come out stronger and better.
Did the Ibadan Federal High Court judgment really mean the caretaker committee led by Abdulrahman Mohammed should take charge of PDP?
No, not at all, the Federal High Court Ibadan could not have been making a reference to a caretaker committee that is not in existence. First you have to go and even look at who are the parties to the suit. The parties to the suit filed by the Kabiru Tanimuât™s people, who, you know, said PDP as the plaintiff. And then the defendants in that case, or respondents, INEC, then Abdulrahman Mohammed, who joined as an interested party, Senator Anyanwu equally joined as an interested party; Senator Mao Ohanbuwa as chairman BoT; Honourable Austin Nwachukwu also joined, Amma Ibrahim; Nana Antona George -all these people joined as interested parties. And the court admitted and granted them and they became part of that suit.
So they drew the attention of the court to the fact that they are the present leadership of the PDP in the caretaker committee status. So the court could not have recognised a different body other than this. And the court could not have envisaged or advised the party to go and form a caretaker committee. It is not the business of the court to do that, but for the court to interpret the facts before them. Abdurrahman and other people who joined the suit clearly told the court that already the tenure of Damagum, when it was about to expire in less than 48 hours, in a bid not to allow a vacuum, a caretaker committee has been constituted and they are already steering the affairs of the party. So that was why the court found the basis for which it recognised and gave powers to that particular caretaker committee.
From 10 to 12 governors, PDP can’t be sure of three anymore, Isn’t that a testimony to the fact that the party is going out of relevance fast, why does everybody want to be in APC?
On why governors are leaving, I cannot speak for them. I don’t know but it is within their rights and, if I may add, some of them are not so sure of whether the crisis in the PDP will be resolved or not and most of them are governors seeking a second term so they had to quickly find out how to deal with the crisis in the PDP in the build up to the 2027 election. But I can tell you that it is a matter of time. Already the APC has told them that tickets are not automatic, you have to face the primaries and once some of them lose out they will come back home so we will have these governors. Even though we know it’s not just governors, a lot of people are also living in groups.
Yes, most of them are people holding elective positions, National Assembly members. And like I said earlier on, people do not have confidence that these issues will be resolved in the courts. But I can tell you that these matters will be resolved in the shortest possible time and we will emerge victorious. And these people who have ported, have decamped, they are so much in love with the PDP, they will come back.
So it’s just basically a matter of fear of the unknown. Not that necessarily they don’t like the PDP; it’s just fear of the unknown.