Godswill Akpabio, former governor of Akwa Ibom State, former chairman of PDP Caucus in the National Assembly and immediate past Minority Leader of the Senate, who recently defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, in an interview with select journalists in Abuja, claims that unlike what happened in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC will win South-East and South-South regions in 2019. JAMES KWEN was there and brings excerpts.
Looking at political developments in the country, especially as it relates to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), what are your projections for the coming elections?
I am not God and I am also not a prophet but sometimes God reveals things to people that he loves, and God loves me because I love God. The projection is that in spite of the political rigmarole going on in terms of alignments and realignments, 2019 victory belongs to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and, most especially, President Muhammadu Buhari will be returned for a second term in office. Why do I say so? I am saying so because God loves Nigeria. This is a man who has tried for so many years to be president of the country. One time he gave up and said he was no longer going. He thanked all his supporters but from nowhere, a group of people came together, some from PDP, some from ACN, some from his party the CPC and they went back to appeal to him to come and they even opted to buy a form for him. In spite of his resistance, he came and then, of course, confusion entered into the PDP family and the man emerged president of Nigeria. When he emerged, the incumbent president that time did not wait even for the final results of the election, he immediately called Buhari and congratulated him and Nigeria had a very smooth and peaceful transition. I believe that in 2015 we all had our ways, we all had our choices but God had his way. And when God has a hand in something, I believe he completes his projects; I don’t think God is a master of uncompleted projects. This was not the decision of man. This was a decision of God and, therefore, I believe God will give him second term through Nigerians. Why I could be bold enough to say so is that you can see the calibre of political personages that he has continued to attract despite the rigmarole by some members of his own political party, the APC.
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People are still wondering why you left PDP for APC considering your position in PDP while as governor and senator. What is the main reason you left PDP?
I left PDP in the national interest and I keep emphasizing this. I believe that the nation has to survive first before you can have election. If you saw what was going on in the country, there was an amalgam of forces trying to truncate the administration of President Buhari even before the election, but those conspiratorial actions were also capable of bringing democracy to an end. In other words, the intention then was to crash the government even before the election. The major forces including state governors of the APC extraction were defecting to my then party, the PDP, and this was capable of destabilizing the polity. At the time we had a lot of security issues in the country, when we were managing to contain most of the security problems from the North East, there was a major distraction coming. When I looked at it, I said that some of these characters were also the people who crashed the then PDP in 2014 and 2015. They did so not for national interest but for their personal interest, and they went with a man who has following, who starts election with 9 million votes in his pocket before elections because of the number of the less privileged people in the country that support him, and they won the elections. But the same people, probably because they were not satisfied or their aspirations were not met, came again and attempted to gang up and conspire not just to remove the president but to ensure the failure of the government even before the elections. So, there was need for us as people who have stake in the country to come out to stabilize the polity before the election. That was why I said I came out in the national interest. There was need for me to come out to support the president to stabilize the polity so we could have the elections next year. And when I was coming out, I pointed out that I would like to join conspiracy where we conspire to end Boko Haram, where we conspire to bring peace to the South East region, to end IPOB, to see the end of militancy and pipelines vandalism, to bring employment to Nigerians – not conspire to bring down government. It is not a good idea if people bring a government into being and turn around to conspire to ensure the failure of that government. So, when I saw the defections that were happening at that time, first in the Senate where we had almost 14 senators going at once, then the Senate president, the number three citizen, abandoning his party together with his governor, together with the governor of Sokoto, governor of Benue, and I could see more people that were going to defect, I saw the need for me to put an end to this. Sometimes people could be enjoying the movie that was going on in the political arena at that time but they would not know that the wider implication was an attempt to ensure the failure of the government before even the election. That was why I came out. And much later the Speaker of House of Representatives also defected. He no longer defected with 40, 50, 60 members as initially contemplated, he had to defect on the social media because after the uncommon defection that occurred with my emergence in the APC, I believe that any right-thinking Nigerian would have known that the pendulum has swung in favour of the APC more than 75 percent with just that singular defection.
There are fears even among your party members that Atiku Abubakar may end up defeating President Buhari in the coming elections. Do you share this view?
Who are some of the party members? Well, if Atiku were to defeat President Buhari, then the tsunami that is happening in many states, including Akwa Ibom, will not be happening. PDP members are moving in droves, in thousands on a daily basis declaring for the APC to support President Buhari. Does that not send the signal that all is not well? Even when the PDP organized their convention, didn’t you hear the confusion? Have you ever seen where you bring out a running mate and the whole region will reject the running mate? I don’t want you to dwell on the attitude of the speeches of the elite who have access to social media. There are a lot of people in the villages, farmers who know very well that President Buhari is a man of integrity, he loves Nigeria and if he has his way, this country will change for the better and, therefore, they will do everything to support him. I have no doubt in my mind that the APC and President Buhari will win in 2019. I know. Let me say that every politics is local; maybe my spirit is as result of what I see around the South-South region. Today, even when we are complaining, we have three senators in APC from in Rivers State. The last senator, Osi Odegwu, has just defect from PDP to APC. So, after the PDP convention in Port Harcourt, the senator representing Port Harcourt defected to APC. It tells you there is something he saw. You come to Akwa Ibom that we never had even a councillor, we have two senators, at least three or four members of the House of Representatives, and then we have many members of the House of Assembly. Politics is about people. As I speak, the deputy chairman of PDP in Akwa Ibom State has decamped, and many commissioners and special assistants have left the government. In fact, the latest one that left was Special Assistant on Electoral Matters. Have you heard thousands of PDP members defecting to APC on account of the convention that produced their candidates? Every day you hear PDP members dumping their party to go and join APC. What does that tell you? That should signal the fact that it is almost impossible for the PDP to win election today. I am in the centre of it and I know. My wife is from the South East. I talk to the people from the South East; I talk to the governors of South East. I talk to the people of South South. I was privileged to also make contributions to their emergence when I was a major PDP chieftain. I was chairman of PDP Governors in 2015, so if I am talking to you please take it seriously. Even the governors of South South are talking to me and asking me what percentage they can give the president, not to talk of the governors of the South-East. So, my belief is strong.
Let’s look at it from the angle that in 2015 the president did not make much impact in the South-East/South-South because a son of the soil, President Jonathan, was contesting, but in 2019, the entire South-East and South-South is a battleground for both PDP and APC and APC has upper hand. I don’t know how much impact they have been able to make in the North. As far as PDP is concerned, I don’t think they made any impact in the North. I have not seen. Even in Sokoto, there was no major earthquake when the governor left, it was as if he left alone with some commissioners, I hope you know that. And then, you go to a place like Kano where Ganduje seemed to have had a problem, but what has happened? Shekarau, former governor, has left PDP and gone back to APC with a lot of people and today he is a senatorial candidate and you are telling me that PDP is going to win. Win where? When we came in 2015, PDP was in control of Ondo State. Who is controlling Ondo State today? Is it not APC? Ekiti State was controlled by PDP. Which party is controlling Ekiti State today? Is it not APC? As I speak, APC is also in control of Osun State. In the South-South, APC is still in control of Edo State. Instead of PDP making gains, it has lost. Of course, you know that the people of Kwara may not necessarily be with their leaders. That the leaders left does not mean the ordinary people in Kwara left. No. The ambition of my brother, the governor of Sokoto, who was contesting for the presidential ticket of the PDP made him leave, not the people of Sokoto. So, I haven’t seen much impact that PDP has made in any state in the North West with 18 million votes. I haven’t seen any much impact it has made in any state in the North-East outside Taraba that they control. Even Adamawa, the governor is still in APC, Yobe is still in APC, Borno is still APC, Plateau is still in APC, Senator Akume and others in Benue are still in APC. The whole South-West now, is there any state that is still controlled by PDP? So, I believe that the APC has even gained more than it had in 2015. I don’t know how you do your own calculation. You come to South-South that was totally PDP in 2015 today, unless you don’t read the political barometer very well, you think that all the movements you are having in Akwa Ibom with thousands of people, in Rivers State, in Bayelsa, in Cross River State, you think these things are for nothing sake? Can you expect President Buhari to lose election? Well, our people are very determined to link with the national politics. We are minorities and we never believe in opposition politics and so our people are very determined and that is why they are happy with me that I am taking them to the centre politics of Nigeria so that they can join and contribute their quota. The region that brings out the resources that run the country cannot afford to be in opposition.
Your explanation differs from what people said are the main reasons you left PDP. It has been argued that you ran to APC for the fear of EFFC and that Governor Emmanuel Udom was going to deny you re-election ticket in PDP. Is that true?
If Godswill Akpabio, the former governor of Akwa Ibom State, so much loved by his people decides that he is going to APC, it means that thousands of Akwa Ibom people who believe in him were impressed by his uncommon transformation are also going along with him. When I was declaring for the APC, I did not give invitation to anybody but didn’t you see the thousands of people? That is actually the effect of Godswill Akabio defecting. Coming to your question about defecting because of corruption, in fact, the law firm that wrote petition against me to the EFCC just gave me an award in BON Hotel. The reality is that the head of the firm was being used and then realized that those allegations did not carry any atom of evidence and so he withdrew his petition before the EFCC. The boy went and swore an affidavit in the court that he was withdrawing the petition voluntarily. So, there is nothing like me defecting because of EFCC harassment. If I had to leave PDP because of EFCC harassment, I would have said no because former Governor Dariye who left PDP and went to APC, where is he today? Unfortunately, he was jailed even though his case is on appeal, so also a lot of people who have left and have corruption cases are still answering. Seeing such experience, will you want to run into APC? It is not a sanctuary for you to hide. So, I don’t think people should link my movement with either ticket or EFCC because some people do things on the basis of their personal conviction. I was a ticket giver in the PDP. I actually come from a senatorial district that my people have a lot of respect for me and they even show it. The entire opposition in Akwa Ibom state, APC was formed against me as a governor so when I went there they were overjoyed, it was like reconciliation and they honoured me. There were about two people who bought forms for senate, I also bought form for the senate and the two persons stepped down to honour me, so I was unopposed. In the PDP, nobody would have bought form against me in my senatorial district.
What have been your achievements in the National Assembly in the past three years?
I don’t like to be boastful, I believe that when you are in leadership, you really have to help to make sure that things function well. When you have a specific role, you must set up certain specific motions and also make your contributions. Many
of us don’t just sit there in the National Assembly. On a personal note, I think my people never had this kind of representation before. In my many senatorial briefings I highlight what and what I have been able to do for my people. The major one I will remember is that within two years I was able to do constituency projects that were earthshaking. We trained over 1,600 people in different skills and the first year we did the training, I also gave them money to buy implements and thereafter did a major empowerment project nobody has ever seen. It cost over N2.6 billion and I thank President Buhari for the assistance because most of these things came from various agencies. At the same time, we gave out buses to about 274 young people and then we also gave out scholarships to university students, about 20 of them that will take up to masters level. I have 10 local government areas, so if you look at that, it means at least 27 per local government and that was in the first phase and I have helped a lot of them to also secure employment by making recommendations here and there. At the same time, I gave about N250,000 grant to about 430 of my people, majority of them women, to assist them in agriculture and also for those who are involved in one kind of trade or another. I also have at least 68 constituency projects and some of them have to do with solar-powered boreholes. We also built at least two market stores per local government area; the first set was about 20 and now we have increased the number. And then we have six classroom blocks completed with solar-powered boreholes and electricity in all the local government areas in my senatorial district. As I am talking to you, there are so many other uncompleted projects yet to be commissioned, classrooms, water, electrification and all that, giving transformers to some places. So, as I said, 68 projects and still counting under constituency projects. I am not actually that senator who sits in Abuja. Monthly, I meet with either stakeholders, youths in my area or women. I am a grassroots politician; I am very close to my people, that is why I got effective representation.
Some alleged that you are trying to wage war against your perceived enemies in your state. What is your reaction to this?
The APC in Akwa Ibom is actually the victim but the facts on ground are different. I am not trying to wage a war, it is based on understanding. I always tell people that the person who reports a case to the police station does not always win when serious investigation is done. The DG of the PDP campaign in Akwa Ibom, a retired air commodore, made a statement on the 5th of August, 2018 during a town hall meeting when the rumours hit town that I may be entering APC. He said, ‘Your Excellency, this is the time to recruit your own army. It is going to be war and survival of the fittest and it will be winner-take-all’. So, when I met with stakeholders of the APC after my defection, they asked, ‘How do we prepare ourselves for this impending war that PDP has already declared on APC?’ What I told my people was that they should behave like the shrub. When the hurricane is coming, the shrubs will bend and the hurricane will pass but those that get cut down are the iroko trees and palm trees that refuse to bend. We must bend for them, we must be meek and mild because victory belongs to God. That was what I told my people.
