Ini Ememobong is the publicity secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State. Before his election to that position, he had served as the president of the National Association of Nigerian Students. ‘ In this interview with ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK on the sidelines of a two-day workshop for elected councilors in Uyo, he speaks on how the PDP was able to secure victory in the just concluded elections in the state; steps being taken by the party to consolidate power and how the party intends to respond to litigations at the election petition tribunal. Excerpts:
How was the PDP able to win so massively in the just concluded elections?
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won massively because they put their hope and trust in God and not man. Having put their hope and trust in God, they also used Biblical principles which say that faith without work is dead. So they went to work. PDP was working in the units, working door-to-door, working in wards, working in chapters, was doing massive campaigns and talking to the people in all the things they wanted to do, answering questions, touching hearts and receiving hugs. Keeping God in front and keeping hard work behind created a complete cart. God pulled the cart and granted success.
Did the party anticipate it was going to win with such a wide margin?
Yes, we believed that the party was going to win because the indices were there. Immediately the opposition hinged all their strategies on men, I knew that the elections were won. Immediately they promoted people beyond human capacity and began to deify them, I knew clearly that it was a struggle between humanity and God and therefore, when divinity confronts humanity, humanity will be consumed by divinity. So, I knew that the PDP was going to win because of the level of work, we did the comparative analysis based on the level of work my party was doing side by side with what other parties were doing and we saw that we were miles ahead and there were clear cut indications. The people who manned units, majority of the people were with us. We continued to give the assurances that all will be well.
After the elections, much is expected from the PDP-led government. What role will the party play in ensuring that the expectations of the people are met?
We know that the governor will do everything humanly possible to fulfill his campaign promises. We saw him doing that in his first term even in the midst of the recession. We are trusting God that he will meet his obligations. The governor is also a person who thinks out of the box to find alternative resources. That is why you can find out that we are using alternative funding to construct roads in the state. If we were depending only on federal allocations, it would not have been possible to construct even one kilometer of road in the state. I am sure that the governor will find alternative means to meet his campaign promises.
The opposition party is heading to the tribunal to challenge the result of the elections, how prepared is the PDP for the fireworks at the tribunal?
The tribunal is meant for those who do not feel okay with the result. It is their constitutional right to do so. Evidence cannot be evidence until admitted by court. It must be admitted and marked by the court of competent jurisdiction. Let them gather the evidence, we will meet them at the tribunal and we are also prepared, whatever they call evidence, we are there. The evidence they claim they have will pass through the funnel of evidence as currently enforceable in the country. As a party, ours is to say thank you to a lot of people who were part of the processes.
People have already started agitation about which federal constituency in Akwa Ibom North East senatorial district will take a shot at the governorship in 2023, is it not too early?
My party has issued a statement on this issue. It is too early to talk about 2023. We have not even finished 2019. The governor has not even entered 2019 politically. This discussion on 2023 is diversionary. It is divisive. Those are tactics by people who ply their trade in supporting people. And this has become an occupation for them. They think that if the system runs without actively supporting a particular candidate or aspirant, they cannot make money out of it. Therefore, you begin to say ‘I stand with this,’ you have discriminated against the other people. People have just received mandate for 2019 to 2023 and are yet to be sworn -in, why would you not allow people to get the benefit of the present mandate rather than talking about 2023. It is terrible and divisive. It is also an indication of lack of work and lack of political awareness. It is an indication of a dubious mindset of the proponents. The year 2023 is too far to be a distraction.
Does this not show lack of cohesion within your party?
No it is not. It is not the party’s position. People are trying to push the idea. It is not the party that is asking people to start the discussion on 2023. It is from people who feel they will benefit from the position of supporting the aspiration of a particular person. The people think that if they cannot stand on someone, they cannot stand on their own, so they must permanently look for someone to stand with.
Now that your party has won, is it thinking of taking another look at the political configuration in terms of where the key elected officers are drawn from?
Your register in journalism is not the same in the aviation sector. For example, the same type of thing that you call road, in the airport is called taxi way or run way. Therefore, you cannot be using airport register for land transportation. You cannot be using cultural tribe register to discuss politics. Politics knows wards, it knows units, it knows local government, it knows state constituency, federal constituency, senatorial districts, states and the nation. So you cannot be telling me tribe in politics. It does not make sense. The governor is from Akwa Ibom South senatorial district. The deputy is from Akwa Ibom North West senatorial district, the speaker is from Akwa Ibom North East. The constitution frowns against the discrimination of people on the basis of where they come from. That is why zoning is not based on ethnic consideration but on political units. You cannot use tribe to check delineation. If you go there, you will be talking about the many tribes in Akwa Ibom and how governorship should rotate among those many tribes.
So what is the party going to do to assuage the feelings of some people in Akwa Ibom South senatorial district?
In Akwa Ibom South senatorial district, the governor is from there, the senator is from there, newly elected, Akong Eyakenyi. In Akwa Ibom South, the South-South publicity secretary of the party is from there. When the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was under the PDP, the commissioner of the NDDC was from there. We have tried our best. When last was an Oron person secretary to the state government? We run a party as an all-inclusive movement. Every local government has a state officer. When we meet, we meet as state officers of the party. My one vote as the publicity secretary of the party is the same vote as that of ex-officio officer.
What next for the party having won the elections?
After the elections, we still have post-elections management which is largely media and perception work. That is a huge responsibility for the party. You also have the consolidation of government. Government must be consolidated because the party must remain the shock absorber for government and governance. So in the party, what we are doing is to open up the space for a lot of intelligent young men to come in. What we are doing is to continue to give them room for expression of their thoughts and thinking and this will further bring back other young people who will find our party as a safe haven. We are running an open front door and a closed back door policy. We are welcoming back people who had strayed and who have realised that the game is up. The party is still involved in a lot of strategic thinking.
