‘Election will be a referendum on Buhari’

The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Kola Ologbondiyan spoke with reporters in Lagos on the Buhari administration, the presidential aspiration of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, preparations for next month’s election and factors that will shape the exercise. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

What is the chance of your party in the general elections?

As a party, we are worried by the level of hunger in Nigeria today. We are worried  by the level of starvation across the land. We are also troubled at the level of division, insecurity and bloodletting across the nation.  We have taken on the APC and President Buhari on three key promises they made to Nigerians during the last election. They promised to revive the economy but the losses of jobs that we have experienced and the cost of living that has gone up astronomically has demonstrated to all of us that President Buhari has not fulfill his promise about reviving the economy. Two, he promised to fight corruption  and he is seen as Mr Integrity but it is very worrisome that  President Buhari is not fighting corruption but busy fighting perceived enemies  and possible opponents in the 2019 elections.

We in the PDP believe that while we were in government,  we have situations where senators, Reps members, governors and even a Senate President was not only investigated and subjected to trial, we even have an instance where a sibling of a former president was arrested.  But, what do we find in the current circumstance? The Chief of Staff who is the closest person in terms of administration to Mr  President was accused of collecting bribes as we speak today, he has not been investigated or subjected to trial. The former SGF, Babachir Lawal was accused of cutting grass with over N200m in the North East where our fellow Nigerians were victims of insurgency; the same insurgency that President Buhari promised to come and fight. As we speak today, they are just playing games, no arraignment and no trials.

Just recently, the House of Reps indicted the Vice- President in its report on corruption in NEMA and yet they are talking to us about fighting corruption.  We have challenged the National Assembly to open all the books in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and what they will find there, we will discover that in the history of our nation, no administration has been as corrupt as this government.

The President also promised that he will fight insurgency but the worst of it is that under his watch, insurgents now attack our military base killing our soldiers. Yes, insurgency started when PDP was in government but the insurgents were attacking soft spots where we have civilians but now it is worrisome that the insurgents have become so emboldened that they now go to military formations and attacks our soldiers.

The worst part of it was that the President’s wife, Aisha Buhari came out publicly and declare to Nigerians that only two persons are running the affairs of governance. I don’t there can be any other testimony against this APC government than that.  This definitely tells us the fact that we all know that the President is not in charge. So, is it those two people that we are going to vote for in 2019?

Why do you think your candidate is the best man for the job?

We believe that we need a president who has got the experience, a candidate who understands our nuances as a people and as a nation. A president who in the past when he had the opportunity has demonstrated capacity as a job provider and a good manager of the economy and even after he left office, he has continued to create wealth and we believe strongly that that is the kind of president that our nation truly needs today and that is what our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar represents

What is the difference between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives Congress (APC) as those that left APC went to the PDP?

The difference between the PDP and APC is very manifest. The PDP believes in democracy and its tenets,; we stand by the rule of law, social justice and respect for constitutionalism. We also believe in creating an enabling environment that will allow private enterprises to thrive. As such, we encourage private investors to create jobs, so that life can be better for the people. But, I must confess to you that the APC, unfortunately is just an amalgam of people contended with the existence of governance. They have no ideology and have nothing to offer Nigerians. They are power mongers looking for power and they chased out the PDP government through propaganda, through lies and through deception. They do not have any plan whatsoever in any form to govern and to govern in a particular direction. That is why we have challenged them to name one idea they conceived, planned and implemented. There is none. Where is the ‘Change begins with me’ they promised? They do not have ideas for governance and without ideas, you cannot rule, you cannot govern. In terms of ideology, they disrespect the court. We all know in Nigeria when they woke up one night and went round residences of judges. You know the number of times former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rdt) has been granted bail, but they did not release him inspite of court orders. They have no respect for court orders; they have no respect for constitutionalism. So, when you talk of ideology, I believe that the PDP has ideology and because it is a democratic party, it follows the tenets of democracy, but I don’t know the ideology of the APC.

One of the issues on the front burner  the economy. How will your party fix the economy if it gets to power?

The PDP believes that the only way to revive the economy is to allow the economy to be private driven and the job of governance is to create an enabling environment that will allow businesses to thrive. We have experimented government running businesses and we have experimented a situation where private investors are given an enabling environment to thrive and we have seen where it has taken us. NITEL was running the telecommunications sector, but GSM operators were allowed to run the sector and we have seen where it has taken us.

There are feelers that all is not well within the PDP, especially in the South-South and South-East. Is there a problem in the party and what effort is being made to address it? Again, there is also insinuation that some governors in the South-East are secretly planning to work for President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 elections. How do you react to that?

I find it strange that any member of the PDP will pledge a particular percentage of votes for President Buhari. If that is true, it confirms our fears that there are plans to rig the 2019 elections by writing figures. You cannot determine a percentage of votes that will go in any direction in a free, fair and credible election. You do not know the mindset of every voter. All I know is that the governors on the platform of the PDP are supporting our candidate. That is a known fact. Why should our governors vote for President Buhari? What will be the reason? Is it that the people, who are members of our party, are not Nigerians?

Why do you think that any member of our party will not work for the President?

You see, it is a game of the ruling party, they know that they have been abandoned by Nigerians. They know that the lies and contraptions they used in 2015 are no longer working for them because Nigerians have seen through them. So, they are looking for help because they know that they are a drowning party. They will say anything just to create disaffection and seek to cause crisis within our party and with our candidate. We can see clearly that Nigerians are rallying round our candidate.

Your party’s national chairman recently alleged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is being used to witch-hunt PDP governors…

Our governors in the last three and a half years have suffered untoward embarrassment from this administration. They have been harassed, they have been intimidated, but I want you to know that they cannot be intimidated to do such things. The PDP governors are determined and they will continue to support the party.

How do you respond to INEC’s decision to conduct elections in Internally Dispaced Camps (IDPs) and what is your take on the commission’s preparation for the elections?

We have made our position on the IDPs very clear. We are opposed to any situation that will grant INEC the powers to create new polling units under the guise of creating them for IDPs. Nigeria, as a country has been delineated to 120,000 polling units and as such, any area in this country has its own polling unit. So, what we are seeing is this, if there are IDPs in Ikeja for instance, what they need do is to allow the IDPs to transfer to the area where they are currently staying. There is no need to create an additional 30,000 polling units because it will amount to rigging. We have also said that we are aware that the contraption, which took place in Osun State during the governorship election, was done in INEC’s situation room, where it was clear that in the transmitted results, PDP won, but they decided to manipulate the process. We have credible information and we have given it to our party in respect of this.What we are saying is that since President has refused to sign the amended Electoral Act, which provided for transmission of results electronically, INEC should allow observers to participate or monitor the results in the situation room. So, speaking generally, what we have said and insisting on is that we will not allow rigging in the 2019 general elections. We will burst every rigging plan of the APC and the President. It is manifestly evident that Buhari cannot win the 2019 election because Nigerians have resolved, wholesomely that they will not vote for him and that they will not vote for the APC. So, on account of that, we will check INEC and ensure that they guarantee an election that will be free, fair, credible and transparent, and as well accepted by the majority of Nigerians.