By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South
THE Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta State is in fresh crisis. This time, it is not about the former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark hollering on Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan. It is over Senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly primaries and unless some trouble shooting mission is quickly undertaken, the party has shot itself on the foot with the manner of defection to other parties.

The state chairman of the party, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, alias Oracle, blamed the ugly development on the Electoral Panel that came from Abuja to conduct the primaries with doctored delegates’ list. He, however, said all hopes were not lost, as he and other party leaders would embark on reconciliation moves depending on the signals from Abuja. Excerpt:

The Senatorial and House of Representatives primaries in the PDP, Delta State generally and even in your own Senatorial District, Delta North, have greatly polarized the party, why did things get to this a sorry situation?

It is really unfortunate the way the primaries went. When the national executive of the party met, we agreed that state chairmen should not be members of the electoral panels. They have to state in their various states, receive the panel members that are coming. The panels on arrival will show the state chairmen their letters of appointment,  brief the state chairman, who in turn, will brief them on the happenings in their states, they compare notes in terms of delegates’ list they come with, make sure there is no problem and the state chairman is the chief host of the panel members, it is a party affair, not a government affair.

When we did the election of primaries for the election of delegates, there was no crisis in the state because the team that came obeyed the instruction of the national executive to the last letter. When they came, they met with me, I briefed them and they debriefed me and all arrangements were put in place in consonance with the party leadership in the state.

It went on, there was one or two areas some people did not agree, but up to 98 per cent was successful and we established a relationship with the team that came, which is how it is supposed to be. But immediately after that delegates’ election, the team that came disregarded the party, disrespected the party, they were being controlled by forces outside this state, we don’t know which brief they came with, they were not ready to talk with the party.
They did not even come to pay ordinary respect to the party, the party chairman had to invite them to come to the party secretariat and that was the beginning of  the crisis, and it was an organized group sent to this state by whoever sent them to disorganize the party in the state. Today, you see people who won primary to the State House of Assembly; their names are not in the list. Take Oshimili South local government area for instance, the primary was done openly, Senator Nwajei was there, Theodora Giwa-Amu was there, all the leaders in Oshimili South were there, they voted, it was conducted by the state woman leader and a particular candidate won, that candidate’s name was removed and they went to take the name of the person who came out third to replace the name of the winner in their list.

Now, even in my own local government area, they were even changing it and bringing in somebody else and I asked the man with the list, you was  even bold to change the names of candidates that won in my own local government, you don’t have respect. Now, the same thing happened in Ukwuani, the man who won, they changed it, organized  a kangaroo congress and the man who legitimately won in our party, but, was replaced. And go round the whole of this state, they destabilized the party, they had no respect for the party, they don’t discuss with the party leadership, they choose people who would become returning officer as against the rules. The rule is that the party leadership in the state will give them the list of people who will be returning officers and they are to joggle and do the posting from t
hat list. They refused to do that, they refused to do anything with the party leadership, they were being remotely controlled from somewhere outside the state.

Did you make your observations known to the national leadership?

I did, I told them that I don’t know where this electoral panel was coming from, the same group did the House of Assembly, scattered the state, did the House of Representatives, created crisis, did the Senate and brought crisis. From what we are seeing, this is the only state where one panel did the House of Assembly, did the House of Representatives and the Senate in the whole of Nigeria.

What of the governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, was he aware of all these?

I discussed with him, I made my points clear to him, I told him that this was not a government affair, it was a party affair. I am not interested in who wins but there are certain things that must be done, there is condition precedent, you don’t come to a state and disregard the leadership in the state, no matter who sent you, I won my election in the congress and I won in the court. And what some of them are enjoying today is the hard work of some of us who believe in principles of justice, equity and fair play.

But in the particular case of Delta North Senatorial primary of the PDP, you, as party chairman, was said to have come personally to disorganize the primary that was being held, what happened?

Delta North Senatorial District primary and  Delta South were annulled by the party, you would be aware based on the petitions some of us wrote that there was no congress in the first instance. I issued a press statement to that effect, I don’t want to say much on this but a panel came again, I waited for the panel with other members of the state executive till 11.00 pm in the night, we did not see any member of the panel. We later heard they had arrived and that they were in the VIP lodge, Government House.

I and the political adviser to the governor who was with us went to the Government House to see them, we could not see them, they said they had slept. I wondered, they came and they had already slept, we came back. In the morning, I went to the secretariat of the party, I waited till 9.00 am in the morning for the panel members to come, at least, they should show me their letter of appointment, they should brief me on the assignment they came for, I only heard it on radio, we should compare notes and then, I will give them the venue for the congress, give the list from which they would choose who would be their returning officers and then, they go and conduct the primaries.

Is this the standard rule that the party gave?

Yes, this is the standard rule. We have it in a brochure. I now went back to the VIP guest house and I met them and I said, ah, chairman, you people are here, you are supposed to have come to the party secretariat, I have been waiting for you with my officers. The chairman of the panel said that the acting national chairman, Dr. Haliru Mohammed told him that I should step aside for the purpose of this primary, that I have interest. I asked him, the national chairman told you. I said okay,  let me call the national chairman.

I started calling the national chairman, there and then, they started modifying their statement. They said they never said this, it was a slip. I said in any case, I was not there to discuss all these issues with you; I am going to the party secretariat, my officers are there waiting, you come and brief us and then, we take it up from there. I went back to the party secretariat; I was in the party secretariat waiting for them when my officers came to call me that they were already doing congress and it was being shown on television.

So, I switched on the television in my own office and we saw them fighting with the chairman of Aniocha North on the issue of congress, in fact, he was being walked out at that stage and there and then, we said no, these people were going to bring crisis, so I went to the field. That was how I went to the field, if they can show you the video or if you were there that day, the chairman of Aniocha North is alive; the chairman of Ukwuani, his head was broken because he was contesting the list they came with from Abuja; the chairman of Aniocha South was manhandled on this issue of list.

All these things would not have happened ordinarily if the people had come and briefed us and if there was any anomaly, it would have been corrected before they take off. So, I went there when I saw them manhandling the chairman of Aniocha South and told them, can we go to the party office, let me see your letters of appointment, let me also see the list you came with that is causing the trouble, let us go and sort out these things and you can come back and conduct your primary.

I told them that they have kept us in the dark as to their mission, that’s all I have said, I did not say stop the primaries, I did not say don’t do this, they refused. The policemen are there, I did not come to attack anybody, I did not come to disrupt anything, I insisted that they should come and brief the party on the assignment they came for and we compare the list they came with the list we have in the party secretariat. That is more, nothing more, nothing less.

But there was a report that you came with thugs, that it was the thugs that upturned the table and shot sporadically into the air?

The police saw me when I came and those who came with me, some of them were even delegates who came from different parts of the district not even knowing where the congress was to hold. Some went to the Arcade because the venue was not announced, which is not supposed to be. A night before the congress, the venue was supposed to have been announced on the radio and television by the party in the state  but because we did not see them, we don’t know who and who is coming, we don’t know whether they have arrived, we could not announce the venue.

So some people went to the Arcade, some came to the party secretariat to find out the venue, the people that were organized by the other group went to the Cenotaph. It was a pre-planned thing by  the committee with whoever put them together, they went straight to the Cenotaph. And when some of them  came to the secretariat to find out, I said gentlemen come; let us go to where they are. Now they are saying that these people were thugs but these people were arguing, let
us see the list you came with. Crisis was on before I came in.

You must have heard people saying that you had a mandate to deliver Chief (Mrs.) Ali, the wife of the former national chairman of the party because of certain reasons, which could be the insinuation of members of the panel earlier against you, what directive do you have from Ali and her sponsors?

Both aspirants, Mrs. Ali and Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa are my friends, I have my respect for Mrs. Ali, I know what she had done to ensure that this state is stabilized and is not one of those that go about narrating what she had done.  But that is not the issue, the issue is that a level-playing field should be provided for all the contestants  for a free and fair primary, use the list that we have and conduct the primary.  If she loses, she would know she lost, if she wins, she would know that she won.

I told them at the national headquarters in Abuja that they should come with the original list and conduct the primary. In the primary they did, we have nine local government chairmen in Delta North; six were not in the field. Why were six local government chairmen out of the nine in the state not in the field?  It is because of the list they came with.

Where did this list come from?

They manipulated it in Abuja, they wrote the list and went to give it to them and we don’t know who gave it to them. Local government party chairmen deserted the field and you said you have won. The chairman of Oshimili North was not there, the chairman of Aniocha North was not  there, chairmen of Aniocha South of Ndokwa East and chairman of Ukwuani were also not there.

However, some people are seeing the happenings in Delta North PDP as a power tussle between you and Dr. Okowa in your separate quest for the 2015 governorship race in the state?

Let us be alive till 2015 and when we get to the bridge, we will cross it. I have never thought of any position in life, every position that I have occupied in my life today has always been the wish of people; it is people that invite me. When I was going to be made the state chairman of the party, I was in my hotel room in Lagos when I was called on telephone and told to come and have a shot at the state chairmanship of the party and today, I am the state chairman of the party. So, why should I be thinking of governorship of 2015, let’s be alive till that date.

This rancor is not in Delta north alone, it is all over the state, both Delta Central and South. How are you, as party chairman and other leaders of the PDP going to handle this so that will not boomerang on your party in future elections in the state?

I have explained to you, gone to this depth for you to understand what really happened. The state working committee met 24 hours after the incident in Asaba and passed a vote of confidence in me as the chairman because I was representing them, they were slighted. The leadership of the party felt slighted, can you believe it that as the state chairman, I did not even see the nomination papers of those they said allegedly won because they did not want me to see the list.

The problem we had was as a result of inexperience by those that handled the primaries; you could have achieved the same thing you want to achieve without this type of rancor. I handled primaries in 1999 for this party as the state secretary, my chairman then was Senator James Manager, and he was based in Warri but comes to Asaba to preside over affairs. Even if there was discontent from those who lost, it was not a very bitter one because they know they lost in the field unlike the present situation.

Primaries have been held in this state before but we have had it so bad because of inexperience by those who manipulated proceedings. If you had allowed some of us to advise you, we can even work from the answer to the question and there will be less rancor. But when a man sees that you allow him to put his full resources and you go to the field and strike out his name, you are asking him to take the laws into his hands.