THE lawmaker representing Imo West Senatorial District in the Senate, Senate Hope Uzodinma in this exclusive chat with  Saturday Vanguard  speaks on his activities in the Senate, the re-engineering process in the Peoples Democratic Party and   the need for political leadership among the Igbo   among others

What does it feel like being honoured by the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ?

I feel very fine and grateful. An award coming from the NUJ is purely a product of unbiased assessment. It is a very credible institution. I received calls from all over the world because of the award. And that testifies to the integrity of the award. I thank the almighty God for making it possible. I thank God that it is happening at this time when I have a few months to another election. I feel good and it will also spur me to improve on those things that I am already doing.

There are speculations that you could be gunning for a higher office. Have your people called you to serve at that level?

It is good you called it speculation. Even when it is the prayer and wish of everyone to move from one particular point to a higher point in every field of endeavour, I will not be an exception. But I can’t remember telling anybody the higher office I am going for.   I am in the Senate doing the work that I was elected to do. And by the grace of God, if it pleases God and my people, who elected me, when 2019 comes, I will consult my people.

If the opinion of your people is that you should return home and serve, what will be your position?

When we get there, we will look at it.

Would you still remain in Peoples Democratic Party, PDP?

I have been in the PDP since its formation and I contributed my quota. I have no intention of leaving the party. We are all praying that whatever disagreement that currently exists in the party will be resolved amicably. That will help a party that has done much for us to be stronger. We pray that God will help the party back to winning ways. I am an optimist. I believe that the party will get stronger. I believe that whatever that is not proper in the party now will be fixed. We hope to elect a leadership that will be focused and strong at the December 9, 2017, National Convention. We also hope to elect leaders who will care for the party and work hard to bring back every good thing that is not currently in the party. I hope that the new leadership will mobilise the party back. PDP has a good presence in all the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria. PDP is a party that has spread, history and the party that was in power for 16 years. I don’t think it will be easy to push away PDP. All we need is a focused leadership, committed functionaries and support for those who will be elected to run the affairs of the party.

Are you are confident of the party’s prospects of bouncing back at the national level?

Nothing is impossible. We will do ours as human beings but the will of God will prevail. God gives power and God also expects us to do the little we are expected to do. That is why the determinant factor of whether the party will bounce back or not will depend on the type of leadership that will be elected. So, we don’t need to be talking of Markarfi or Sheriff, the Supreme Court has given its judgement and the judgement stands. But let nobody take advantage of the judgement to undo party faithful, who didn’t follow whatever faction and rubbish whatever prospects we have. That which will unite us should be protected in the interest of the party. We must recognise strengths wherever they exist and deploy them to become the strengths of the party.

Do you think the PDP still has the face to attract Nigerians again?

There is no party without human beings. The face of the party is the face of the people in the party. Individual goodwill is the party’s goodwill. When good people are elected to run PDP, the party will have a good face. But when people, who are not credible, are elected, it means the party will be governed badly. So, the prospects of the party depend on the type of people to be elected to run the party.

On two years of APC

Nigerians are still watching. Nigerians will watch properly. When we put them on the scale in 2019, we will know if they have done well. If they have done well, Nigerians will vote them back and if they have not done well, they will be voted out.

Do you believe that votes will count in 2019?

If we are sure the votes will not count, we will not subject ourselves to the contest. If it is a contest that will not be governed by rules, there will be no need involving in such a contest. I think that the present INEC Chairman, with his pedigree and reputation, will want to do the right thing. But if anything goes to the contrary, it will be resisted. We have just amended the Electoral Act which is waiting for the President’s assent. As soon as he does that, it becomes law.

Your opinions about the party show how enthusiastic you are about its prospects. The decision by Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose to contest the presidency against PDP’s zoning arrangement is being construed as a likely source of another crisis ahead of the convention. What do you make of that?

It will not cause any crisis at the convention. PDP has done its internal zoning arrangement. And party faithful will follow the decision. Fayose is one out of the millions of PDP members. If he comes to the convention ground, he will be allowed to contest. It has happened before. When the position was zoned to the South, Abubakar Rimi contested and he was voted out at the convention ground. His ambition is nothing to worry about because as things are today, we want our presidential candidate to come from the north. We are being religious about the agreement and we are going to keep it. During the convention, we will vote for a northern candidate.

In the last Senate, you were a key member, in this same Senate, you are a major player. What influences this will?

Anywhere I find myself, I try to put in my best and leave the rest for God so that one will not be accused of any form of arrogance. I work as a team with my colleagues.

On plugging of leakages in the Customs

The business of the committee of the parliament includes oversight functions. We identify areas of weaknesses and see how we can correct them. In this case, we have looked at the entire import and export circle and observed a lot of lapses. At the end of the process, we will sit down with the management of Nigeria Customs Service and confront them with those issues and look at the ways of plugging leakages. That will boost the revenue generating capacity of the Customs. That is what we are doing. In the process of doing that, companies who are already convinced that they are culpable are beginning to make payments. We will do our best to ensure that those who have violated our import guidelines are prosecuted after we might have recovered our money. When we do that, there will be discipline.

What specifically are you doing regarding the abuse of weaver?

What the Committee did was to look at the reason the past government issued weaver. And we came up with a report. We have subjected the report to further investigations and we have interrogated some of the documents we found. And we have decided to create conditions under which weaver can be given in the Customs and Excise Act that is currently being amended by the Senate. We have a lot of bottlenecks, so it is only in exceptional cases that a government can approve weaver. The President must be the one to approve weaver and it has to come with a proper definition of quality, quantity, and reasons for granting the weaver. It must be of economic benefit to the country. Outside of that, we don’t think there will be the need for a weaver.

On Imo State

The commonest person in Owerri can say what he or she thinks about the Okorocha administration.

The media must rise to the occasion to make this democracy work. I think with all the basket of abuses and violations by the Okorocha government, we are not hearing much from the media. It is very easy to trivialize anything I say about the government on the basis of PDP and APC. But if

a reporter comes up with a report on his findings about the government, it will not be trivialized.

Have you alongside other Imo elders spoken to the governor on your concerns about the way he is governing the state?

I have written two letters to him as an elder in the state. And in my letter, I enumerated all the things he is not doing well. I called for a redress. I copied the President, but there was no reply. After a few months, I wrote a second letter as a reminder. I don’t think he is ready for anybody’s input. I don’t think he knows that the responsibility he is having requires consultation and teamwork.

Are you not concerned about the leadership problem in Igbo land?

I am calling on our brothers and sisters to embrace the leadership of Ohaneze.   The Igbo leaders before our generation did better than us. We are degenerating into something we don’t understand. Our people should rally around the new Ohaneze leadership by giving them the necessary support so that we will be able to organise ourselves. We must come up with vision and an organised roadmap in the interest of our people. Things have gone so bad in the Southeast and everybody is on his own. The common interest of our people has been abandoned. So, we should do something. We are organising a political summit in Imo State in December. After that, we will encourage Ohaneze to organise a political summit for the Southeast so that we can create sub-committees to help Ohaneze succeed. The new President-General is serious and needs to be supported. In the past, we were taken very seriously. If the events of 1967 happened now, nobody would have survived it. We saw how Odumegwu-Ojuwkwu stood up and challenged the federal might.   Now, the action of MASSOB and IPOB is considered the action of Ndigbo because Ohaneze has not been enjoying total support. The actions of the OPC are considered as the actions of the youth arm of the Afenifere. OPC actions are taken lightly because they consider it the youth arm. In the same manner, MASSOB should be taken as a youth arm if it is properly organised and works within the ambit of the law. I think that there is a need for our people to be encouraged to give support to Ohaneze because that is the pan-Igbo group that is known all over the world. And if we speak through it, our brothers and sisters will listen.

In your senatorial district that parades tough people, there has been stability since you started to represent the zone. How were you able to do that?

It is the grace of God that has helped us in weathering the storm. It is not that the storm is not there, it is there. But we tried to do the right thing and we tried to reach out. Our people have shown love and likeness for what we are doing. I am committed to my people and will defend them at all times even when I don’t have the means, I will rather be quiet than work against the interest of my people.