‘Disunity cost APC 2019 governorship election in Delta’

In this interview with OKUNGBOWA AIWERIE, the State Organising Secretary of All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Amorighoye Mene, speaks on the current crisis in the state chapter of his party and other state and national issues. Excerpts

Your party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State is in crisis. What is fueling the fresh crisis in your party?

I will call what is happening in the party a family feud because a political party is made up of people of divergent interests and once in a while, these interests are bound to boil over but the duty of the party is to hold all interests together and try to harmonise it to win elections. The crisis that has rattled the system today is the decision of the chairman, Prophet Jones Erue, to unilaterally constitute the senatorial exco without recourse to party leaders, State Working Committee and the State Executive Committee. In a democracy, which is not dictatorship, the chairman cannot just wake up and begin to reel out, like a decree, that from today, I have put that and that in place. Also, the unilateral suspension of three principal members of the State Working Committee – the State Women Leader, his own deputy who is the Deputy Chairman of the party in the state and the Senatorial Chairman of the party in the south, Tosan Awani.

He also suspended five chairmen who were duly elected from the congress and replaced them with persons of his personal choice in line with his whims and caprices in an unconstitutional manner. There are laid down procedures in the constitution on how to deal with erring members.

But the crisis in Delta APC has lingered since last election. One would have thought that with the reconciliation moves by the national body, the crisis would be over by now. Are these factions still holding their positions based on what is happening today?

The good news today, which I want to tell all party members, is that we have interacted with a lot of the party leaders and they have all told us that they are willing to come together and their current disposition is to work with the party. Delta State is like a micro Nigeria where you have different nationalities. So, leadership in Delta State can only be by a collegiate system where Itshekiris, Ijaws, Urhobos, Ibos and Isokos will come together recognising and respecting their individual interests and we call unity in diversity to drive the political system to success. That is supposed to be the mode of operation but unfortunately some people have decided to profiteer from this division and use this division for self-benefit. It has been like that and they want to continue in this act. But we have discovered that we cannot continue like that and today we have decided to put an end to the old way of doing things and create a new way of doing things. We have to ensure all the leaders come together and achieve peace. It is only when we have peace that we can wrestle power in Delta State. I don’t have issues with any of the leaders to the right or to the left but as a senior party official in the state, my duty is to pull all the party leaders in the state together with the objective of making them talk together on taking over power in Delta State. The rule generally is that when all interests have gone through the primary and someone has emerged, the various interests must be collapsed because they are all members of the same political family. So they must all protect and fight for the party’s victory at the poll. We made the mistake of not doing this in the last election. In the next election, we are going to ensure that this general principle obtains. We have started it now and nobody is going to stop it until our goal is achieved.

APC’s performance in the last election in Delta State gubernatorial election was woeful. What would you say was responsible?

Division within the ranks! That’s the only reason. Delta State is ready for the pluck politically. It is ripe because since 1999 till date, a cabal has held Delta State hostage. Delta State is the highest oil producing state in Nigeria with huge resources meant for the development of the state but these resources have ended up in the pockets of individuals. It has not been harnessed for the development and well-being of the people. Knowing the advantage which APC has as a party that has the interest of the people at heart, we are poised to take over. We are prepared to put our house in order so that the people of Delta State can know that APC is a party to which they can repose their confidence and will not disappoint them if given the chance. So, we have to do our homework and assure Deltans that we are together and we will work hard and not disappoint them when we are eventually given power to rule the state. To achieve that, we have to identify the persons and issues behind the division in the party so that we deal with the issues. It is only a mad man that does the same thing over and over again and expects a different result. Come next election, we are taking over Delta State.

It appears the leaders in APC who are expected to lead and take responsibility are fighting themselves with suspensions and counter suspensions. Where does the State Exco stand in all these? Have you reached out to bring both parties?

The State Exco as we have today in Delta State is a product of coming together of Chief Great Ogboru and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege to build a new political landscape in Delta State. They are brothers and they are friends. So, if they have differences for any reason whatsoever, which is not impossible as my father always said the teeth and the tongue sometimes have differences despite their closeness. The duty of the state Exco is to ensure that our leaders live together, work together to promote the interest that has brought them together.

So, it is an assignment that we must continue to work on no matter the differences and we believe it is achievable. What we don’t want is for anybody to lean to the right or to the left for any selfish benefit. Even if there are differences, let’s close ranks. Let it be the responsibility of the Exco to normalise relationships so that at the end of the day, we reconcile them for the benefit of the party. I respect our leaders, they are all great men but I have a responsibility to make sure we bring them together and that is what we are working on.

Could 2023 be the cause of the crisis and divisions in the party?

We just had election in 2019 and for me as an individual; I believe focus should be on governance after election. Every party should be occupied by how to give dividends of democracy to Nigerians and not to be fighting over 2023 when dividends of democracy has not been totally felt by Nigerians. Power ultimately belongs to the people and I personally feel it is premature to be talking of 2023 when Nigerians, who are suffering and deprived, are looking forward to good governance in order to have happy lives.

I hope we have learnt our lessons from 2019 elections. Whoever wants to run for election in 2023 must not burn the bridge. The PDP that has been in power since 1999 has developed tap roots. They are very strong and they have an army of followers that have benefited from the party. I have been in the opposition since 1999 and I have seen people the PDP has made when we go to the field. With the power at the centre and with empowerment for our people, I believe we can wrestle power from the PDP in the next election.

Has APC failed in combating insecurity and violent crimes in Nigeria?

It is a work in progress. I will not say the party has failed. I will say the party is challenged. The party is seriously challenged in actualising peace and security in Nigeria. It is a daunting responsibility which we have not backed out from. We are rising up to it.

How do we deepen democracy in Nigeria?

To deepen democracy in Nigeria, our electoral system must be reformed such that it will allow the will of the people to prevail. If you don’t allow the will of the people to prevail, then we are not practising democracy.