Mu’azu responsible for PDP’s defeat — Gulak

Former Senior Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Political Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Gulak, tells TOBI AWORINDE that those defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress lack focus, sincerity and loyalty

What are your thoughts on the mass exodus of members from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress?

Those people defecting from the PDP to the APC are not politicians but opportunists. It is unbecoming for anybody, just after elections, to defect to any political party. The political atmosphere in Nigeria is such that there is no ideology; people should remain in their parties. In the PDP, there are people who have defected to the APC and I wish them a safe trip. But we of the PDP stock who are loyal and committed will stay back and rebuild our party to recapture power in the nearest future.

What effect has the mass defection had on your party?

For those of us that believe in the party, I don’t think we are going to experience any negative effect. It is an exodus without quality because those leaving have no reason to do so. But since they have found flimsy excuses to leave, they should go. However, you will soon find out that they will come back and when they do, they will be screened and given conditions to be re-admitted into the party.

Some have projected that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari’s victory at the just-concluded elections will cause Nigeria to devolve into a one-party state. Do you think this is true?

No, it is not correct. I am telling you with all sense of responsibility that Nigeria can never devolve into a one-party state. The PDP is going to be a vibrant opposition party and our leader, President Goodluck Jonathan, will give us the hope to be a vibrant opposition. We are going to rebuild this party under his leadership and recapture power at the centre in 2019.

How is your party planning to recapture power?

We will go back to the drawing board. We already know that those that have defected from the PDP to the APC are politicians of fortune. They are opportunists. They want to look for where they can be accommodated in government, instead of them to stay back and rebuild their party to recapture power. It’s (about) service; it is not what you get out of the system, but what you put into it. That is why some people like us are staying back to rebuild the party around credible people. We have to overhaul the party, analyse critically and then put the round pegs in the round holes in order to move the party forward. We know that more of the people remaining are going to leave the party. Even without telling them to leave, they will leave. There are people that will be told to leave for their misbehaviours and for the roles they played in the dismal outing of the party. After that weeding out; the good ones will be left behind as good seedlings for the new party to rejuvenate and recapture power in the nearest future.

The PDP, under its National Chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, recently claimed that the APC had plans to destabilise it by planting moles in the party. Do you agree with this notion?

He should tell us who the moles are, because there are a lot of people who believe that he is the number one mole planted in the PDP to destroy it. If the belief of the majority of the members of the PDP is anything to go by, you could say that the party chairman was the number one culprit for the dismal outing of the PDP. There is no party chairman of the PDP since 1998 that has led the party to such a disastrous outing. As a result, the national chairman should consider himself one of those that have to give way for the new party to come up. In fact, he doesn’t need to be told to turn in his resignation.

Are you one of those who believe that he might have been a mole in the party?

I would say he did not have the party’s interest at heart from the time the party started campaigns. His heart was not with Mr. President, because when the President was inaugurating his campaign council, it was the national chairman who came out publicly to say there were a lot of injustices in the party. And the question was: Who caused these injustices?

He was the national chairman; he had the authority to submit names to the Independent National Electoral Commission for elections and he short-changed a lot of people. Therefore, I will align with those calling for his resignation as a result of this disastrous outing. Even in his home state, Bauchi, he could not muster 25 per cent (of votes) for the party. Therefore, he doesn’t need to be told that his time is up or that the PDP does not need him any longer if we have to rebuild the party.

What do you think was responsible for the defeat of your party’s governorship candidate, Nuhu Ribadu, in Adamawa, your home state?

Ribadu, from day one, was not a known politician in Adamawa politics. He is part of the impositions made by the national chairman that cost us a victory in Adamawa State. It has been a PDP state right from 1999 and Ribadu was in the APC. The national chairman just brought him from the opposition and gave him the ticket the following day. How would you expect the people of Adamawa State to vote for that kind of candidate? Those are some of the reasons why I am saying the chairman needs to go and give way for the rebuilding of the party.

Do you think politics of ideology is practised in Nigeria?

As far as I am concerned, very few people practise politics of ideology in this country. If you see what is happening in this country and analyse it critically, you would come to the conclusion that there is no politics of ideology. Those that have gone to the APC and those that came to the PDP belonged to one political party or the other. If you study the evolution of political parties in Nigeria since 1998, you will see that we had the Alliance for Democracy, the All Peoples Party, the All Nigeria Peoples Party and the PDP-those were the political parties that were registered. As we speak, it is only the PDP that has maintained its name, colour and manifesto since 1998.

All the other political parties have merged, demerged and assumed several different names or identities. The AD, for instance, became the Action Congress of Nigeria. Then it was the ANPP, which became the Congress for Progressive Change and now the APC, after a merger in 2013. People don’t really believe in ideologies. There are a lot of strange bedfellows in each political party, which is why we have problems.

It is only PDP that, one way or the other, has maintained its name, ideology and manifesto. That is why I think very few people practise politics of ideology. For instance, Bola Tinubu, (former Vice-President) Atiku Abubakar, Senator Bukola Saraki, and (Rivers State Governor, Rotimi) Amaechi are all with Buhari in the APC now. If you are talking about ideology or principles of politics, you cannot say these people match. They are completely mismatched and it is left to be seen how this romance will last. I am not a doomsayer, but I will say this romance will not last long because the Buhari I know, from the days when he was head of state up till when he was in the ANPP and later the CPC, won’t match with the men he has around him, if he really wants to unleash positive change.

Do you have any regrets as President Goodluck Jonathan’s Senior Special Adviser on Political Affairs?

I have no regrets serving under President Jonathan. He is my hero, any time, any day. In fact, he is the hero of Nigeria’s democracy and Africa’s democracy. As far as I am concerned, given another opportunity, I would serve and continue to serve under President Jonathan. He is a good man, a committed and loyal Nigerian. He has put his life on the line to serve this country and he has sacrificed a lot for this country. This country is indebted to him. People may not know now, but in some years to come, they will say President Jonathan came on the scene and put in his best for Nigeria.

Do you have any plans of contesting again for governorship in Adamawa?

For the time being, my concern is to build the party around credible people. My concern is to rebuild the party around people who are sincere and committed to the party; people who have the party at heart and have the larger picture of organising a party to recapture power in the nearest future. It is not about me contesting. It is about the party putting forward known candidates who are credible and who have been there for quite some time; those who the people want.

What conditions would push you to defect?

I cannot say that there are conditions that would make me to defect. If you have followed my political trend, you would notice that I am a man who, in a feat of anger, would not take a decision. I have served this country diligently and sincerely. When I left office, I was approached repeatedly by the APC to join them, but I refused to defect.

I contested for governorship (in Adamawa State) and I was short-changed during the by-election, but I did not defect. I contested for the senatorial seat and got the ticket but it was taken from me; I did not defect. Some of the things that affect me personally will not make me to defect from the party.