The eight governorship aspirants from Plateau Southern Senatorial District on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, who lost out in the party’s governorship primaries that saw Senator G.N.S. Pwajok emerge as flag bearer, have continued to express their anger over the primaries. They have even vowed to stop the success of Pwajok at the polls to frustrate PDP over its actions. In this interview with The Eagle Online, one of the aggrieved members, Haruna Dabin, told MOSES GBANDE that they will stop at nothing to ensure that the imposed candidate does not scale through the election. Excerpts:
You are a veteran politician on the Plateau and immediate past state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party who aspired for the governorship position in the state but eventually lost out. How satisfied are you politically in Plateau State?
Well, let us say it did not work out but it will still work out. We’ll live to witness what will happen when God intervenes. But let’s us agree that, so far, there is a gubernatorial candidate of PDP. I have said verbally and in writing to the officers of the party that the way that Senator GNS Pwajok has been imposed on the state cannot work. He cannot be governor of Plateau State. First, because Governor Jonah Jang as a person cannot determine for Plateau who will be their governor. So, it is wrong for Governor Jang, who has lied severally, deceiving people about Christian credentials, made it impossible for the system to produce its own choice. Secondly, Senator Pwajok is a relation and a nephew of Jang. After Jang has served eight years as a governor, justice and fair play requires that another senatorial district should produce the next governor of the state. Even if Jonah Jang wanted to impose somebody from another senatorial district, that will be wrong but it will not be as wrong as Jang had brought somebody from his own village, his tribe and his own relation. But sadly, what makes the matter worse was the degree of manipulation, intimidation and harassment that went on in the process. Plateau people generally have very strong Christian world view and they believe in God. We have seen God defend Plateau people at worse times and for Governor Jang to think that he will mesmerise the system from the election of the three adhoc delegates and all the stupendous amount of money that had been spent and all the harassment was bad. I have been a state party chairman as you rightly said. I know what it means to conduct elections. This is one state that elections are usually conducted, but for Jang to manipulate the system to preside over the reckless selection process that went on, on the 8th December, 2014 was very unfortunate. All for those reasons, Senator Pwajok cannot be governor of Plateau State. I say it boldly, not just as politician, but as a servant of God, that it will not happen. It will not happen in Plateau State. It may happen elsewhere, but not in Plateau State. For me, that is my assessment of the situation. Let us wait and see what God will do.
The allegation of imposition of Senator Pwajok as PDP governorship candidate has put the people of the state on political crossroad based on zoning and ethnic sentiments. Do you agree with this statement?
Unfortunately, the majority of Berom have chosen to be silent at the time that they should speak out and their silence may mean that they have agreed with what Jang has done and what he is doing. But like I said, GNS Pwajok cannot be governor, will not be governor and should not be the governorship candidate. Jang wrecked the young man politically and created deep ethnic tension in the state. There has been all sorts of skirmishes and Berom people are worse hit in terms of attacks by Fulani marauders. They know that if not for other tribes in Plateau that will stand up to fight because we believe that they are our brothers and we are our brothers’ keeper, Berom people would have been wiped out. But for Berom people to think that they can do it all alone without the support of the rest of Plateau tribes, it will deepen ethnic tension. Something happened a few weeks ago, which is a pointer to what may happen in a larger scale. A relation of mine was returning from Pankshin to Jos in a taxi car. They picked a Berom young man at Dorowa and of course the topical issue was political development and elections. The Berom young man started defending the illegality and irregularities of Jang and he was sitting on the middle of the car and somebody sitting at the back of the car gave him a dirty slap and they started fighting in the taxi until they got to a military check point. When they all came out, the driver, who seemingly a non Plateau person, promptly said it was the Berom man that started slapping the other man. Everybody in the car turned against the Berom man. That is going to happen. But I tell people that it is not all about Berom people. Right now, I have a Berom grand child. I have a wonderful son-in-law from Berom. I have friends and relations that are Berom by virtue of marriage and they have been so good and supportive at all times. Senator GNS Pwajok through falsehood had sold to Jang in the first place, claiming that the Berom are the most dominant tribe on the Plateau, comparing Berom to the Tiv in Benue and Igala in Kogi States. He was misleading Jang. So, it was a mutually destructive relationship between Governor Jang and Senator Pwajok and unfortunately, they will turn the Berom into a terrible ethnic group hated by other tribes. What they have done has implications of deepening ethnic tension on the Plateau and honestly whatever negative outburst that takes place on the Plateau have the capacity of overwhelming the country. We said that to Mr. President when a few of us met him. We told him not to underestimate the capacity of the trouble that will emerge on the Plateau to engulf the whole country. If you don’t get it right on the Plateau, he will never get it right in Nigeria. Well, we have lived in peace with each other over the years. We have been our brothers’ keeper. For over centuries, the jihadist could not defeat Plateau. No Plateau people have ever been colonized. We are proud of that heritage and Governor Jang cannot make anybody a slave on the Plateau. Those are the challenges we face. It is better the Berom people look at his face and say: look what you are doing is not right. We know Gbong Gwong Jos has written Jang that what he is doing is not right but he represents the Berom. As the saying goes: “Whatever a man sows, he shall reap.”
Based on the results of the primaries that edged out you and others from the southern senatorial district, there is allegation that you have formed PDP II. Is it true and why?
There was no allegation. We made a public statement, which was published on the 26th January this year. It coincided with the President’s visit to Plateau and those are some of the issues we raised in that write up. We said we will not support Jang and his candidate because for all the years, Jang has been very deliberate in factionalising the party and he has succeeded in creating Jang organisation. But do not forget that before 2007, Jang had decamped to ANPP. Jang now has his own campaign organization of his cronies and wanted to create a party that is Jang organization. We said fine, all that Jang has done belong to Jang organization, but we the genuine members of PDP who are loyal to the party said that Jang and his current characters who are running the party have violated PDP constitution. We petitioned the national secretariat and they have not done anything about it. We must point out that we are not in support of Jang and President Goodluck Jonathan has insisted on only listening to Jang on the Plateau. He will also suffer the consequences because Plateau people will read very clearly who are their friends and are not working for them. The people of Plateau knows that Goodluck is not working for their interests, otherwise he wouldn’t have been supporting Jang in what he is doing. We are members of PDP. I am too foundational as a PDP and nobody should think that I will leave PDP. But I cannot be part of the illegality and all the violations of PDP constitution by Jang. I will not campaign for his candidate. I will not because as a party member should do what is wrong. But when the system becomes violent against the people, you sit down and watch or at best you remove yourself from that maddening crowd.
During the presidential campaign rally in Plateau, none of the gubernatorial aspirant from the southern zone was at the rally. Why were you not there?
We said it in the write-up. We had advised every loyal PDP member to avoid coming to the presidential campaign rally and to stay away. So, we believe that it was our mobilization of PDP members to stay away from the rally that the President saw an empty stadium. And when you get to hear the mind blowing amount of money that was given to them to mobilize people, you will be shocked. But we believe that what is right to be done should be done whether it is about President Goodluck, Governor Jonah Jang or anybody else. What is wrong is wrong and we cannot as Plateau people just follow sheepishly what is wrong. That is why we asked people to boycott the rally and till date, if Jonathan wants to come to this state and think he can use PDP’s structure to mobilize people, we will boycott it and we will mobilize people to boycott it.
It was alleged that all of you who are members of PDP II are moral booster and are working for the opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, and its candidates in the state. Is that true?
I am not working for anybody. Though, I may not be speaking for everybody but can speak for myself. The price for doing wrong is to push people to go the wrong way. I can tell you sincerely that it is very wrong for the GNS Pwajok candidature. The wrongness of his candidature is to push the Plateau people to get into political alliance that Plateau people have never been involved over centuries for all the republics. The people have never gone into political alliance. No party that is in sympathy with Hausa/Fulani hegemony or Islamic interest at whatever level has ever won in Plateau since the First Republic to date. For most people, they would want to associate with somebody anyway. So, when you deny them the right of identifying with party of their choice, you push them elsewhere. But it is not that any body is campaigning for any opposition.
As a dedicated PDP member, you may not like your party to fail right before your very eye. What are the chances of the PDP ahead of the presidential and governorship elections on the Plateau?
I think you raised a very fundamental issue. Before I left the chairmanship of the party, when I perceived cracks in PDP, I pointed it out to my national colleagues that by the time you violate the rudiments of democracy, you are already laying the foundation for chaos. There is nothing wrong for Goodluck Jonathan to recontest election but I told them that there was everything wrong for one to harass people into endorsing Goodluck as the only candidate. It is not done democratically. By the time you get those endorsement for Goodluck and you subvert democratic principles, it means you are destroying the party. It is wrong for either the president or governor to head the party structure. You made them to be corrupt because they are the party leader and that gives them leverage to impose candidates on people. All that corruption that has been going on in PDP, it will pay for it. May be God will allow the PDP to collapse so that we can learn. Institution of this nature will not live forever. Some others will supplant them. I cannot say what the ultimate decision of Nigerians will be whether Goodluck wins as president, I cannot say. It is too close to say as a political analyst right now. But I can tell you as a Christian that Goodluck may win the election only by the mercy of God. But for PDP, it will pick up the pieces. If Goodluck wins, I don’t see PDP winning in all the majority of seats in Nigeria.
What is your prayer for Nigeria and Plateau for the election?
For prayer, I am praying to God to grant some of the leaders the strength and wisdom to do the right thing. I cannot tell people to vote their conscience, which is what will happen and that is what has always happened. For me, I will insist on no violence because democracy is all about peace, dialogue and consensus building. Plateau people should do the right thing even if we lose now, we will pick up the pieces tomorrow and rebuild a better society.