Former governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel, an engineer, has his eyes on the chairmanship of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP). But he believes the office should be handed over to him through a consensus arrangement. In this interview with IHEANACHO NWOSU, the politician who is popularly known as OGD spoke on a wide range of issues including the alleged attempt on his life, Buhari’s war on corruption and what he called propaganda against his administration, among others.
We were surprised to see a petition from you, a former governor, alleging assassination attempt on you by your former political ally, Senator Buruji Kashamu. How did things degenerate to that level?
With due respect, I have written the petition directly to the Inspector General of Police that there was an assassination attempt on my person, and I’ve not only done that; I have also pointed accusing fingers at somebody who by his own, confessed actions against my person, consistently in the last eight years, who has also made certain statements even privately about the fact that I appear to be his only obstacle fand that he would not stop until he sees my end. I think that is enough to alert the police, so that the police do not begin to go on a wild goose chase when the crime occurs. With that, I have done my civil responsibility. It is now left to the police to do their investigation and to that extent, I do not want to say much.
Apart from being a politician, you are also a businessman. Senator Kashamu is also known to be a businessman. Will you say this is politically motivated or it has something to do with business?
Which business interest? I have run organizations in the last 30 years of my life and I’ve not had any issue with anybody. I run a straightforward business. We have a job to do. It’s service we render. We’ve not had any dispute with anybody because we’ve done our job well. So, I don’t have any deal and that’s why I said in the petition that I’ve not done any deal with anybody. In any case, I’m not the one running the business directly now. So, what are we talking about?
There is this crisis over the running of the South-West PDP and the battle for the control of Ogun chapter of the party. Could that be the issue?
I don’t know. But the much I can say is that the political environment has been polluted and it’s the grace of God that can allow a person to clean it. Pollution by all characters who have different objectives and perspectives about what politics is all about, which is quite at variance with what some of us learnt and developed to appreciate what it’s all about. For us, it’s service. But when people now turn the process into extortion and money making, we have a problem in the land and with due respect, some of us are not cut out for this sort of thing.
How are you resolving the crisis around South-West PDP, which Senator Kashamu is seen as a key catalyst?
I will not continue this interview if all you have to talk about is this person . But if you look at it properly, this person you are talking about, if you look at it from the beginning to the end, there isn’t a single person that he had not quarreled with. There is something that requires investigation there – from OBJ, OGD, everybody. The one I read today is a direct attack on Makarfi himself. Every single person in Ogun State, in the South-West, there is one issue or the other. That is why I said the environment is completely polluted.
The Supreme Court has ruled on the PDP crisis and the party seems to be back on its feet. You are one of the people being touted to be interested in the National Chairmanship position of the party. Can you confirm the claim?
Well, I like the way you put the question – being touted. Let me say clearly and this is what I truly believe that for my understanding and experience about the party, PDP, the post of Chairmanship is not really contested the way people think. It is for the real stakeholders; the owners of the party to sit down at some point in time and say all variables considered, we think at this point in time, these are the challenges the party is facing and who do they feel will confront and resolve those challenges as best as possible. So, it is for the owners of the party to sit down and come to such a conclusion. I want to assure you that if the conclusion is that I’m in a position to do that, possibly based on my experience in the party as a governor for eight years, I got a lot of network; possibly also because people feel that along the line, I had the opportunity to also work with others. Don’t forget that in the 2011 election, I was the coordinator for South-West and it was much successful. We weren’t as successful in 2015 as we were in 2011 in the South-West. So, it is possible that people are looking at all of that and feel that at this point in time, I’m one of the people who may be able to reverse the fortunes of the party, then I consider it a national service. But I don’t think it is something that we should hit the road and begin to fight in the name of politicking for a party that is really at its lowest ebb. That’s the way I look at it.
If you consider the history of the party from inception till now, that has been the pattern; the owners of the party would sit down and say, all things having been considered, this is how we want to play the game. Of course that will be subjected to a democratic process as a necessity. It is not just in the PDP. If you also look at the APC, how did the chairman emerge? When was that campaign and when was the vote taken? Where was the noise made? Where was the national campaign across the 36 States when the current chairman was elected? So, consensus is also part of the process where it can be achieved seamlessly.
But the aborted convention process in the PDP did not support your assertion as it took a different dimension. We are not sure whether the upcoming one will follow that dimension. Ahead of the aborted Port Harcourt Convention, we saw Chief Raymond Dokpesi go round the country inspite of the belief that the chairmanship was zoned to the Southwest
You’ve answered the question. Of course, Dokpesi is my person. I have a lot of confidence in him. There is a relationship of several decades. He went on an expedition, which is not out of place and I think it was a good expedition. But what was the result? Is it not bringing us back to my earlier theory that at a certain level, the party will decide? I’ve also told people, not even the chairmanship alone; when you look at most national offices, the Vice Presidency, the Presidency in this country, you would see that the race is not usually for the swiftest. That is the experience we have always had and I’m not just saying in recent history; from the Tafawa Balewa days through the military, through Ironsi, Gowon, to (former President Shehu) Shagari. Shagari didn’t want to be President, he wanted to be a Senator. Ekwueme didn’t want to be Vice President. He just was a good contributor to the party. Obasanjo was from prison to presidency. Atiku had already won as governorship candidate before he was asked to drop that and become Vice President. And all the people who were running for the offices didn’t get anything. Yar’Adua became President. All the people who wanted to be VP didn’t make it. It was Jonathan and when Jonathan also became President and wanted to choose a Vice President, Namadi Sambo didn’t expect it. He didn’t lobby for it. It just happened. And this current one is exactly the same thing. The current VP, two weeks to his nomination didn’t even move. Can’t we learn from history that somehow, there is a tide in the affairs of men that tends to dictate some of these things?
But some people will also interpret all these scenarios to mean that we have never really had a prepared leader in this country?
That’s not quite correct. Chief Awolowo was quite prepared.
He never got it…
Well okay, but at least while he was in the Western Region, he gave a good account of himself.
MKO Abiola was prepared, he didn’t get it…
That is exactly what I’m saying. We are saying the same thing. This same argument is my argument.
Back to the issue of the possibility of you becoming the party Chairman. One thing that people feel could count against you is that at a point in time, you left the party, whereas, there are people who have remained in the party. Don’t you think that may count against you?
Let’s also go into history. Makarfi was not even in the PDP but somehow, he became Chairman. If you reverse further, Nwodo was not in PDP but he became Chairman. Ogbulafor was in the ANPP but he became chairman. If we want to talk about me leaving the PDP, I think there is a serious misconception about what actually happened. People forgot and you, the media must continuously educate people when people for reasons that are best known to them, decide to be mischievous and interpret and misrepresent what actually happened. What happened is that I was a PDP Governor for eight years. We had a proper congress. Somebody was chosen. In fact not just somebody, all the congresses were done under the watchful eyes of INEC, of everybody, of the police, the SSS. Candidates emerged. The congress was conducted by a nominee of the party, Major Abdulmumuni and everything was done perfectly under PDP. At that point in time, I was the South-West coordinator for President Jonathan and all of a sudden, that was when the virus that we are talking about started rearing its ugly head. Some people, for reasons that is unclear, went and did another kangaroo congress. I don’t want to describe what happened, but by some miracle, there was a judicial pronouncement that those people who had the kangaroo congress were the correct people. At that time, what else could I do? The other people who won the primary decided that they were going to another party. I had no reasons to stop them because I felt they were truly cheated. But I remained in PDP. I carried through the presidential election as the coordinator of the presidential election in the SouthWest. The President won and after Ogun State was lost to opposition, since then, I have brought everybody back as much as possible to the party.
Later on, the same thing happened. People got annoyed and went to Labour Party. I still at some point in time brought everybody back into the party. So you can see that there is consistency to the extent that people were not able to stand firm on principle. I’m a man of principle and abhor cheating under the circumstances. That’s the reality of what has happened.
Some six years or thereabout after leaving Ogun State as governor, some people are of the opinion that the state perhaps, is more developed than when you were there, almost making it look as if you didn’t do anything while you were in the office. It is also said that one or two projects you started were not viable. How do you react to that?
I have nothing to say. It is for our people to evaluate what exactly are the indices of development. If construction of flyovers and extension of roads are the indices of development, then I concede that the incumbent has done better than I did. But is that really the indices of development in a rural setting like Ogun State? I leave all of you to look at that. The second issue is at what cost? Do we have value for money? The final issue is that constructing overhead bridges where there was no traffic and by the Governor’s statement, he thinks that he is preparing for 50 years, that some of those things he is doing by way of those bridges will be appreciated 50 years from now. Is that why we must go and take loan which will take us 20, 30 years to pay because we want to build overhead bridges in a largely rural setting so that 50 years from now, we will now begin to say it’s good we did it. So, it’s a question of priorities.
Let me take you back a bit to PDP issue. There are still issues about zoning of the National Chairmanship position. Some people are saying it was zoned to South West. Some are saying it was zoned to the entire South. Is the South West confident that the position is coming to the zone?
I think from what I know, in the PDP today, the Presidency is zoned to the North and the national chairman automatically is zoned to the South. I think it is now for Northerners to decide where the presidency should come from. They will look at the parameters, what they are looking for, how to win election and they will also look at which zones out of the three zones have been President before and which has not been President. So, they will work out the arithmetic and come out with something.
When you come to the South, it’s exactly the same thing. The people in the South are looking at where it should go, so that the party will have a good chance. There are so many schools of thought and I can tell you what they are. There is a school of thought that says since the inception of the PDP, the South West is the only zone in the South that has not taken a shot at the Chairmanship. The South-South has done it several times. The South East has done it several times. It’s only the South West. That’s maybe a strong point for the Southwest.
The other point for the Southwest is that today, PDP is quite strong in the South-South and the Southeast. But the weakest zone in the South now is the South West. A number of people then feel that with the strength of the Governors in the South-South and the South East, there is something that they can still use to sustain the party. But that South West now needs an impetus, something that will put them in a position where they can also say we also have something in hand. To that extent, let us also now ensure that we do not disappoint these people who gave us the opportunity. On top of that is also the fact that when you look at it carefully, what is left today is actually to bring issues of governance out, to evaluate issues of governance, what the government in power is doing right, what they are not doing right, it has to be properly articulated.
On a more serious note, when you look at where that articulation can take place best, it’s in the South West. That’s where the media and a lot of opinion is being formed and the thinking therefore is that when the chairmanship of the party is thrown into the Southwest, it has a good opportunity, especially now that we know some of the weaknesses of this administration in terms of their challenges with the economy, security, etc. This is the place where the issues can be properly articulated if we have a good chairman from the South West. So, those are string points which I think will count in favour of the South West. But having said that, I’m aware that today, it has been zoned to the South in general.