Senator Hope Uzodinma is returning to the Senate for a
second time on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to represent
the Imo West Senatorial District.
Uzodinma, who is the outgoing chairman of the Senate
Committee on Aviation and a leader in the PDP in this interview, speaks on the
fate that befell the party and how it can be repositioned for higher goals.
Excerpts:
What would you advise the new administration to do in
this regard?
It would not be really much of advice because the
people there now are also very experienced. We do not need classroom
pontifications to be able to reposition our country. Do this, don’t do that.
But having said that, I think what the new administration should tackle is to
restore order in the society. The society is very disorderly. There is a lot of
impunity. And let me hasten to say that this is not limited to only those in
power. There is disorderliness even in our private lives. It does not need
coercion to do that but a reorientation of Nigerians to love and trust each
other. If we restore brotherly love among ourselves, then the other problems,
about economy, about security and what have you, will be half way solved. We
are having problems because Nigerians do not co-operate with one another. But I
can see silver lining in the horizon. With the enthusiasm shown by Nigerians to
the just concluded transition, I believe things will be better.
You are a key player in the nation’s politics and top
member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is this not an indictment of your
party which has been in power for 16 years?
Hope Uzodinma
It is not an indictment because the thing I am talking
about is about attitudes, some cultural, some even religious. It is not only
politics. It is to the credit of PDP that we have come this far, to the stage
where we can hold elections peacefully and follow it up with a smooth
transition. Before the last general election, there were talks that Nigeria was
going to disintegrate following the 2015 election. It is to the credit of the
PDP that that did not happen. The other day, President Muhammadu Buhari
acknowledged publicly that the telephone call he received from Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan even before all the results of the Presidential Election were
announced was one single act that saved the nation from crisis. That is to the
credit of PDP of which the former President is a product. The PDP has succeeded
in stabilizing the country so far. So, we expect the new administration of the
All Progressives Congress (APC) to make progress from where the PDP stopped.
What role do you see your party playing in that
regard?
The PDP will, of course, play the role of contributing
in further stabilizing the polity. You guys in the media say PDP is now an
opposition party. Well, in ordinary political parlance that may be right. But I
can assure you that the PDP will not be involved in the conventional rabble
rousing opposition. It will do it maturely, not like a party desperately
wanting to grab power. After 16 years in the saddle, the party and its leaders
have seen it all. But beyond that, the PDP is there to avail Nigerians the
experience it had garnered over the years. Happily, the President has said he
will make use of those who can help his administration no matter which
political party they belong to. Beyond that, you will agree with me that it is
in the interest of the country that the PDP remains strong in order to offer
credible opposition though not in the conventional way of rhetoric. The PDP is
now a college of highly experienced people who can still play critical roles in
shaping the destiny of our country.
You are from the South-East whose people generally
gave more of their votes to the former President. Do you see any problems with
your people getting integrated into the new system?
There is no such problem as far as I am concerned;
both from the side of the people of the South-East and that of the
administration of President Muhammdu Buhari.The body language and utterances of
the President do not in any way suggest that he will discriminate against any
section of the country. He has stated that in black and white.
It is impossible to have everybody vote for one
political party or one candidate in an election, especially in a plural society
like ours. I think we should stop raising the issue of how the South-East
voted. It is not an issue at all. Those abusing Igbo for voting the way they
did in the last general elections have failed it completely.
It is unnecessary blackmail because apart from that
the APC got a lot of votes in the South-East. This is not the first time Igbo
have shown steadfastness in their preferences. They did it in 1993 when they
voted massively for the late MKO Abiola despite that they had their highly
respected son, Sylvester Ugoh, as Vice-Presidential candidate of the rival
party. Why have we forgotten all that? The Igbo will of course give support to
President Muhammadu Buhari and his administration.
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