Chairman, National Youth Council, River State chapter, Comrade Chijioke Ihunwo, speaks on the outcomes of the just concluded Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary and the unveiling of running mate, among other issues, in this interview with DEBORAH ONYOFUFEKE

There had been a few issues raised after the successful conduct of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) special convention which saw the emergence of Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate, what’s your perception of the convention?

First of all, what happened was that the National Chairman of the party decided to cause the crisis. A convention was ongoing and an aspirant spoke and then he came back again to talk about stepping down from the ongoing elections. Ordinarily, that nullifies the primaries of the PDP. What has happened is that the party has failed. To make matters worse, what transpired a few days ago when the leadership of the party instead of giving the running mate to the Governor of River State, Nyesom Wike, gave it to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, of Delta, was to cause more trouble for the party.

Why did you say there would be more trouble for the party?

In the PDP Constitution, zoning is recognised. I know to some extent that there had been an argument during the last election (2019), where the party zoned it to the North, it was mainly candidates from the North that came out. Candidates from the South did not come out.

Now that it has come out this way do you think that Governor Wike would want to explore that avenue to go to court?

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You know that the PDP Constitution says that it must be zoned to the south and the party did not obey that zoning system. As for me, I supported presidential candidates from the South because we cannot afford the injustice being served by PDP. Unfortunately in the PDP, we do not have the Southern presidential candidate because the North picked the ticket via Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Recall that the party constituted a committee to look into the zoning matter, and I was surprised that the committee allowed this to happen, instead of zoning the presidency to the South they left it open. That shows that they were trying to intimidate some people and it is bad because a situation where a man that has supported the party with his time and resources is now being paid back with evil.

There was an accord by the 17 governors from the southern part of the country, on the need to ensure that the presidency comes to the South in 2023, what do you think happened to that accord, and at what point did they deviate?

The point where this happened was when some persons were being promised, vice president. Support us, we will give you vice-president and all that. I am sure the betrayal started betraying themselves after some persons were been promised a vice-presidential slot, unfortunately, the party’s slot can no longer come to the South. Although some governors stood insisted that the presidency must come to the South since they were looking for a vice-president they agreed to betray the accord. It’s an embarrassment to them, betraying Governor Wike giving what they did to him. It’s not good, but history would say that as of today, Governor Wike, stood for the party.

Again, last Thursday, the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku, picked Governor Okowa as his running mate in what was widely believed to have been given to Governor Wike, was it another case of betrayal?

What happened was another conspiracy. If you know Governor Wike very well, he has never betrayed the PDP since 1999 to date. Governor Wike is the only man in PDP who has never defected. Atiku has defected from the party several times. He comes in and goes anytime he wants, so, what happened on Thursday was a breach of things and it shows that the party does not respect those who kept the party. Most people left the party, but Governor Wike made sure the party stood. So, what happened on Thursday was a betrayal and I believe that what goes around comes around. There’s no issue. We are not bothered. However, the governor has concern for the Rivers people and we would continue to build the state and ensure that the party produces the next governor in 2023.

There’s also another school of thought that Wike cannot be easily controlled that was why he was not picked as the vice-presidential candidate, do you share that view?

You see when people want to kill the economy of this country, they begin to bring things. Governor Wike is a man that won’t keep quiet when you are doing the wrong thing. You see that’s why they are afraid of Wike. So of course, if they say Governor Wike is a man that people cannot control and all that, he is a man that speaks for the masses and will not allow anyone to do wrong things as the President. I know they are afraid of him because Wike is a destiny child. We are watching.

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Do you think there will be a defection from the camp of Wike over what has happened?

The governor has built the party and I know he will not leave, but we know that most of the people who we know are his allies, whom we know are saboteurs to what Governor Wike is doing in Rivers are already snapping pictures with Atiku in Abuja, but we are not bothered about that. I know that Wike will stand to ensure that PDP wins the election in 2023.

Do you think he is looking at the senatorial ticket?

I have been in several meetings and people have said that he is not interested in going to Senate. No former Governor of Rivers State has gone to Senate. Wike is not that kind of person. Wike is contented. A bigger thing is coming for him.

Going forward to 2023, do you see PDP winning the general election?

I see PDP winning the general election because what Nigeria needs now is change.

There had been mixed reactions over the choice of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as running mate, d you share in the view also?

The PDP made a mistake by picking Governor Okowa and I believe he does not have the capacity, but Wike can go to Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, and Edo because he is loved by people. He is a man that speaks for his people. For us as youths in Rivers, we know that Governor Okowa doesn’t have the capacity.

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What is the mood in Rivers at the moment?

There is no issue in River state. River state is very calm and our leader, is also in River state, he’s doing well and we know our state is safe. There’s no cause for alarm Wike has built a lot of legacy projects that can speak for him even after he leaves office as a governor

What is the place of the youth in the forthcoming election?

We have been saying that we need younger people to take over leadership positions because we want the country to be organised. We want the country to move forward because the economy is down and the rate of unemployment is high. So many youths are leaving the country, and we will need people who can drive our economy. We need people who can change the economy of this country and that is why the youths are saying we need younger people to govern this country and that is why we need younger people to occupy positions that can help the younger generation but I know where we are heading to now, will be another EndSARS protest because what we are seeing in this country is that we allowing elderly people govern us. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is an elderly man, in the All Progressives Congress (APC), we have Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who is also above 70, and so, where are we heading to?

With the candidates presented so far by the different political parties for elective positions in the 2023 general elections, you would have had a fair idea of the numbers, do you think the youths have a sizeable representation?

From what I am seeing and in my state, we have younger persons, some who are even occupying positions at the moment, I know that Imo State has younger people too, like Delta but I don’t know about the North but I know that the National Assembly in this country is not working so we need to make it work where you see the national assembly sleeping instead of sitting. I think that the country is backward and that is why the leadership of the assembly is not working. Both the speaker and the senate president are not doing their legitimate duty. They can’t even invite Mr President to brief us on the state of the economy of this country. The breakfast they served our governor will, in turn, reverse back to them.