This time, APC’ll Win Landslide In Benue – Arc Joe Ikyaagba.

Architect Joe Ikyaagba was the founding national organising secretary of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP), which later became the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). He also won election on the platform of the APP to represent Jerchira federal constituency in the House of Representatives but the mission was scuttled because of the sudden death of the late former Head of State, General Sani Abacha. In this interview with DANIEL GBABO at his Makurdi residence, the former commissioner of works in Benue State explains why he left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and why President Goodluck Jonathan’s planned national conference is a good idea though ill-timed. Excerpts:

You were a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for over 10 years. What informed your decision to dump the party for the All Progressives Congress (APC)?

My defection into the APC is not up to one year. By April I will be a year in the APC. Be that as it may, at the national level and as a true patriot and a democrat for that matter, Nigeria has been through the woes of nurturing and developing its democracy. Unfortunately, it has been shown over time that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lacks internal democracy. Former President Alhaji Abubakar Atiku only recently spoke vehemently about it. Several other persons have also testified to the effect of being dissatisfied with the party. I am not used to a system of impunity; hence the wisdom and desire for me to move out of the PDP.

Secondly, this action would have been taken much earlier but for the fact that there was no cohesion among politicians in this country. I think the option for Nigeria is what was presented to us during the period of the former military President, Ibrahim Babangida (rtd). Unfortunately, we jettisoned it at that time; but I do believe that we are all coming back to it for all functional purposes. So, at this point when a number of leading opposition parties for the first time have come together to form a viable and robust alternative to the PDP, it is most inspiring for all Nigerians and that is the second reason I have to dump the PDP for the APC. The APC provides a very viable and robust platform for Nigerians.

What are the chances of the APC, come 2015?

It is on record that the real party in Benue State with grassroots support has never been the PDP. I am aware and anybody who has been around can testify to that. If you can understand the feelings of several Benue indigenes, their excitement about the new platform, then it will be very easy for one to point to the possibility of the APC winning in Benue State. To get a ruling party out of the way, one needs to really push because we are very conscious of the fact that the ruling party could deploy government apparatus to advance its chances. However, the situation in several other states where the PDP has been defeated gives us hope that in Benue too, we can make it. The cloud is getting thicker here as you can see and I do believe we are going to make it this time.

How do you hope to penetrate certain areas, for example, Zone C, where the Senate president and a host of other  PDP chieftains come from?

Building a political platform across Benue State is something that I have done over a long period of time. The Benue UNCP, during the Abacha era started on my dining table in Makurdi. I later moved over to the CNC at such a time that the party was extremely weak in my own senatorial zone. I built and waxed it strong enough to produce a senator. The APP of Benue State also started on my dining table. I was the first national organising secretary of the APP. By the time I moved into the Benue PDP, it was heavily factionalised. I was involved in building a robust platform for the PDP that was under the leadership of the then Governor George Akume.

So, building political platforms, using the necessary network to get things to work and get the party that I belong to in Benue State to win is something that I have done over and over. So, today, as I move into the APC, I have to work within my local government; work within the senatorial zone where I come from. But, given my vast experience in political networking within the state, I will not be doing my new party the APC any good if I limit my operations to my senatorial district hence my operations right through the entire state. I do know that when laying a proper groundwork for a political party to take off and win elections you don’t dwell on the big names in the party. It is the grassroots, those who support the party at the local government level as well as the other smaller components. Those are the people you need reach out to and put together. That is exactly what I am doing.

How do you hope to break the jinx, given the background that the PDP has always won in spite of the opposition since 2003?

I don’t think that will be a big deal. First, we never had one opposition party per se. They were all independent candidates. They attempted some forms of understanding on a number of occasions but they had always failed. This is the first time that you are having all the opposition parties come together to provide a viable alternative not just at the national level but also in Benue State. That is the first reason the opposition is going to work in Benue this time around. Secondly, I am not the only person that was dissatisfied with the oppression of the PDP. There are many of them waiting for the right time to decamp to the APC and that will be a major blow to the PDP in Benue State. I am conscious of that and I know where all the bones are buried. By the time we get the right people out of the PDP to support the only robust mass movement of the APC, it will be quite certain that this time the APC will win landslide over and above the PDP.

What is your take on the National Confab and the controversies that have continued to greet its convocation by Nigerians?

Some of us have been quite critical about the national confab at this point in time. The concept of the national confab is good. However, the timing is not right. That is one; two, the approach is most undesirable of democracy. We are not in a military regime. So, I don’t see how the government in power is the one that decides who goes there. There should have been a non-partisan arrangement completely devoid of politics. It would have been a blossom game to allow the ethnic nationalities that make up the nation to decide who should represent them and speak on their behalf. For these two reasons, I don’t believe in it.

Recently, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared that it would not conduct election in troubled areas of the North. What do you think this portends for the 2015 elections?

Well, it will be most unfortunate if such happens. How fair would that be? If the ruling party is afraid of losing in the North, and the West and other areas are devising other ways of rigging then, it is very unfortunate.  It is very obvious to everybody where they are coming from. You are attempting to disenfranchise other Nigerians from choosing who should be their president. We should kick against it.

What is your assessment of the President Jonathan-led Federal Government?

For sure, I am dissatisfied. There is no question about it. Most Nigerians are dissatisfied and have cried out. Some of the reasons are, one, the biggest problem with Nigeria happens to be corruption. When you listen to the now suspended governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria; when you listen and observe the care-free attitude of the Nigerian government towards the unfortunate manner in which funds are being used by our ministers, you will see that it is most unfortunate. We are not serious about tackling corruption which means we have not even started in trying to reposition Nigeria for greater heights. If we cannot handle corruption then it means we cannot develop.

Secondly, the last election that took place in Anambra State was such a big shame to our nation. That was a typical example. That was why we were shunned during the burial of the late Nelson Mandela even though we were a frontline state during the struggle of for the liberation of South Africa. Our shameful conduct has eroded the pride of Nigeria and Nigerians. It is very obvious that over 90 per cent of Nigerians are not comfortable with the performance of the present administration at the federal level.