I will work against any PDP president who seeks a second term in 2031 – PDP National Vice-Chairman (South-West)

National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) South-West, Kamoru Toyese Ajisafe, speaks with PHILIP IBITOYE on the party’s decision to zone its 2027 presidential ticket to the South, among other issues.

In light of the PDP’s decision at your most recent NEC meeting to return to zoning the presidency, how confident are you now that zoning the presidential ticket to the South will prevent a repeat of the 2023 crisis?

That question sounds simple, but it is very complex. We had an opportunity to zone the presidency to the South, even at the last election, but evidently they refused to do so because some people believed zoning or no zoning, they would win. At the end of the day, another person emerged and it became a problem. We thank God that this time around, we are able to summon courage and say, ‘Let’s zone the presidency to the South,’ so that the Southerners will have their eight years uninterrupted, so that the thing can go back to the North. It will bring harmony, peace, and whatever you want to call it amongst the citizens of this nation. That was what brought about the zoning, and we are fine with it. Those that were speculating that the PDP is gone, is a carcass, they can now see that we are not a carcass. You can’t call a party a carcass if they are winning national elections. We came second in all the recent elections and we won a federal House of Representatives election in Ibadan North. So we cannot be referred to as carcass. Those that think we won’t have the power to fly can now see that we have landed in Ibadan already. We have informed INEC of our national convention on November 15 and 16 and they were at our last NEC meeting. So the party is now in business. No more speculation from our detractors. God willing, we are sure to go.

Are you saying the party is now fully united?

Yes. We cannot be more united than what we are experiencing at the moment. We’ve seen a lot of people. Those people we have not seen for a long time, they attended the last NEC meeting. I wouldn’t want to mention names. You should be expecting a lot of people coming back to the PDP. And the door is open to everyone, including those who recently left. And that was why we said that we didn’t need to sanction people. We need the political space. Let them come back and join forces with us.

It sounds like you feel that the decision to zone the presidency now is enough to restore trust among members who felt sidelined the last time?

Definitely. Also, it shows unity, even in the country. That thing goes beyond PDP.

You mentioned that some people might come back to the party…

(Cuts in) They have started coming in. They are starting to come in.

There have been reports that Peter Obi might come back to the PDP, that some party leaders expect him to return. Do you expect him to come back?

That would be too personal. We are expecting all Nigerians to join the party. I need not dissipate my energy discussing one person. But if Obi comes back, the more, the merrier.

Now that you’ve zoned the party’s presidential ticket to the South; how is the party planning to manage any potential crisis that may arise from different sections of the South during the primaries?

Let me tell you something,  zoning the presidency to the South is not a tea party. So, any region that wants to take the presidency, they will have to work for it. You know, you can’t make an unwilling human being do what ordinarily he had made up his mind not to do. You have to show maximum interest in the presidency to compete and network. But I can assure you that no stone will be left unturned for the PDP to win the next presidential election.

There have also been some reports that former President Goodluck Jonathan only has four years left to serve, that your party might turn to him as a consensus candidate. Even some executives from your party have floated that idea, that they would be open to it. Is it something the party leadership is actively pursuing?

At this present moment, people are going about their personal opinions and conjecture and what have you. But we, members of the National Working Committee, have not zeroed in on a particular candidate. It is still an open contest.

Beyond zoning, what reforms are being discussed to strengthen the PDP ahead of 2027?

Moving forward, you know, for any organisation to succeed, there must be discipline. So, moving forward, we have to apply justice. We have to apply equity. And we have to apply every other thing that will make the party progress positively so as to win the next election. So, we are going in that direction.

You’ve answered part of my last question. Some would say the PDP’s crisis goes deeper than zoning, that it’s about discipline, trust and leadership. Do you agree?

As a political party, you should want to win an election. You have to ensure that you are not compromising on the issue of discipline, then you have to be tactical about it. Let me tell you, if you are doing bad, you know inside you that you are doing bad. So even with the fact that people are speculating that we discipline some people, you can now see that they are not as loose in the last 96 hours or thereabouts. They are not as loose as they normally are. Everybody is like, we are watching our utterances, actions and inactions, because you can see that there is a new PDP emerging. You don’t have to be a party man to see the way we conducted ourselves at the last NEC meeting. So, we have the mechanism to resolve our differences. For a political party as big as the PDP, we zoned the presidency to a particular place and people may be talking. The people that are talking are very inconsequential. You can’t see anybody worth being a member that will criticise what we have just done. And it is a relief to the Northerners too, that come 2031, the presidency will go back to the North. You know, it brings a lot of sanity. You know, because if you are ever involved in a presidential campaign primary, you will know it takes a lot of energy.

Sir, to make a point from what you said, you said that the Northerners would be relieved because the presidency would return to them in 2031. So what if the PDP nominates someone who wants to serve a second term from the South?

No, forget about it. I won’t support a second term for a president coming from the PDP. I won’t support this. I’m saying it freely. I’m going to work against such a president. Such a president must probably be a dictator and he won’t have my support.