Founders Of PDP Will Control The Party Again -Jim Nwobodo

Senator Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo

By Chinenye Nnaji, Enugu

SFormer Senator Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo had a running battle with the former Governor of Enugu State, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani for eight years. Jim who was also a former governor of old Anambra State avoided Enugu, his home state during those years, after an attempt on his life. He was frustrated out of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] and he joined the United Nigeria Peoples Party [UNPP] and contested the last election as the presidential candidate of the party. Jim's businesses including Savannah Bank were grounded by the Chimaroke Nnamani government using federal agencies and the approval of the Presidency under the leadership of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Today, things are looking bright again for Senator Nwobodo who has since returned to the PDP and even headed the southeast reconciliation panel of the party with the responsibility of wooing back deserting former members back to the fold. In this rare interview with newsmen, Jim said many things about the PDP, Chimaroke Nnamani's administration and his relationship with the present government in Enugu State.
Question: Your Excellency may we know why you decided to grant this interview?
Jim: I was away when the judgement on the Enugu State governorship election was given and I did not have the opportunity to say something. But now, I speak as a proud citizen on Enugu State and say emphatically that Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State has delivered. I speak as one who is overwhelmed with what I have seen in the past one year about the Government of Enugu State. I speak as one who saw the travails of the people of Enugu State in the last eight years. I speak as one who has seen the tremendous differences in state development after just one year of Governor Sullivan Chime. I speak as one who has also witnessed the hand of God in everything we do. I speak as a satisfied citizen of this state and I can go out with pride and say that I am from Enugu State, that I am of the PDP Government of Enugu State. I was away but I was overwhelmed because before that judgement the feelings of most people here in Enugu was that the election will be overturned. In other words, there was going to be another election. Up till the last few days of that judgement, everybody was afraid of another election. But having witnessed what God can do, that result came out as a divine judgement because it brought to an end what would have been a catastrophe of a re-run of election of Enugu State. I thank God that the judiciary has once again shown that it is the last hope of the common man, the last hope of people who feel oppressed.
When people called me and told me about the judgement and some people were complaining, I told them that they don't have to complain. I think that when God wants to act, He acts in a way people get confused because all those who have prepared for blood bath, thuggery or quarrel saw that there was no need for that because God has brought peace to Enugu State.
Today in Enugu State there is peace. Today in Enugu State the political tension has diminished completely. Today in Enugu State there is freedom, hope and people say what they want. Today, in Enugu State there is respect for elders, today in Enugu State people can move about freely at night. I think it is because of the nature of the Governor of Enugu State. You see the leader of any state or any government sets the tone of public behaviour. Once he sets the tone of humility, respect, fearlessness, the followers will follow, but if you sets the tone of thuggery, violence, they will also follow. So, today people can come to Enugu and pass their weekends and go back to Lagos like it was before. Today, the roads are being tarred. Today people are phoning, asking when you are coming to Enugu. It never happened before. Today, people can be invited to come here for a conference and they freely come and go back freely. I feel that the Government of Sullivan Chime has done so well, within so short a time. He is now the substantive Governor of Enugu State. He has now been confirmed and re-confirmed.
He now has an opportunity to carry out his four-point programme, he has opportunity to do what will help the State and people are looking towards seeing a transformed Enugu State. To me I have always said that having won this victory I think he has eight years to stay not just four. I am sure by the time he will finish the first four years, there will be no need for another election in Enugu State. From all indications, I feel the majority of the people are happy.
I was at the church service that was held at Okpara Square, I saw how the Anglican churches unitedly said that the government is working in partnership with the church and I think it is a very good thing. Then, I traveled also with him to Nsukka, it was unbelievable.
It was fantastic, people came with outpouring of joy and they are now grateful, it was wonderful. I think that the Appeal Court victory is a blessing to Enugu Sate. I believe that he will live up to it. He must maintain the same style of government, he must maintain justice, and respect for the people.
I think I was particularly happy about that judgement. For me, it was a victory for the people of Enugu State. It belongs to the people of Enugu State and indeed Nigeria. You know Enugu has always been the capital of the old Eastern States which included what we now called the South-south.
I believe that this victory will now attract people to Enugu once again particularly people from Anambra and other sister States who will now come. I think the governor should put this in mind. Anybody who requests for land should be given land, so that at least they can come here and make Enugu the capital of Eastern States as it has always been. I want this place to be like Kaduna. In the whole of the North, Kaduna is so important that anything that happens in the North comes to Kaduna. I want Enugu to assume that position, with this governor, people can now come to Enugu, stay here and plan their businesses particularly now that Enugu Airport has been made an International Airport.
People can really came here and stay and fly from Enugu to any part of the world. I feel Enugu is safe and the kind of development we have, the roads being built with culverts and everything is done with walk-ways, with all these things including plans to ensure that the place is beautified, many Nigerians will come back to Enugu State particularly, those from the South East, the Igbos, many of them now in Diaspora.
I've spoken with them, I told them to come back to Enugu and some of them say, you mean Enugu State and I said yes, we now have a new government; some of them are going to come back.
With this, we are now going to have a boom investment boom in Enugu State. We want to thank the people of Enugu State for the kind of support they have been giving to the governor and I ask them to support the government willingly. He needs absolute support; anybody who loves this state should help to make Enugu what it used to be. Finally, I am happy about that judgement, there is the hand of God in that judgement and that's why I feel grateful.
Question: What is your advice for the governor's political opponents who went to court with the governor and are incidentally from his area? Again, the PDP is not in good terms with some of its members particularly the former state governor and his associates, what is your advice on this? You also talked about Enugu International Airport, what are the efforts of the elite towards the realization of the project to enable people to start benefiting from it?
Jim: On the opponents of the governor, there must be opponents in any situation like government and let me remind you that those opponents were in PDP with him and they were chased out of the party. Some of them were there with him but there are already some moves to bring them back to PDP. By my position in PDP, I am prepared to play that role of bringing them together particularly those who went to court and lost. I am sure if I play the role I am supposed to play properly, I think I can bring them together. There are people who cannot make peace. This PDP is not man-made. Sullivan is there so his being there is necessary. Nobody can stop it and he will not use thugs to keep himself in office. He made a statement I liked in Nsukka. He said: “we have finished with politicking, we are now talking about governance.” Anybody who wanted to be governor and who had gone to court should be able to think about governance or what should be done to make Enugu State a better place, or one of the best states in Nigeria. My advice to them is that they should bury their hatchets and seek peace and I am going to play that role in making them come back.
I thank God that I played the role of brining peace and reconciliation within the PDP in the whole of south eastern states and right now we have just two states in the South East, [Enugu and Ebonyi] where we are brokering peace. The PDP is still working on reconciliation within the party in the two states and my role is still there within the PDP. We will invite them to come. I will tell the governor to invite them so as to work together. Like I said before, peace is for those who want peace. Those who don't want peace can be allowed to operate on their own. There's nothing we can do if we ask for peace and they don't want it. The governor is the Governor of Enugu State and not the Governor of PDP. So, it includes everybody, friends and opponents. I believe he has the capacity to do good to everybody. Based on his style of leadership and his position, I believe he can bring everyone together to work with him and everybody who wants will play their role effectively.
On the airport, I remember that during ex-President Obasanjo's tenure, he visited this place and as far back as 2001, the then president said Enugu Airport deserves to be made an International Airport. Once there are conditions that will make it possible for the airport to be upgraded to International status, the Federal Government has a role to play and the state government has a role to play. Many people will prefer to come direct to Enugu and fly direct from Enugu if the conditions are okay.
There must be a wide expanse of land to make sure that there are runways that can take huge planes. Once the right conditions are in place, the rest can follow. I believe that the governor is the type that can do the work very well.
Question: There was this reconciliation committee you headed and after it was said that you are a returnee and therefore do not have the capacity to handle the matter, what is your reaction to this?
Jim: There is nothing to react to on that. I am a founding father in the PDP and there were only 18 members of the BOT and I was one of them. There were few of us from the South East such as Dr. Alex Ekwueme, myself and late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo. Only three of us were the original members of the Board of Trustees of PDP and there was a hostile government in Enugu State then. It was very hostile and was propped up by an equally hostile President. So, I decided to keep off.
At times, it is advisable when you are chased, to do the proper thing which is to give way. Everything has its own time. I knew that one day everything will pass away. So, I decided to wait since the owners of the party will take back their party. The B.O.T. decision has made nonsense of the whole thing Obasanjo put in place to favour himself and his cronies because NEC met and turned everything down. So, we are going to reconstitute the B.O.T. and the original members will come back. We are going to have a meeting of the founders of the party soon. You have to be a member of the party from your own state, from your ward, from your local government, that is how to be a member of that party. In any case, there is going to be a new B.O.T. with a new chairman this year. That is the position of the B.O.T. N.E.C. is the highest body in terms of ruling in the party. There will be a convention next year, and when the time comes, we shall go for the convention.
You also asked about reconciliation committee, our report is being implemented to the letter, everything we recommended has been accepted by both the National Working Committee and the N.E.C. and it is being implemented. We inaugurated the Ebonyi State PDP, we inaugurated Enugu State PDP. We inaugurated Abia PDP, we are now in Anambra, and the ward congress will take place on the 27th of this month. Then, the local government congresses will come up on the third of this month. After that, the state congress will take place on the third and sixth of next month. So, the report is being implemented completely. Nothing has been changed. Everything we recommended has been accepted and they are being implemented by the National Working Committee and N.E.C. So, to that extent, I think the party is thoroughly being reconciled and as I said before, we still have to make attempts to bring back those who are out into the fold. All our governors are disposed to have them back. After the tribunal judgement in Imo, we will have the Imo congress.
Question: While you were away, the PDP lost three states in the southeast. Now you are back, what do you have to tell the people as reasons for the loss? The issue of state creation is all over the south-easterner states. The people have fragmented themselves into segments. Who are we following? Is it those agitating for Adada, Equity or Njaba? How best can we handle the issue before it is too late?
Jim: One of the reasons is to reposition the PDP, rebrand the PDP and bring back the lost states. I can assure you that we now have two and half states really because we are waiting for the Appeal Court in Abia and if it goes through, we will be three. Then in Imo, even though the governor is in the PPA, he is an offshoot of PDP and PPA is an offshoot of PDP both in Abia and in Imo States. So, if that goes through, if the governor wins the appeal, I think we will get him back to PDP. We must have to. If he doesn't win, there will be election and in any case, it will go to PDP because the PDP will support its own candidate unless he decides to run as a PDP. I think we are likely going to get back two states because by 2011, we will get back those states.
On states creation, the whole Nigeria agreed that south-east has been cheated and it should have one additional state. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the debate during that time, we threw away our chance. I think the whole country will agree to give back the state to us. When the agreement was reached, there was a kind of consensus reached among all the groups, Adada State, Njaba State and Equity State. We will all know what to do and then go for it.
It is not a matter for fighting because in the last exercise, Adada was the number one and that's why they are pressing for Adada State. There is nothing wrong with creating more states because it brings government closer to the people. When I was governor, I was governor of the territory that today constitutes three states. I was Governor of Anambra, Governor of Enugu and Governor of Ebonyi States. These territories were in the old Anambra State. When they were clamouring for Ebonyi State, I said it is good to have Ebonyi and even Anambra. So, when you are in power you feel you are losing something. No, you are losing nothing. If you carve out the state, you are not loosing anything.
We would have gotten the states earlier. Just look at the South-South. There is Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta; six States. So, we are becoming a minority. We, need to encourage state creation, if it is possible to give us both Adada and Njaba, we go for it because the more we are, the more amenities we attract for our people. There is nothing wrong with that. We only need to play our cards properly and don't go about fighting or quarrelling.
To be continued next week.