"Yes, APC Poses Threat For PDP... But I'm Happy"— PDP Chieftain

Opinions of the politicians on the newly-registered the All Progressives' Congress party (APC) differ. In this interview, Prince Benjamin Benedict Apugo (Ochiagha), who is a chieftain and BoT member of the PDP, says the political entity comprises "men of integrity, progressives and true democrats."

The PDP member also acknowledges the fact that APC poses a huge threat to the PDP, after all -- despite his fellow PDP followers voicing the exact opposite opinions.

Sir, you seem excited with the registration of the APC. What should we expect in the next few weeks in the southeast zone, and Abia in particular, after the registration? 

Well, you people always ask me questions that are not difficult for me to answer. That is why I am answering this.

You see, I have always loved the APC when it was not even registered. Now that it has been registered, I love it more. Remember that I am one of the founders of the PDP and a member of the national board of trustees. It has been very difficult for us to assess our party because there are no strong opposition. Now that the opposition is here, I am very happy. I am very happy that APC has been registered.

Why I am happy is, I know the people there and I know their character. Most of them are strong characters of which I belong to. That is why I love the APC. 

People who will come and tell the country the truth not minding who is there. And they, too, they know me very well. Then coming to my place, Abia, what again would I say? I have said it several times. We are backward. We don't have anything.

What do you want me to say? Is it airport we have? Is it stadium we have? Is it road that we have? Is it water we have? Is it light we have? Is it employment we have? Is it scholarship we have? So what do we have? What do you want me to say? I have said it several times. So I cannot continue to be saying the same thing that I said before.

Sir, there was a time when the PDP said they were going to rule the country for the next fifty years. Now, with the emergence of the APC, do you think that dream is still realisable? 

You see, there is nothing wrong in assumption. People even call themselves Jesus Christ. I am not saying the PDP is not going to rule, but if they are going to rule, let it be by the vote of the people.

Do you think that the emergence of the APC will give Nigerians the much needed opposition? 

Now, I don't even know who to call the opposition because as at today, three political parties have merged. I cannot call them opposition. I will call them a political parties. PDP is a political. They are political party. And every party will fight to win.

Fight is not physical fighting; they will fight by talking to the people, addressing the people, respecting the will of the people, respecting the rule of law. It is the party which does this that Nigerians will always follow; people like us will always belong to.

It is not a group that will only want you to run around the villa and blackmail people to get one thing or the other which I cannot do. I contested for national chairmanship of the PDP, a member of Board of Trustees, one of the founders, even who hoisted the PDP flag in Yenagoa in Saint Peters in Bayelsa. I hoisted PDP flag in Bayelsa, not only hoisting the PDP flag in Bayelsa, I funded them in Bayelsa. I don't know Bayelsa before. They came and begged me, and I followed them to go and help, but we are nothing because we don't run round the villa.

Then you are talking about Abia. I helped to make T.A. Orji governor when he was in PPA. I presented the colanut and brought him into the PDP at the stadium.

So, all these things are nothing for the PDP. It is only if you go round and start blackmailing people to look for one contact or the other. I can never do that. I have my integrity and I will continue to protect my integrity.

Some members of your party say the APC is not a threat, but you seem to be singing a different song. You are excited that the APC will give Nigerians the liberty to choose between two alternatives. Why is your view different from others? 

I've said it earlier, I said I know the people who are there. Do I have to mention their names? I know the people who are there. And, sincerely speaking, from what I know about some of them who are there, they are people of integrity. That is why my views are different from others. And APC is a threat. Let me be very blunt. Let's not deceive ourselves. If it is for Nigerians to vote, APC is a threat.

Back to your zone sir, the south east zone. There has been this age-long agitation for Igbo presidency, and people are thinking that, with the coming of APC, the zone will have a broader platform to actualise that ambition. Do you think that is possible? 

You know the issue there is that we don't have to deceive ourselves. Look, before you sit down in a place that you have gone to, you have to look at the face of the person that you have gone to his house before you sit down. We the Igbo should do everything possible to keep ourselves together, to love each other before we start looking for a seat where we are. We are human beings quite alright. We are qualified to be all these things, more than qualified. But we should get back our friends; we should get back our allies. We should forget selfishness.

A governor will get to office and it will become his kingdom; a governor who was not well-off goes to office and becomes the all-and-all, forgetting that he will come out of the office one day and he will go back to that position that God created for him no matter the amount of money he has made. So, let's forget about deceiving ourselves now.

Wherever the president comes from, I always support the presidency from the North. I always say that this time, I said it earlier, even in the PDP where we were, I always say that the presidency, as at that time, was for the North going by our zoning arrangement. But it was not done.

We didn't know that some of the northerners went behind and signed an agreement with the president, so we were betrayed. Yes, because all of us like me, I stood firm that it was the turn of the North, I did not know who the North were going to bring in the PDP. So, when it was time for the primaries, I voted for the north. I voted completely for the north. So, today from the look of things, if I am asked to vote again in the PDP primaries, which I am truly qualified, I will vote for a Northern president in the primary. Then, after the north, the Igbos will come in. That is if we continue to do zoning but if there is no zoning, then may the best man win.

Sir, in the Southeast it is only the Imo State governor who is in the APC. What does it portend for the zone? 

Well, you don't put much emphasis on a governor. You will look at the people. When the time comes and it is voting, it is the people who will vote. Some governors, when they came out, tried to contest the senate they lost. So let us not be talking about governors, the people. What is the people looking for.

Are the people not looking for development? What we are talking about is development. Why I am particularly happy with APC is that I have seen where their governors performed. Their governors perform like some of the PDP governors. APC governors perform, they look after their people, they create jobs, that is my interest.

As one of the highest-ranking officers of PDP, the party that has been riddled with a lot of crisis... Going by your experience, what advise do you have for the APC? 

All the members of APC are politicians. No, they cannot afford to have crisis because they know that crisis destroys a party. Crisis is part of the problems we have in PDP. You bring in a governor who is a total stranger, you make him a governor, he becomes the leader of the party, then you who brought him will not even know your ward chairman because you don't go to the governor to look for one business or the other or blackmailing others. It can never be done in APC. You have your respect. The governor can continue developing the place, but your respect is there. You don't need him to give you respect before he develops the place, he develops the place and he gives you the respect. The development is first, the respect is second.

As a major power broker not only in the southeast but the entire country, do you think the President stands a chance in the second tenure with the current realities in the country?

I wouldn't answer that question because I am not in his cabinet, or in his team. It is only people that are with him that should be able to know whether he has a second chance or not. I am not there. Only those around him will know. I cannot tell you whether he has a second chance even though we are in the same party.

Sir, recently, Senator Arthur Nzeribe said the southeast has nothing to show for the support they gave to President Jonathan. Do you agree with that assertion?

Completely.

What do you think the President should have done for this zone to be commensurate with the support given to him?

Look, I cannot blame Jonathan. I am blaming the so-called ministers that are from this zone. I cannot blame him, he is not from here. Let us not be calling somebody who has not done anything against you. The ministers are from here. We have the so-called minister for Labour, doesn't he know that there is no airport in Abia? We have the Finance Minister, doesn't she know that there is no stadium in Abia? Or doesn't she know that we don't have airport in Abia?Why don't they come down to Abia and drive round and see for themselves that we need these things. We need infrastructure. We need employment for our people. We need roads. We need water. We need light. So why should we levy all these things to Jonathan?

Bayelsa is being developed, it's his home. I cannot hold Jonathan for that at all, because he gave you equal ministerial position that he gave to others who are developing their area. You have governors who are developing their area.

Look, let me tell you what do you want me to say. The "zone", you call it zone in brackets, what is the project they have in common? Southeast zone, do they have a bank? Southeast zone, do they have any corporation like the O'odua Investment or the Arewa? The governors, do they have any one single project that makes them one? Why are they deceiving themselves, they don't have.

So, they are only one when they go to Abuja to lobby for one thing or the other for themselves.

Yorubas have the O'odua Investment, they have their bank. The North has the Arewa, they have their projects and all the Northern governors are members of the Arewa Group. All the Western governors are members of the O'odua Investment. From there they give employment to their sons and daughters. Do we have any common thing? These governors parading themselves, do they have one common thing in the zone? Why should we be talking about zone?It's only zone by mouth.

Source: Legit.ng