Senator Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi is a former Governor of Kaduna State and ex-Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP. In this brief encounter, he spoke on the outcome of the PDP Presidential primaries and advised that party stalwarts must forget their differences, appease Governor Wike and face the 2023 elections as one family. Excerpts:
How do you see the bickering in your party that revolve around the selection of Governor Ifeanyi OKowa of Delta State as the running mate to Atiku Abubakar?
The Political bickering in the Party following the controversy surrounding the endorsement of the Governor of Delta State, Ifeanyi Okowa as running mate to Atiku must be resolved, while effort should also be made to appease the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike.
No doubt, the selection of a running mate to Atiku Abubakar is now so controversial, most people actually routed for the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike. Considering the outcome of the exercise, I could say that Wike was unfairly treated.
Many thought the selection of Governor OKowa was fine….
“Well, you see since I was not part of the selection process, I don’t know much about the deliberations But whatever they were, many of us know that His Excellency, Nyesom Wike is a very strong pillar of the party and I know that he can contribute enormously to the party as he has been contributing for the success of the party to the 2023 elections.
As I understand, the position of running mate was zeroed to South-south. Personally, I know each one of them and all of them can play the role effectively as the Vice President. The principal, that’s the presidential candidate, I don’t know the basis of making that choice and it is only he that can explain that. It will be painful to some especially Nwike. And I don’t blame him for feeling pained.
What’s your take on this …
My own take here, let us meet him as to one-on-one and resolve in a manner that Governor Wike will be comfortable. This will make electoral victory a much easier thing. This is because on the day of election everybody will go back to his own state, that is the thing. And Rivers State is a big state and they can vote and vote massively for PDP.
Is there any role you can play here ?
For me, my own is a call to him, no matter what may have happened that he sits down with the Presidential candidate personally and resolve this problem. The two of them should sit down and talk to each other.
Anytime there is an election, whatever kind of election, somebody will win and others will lose. I have gone through that and took it as an end result of every electoral process. Even if painful, personally I never allow such a thing to linger. I always accept the larger picture. It was a keenly contested presidential primaries election and nobody was sure of it’s outcome until it came out.
And for me, I am a person of faith, whatever comes my way, I know that power comes from God but of course, winners and losers expect that after election, should have the faith to accept if they lose, so that the party can move together.
For me, no matter the personal views of many of us, the outcome is known and we should work together .But then, the winner and indeed the party and all those of us in the party should work tirelessly together and bring unity because nobody can do it alone.
Whoever won, any of the aspirants that contested for the election, especially knowing that one person would emerge, should support the winner. The winner will lead every other person. If Tambuwal had emerged, he could not do it alone; so if Wike or any other person had emerged, they cannot do it alone. If even as Atiku has won, he cannot do it alone. So, we all need each other to move the party forward.
What message do you have for the members of the party?
I call all stakeholders and leaders of the party to Support the Presidential Candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.
If PDP members must form government in 2023, we must swallow a lot of things and work together. If we don’t stop this, then, there will be no end to it. Let’s work together as the party that is going to form government in 2023.
