‘Why Buhari’ll win in 2019’
and then turn around to conspire to ensure the failure of that government so when I saw the defections that were happening, first in the senate where we had almost fourteen senators at that time going, the next thing was the senate president, the number three citizen of the country abandoning his party together with his governor, together with the governor of Sokoto, governor of Benue and all that, I said there was need for me to put an end to this because some of the people that were enjoying the political Nollywood did not know the wide implication was an attempt to ensure the failure of the government even before the election and that was why I came out.
DT: How do you see the discussions that the PDP candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, may defeat President Buhari in 2019?
If Atiku were to defeat President Buhari, then the tsunami that is happening in many states including Akwa Ibom would not be happening. PDP members are moving in thousands on daily basis, declaring for the APC to support Buhari. Does that not send a signal that all is not well? Even when the PDP finished their convention, didn’t you hear the confusion? Have you ever seen where you bring a running mate then the whole region is rejecting the running mate? So I don’t want you to dwell on the attitude of the speeches of the elite who have access to social media, there are some other persons in the villages, farmers who know very well that President Buhari is a man of integrity and that he loves Nigeria and that if he has his way this country will change for the better. I have no doubt in my mind that the APC and President Buhari will win in 2019. I don’t know about but for instance, let me say that daily politics is local, so may be my spirit is as a result of what I’m seeing around the Southsouth region.
Today, even when we were complaining we have three senators right now in APC in Rivers. After the convention, the senator representing Port Harcourt now decamped to go and join the APC, it means something is wrong. So we now have three APC senators in Rivers State. You come to Akwa Ibom that you did not even have a councilor you have two senators. You have at least three to four members of the House of Representatives and then you have many members of the House of Assembly and we had none in 2015 and even 2016. So politics is about people, as I speak now, the deputy state chairman of the PDP Akwa Ibom has decamped. Many commissioners and special assistants have left the government. In fact, the latest one that left was the special assistant on electoral matters in the PDP and that one I think they couldn’t take it so some hoodlums went and shot him and he barely escaped with his life. Even the governors of the South-south are talking to me and asking me what percentage they can give to the president so my belief is that let us look from the angle that in 2015 the president did not make much impact in the Southeast and South-south as a result of the fact that a son of the soil, former president Goodluck Jonathan was contesting but in 2019, the entire South-east and South-south are battle grounds for APC and PDP. And the APC has an upper hand, so I don’t know how much impact we have been able to make in the North as far as the PDP is concerned. I don’t think they make any impact in the North, I have not seen. Even in Sokoto, there was a massive earthquake when the governor left it like he left alone with some commissioners. When we came in in 2015, the PDP was in control of Ondo State but today is APC, when we came, Ekiti State was controlled by the PDP, today it is APC. As I speak, the APC is in control of Osun and Edo states.
DT: Your explanation seems to differ from the argument that you defected due to fear of perceived harassment of political opponents, especially the incumbent Governor Emmanuel Udom, apart from the fear of alleged corruption charges against you, what do you say to this?
If Godswill Akpabio, as the former governor of Akwa Ibom State so much loved by his people decides that he is going to the APC, it means that thousands of Akwa Ibom people who believed in him were impressed by his uncommon transformation are also going along with him. When I was declaring for the APC I did not give invitation to anybody, but didn’t you see thousands of heads? That is actually the effect of
Godswill Akpabio defecting. Coming to your question about defecting because of APC, in fact, as I am going back now, the law firm that wrote a petition against me to the EFCC just gave me an award in BON hotel. The reality is that the head of the firm was being used and then realized that those allegations did not carry any atom of evidence and so he withdrew his petition before the EFCC. The boy went and swore an affidavit in the court that he was withdrawing the petition voluntarily. So there is nothing like me defecting because of EFCC harassment. If I wanted to leave the PDP because of EFCC harassment, rather I would have say no, that I won’t do that because former governor Darius who left PDP for APC, where is he today? Unfortunately he was jailed even though his case is on appeal and