Lagos State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Philip Aivoji, speaks with ISMAEEL UTHMAN about the reported collapse of the party’s structure into the All Progressives Congress and the party’s preparations for the 2027 general elections
Your party’s former Publicity Secretary, Hakeem Amode, announced that the PDP structure in Lagos State has collapsed into the APC. Is that correct?
Amode’s defection and statement are nothing for the PDP to be worried about. We have very few of them who came to disorganise our party. Now that they are no longer relevant to the party, they have gone back to where they came from. They are very infinitesimal; they have no influence in any of the local governments in Lagos. All the PDP structures in the 245 wards are in place, and we are even working with all the stakeholders towards the local government election. So, I do not see any structure of the party collapsing. They cannot even collapse any of the thousands of units in Lagos. The PDP is well-grounded, and if anyone leaves now, thousands of people will replace them. Everybody knows the characters of those who left; they know their antecedents, and they know they are not the people to follow. So, it does not worry anybody that they left. They are just telling lies to make more money, and it doesn’t bother us.
Amode’s defection came a few months after your party’s 2023 governorship candidate, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, popularly called Jandor, and others joined the APC. Why do you think they left your party?
They are the same set of people working together. All the wards and units had identified them as one group, and they had no relevance in the PDP, so they had to move with Jandor. Those who declared their defection with Amode are not even up to 15. So, how can just 15 people follow you to another party and you say you have collapsed the PDP that has been in existence for decades? He (Amode) just wanted the world to know the type of person he is. I know that the APC he went to knows him, and they will be more cautious of him.
What preparations are in place to make sure your party is intact ahead of the 2027 general elections?
I can tell you that all the problems that Jandor created in the party are being addressed. We have many committees in place to put things in order. We are not just talking about a large number of people in a political party who come to the PDP today, but when the election is near, they go to the APC. Let them separate themselves from the true politicians I want to work with. If we have the right people who are focused, democracy will not go this way. Is this how to practise democracy? Is this what MKO Abiola died for? We cannot even trust the people in power because all they want is to collapse all the institutions for themselves and their families alone. Is that the democracy you say is for the people? That is not the democracy we want to bequeath to our children.
How do you think the country can achieve the desired democracy?
The first thing to be done is to allow a system where the umpire of the electoral body can be transparent and independent. That was done during former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. He invited Justice Uwais and others to come up with independent ideas for electoral reform. If something like that is not done by this administration, nobody will trust them. Nobody will trust the APC. Nobody will be ready to vote. Even when they vote, they know the vote is just a waste of time. If the right thing is not done, we are just deceiving ourselves.
You said this is not the democracy that Abiola died for. Are you implying that the current leaders have derailed from the principles of democracy?
They have totally derailed. They are just about themselves. They are not thinking about the future of the country. They are not thinking about how to better the system. They are just destroying the system more and more. Institutions have collapsed, and there is no internal democracy in any of the political parties. The people in power, both in government and in parties, are not following due process. There is nothing to be proud of when you think about Nigeria’s democracy. Is this the democracy that Abiola and others died for, that the APC is running?
Former President Muhammadu Buhari spent eight years blaming the PDP for his underperformance. The current President is also blaming all the presidents before him. How long will they continue the blame game? Why can’t they sit down and think of something that will benefit the generality of the people? We must also look inward. What type of characters are we building in society? The people who will succeed the current set of leaders will be worse than them. When I joined politics, the training we had was to think about other people’s interests. You think about yourself last. You build the system. The system you build will live after you.
Where did the politicians miss it?
It started with the collapse of internal democracy. There is no longer internal democracy anywhere. That is the problem we have in our party, the PDP, right now. Let us face it and put things right. I know, by the grace of God, we will have our convention before next year, and we will put things right. The wheat will be separated from the chaff. If the PDP can allow those who are truthful, resilient, and credible form the core of the national body, then things will go right.
Look at how they have destroyed democracy today. You cannot contest any election if you don’t have millions or billions of naira. That is why they have acquired the resources of the entire nation. It is only them and their children who have access to these funds. They have brought the entire society to its knees, whipping and directing people anyhow. Nobody can protest anymore without being punished. When we think about this nation, people like us feel bad because we did not grow up to experience all this. We used electricity generated by different regions. Everything has collapsed now, and they are still blaming past leaders. Let us do what is right. Let us build institutions and good governance. Let us be truthful to our conscience. Let us remember that one day we will be accountable for everything we do on this land.
Governors and lawmakers have been leaving your party for the APC without any…
That is exactly what I am saying. What type of characters are they? What type of example are they leaving behind? What kind of future are they building? However, the next elections will be between the APC and the people, not APC against PDP. It will be APC versus the people. So, a lot is going to happen. Those of us who believe that God can transform this nation and put it right, and who continue to pray and work hard, will not join any evil group. I will not join anyone that is out to destroy the system.
How do you intend to ensure that the people will vote against the APC when the structures that are supposed to mobilise the electorate are already siding with the present government?
What structures are you talking about? Because some people just left the PDP and claimed they have collapsed the party’s structure; how far have we seen that happening? We have thousands of credible people in the party: governors, former governors, ministers, BoT members, and so on. Party meetings are still going on at various units and wards. Because talk is free, somebody will just go out there and say whatever they like.
Two governors have left your party. Isn’t that a serious matter?
What I heard is that more people may still leave the PDP. Let those who want to leave go. In the 2023 elections, sitting governors were defeated in their states. Tinubu was defeated in Lagos, despite having a governor, deputy, state assembly, national lawmakers, and local government structures. The people defeated him. That is what will happen in the coming election. What will happen will be something that will shape the world. We know that nobody can play God. Nobody can put himself in the position of God, our creator.
Are you saying Tinubu will be defeated in Lagos again in 2027?
I am just telling you that it can happen, and my prayer is that it happens. Whatever I can do in 2027 to make sure he loses Lagos is what I will do. I will do whatever I can in my own way, with the people who are like-minded—people who have suffered in this state (Lagos) for years, who have been crying, who have been telling people: “this man (Tinubu), the way he’s running this state, is not right.” Now he has moved to the national level, and the whole nation is crying. We have endured the pain for years; it has just spread to other parts of the country.
If right-thinking people cannot rise up and take their destiny into their own hands by voting en masse, I am afraid. That is why we are asking that the right system be put in place, so that elections can be free, fair, and credible. But he (Tinubu) will not want to do that. This is the time for the masses; everyone who loves democracy to rise up and ask the present government to do the right thing.
The right thing to do is to allow a system, an institution, to bring forward an independent person, not sponsored or appointed by the government, to head INEC. But if things continue like this, how many people will trust the system when they know that their vote will not count? They now want to mandate everybody to come and vote on election day, when we are not in a military era. They know they have bastardised the system so much that no right-thinking person would like to waste their time going to vote. So, this is the right time for people to talk, shout, and correct things. (Punch)
