Mr. Monwan Etete is the Rivers State Deputy Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party. He speaks with CHUKWUDI AKASIKE on the Abuja High Court judgement

SOME aggrieved members of the Rivers State PDP are saying they will not recognise the new executive of the party. Are you not worried by this development?

I am not worried.

Why are you not worried?

The issue is that when they have come to appreciate the full details of what has transpired and the new position, they will definitely have a rethink. They (aggrieved members) may have been fed with wrong information and so, they can say whatever they want to say.

Some members of the ousted exco of the state PDP are of the view that the new chairman, Mr. Felix Obuah, is only known as a former council chairman and not a serious party member.

It is a sorry statement for somebody who has served in the ousted exco to say that somebody who was elected into office before now is not a serious party member. Ake (former chairman of the state PDP) who is no more here and our present chairman, Felix Obuah, come from the same local government area. Obuah is not a person to be described as an unserious party man. Before you can contest and win an election in a local government, you don’t just come from the background. You must be known because the people will vote not only for the party, but for the party’s candidate.

It was also alleged that Obuah did not buy the form to contest the chairmanship position of the party during the congress.

If that was true, our case before the court would have failed. But that it succeeded means that they were merely crying wolf and playing to the gallery. Our victory at the Abuja High Court is well-deserved.

Why did your group prefer to go to court without going to the appeal panel of the state PDP?

It is the party that should say that we did not subscribe to it disciplinary procedures and not the opponent. It is the responsibility of the party to call you to order when you err. I think there are openings available to an aggrieved individual of a party. The truth is that we did our best to get justice.

The Abuja High Court judgement was influenced by a member of your party?

I will not answer you directly; I will give you an analogy. Amaechi became the governor of Rivers State through the court. The question: Who influenced that? So, is it right to say when it is in your favour, it is the order of God and when it favours another person, then it has been influenced? I don’t subscribe to that. It is not correct.

What is the goal of the current state party executive?

My chairman said something, which everybody must note; the PDP is not a pressure group and so, you don’t go to the streets to drive home your demand. The PDP is a political party that has a constitution and a manifesto. If you turn the PDP to a pressure group, it means you are dragging the image of the party to the mud. There are several ways of addressing issues, which the PDP recognises. Our objective is clear: we want to reposition the party. Our objective is to make the party focused.

Every member of the party should know that the primary aim of the party is to win elections after which it would provide the dividend of democracy. It is not to antagonise people. We are to serve and when you become an antagonist to constituted authorities, the party should be able to tell you that we brought you in and this is not what we sent you to do. In a situation where you have a docile party and things go the way they are going, then there is no party. The party should speak up and talk to its members because constituted authorities must be respected. Come to think of it, what happened in Obio/Akpor Local Government? We have a situation where a council chairman who had not been brought before any panel for financial misconduct was sacked just like that and we also have a situation where a sitting governor is saying bad things about the President. This is wrong.

Rivers State is indebted and yet nobody is looking into the account of Rivers State. A council chairman has not been brought under any scrutiny; he was not called to the Assembly to defend his finances and you just woke up one day and say you have sacked him. This exco aims to see that the right thing is done and to restore the confidence of the people in the party.

You said the former exco of the party was docile. Can you make some clarification on that?

It is not because they were docile that they were sacked. They did not win the election and they were wrongly declared as the winner.

Do you think your exco can resolve the crisis in the party before 2015 general elections?

The truth is that this exco is not joining issues with anybody. We are already in the mood of trying to ensure that our party men behave so that 2015 becomes a reality for PDP in Rivers State.

Does the presence of policemen around the state PDP secretariat indicate a breakdown of law and order?

It used to be like that even before we came in. It is the duty of the police to also protect lives and property and they are on their normal duty.

Will the new party exco be loyal to the state governor?

It is not the party that should be loyal to the governor. In a democracy, the party is superior to government. We voted in the governor and he is accountable to the party. The party has its manifesto and constitution; it should tell whoever is elected on its platform that this is not why we voted you in if they find out that you are derailing. It is the party that should serve as a watchdog and tell the government that it is derailing. So, it is the government that should be loyal to the party not the party to the government.

What is your advice to aggrieved members of the party?

The national office is already talking with the leadership of the party throughout the country on how to calm frayed nerves. To our brothers who might have been fed with wrong information, they should avail themselves with appropriate information so that they would have a rethink. If the leaders are true to it, why are they sending people to the streets when you are already fighting a legal battle? That shows the ignorance and arrogance of a human being. The best is to tell your people that we are already at the Appeal Court and they should wait for the outcome. Afterall, we did not send anybody to the streets before we won at the Abuja High Court.

Would you keep your doors open for aggrieved members who may want to join you in achieving the party’s objectives?

We are here to administer and it is often said that politics is for the good, the bad and the ugly. So, we should be able to appreciate every class of persons that makes up the PDP in this state. That is the truth. The moment we are not able to do that, we would be seen to be failing. It is our responsibility and we have vowed to take everybody on board. That is not to guarantee a situation where somebody is recalcitrant and wants to go haywire. We may not be able to vouch for that kind of individual. But if everybody will want to listen, we will not be tired of talking to people to appreciate the truth that is on the ground.

There is a court injunction restraining the state executive from dissolving the executives at the local government and ward levels. How does the state PDP intend to handle this?

That goes to prove what we have been saying. Those who have gone to that court have gone to the wrong place. They are playing to the gallery. For sometime now, injunctions have not been obtainable in Rivers State. It is even surprising that they could get such injunctions within a twinkle of an eye. We know the judge that gave that injunction to be a man of proven integrity, but I cannot say what pressure he was working under.

http://www.punchng.com/politics/crossfire/amaechi-says-bad-things-about-jonathan-etete/

what bad things tam david west has advised jonathan to stop wasting time chasing amaechi.i hope he heeds.

K