Hon. Mulikat Akande-Adeola is the immediate past leader of the House of Representatives. In this interview with KAUTHAR ANUMBA-KHALEEL, she speaks on the future of the PDP, restructuring and other national issues.
The supreme court gave a judgement on the crisis that has rocked the PDP. How do you view the judgement and what does this mean for the party?
The judgement is not just for PDP but for whole of Nigeria; a judgement that is bound to entrench democracy further, a judgement that has brought joy to every Democrats; if it had to been the other way round, I could imagine what would have happened to democracy in Nigeria. In democracy, the majority would always have their way and we are the majority. I see it as a divine intervention because everybody was confused on the issue until finally the right judgment was given and so that has sealed it. Now, if such an issue happens again, we already know what the result will be.
It is indeed a welcomed development; I am very happy about it; Nigerians are very happy PDP are excited about it especially for us that are still in PDP. For those who have left, I would enjoin them to come back, because PDP to me, is the only democratic party; you may say am speaking like a party member but honestly, it is the fact. Yes, mistakes have been made, but it is time for us to move forward and the way forward is to fashion out new ways of doing things because for us to return to the Nigerian people, we need to have something good, practicable; something implementable.
Do you think the party can make any significant impact in 2019?
PDP would defiantly make a significant impact come 2019; see the reaction of Nigerians all over the federation after the court judgment. It was, like thank God and that goes a long way to show that the people have seen that PDP is a party they can align with once again, forget about all those corruption issues in the media.
Are you saying that it wasn’t the high level corruption that led to PDP’s loss the 2015 elections?
That was not why the party lost elections. Corruption came up after this government came in and started labeling people corrupt and, you know those things are not substantial; you need to go to court to find somebody guilty; you can’t just accuse someone on the pages of newspaper and expect that it ends there. If you feel that a person has done something wrong, take them to court, let the law take its cause and when such person is convicted then, you are right. I agree that we made mistakes; even the best form of democracy, the US which we look up to, things are not perfect there. But for us to have sustained it for 16 years, whether good or bad, people were okay; things were moving.
Are you saying the APC government has made life more difficult; that Nigerians are not better off under this government?
You have to ask those who voted this government, those complaining that things are not moving well and the down turn of the economy; there are a lot of issues. But right now, am basking in the euphoria of our judgment; I am not talking about this government; I did not vote for it; I am PDP and there is no way I can rate them.
But you are a Nigerian?
Yes, I am a Nigerian, but I did not vote for them and I must have my reasons for not voting for them; maybe because I felt my government would have been better. So, for those who felt this is it, those are the ones who can tell you whether or not we are happy with it. For us, we are focusing on right now on how to come back in 2019, by God’s grace.
Beyond allegations of corruption, what do you think is the reason PDP lost election?
I would think that the card reader greatly contributed. I would use my own case in my constituency as an example. I ran for a seat in the House of Representatives and it was the card reader that they used to rig. And it happened nearly everywhere; it was new to our system in Nigeria; it was not tested before the elections to see if it will work or not; they just brought
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