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An aspirant to the national chairmanship of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Conrad Utaan, in this interview, speaks on why the North Central should be allowed to produce a replacement for Dr. Iyorchia Ayu in line with the constitution of the party
What is your take on the state of affairs in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
Sometime last year, we had an issue in Benue or within the party. The build-up started before the elections, and then immediately after the elections, the disagreements that arose between Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, our former national chairman, and some members and leaders of the party led to the issues that cropped up to his removal.
His ward executive passed a vote of no confidence on him and suspended him from the party. The main reason they gave then was that he was owing party dues for two years, among several other reasons.
There was a lot of confusion. People said he wasn’t removed. Some members of the National Working Committee were saying he was no longer chairman. Some were saying he was chairman. Everybody just sat back and nobody was talking about it.
You know that the confusion lasted for about two or three months, until I approached the court for an interpretation of our constitution based on the suspension from the ward. I sought to know if it is possible for a national chairman to be suspended by his ward or suspended by the National Working Committee.
The court ruled that, of course, they cannot suspend him as national chairman, but they can suspend him as a member of the party. And once he is suspended as a member of the party, he loses the base as to whether to be chairman or not.
The court later declared that he was no longer chairman, and of course, he went to the Court of Appeal but later withdrew the case. Now, a vacancy has arisen, and it’s been like this for over a year. Section 47(6) of our party’s constitution says that if a vacancy occurs, the party would have to pick a replacement from where that vacancy has occurred.
The party sat and zoned positions. What came to us in the North Central was the national chairman but all of a sudden, we discovered that Umar Damagum was becoming more or less a substantive chairman and nobody was saying anything. So, again, I took it upon myself to give it a challenge. The chairmanship of the PDP is zoned to the North Central.
If the party or the National Executive Committee of the party decides that Damagum should be a substantive chairman, they should come out and tell the North Central that the position of Deputy Chairman (North), which Damagum was occupying before he ascended to the chairmanship position, is vacant and that the North Central should bring the replacement.
The North-East cannot have deputy national chairman and national chairman at the same time, while the North Central is left with nothing.
For those who don’t know, the North Central is divided into two zones. One zone is Kwara, Kogi and Niger. The other zone is Benue, Plateau and Nasarawa. The position of national legal adviser went to the Kwara, Kogi and Niger zone, and of course, the national legal adviser is from Kwara State.
The position of national chairman went to Plateau, Nasarawa and Benue. That was how Iyorchia Ayu emerged as national chairman of our party. The vice chairman, North Central, that is zonal chairman for North Central went to Plateau and Nasarawa also got some.
But what came to Benue was national chairman; when it got to Benue, the leaders of the party, in their wisdom, said Senator Gemade had been the national chairman from Benue North East (Zone A) and Audu Ogbe had the chairmanship from Benue South; that is Zone C. The zone that has not produced that kind of national officer from Benue is Zone B; that is Benue North-West senatorial district.
That was why Iyorchia Ayu was chosen as national chairman. So, that zone B will now also have a stake. The national chairman was zoned and micro-zoned. It wasn’t for all of Nigeria. It was for North Central. It wasn’t for all of North Central; it was for Benue.
It wasn’t for all of Benue; it was for Benue North West Senatorial District (Zone B). And as it stands today, I am the only person aspiring from Benue North West; there’s nobody from Zone C. The only other person running is former Governor Gabriel Suswam who is from Zone A, where Gemade, a former national chairman hails from.
It is a shame that we have found ourselves where we are. However, the party has a rare chance to rebuild itself
What are your chances in the national chairmanship contest?
But you know the situation in this country, you must have been a former governor or former senator or former House of Representatives member or former something, to be national chairman of PDP. It is strange to see me, someone who is nobody wanting to be national chairman. I have not been governor.
I have not been a House of Representatives member. I have not been a senator. I have not been a minister. I happen to be a new face. So, sometimes when you mention Conrad, they say, who is that?
Where is he from? But instead of that being a disadvantage, I think it is a huge advantage for my party because I do not come with the encumbrance of the baggage that people, who have been former this and former that and former this carry. Right now, our party requires peace and reconciliation and somebody who can build unity for us to be able to win back power. I only turned 47 years old last month.
If God permits and I get elected as national chairman, I will be the youngest chairman of any major political party in Nigeria. Now, the PDP has a rare opportunity of harnessing the biggest voting demography in this country. Those between the ages of 18 and 50 constitute more than 72 per cent of the voting population of Nigeria.
A young national chairman with the energy, with the drive to organize road shows and symposia and going to campuses to bring young people into the party, would be a huge asset for the party. The PDP since after the time of Alex Ekwueme and Solomon Lar has always been embroiled in leadership succession, so I think it’s time for a fresh start. Somebody needs to come to the table with new ideas, fresh energy, new thinking.
We need somebody who is humble enough to reach out to the leaders of this party and speak to them like one who is prepared to unify this party, bring the leaders back to the table to chart a new course for our party.
The PDP is the only organic party; these other political parties that you see around, are children of circumstance, the convocation of strange bedfellows. Even in the All Progressives Congress (APC) today, some people still talk about Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and New PDP.
There are still those lines of division, and of course, the Labour Party is built around one individual. There is no community or hamlet in Nigeria you go to that you will not find PDP structure but it is a shame that we have found ourselves where we are.
However, the party has a rare chance to rebuild itself by bringing a face that nobody really knows, a new face that will bring confidence to the hearts of Nigerians to say this is something new, let’s try it. And trust me; I have the message that will resonate with the ordinary people on the streets. The PDP doesn’t need to campaign for 2027, the party in power right now is campaigning for PDP. Everybody is going through a hard time.
How do you remove subsidy and float your currency in one breath? What economic thinking is that? It’s unfortunate. But like we always say, elections have consequences. Some Nigerians are going through hard time as a consequence of their docility, refusing to participate actively. Of course, the current president is not running on a popular mandate.
Those that voted against him were more than those that voted for him. So, it’s not a popular mandate anyway. The PDP should now not be embroiled in leadership succession issues. The APC, as much as we hate to take it, may just stroll into another term, if the PDP continues this way. I am not running to be chairman for four years.
I am running to complete the term of the North Central, the term of Benue, the term of Benue North West Central Senatorial District. Even if it is for two days; it belongs to the North Central, it belongs to Benue.
It belongs to Zone B of Benue State. It’s ours, even if it’s for two days. So, justice requires that the PDP should return to the North Central what truly belongs to the North Central.
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