With the election of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur (CON) President of African Business Roundtable and one of the founding fathers / foundation members of Board of Trustees of PDP as the new National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Tonye T.J.T Princewill the erstwhile gubernatorial candidate during the 2007 general elections in Rivers State and chieftain of PDP in Rivers state has expressed happiness on the rancour-free conduct of the last National Convention of the party in Abuja particularly as it related to the emergence of Bamanga Tukur as the new helmsman of the party.
Princewill proffered a two point agenda for the new leadership of the party –
1. Taking the party back to the people by entrenching internal democracy. And
2. Making the party an ideology based one so as to distinguish it from others and give it an identity.
With the antecedents, pedigree and enviable past feats of Tukur coupled with seasoned members of the new National Working Committee like Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola,former governor of Osun as the new national secretary of the party, Chief OlisaMetuh, former Deputy National Chairman South-East as the new national publicity secretary, Dr Sam Jajah, National Vice Chairman South-South, Onwe Onwe as the Deputy National Secretary; Senator Kema Chikwe,National Women Leader; Okechukwu Nnadozie, Deputy National Organizaing Secretary; Claudius Emekise, Deputy National Treasurer; Victor Pam, National Legal Adviser; Binta Machika, Deputy National Publicity Secretary I am more convinced that the party will be repositioned for the greater challenges ahead of her, Princewill enthused.
Princewill challenged the new leadership of the party to discourage any undemocratic steps in the party like imposition and hijacking of the party decision making organ by few individuals in the party, the party must be taken back to the ‘people ‘who are truly the owners of the party than the idea of few people staying at a place and dictating who becomes what in the party. As a party, we are popular, truly national and effectively the custodians of democracy in Nigeria but we should not be complacent into thinking we are untouchable or we are above reproach. The opposition has learnt lessons and so I believe the challenges ahead will be different. Only with the people on your side can we confront them. We must remember this. Remember Jega is working and the playground ahead even if it is not straight, will be more level.
Princewill advised also that PDP must set the goal of defining its policies and ideology as most of the parties in Africa talk less of Nigeria lack ideology. PDP must state its stand and policy on Education, Security, Agriculture, Niger Delta, Agriculture, minimum wage, Labour, Health care, etc to avoid the practice of the dictates of policies in most of the PDP controlled States determinant based on the personand attributes of whoever governs the state at the time. He questioned the rationale on why a PDP Government in Baylesa should be different from PDP Government in Rivers and Akwa-Ibom in terms of general policy execution; if we have ideology in the party that should not be the case.
The Prince of Niger Delta Politics further stated that “If I was in the Republican Party in the USA, I have a broad-spectrum of what we believe in; small government, raising taxes is seen as anti-Republican, whereas to the Democrats, raising taxes is a necessary evil, especially on the rich. If I were in the Labour party in the UK for instance, I would know that the minimum wage is a case they take passionately, the welfare state, their National Health Service (NHS). So what does PDP stand for? So apart from the individual, why should I vote for it? What does ACN stand for? The truth is that they do not stand for anything as a party. They do not have any ideology and to me, that is the biggest worry, because the politician who moves from one party to another is said to not have any ideology. So is it the one that stays that has?
This is not true because moving from one party to another in Nigeria is like moving from Chelsea Football Club to Arsenal Football Club. It is very easy to do, because football clubs do not have ideology. Theirs is only to win games and carry trophies. So you go to Chelsea because you want to win trophies or you go to Arsenal because you want to win trophies. So what is principally wrong in our politics in Nigeria is that, we have not taken time to define an ideology. Political parties are just vehicles for victory. That should no longer subsist. Sustained development takes time and it can only be based on a vision grounded in ideology. For Nigeria and our states to progress, successors must understand and operate from a common ideology as their predecessors. PDP has a role to play here. Nigeria needs ideological leadership.
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