PT: Many people mock your party as one with a tattered umbrella because of its crisis. Is there any hope for the PDP, let’s say in Akwa Ibom State, in 2027?
Mfon Ben: I like to be very realistic with the use of language. You said many people. I deal with specifics, not with speculations. And being specific, I would say that our party has its fair share of crisis. And essentially it has been resolved at the last national convention. At the national level, the national convention has taken specific decisions by identifying those who have been used as moles to create crisis in the party. And they have been expelled. And so the party is no longer in crisis. Now, you mentioned Akwa Ibom State, for example. There’s no problem in Akwa Ibom State. The state executive of the party was dissolved by the National Working Committee. And that dissolution was confirmed at the national convention. And so there’s no problem in the party, both at the national and specifically in Akwa Ibom State. PDP is going to file a candidate and we’re going to win the election.
PT: Which election are you talking about?
Mfon Ben: The presidential election and the governorship election, along with other positions (in 2027).
PT: The impression is that the who is who in Akwa Ibom have left the PDP for the APC. They have followed the governor.
Mfon Ben: The question is, does the governor make the party? No. The governor was the beneficiary of the PDP platform. He was voted under the PDP. There were other political parties at that time. The APC was there. Could they win the election? Look at the gap. They could not have won the election. We won the election. So the people that voted for the governor under the PDP are still in the PDP. We’ve not changed that space. We are still there. Those that went with the governor are his appointees, and they are the direct beneficiaries of his administration. And there’s no grouse about that. They are free to go with him. But the party structure for the PDP are still on ground. And we’ll still come up with new candidates and we’ll still vote for our candidates to win the next cycle of elections. We are not in any way threatened by the movement of those people.
We understand that they must go where the governor is going to, to get the benefit of the governor supplying their needs. We understand with them. We cannot fight them. But we know very well, deep inside, most of them, when it comes to selecting the next set of those to stand for election, we know where the tide will go.
PT: Are you trying to say that there are some of them who are there with the governor but their heart is not with him?
Mfon Ben: Umo Eno himself is a product of PDP. He can’t deny that fact. And most of those people today in position at the House of Representatives, at the Senate, at whatever level, they are products of the PDP. So their sympathetic essence is still in the PDP. You can’t deny that fact. Even (Governor) Umo Eno has sympathy for PDP. So those with him are still PDP members. In their real conscience, deep down in Umo Eno, he knows he has betrayed the party that gave him ticket. And so he’s living with betrayal. And so you cannot expect that a man who lives in betrayal cannot expect betrayal. He knows very well that there are betrayers inside his cabinet because he knows their sympathy comes from where they came from. He knows they are following him because of what he can provide. He cannot be that unassuming that he does not know that many people are following him because of what they need. They are not following him because they believe in him. They are following him because of what they need. They are (political) appointees. They need stipends. They are following him. They are contractors. They need to maintain a contract. They are following him. And so you cannot say he can’t be open enough to understand that. It’s really politics. They are following him because of the benefit they get from him.
PT: But there are people who argue that the man is so loved by the Akwa Ibom people. So, irrespective of whether he’s in PDP or APC, he can still win election?
Mfon Ben: The question is if (former governor) Udom Emmanuel did not particularly single him out and stood with him and took the risk for him, could he (Eno) have won an election on his own? He didn’t win the election because of his personality or integrity or whatever. No, his personality could not have won the election.
PT: How about the incumbency factor? And what about the political support from the likes of the Senate President Godswill Akpabio?
Mfon Ben: That makes me laugh at times. Because when people come from that perspective, I ask one question: was Jonathan not the president of Nigeria? He was the president of Nigeria. Did he lose an election? Yes, he lost an election. There’s no invincibility for anybody in Nigerian politics. There are several factors that will count in the forthcoming election. I don’t need to put them on ground because that’s part of the strategy we are also keeping for ourselves.
PT: If you were a governor, would you allow your political appointee remain in office when such appointee refuses to move with you to a new political party?
Mfon Ben: It depends on your perspective of governance. We’ve seen Bola Ige from the AD being in a government of the PDP. We’ve seen several people being in different parties at the national level. So your party affiliation should not affect the capacity of getting a good team to work for you. Any government should rely on a team, a teamwork. So if your best brains are people in other parties and you need their brain to work, that is advisable. Political parties should not be a device (yardstick) for assessing the quality of governance you want to give to your people. Only a weak mind will look at political party as a separating factor to get in the benefit of people who want to serve in your government. It’s a weak mind. It’s a weak mentality. A strong personality looks for people with capacity to make the government grow.
PT: If Governor Eno decides to drop those he suspects are not loyal to him, do you think they would come back to PDP?
Mfon Ben: I don’t deal with speculation in the first place, like I said from the start. I like being realistic. The governor has a choice of who his aides are. So if he changes his cabinet, let it be on a realistic basis that he wants a fresh input into his administration. It’s different if I say those he suspects. That is a speculative analysis. Governments should not suspect. Governments should be specific in their actions, not based on emotion, sentiment and suspicion. And that is the problem with this administration. This administration is dealing with suspicion, and to a great extent, speculation. That is the problem of Governor Umo Eno. He’s dealing with too much speculation. He’s dealing with too much suspicion. He’s dealing with too much self-induced fear. He’s afraid of even himself. He has not focused on the identity of what he wants to give to the people. ‘What is my product for the people? What would I be taken for? What character would I be seen with? How would I be identified as a governor?’ He has not yet dealt with that issue.
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PT: Governor Eno said recently that he’s been able to get an approval for a law faculty for the Akwa Ibom State University because of his connection to the centre. This should be an exciting news for you as a lawyer. Doesn’t the governor deserve an applause?
Mfon Ben: That would be a very embarrassing applause. Please don’t ridicule us to that level. We have not come that low. If a governor said I’ve attracted a law faculty to a university, that’s very insulting. Do you really need a connection to the centre to attract a law faculty to the university? That is too low for a government achievement. Please, he should mention better things he needs to do because he has not done anything for now.
PT: Oh, really? What about the Arise Park in Uyo? What about the five-star hotel which was abandoned, near the Ibom Tropicana in Uyo?
Mfon Ben: Can we go there and see if it’s completed? Let’s talk about completed projects. What project has he completed as a governor? I’ve seen him doing roads. You should tell me the road projects he has completed.
