Charles Babatunde Ezekwem is Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Imo State. In this interview with our correspondent, Johnkennedy Uzoma in Owerri, he spoke on sundry issues, including the victory of his party at the just concluded elections and the expectations of Imolites from the Governor-elect Emeka Ihedioha.
What is your impression about the victory of your party, PDP, in Imo State?
I give God Almighty all the glory for making it possible for my party, PDP, to emerge winner of the March 9, governorship election in Imo State. If not for the God we serve, we would not have gotten the victory. I know the challenge PDP had facing the incumbent governor with all the security apparatus and the resources around him as well as the Federal Government. But in all these things, we remain grateful to God
What magic did you actually deploy to bring victory to the party?
I did no magic at all. Rather, my party members were objective in taking decision during executive meetings. I decided to take the party back to the people, especially as a party in the opposition in the state. You know that before now, PDP primaries have always been fixed and in doing that most people were denied of their ticket either because they lack one contact or another. But in this case, after drawing two analyses, we came to realise that our party have lost previous elections in the state because of anti party activities. You discovered that most candidates who are popular were not given ticket to run election under the party. So because of that, I decided that a level playing ground should be provided for all popular candidates who can win elections for the party. This measure taken, actually brought a lot of people back to the party.
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That was not the case with other political parties in the state such as the All Progressives Congress, APC, Action Alliance, AA, and All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, as the case may be. Their primaries were controversial as most of them did not hold any primaries. Some of them only came out of the hotel rooms with results. Even in APGA, their governorship candidate, Sen. Ifeanyi Araraume, emerged through controversy, even when he left APC one month before the primaries. In PDP there were free and fair primaries conducted in the state that produced our candidates and that made people to regain their confidence in the party. Again the party presented the most credible candidate in the person of Hon. Emeka Ihedioha and Imo people saw him as the only man that could change the fortunes of the state.
What do you think are the expectations of Imo people from the incoming government?
Imo people should expect good governance devoid of infliction of hunger, pains, poverty on the people. The PDP-led government would do everything possible to change the fortunes of the state and return her to her old glorious time.
A lot of people have criticised the setting up of a 139-member Technical Committee by the governor-elect made up of mainly old people. What is your take on this?
It is not true that the committee is made up of only old men. There are both youths and even women. The governor-elect went for people who are resourceful, who would look at his manifesto in his understanding and marry it with their opinion to give him a blue print. To me, the calibre of members, especially the former deputy governor of the Central Bank, who is the chairman of the committee and other seasoned men of repute are in order. In their capacity, they have what it take to make Imo State to survive again. We actually need such calibre of men that would re-engineer the state and if you check their records, you would know that they actually have the ingenuity to rebuild the state.
Would your party want the outgoing government of Rochas Okorocha probed?
I want to assure you that my party, PDP would do everything possible to bring back the state and to make Imo people happy again. Every issue must be treated objectively and there should be objectivity in taking every decision. I don’t want to pre-empt the governor-elect, but I want to assure you that everything must be done to make Imo people feel good again. We are not going to witch-hunt anybody, but rather to be objective in taking certain decisions. I want to leave it for the governor-elect to decide on what to do when he is sworn into office.
What is your take on the tussle for Speakership in the state House of Assembly?
If it is the turn and right of Okigwe zone to produce the next Speaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Okigwe people would do so without any problem. And I am sure that at the right time, this issue must be addressed
A lot of people today are trooping to PDP as a result of its victory, what do you think?
A political party is like a church and you don’t need to start chasing people out of your party. I don’t have any problem with people joining PDP because their coming into the party would help build stronger party and prepare it for future elections in the state.
Some people went to court to challenge the victory of your party, are you comfortable with that?
I must strongly tell you that Hon. Emeka Ihedioha actually and clearly won the March 9 governorship election in Imo State with a landslide against the incumbent government. It is the right of anybody or party to go to court. During the 2015 governorship election in the state, Hon. Ihedioha lost the election with less than 30,000 votes. In this 2019 election, the incumbent also lost with less than 90,000 votes, meaning that PDP won clearly. The Independent National Electoral Commissioner, INEC, is not supposed to be our best friend in the election. But for INEC to declare the result of the election means that there is nothing again they could do rather than declare the results of the election.
What advice do you have for the governor-elect?
If you notice, he has already started doing something, consulting people, bringing people from different political parties and from all strata of life into the party. This is the thing I would ordinarily advise him to do for the state. He has already set up a Transition Committee made up of people from all spheres of life.
To Imo people what word do you have for them?
I want Imolites to sheet their swords and give the governor-elect time and above all rally round him to ensure he succeeds in giving the state the best governance they deserves.