Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Honourable Yekeen Nabena, has advised President Bola Tinubu not to assume that the defection of governors in the South-South geo-political zones from the main opposition party into the APC will automatically translate to votes for the ruling party in the region. Nabena, incidentally from Bayelsa state, says the gale of defections would ultimately lead into implosion in the APC. He spoke with TAIWO AMODU in Abuja. Excerpts:

There has been a gale of defections by opposition parties’ governors and lawmakers into the All Progressives Congress (APC). Some have expressed concern that it is not good for democracy not to have a viable opposition. What is your take?

What I keep saying is simple. We have all these governors during the 2023 elections. What we need is for us to strengthen our party members in each of the states. My own fear is this: are these governors coming genuinely or they have their own motive? Who are the governors that are coming? Let us look at it very well. These are people that almost lost the elections in their states. When you look at Delta state, Labour Party won almost all the seats in Delta state. Despite the fact that the state produced the former vice presidential candidate to Atiku Abubakar, Peter Okowa, the Labour Party won in Delta. So, we have seen all these. Is it Bayelsa? The case of Bayelsa is even different, APC is on ground. In 2015, we all knew what happened when Timipre Sylva won the election, former President Goodluck Jonathan went to meet the late President Muhammadu Buhari and at the end of the day, the results were upturned.

In 2019, David Lyon won the election again they went to court they used technicalities of names, misspelling of names. So why used technicality? That’s to tell that there is APC in Bayelsa state. Even in 2023, APC won the election, it was with the help of the centre, the anti- party that they did against their own party. That’s why Diri is still there. So, Bayelsa case is different. Enugu, they lost, Delta, the LP presence is overwhelming. So, these governors that are coming what are they coming with? Are they coming to cause confusion, because when they come now, they will say they are the leaders of the party in the state. So, what is really their motive of coming to the party?

But there is the narrative that the Presidency is using its power to force the governors to join the APC, not out of their individual conviction?

Now, if the Presidency is using its powers to muscle them to come, what difference will they make? Like I can speak for Bayelsa because if the governor is coming, it is a plus to us because APC is on ground in Bayelsa; it isn’t like Enugu where APC isn’t on ground. Let us not deceive ourselves.

As a top politician from Bayelsa, aren’t you excited that a sitting governor is coming to swell your rank?

No. One thing I will say is that I am happy because it will be a plus for Mr. President because we believe in party. We say it is a plus because once he joins, he will come with his little ones. But we are already on ground. So, he will add his little to what we have and we will give to Mr. President. At least his coming will make the voting strength go up but who is he coming with?

He is coming with federal lawmakers, members of the state House of Assembly and his commissioners. Will that influx not strengthen the party?

Now, let us look at it this way. His own godfather, Senator Seriake Dickson, isn’t coming with him and his deputy governor is also not coming with him. Let me also remind you that even as a governor, it was difficult for him to win his own local government! The records are there in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). For him to win his local government, it was a problem.

Are you saying Governor Diri isn’t an asset to APC?

No! What I am trying to say is that the small he can come with, will add up. Let me explain something to you. Coming isn’t the problem; how is he going to manage it with people on ground already?

When you talk about people on ground, my mind races to the likes of Timpre Sylva. The convention in APC is that a sitting governor is taken as party leader. How will APC harmonize the party structures in Bayelsa?

That’s the question. I will give you another example. Somebody has a wife with 10 children. He lost his wife, married another wife. That wife already had five children and she is coming with them. How are they going to manage them? That’s the problem APC is having, even in Delta they still have that problem, it was just of recent that the Senator Ovie Omo-Agege group and the Ibori group, they are now trying to attend meetings with the governor.

You also have to know that the governor is from the same Senatorial seat with Ibori and Omo-Agege. If they aren’t on same page, can they win? So, if Douye Diri comes in, how is he going to manage the situation? Let me tell you one other thing. Look at the game. Diri is from central, Timipre Sylva is from the East, Nembe, Ogbia and Brass, which is also where the Managing Director of NDDC, Samuel Ogbuku. Then Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State, Petroleum is also from the West. So, the big three now that the governor is coming to meet, they are from three different Senatorial district. Heineken is from same senatorial district with me he is from Ekeremor, I am from Sagbama.

At this point, we should forget about everything that has happened, focus on how to return Mr. President and win our state, at least for the first time for Mr. President, if Heineken from the West works with the people already on ground, the central, if the governor can also work with the people on ground. I know in the East, there won’t be problem between Sylva and Samuel working together. I know they will deliver. But can the governor himself deliver that Senatorial district because that’s the biggest senatorial district? There is a very big problem here because the governor wants to come back as a senator. That’s where the problem will start. He also wants to behave like his master, Dickson, who governed the state, brought someone else to run as senator. Even before now, the governor has been going round to dissolve the existing executives. The APC in Bayelsa is a very strong party, it isn’t a place like Enugu that APC doesn’t even exist in the first place.

With the picture you have painted of contending interests, don’t you have trust in the capacity of the party national secretariat to bring everybody to the table and push for overall party interest?

They don’t have the capacity. I will tell you why. The last time we had a party leadership in that secretariat was under Adams Oshiomhole. Since he left, we never had a strong chairman in that secretariat.

How do you mean?

After removing Oshiomhole unlawfully with Court, they brought in a sitting governor as acting Chairman. Since that day… you see, all the chairmen we had have been appointees, none of them, up till today, none of them bought forms, nobody contested, nobody voted for them. Look at what happened to Ganduje, that’s why they can come and sack you. You are an appointee. A party is where you go, buy form and people vote for you. There is a Constitution of the party that backs you up.

But Oyegun was voted for and he was removed and replaced with Oshiomhole. Have you forgotten?

Yes. Didn’t Oshiomhole contest an election? Where did they remove Oyegun? We were at Eagles Square for an election. Oyegun lost at the convention. Since Oshiomhole left, who emerged at Eagle Square? Apart from Abdullahi that came, what happened? When Abdullahi Adamu left, the Kano man, Ganduje, was appointed. Everybody saw what he did. (Nigerian Tribune)