Alhaji Adamu Bello, chairmanship candidate for Saturday's PDP convention told newsmen in Abuja that only justice at all level would deliver dividends of democracy. OGHOGHO OBAYUWANA reports.Why do you want to be the next PDP chairman and what impact can you make to transform the country'LET me start by saying that all my life, I have been involved in making good things happen. I have experienced life in the private sector; I have been a technocrat, a minister and a social crusader. Above all, I am a true Nigerian and a democrat. So, I look at myself as someone who has had experiences in the various sectors and having served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, I feel that I know the people of Nigeria and can serve in whatever capacity. This is because over 60 percent of Nigerians are in the field of agriculture. Like I said earlier, I have also served in the private sector and worked very closely with prominent executives. Worth mentioning are people like Malam Hamza Zayyad, General Shehu Musa Yar'adua, Malam Musa Bello, Dr. Babatunde Jose, Chief MKO Abiola, Jerome Udoji, Ibrahim Damchida, among others.In the private sector, I had the kind of exposure that only few people have in this country. I interacted with the young and the old. I know, for instance, the most famous accountant in Nigeria - Akintola Williams. About 30 years ago, I served with him on the same board; he was my chairman and I was a director. With this kind of deep experience in the private sector, coupled with my years in government as a minister, I believe I am fully qualified to lead the PDP.The two terms I served under Obasanjo, (former president) the turnover of ministers was such that I had the opportunity of interacting with about 150 people; people like General TY Danjuma, Malam Adamu Ciroma, Chief Tony Anenih, and Chief Bola Ige. I also remember I hosted the late Libyan leader, Gadaffi on behalf of President Obasanjo for four days. I have on record, the credit of being the minister who was able to bring all the farmers in Nigeria under one umbrella- the All Farmers Association of Nigeria. Prior to that, farmers associations in Nigeria were fragmented. Now, this is the kind of thing I want to bring to the PDP.How can we relate the exposure, experience and unique contacts that you have talked about to organising people as such as politicians in a complex society like Nigeria'And I am happy that people are beginning to recognise this. I served in Habib Bank for 12 years and retired at the age of 43; and as a mark of appreciation, they named one of their training institutes after me. The Federal Government conferred on me the honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON). In 2006, I visited President Obasanjo in his office and he said to me: 'Minister, your colleagues came here and said you are the best person to succeed me.' I asked him who were those colleagues of mine but he said he would not tell me. But when I persuaded him further, he said: 'Your colleagues led by Liyel Imoke and Bayo Ojo came to me and said you are the best person to succeed me as President.'I really felt proud of that vote of confidence. What happened thereafter is a different thing altogether; it did not materialise. I have served Nigeria in various ways and received recognition. Now, I feel it is time for me to serve again. I feel since I am a member of the PDP and the chairmanship position has been zoned to my area, I should throw my hat into the ring and do for the PDP what I have done for agriculture ' bring the people together so that there is justice, unity, cohesion and progress in the party. This I am sure will translate into progress in the country.But considering your profile, political pundits actually feel you can stake a claim to any other position of service other than being chairman...At this point in our political evolution, we cannot afford to be naive. My philosophy is that you should serve the society in whatever capacity you find yourself. The available position now is the national chairmanship of the party and I feel I can serve the country in that position. I feel the national chairmanship is a very important position, which should help guide those elected on the party's platform to execute the manifesto of the party to the satisfaction of the electorate. The chairmanship of the party is as strong as the leadership of any arm of government.The PDP as we know it now seemingly has many layers of authority. The position of chairman appears weakened owing to the prevalence of parallel loyalties and squabbles. How do you intend to survive this'You are right. That is also why we are having issues with internal democracy. Any genuine leader should be sensitive to this. Look at our party slogan for instance: It says Justice, Unity and Progress. But the justice arm has not been implemented to the satisfaction of all. This is the missing link and I want to step in before the party pays a heavy price for it. We must through due diligence, uphold the tenets of fair competition. I have already made my intentions known to the party leaders, supporters and now we are taking this to the delegates. They should vote their conscience. As a nation, we have to be driven by ideas and values rather than bread and butter. I am confident that they will hear this message for the sake of our dear country.The race is crowded and several camps have been mentioned. Do you belong to any camp; do you think there will be a free and fair convention at the end of the day'Let me put it this way: I have been discussing with interest groups within the party and I have received positive responses in my campaign. I wouldn't say that I have been adopted by any particular group, but I am happy with the responses I have received.Many people do not know the antecedents of Adamu Bello; many people do not know that Adamu Bello brought farmers in Nigeria together under one roof and gave confidence to Nigerian farmers, so we can even start to export quality produce from this country. Many people do not know that I was one of the nine members of the committee that transformed the Lagos Stock Exchange into Nigeria Stock Exchange.But even at that, you are more of a technocrat, a private sector person than politician. How can you navigate the waters in this respect'I was a technocrat who came and served in Obasanjo's administration as a minister where I excelled. I was a member of the presidential campaign council that ushered in the civilian administration in 1999. Although I was a major player in the private sector, I was a member of the PDP right from its inception and I never left the party. I have always been a PDP member. I have played politics for a very long time. If you look at the history of the PDP, it was the amalgamation of various groups including General Shehu Musa Yar'adua's group, the Peoples Front (PF), which I was part of. In fact, I wrote the economic policy of the PF, which became part of the PDP today.But I was also an active party man even though not in the field; I never mounted the rostrum. Then at the partisan level, in 2007, I was the only member of the executive arm that served on the PDP Campaign Council, which was headed by President Obasanjo, with Col. Ahmadu Ali as then PDP chairman.So politically speaking, I served on the most sensitive arm of the party; the Presidential Campaign Council. Nobody will say he is a born politician. Look at strongman of Edo politics, Chief Tony Anenih; he was a Police officer. Look at President Obasanjo, he was a military officer. Also, Bamanga Tukur was a ports manager before he ventured into politics.The chairman of the PDP is currently zoned to the Northeast and we have seen the plethora of candidates. We have seen passions heated up during the past weeks. Is there a possibility of closing ranks with other aspirants'You are right that the chairmanship race is filled with people of substance. As I have heard them say- people of timber and calibre. I would rather be counted among the calibre than the timber. Actually, this thing about consensus is nice; I think people should be encouraged to sit down and discuss how to prune down the number if it will bring about sanity. There must be mutual respect. But democracy demands that we all go to the field for the votes to be counted. But if you want to reduce the number it will be better so that there is more harmony in the party. When we get to this particular bridge, we will cross it.Where is consistency in the running of the PDP' Zoning arrangement that was once thrown out of the window has just been brought back. How do you think this will affect the fortunes of the party'I don't think it is a matter of inconsistency. The PDP has identified six offices in the zoning and sharing of political offices: the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, national chairman (PDP) and Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF). When we came to the issue of the President you referred to, the circumstance was difficult- Jonathan taking over from Yar'Adua under the circumstance of death. Jonathan was constitutionally qualified to contest for another term and the PDP Constitution had this issue of zoning. It was a difficult position but the leadership of the party in the final process allowed Jonathan to emerge as the candidate of the party.Now, he selected his running mate from the Northwest, the Senate President comes from the North-Central and the Northeast has been given this national chairmanship, which I am vying for.You have spoken about reforming the PDP and making it more credible and acceptable to the generality of Nigerians. What strategies or programme would you engage in this regard'You know, I was telling a group the other day; to me the PDP looks like the ANC in South Africa. This is in the sense that the ANC was set up to fight apartheid and ensure freedom for black South Africans. The formation of the PDP was the amalgamation of the various political interest groups basically to fight the military out of power. We had a goal to ensure that the military did not come back to power and now the military is gone.Initially, there were hiccups here and there but it is for the party to sit up and strengthen things. If elected, I am going to do a simple thing; I will just uphold the motto of the party 'Unity, Justice and Progress.Let us have genuine leaders who truly love this country at the helms. People are quarrelling with the PDP because they think our candidates at the various levels are not delivering. If we have men who fulfil electoral promises, people of integrity and if we have a machinery to throw up only men of honour and peoples' lives are touched and there is sustainable measurable development, I tell you people will not mind whether PDP stays in power forever. It is because this is not happening that there is a crisis. It is time to change all that.
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