Isaac Alfa, a former Chief of Air Staff, is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi State. He speaks on his political career and the situation in his home state with Yekini Jimoh.Y OU retired from the military after a successful career; you were known to be a very strict and disciplined officer; can you tell us briefly what made you to join politics'Well, the military, as you know, is a much regimented and very restrictive organisation. It was not possible despite the success I had in the military to serve my people as I would have liked on a wider scale. You said I was very successful. Why shouldn't I use my experience and capability to help my people' So, when they invited me to come and represent them, I accepted.It is believed that you have very large followers in Kogi and that you have been able to retain your structure in the 21 local governments. How have you been able to do this, in terms of cost'When the people like you and want you, you don't need to spend much to get genuine following. They trust me; they trust in my capabilities. They were convinced that I was coming to serve, to emancipate them, and not to enrich myself. They know I was not coming to trade with their resources. They knew and saw that I was contented with the blessings bestowed on me.You contested for elective offices four times; why have you not been winning in spite your assumed solid structure'Good. The fact that I keep contesting shows my genuine desire to appreciate God's immense blessings upon me by giving back to the people. Despite the heavy expenditure involved, despite my various sponsorship schemes, have you seen me diminishing in any way' Are there many elected official from Kogi East today, past and present, who have not benefited from my assistance one way or the other, including the governor'I am decent and have refused to dabble into dirty politics. I mean I have the capability and capacity to seize victory if I had wanted, but I am way beyond that. I have always valued my position in life and am not ready to trade my integrity for any position or money. Those who have nothing to offer have always rigged their ways into position to satisfy their primitive acquisitive tendencies. I have never lost an election. I have always been rigged out. Is it not instructive that those who rigged always come back for support' Have they not always come back to ask for my support in mobilising the people for them'If you have been treated so badly, why then have you continued to remain in PDP' Is it really a question of which party' Agreed, some have left one party for another and succeeded, but does it not depend on what one wants really' The truth is that in most of our parties today, what goes on behind the scenes is beyond what the eyes see. So, it is not a question of which party. People don't really care which party governs them. The tragedy of it all is that most of those who suffer for the parties are not the ones benefiting. Those who genuinely want to serve their people are not the ones succeeding because they are not ready to soil their reputation.You recently boycotted the PDP gubernatorial primary for Kogi State. Why'A lot has been said about this already. I have been in the news, on the television explaining myself. In that news conference, I did explain that the primary was not going to be free and fair; that the primary was already pre-rigged. In a situation where ad-hoc delegates that constitute 75 per cent of the total delegates were pre-selected to favour the governor's candidate, no one else can win. Members from the various local governments were used to compile names of those who must do the governor's bidding. In my own local government for example, there was no election of ad-hoc delegates. Those instructed simply hid themselves and compiled names.The ad-hoc delegates were marshalled together and taken to Lokoja and all other aspirants were denied access to them. They were all heavily paid. The whole thing was a shame. So why should I take part in an election which outcome had already been determined' I am glad I did what I did. I saved my name and my action gave other aspirants the courage to follow the path of honour. Can't you see the controversy that the primary has generated'But the primary still held and Captain Idris Wada emerged winner. Meanwhile, Alhaji Jibrin Echocho is still clinging to his mandate. As an insider, what can you say really is going on'Who said am an insider' I am not even near the door. I am not one of them. They play very dirty politics in the state. I am decent and that's why we have never been on the same page. You want to know what is going on. Ask the governor.First, he assembled us together in Anyigba and instructed that the whole of Kogi East should vote for Echocho. He then single-handedly selected the deputy. That was why the majority of the aspirants then withdrew for Echocho because he was the governor's candidate.Surprisingly, the same governor made a U-turn about four weeks ago and dumped Echocho for Captain Wada. As to the why of it, only the governor can explain. The papers have been awash with speculations as to the motive behind the governor's behaviour.I have no quarrel with the governor supporting a particular candidate; after all, he is a human being. But people want decency and fairness in doing so.There is this controversy that Captain Wada forged his membership of PDP. As a matter of fact, the affidavit to that effect was published in the papers. What is the real situation'I don't have more facts than you do. But if there was any such thing, I doubt if the Captain Wada I know will be knowingly involved. Don't forget that in this dirty game of politics, those who want to benefit from his victory can go to any length to do anything. And how can we be sure that the forgery was not the handiwork of his enemies' However, if the forgery is true, then it is a great tragedy because if Captain Wada wins, the opposition can cause trouble. I just hope that for the PDP's sake, the allegation is false. Forgery is a criminal offense and nobody should toy with someone's reputation for their primordial fears or selfish reasons.How will you describe Echocho and Captain Wada' In what way' Actually, I never knew Echocho very well. As a matter of fact, I never heard of him until he came to contest. I later understood he was an executive in Afribank. Although regarded as an outsider, I am told he is a bright person, and I found him to be humble. The governor supported him initially before transferring that support to Captain Wada. Whatever the reason, it is tough for the young man, as he must have spent a fortune believing that his support base is solid, especially as it is believed that one of the governor's sons is a strong backer of his.As for Captain Wada, we are about the same age, and I have known him for years, way back in Kano when we were young. He is bright, very refined and a complete gentleman and may not be timid or malleable. If he wins, he may bring the state out of the comatose state which it has been in for the past eight years. I have not known him to be active in politics, but being the governor's candidate may mean something.
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