THE GUARDIAN
Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu, in this interview with LEO SOBECHI, x-rays the recent general elections, stressing that voters’ perception and technicalities of electoral process, rather than government performance shaped the elections.
People look at PDP’s performance in the recent general elections in Abia State and claim that you dropped the ball. What is your take?
I would have loved my party to win, but the elections have come and gone. It now belongs in the past. The outcome of any election is a combination of many factors. One could be perception of the electorate and the other, the technicalities involved in the election.
I am proud to say that we didn’t head from the elections to the mortuary. Whether the verdict is a true reflection of the wishes of the people is a matter for another day. I love the fact that history and posterity are always there to judge and put records straight.
Be that as it may, I’m consoled by the fact that elections for everybody should be seen as a call to serve. If the opportunity does not come at the time you desire, you should find the courage to move forward and see whether the outcome will be better next time.
The PDP has been there for 24 years. As a scientist, I respect the growth curve and there is a point you get to when you will begin to experience diminishing returns. It could come from lots of things: self-confidence or overconfidence. People begin to think that we have always been winning and we will always win. This kills the hunger and drive to do the needful in terms of campaigns, vote-following and result. It also creates complacency and laissez faire attitude.
Those who are outside are hungry for victory and when you begin to see that input is not commensurate with output, then the curve flattens and subsequently begins to nosedive. At that point, you need to do something radical to get back to your position.
Again, I think all hope isn’t lost for my party; we are still the majority in the state House of Assembly. This is a good thing to fall back on, we can rebuild from there. If we have 11 members in the House of Assembly, which is the grassroots constituency, what it means is that PDP is still stronger than other parties. If not, why didn’t the other parties get the majority? I won’t want to dwell much on this, I will rather say that the elections have come and gone and I think we are in a good position to rebuild going forward.
Your party still went to court contrary to your appeal in your congratulatory message to the Governor-elect. Did your party consult you before taking the decision to go to court?
My party did not consult me to seek my opinion. I say this because I volunteered my opinion and I spoke like a statesman. I’m convinced that those who win elections should be given the opportunity to work, because I was at the receiving end of a bitter three and half years of litigation. And I don’t want anybody to go through such an experience.
What puts spanner in the works is that even the supposed beneficiaries of my advice, the Labour Party, also went to court against the eleven members -elect of my party. So, I lost my foothold in advising the party not to go to court, they could ask me if I want them to sit by and watch the opponent have the upper hand…
