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Alleged London detention: Blame Dariye’s opponents for his
ordeal - Kwande
Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, is an elder
statesman of no mean repute. During the 3rd Republic, it was in his house that
the victory of late Chief MKO Abiola at the SDP primaries was sealed. In 1999,
his house also hosted a galaxy of political bigwigs within the PDP including
some retired generals who gave the PDP ticket for the election, to General
Olusegun Obasanjo. In this interview with our Correspondent, Moses Ezulike,
the erudite ambassador who has not hidden his unalloyed support to Chief Joshua
Dariye, the suspended Governor of Plateau State, disagrees with the remarks made
by President Obasanjo on his political son. Excerpts:
What is this allegation of money
laundering
again being leveled against your political son, Chief Joshua Dariye?
Are we going to talk about what has been
published, or are we going to talk about the reality on the ground, or the
political intrigues because I don’t believe what is in the newspapers.
Are you not worried about the turn of
events for him.? Did the London Metropolitan Police actually arrest Chief Dariye?
Don’t ask me of what you have read on the
pages of newspapers, because before you know it, we will hear another one in the
same newspapers. Do you believe it? Or have you not read Dariye’s reply?
What is it that Chief Dariye was going to
look for in London at a critical moment like this particularly after his first
brushes with the same security men?
If you remember years back Dariye was shot
accidentally when he was coming into Jos from Gboko, when he was still the
general manager in Benue Cement Company (BCC). They shot him between his thigh
and stomach, and that has been giving him a lot of pains. So because of his
health, since it is inside, he has not been able to get good medical attention
in Nigeria to stop his frequent overseas trips for physiotherapy of his ailment.
That is why he is always there.
Was that what actually took him to London
this time around?
It is also in the newspapers that he was
there for a medical check up. Is he the only one that you have ever heard of
that has gone for medical check up? It is news?.
Precisely in September last year, he was
quizzed by the British police for illegal transfer of money and similarly by the
2nd of this month, he was also quizzed. But he is not the only governor or
personality in this country that frequents overseas. Why this regular encounter
with the police in connection with money?
(Cuts) You see, you have asked that he is
not the only one that frequents London, which answers the first question you
have put across to me. So it is not news, since you have now agreed that he is
not the only one that frequents London. Alright! But permit me to go back a
little. Everybody has his own opponent. I don’t call them enemies. We have
political opponents who shouldn’t be enemies but his opponents are turning into
his enemies. Very unfortunately indeed!
How?
Because of the set up; they are always
after him. My daughter, here has said he is not the only governor in Nigeria; he
is not the only governor that frequents overseas. But there are governors of
other places, not Plateau. You and I have been here since the defunct United
Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) days. This same group of people were following him
and fighting him every inch of his movement until the whole political parties
were dissolved and the new ones set up. Even when he moved into the PDP, they
are still after him. You are all living witnesses that from his party primaries,
it wasn’t easy. And when he even won the election, it was not easy. And when he
was in government, he tried to bring some of them into his government to assist
him, one of them that you are talking about today, being his opponent fought him
all the way and subsequently resigned his post. They still took him to court but
they failed. We came back into the new era, during the primaries for his second
tenure. You and I know that even the PDP governorship primaries was the most
difficult one in Nigeria, because of these same people. They eventually moved
out and when they were out, they were still fighting him from outside. Now he
still defeated them not only in the election but also in the court. But the
enemies are still there; I don’t call them opponents any more. They followed him
there setting up all sorts of traps so as to really get him out. As far as I am
concerned, a lot of things are being done and have been done. But I tell you God
is with the people of Nigeria.
One may not be out-rightly wrong to
describe your Number 5 Ibrahim Taiwo Str. residence as the Mecca of Plateau
State politics, in view of the series of high profile political meetings,
realignments and what have you which it has hosted in the last one month with
the arrowhead of the two camps- Mantu and Dariye being the focal point. How far
did your elders go in the reconciliation of these two arrow-heads?
Well, I am a father, I have been in the
game longer than any of them that you have just mentioned. So I try to make them
feel or see themselves as opponents and not enemies. That’s all I have been
trying to do. They should be friends, they should oppose each others’ ideas and
plans, because we are not the same. But the questions of personal hatred and
fight, that is why we as elders of this state, we would like to reconcile the
two, so that the people of Plateau State will be the beneficiaries not the
individuals. Having this meeting is to reconcile them, and when they sit down
with you, you’ll be surprised because they have not got any thing so serious
against each other, because both believe that they have helped each other at
different times.
What is the bone of contention between
Mantu and Dariye.
The bone of contention as I could feel is
a question of rumour mongering with their aides trying to play on the mentality
of their masters. This is because when the two men met, I was with them, believe
you me sincerely speaking, there was not anything serious in-between them. So,
as far as I am concerned, the opponents that I know them very well to be, are
still at it again. The people who started with him in the UNPC, at the primaries
of P.D.P, first tenure, second tenure of governorship are still at it again.
Who are these people?
You should know, because you said it has
been published. So who are those that fought him, that you are writing about?
Who are those that moved out of the party? Who are those that are now trying to
come in to the party again? They are the people!
You mean the people that just returned to
the party from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Alliance for
Democracy (AD)?
If you think they are, they are.
Why not call a spade a spade rather than
being speculative?
This people, you know about them, so why
do you want it to come from me when you are the people writing it?
We don’t know Sir. Are these people truly
Dariye’s enemies?
I am calling them enemies of Dariye
because they are the people who have been fighting him all along, those that
have been taking him to court. Go to court and find out who took him to court.
You will get the names, do your investigation.
Who is now the P.D.P chairman in Plateau
State?
Oh I wish I had this letter from the
national leadership of the party.
We just got a letter from the national
body confirming Maichibi Vwarji as the party’s Chairman.
You alleged that his enemies set him up
against the British Metropolitan Police. Do you think that the British Police
will allow itself to be used to settle political scores?
Do you think that there is any body in
this world that is beyond questioning? The most important thing is, after you
have been questioned, what next? Did they tell you that after he was questioned
that he was taken into custody? Is he under detention?
We would not know because we are not in
London?
So I don’t know too!
How did you receive the news of Jang,
Damishi Sango, and others, return to the P.D.P? Is it a good omen for the peace
you have talked about not only in P.D.P but in Plateau State?
They are very very welcome! I have made it
known, that the more in any political party, the better. But who ever that is
joining our party, even if he has never joined any party at all before, we have
a procedure.
What are the procedures?
The procedure is for you to apply in you
ward, get registered. If you had been with us, and you left, and you are coming
back, there is a way, a different way of re-registering into the old political
party that you belonged. You will return the card that you had in your
possession before. If you were in the AD, ANPP and so on, you must bring the
card with your application to your ward. And the ward will then receive it,
examine it, see you and then accept you, and have you registered.
Has this ritual been performed as it
concerns the returnees?
How do I know sitting down here when I am
not the chairman of the party? And I am not the chairman of the ward. I don’t
even know which of the wards these people are to be registered.
Should these old members reapply? Is it
normal?
It is very normal, it is normal. This is
the constitution of our party. What we are only saying is this: you know that
some of them have registered in different political parties, if you now want to
come back to us, please let’s be sure that you do not have dual membership.
Return the other card- so that we will have your name registered and quote the
number of the card you have returned.
Alh. Habu Shindai had on Friday issued a
press statement vowing that he is still the authentic chairman of the party,
insisting that he was elected for four years ,and until that tenure expires,
nothing has happened to warrant his removal.… (cuts in…)
Is it you or me that will clarify this
position?. He knows where he will clarify his position. We have the national
headquarters of our party, we have our rules it is not a matter of one single
human being standing in the street and saying I am, or I am not. Let him go to
where they will clarify him and tell us that he is the state chairman.
According to your zoning arrangement
whereas the Central zone produced the governor, the SSG, the chief of staff, the
Southern area is supposed to produce the party’s chairman, or have you changed
the zoning formula?
My friend, don’t go into politics for us.
We are the politicians; you have no opinions in it. Let me tell you what is
happening. No I will answer you. It is in the constitution of this country that
even after the zoning system that brought President Olusegun Obansanjo from the
South West, if by any chance he becomes incapacitated, Vice President Atiku
Abubakar takes over by law to be the president of this country. You cannot now
take Atiku and say he is a Yoruba man so that he will replace him. The important
thing is that Habu Shindai was from my own local government, and when something
went wrong and he left, the immediate implementation or execution of the
constitution of our party is that the next person in line is his deputy. He
might have come from heaven, it does not matter.
Can the elders settle this matter between
Dariye and Mantu? How far can you really go?
We will do it. They are our children, and
we have been talking to them. It will not be good for any one of them nor will
it be good for the people of Plateau State for the two of them to continue to
quarrel. Mantu is a commander without soldiers. We are soldiers without a
commander at the national level because we have not gotten anybody in the status
of Mantu at the federal level. The two of them must agree for the benefit of
Plateau State.
What are the chances of Dariye’s return as
the governor of the state?
The chance of Dariye’s return is a burden
on me and you. Let’s try and make Plateau as peaceful as possible and as quickly
as possible, so that he can return.
You are saying Dariye’s return is
predicated on the return of peace in Plateau State?.
There are allegations that those of you
who are in the party are afraid of the returnees - how true is this?
I have answered you earlier. They are very
welcome, the more the merrier. There is a possibility that if these people come
back - as they are coming back we have already started receiving them. Then
there is the possibility of Plateau state coming with a one party state, because
things will be better for us. There will be less arguments, less acrimony as any
problem between the two will now be internal within the party. But the problem
is that even those who are returning, we want to take them on their individual
merit. Who told you they have dissolved ANPP in Plateau? ANPP is still there, we
are not receiving ANPP into PDP, we are merely receiving individuals.
Some of you leaders remained aloof during
the recent two-day visit of President Obasanjo to Plateau State as you
completely stayed off the events especially at the kick-off of the peace
conference, What actually went wrong?
I can only speak for myself, not on behalf
of any body else. I don’t go to a place where I am not invited. At this level I
cannot do that.
The president had also totally written you
leaders off, as being incapable of giving leadership to the State when it
mattered most, especially the suspended governor. How do you react to that
assertion or challenge?
You don’t born and create a leader within
24 hours. Leaders are leaders because they have been there. Let me tell you and
I would want you to quote me seriously on this. Dariye is not a school boy, he
is not a civil servant that somebody will sit down and write his character,
saying you are this, or you are that. The people of Plateau are the people that
are to write that character and the behaviour of their leader. They can elect a
blind man and say he is our leader, and you have no say over it. So it is the
people of Plateau state that you should listen to. I agree with Obasanjo and the
administrator Major Gen. Chris Ali (rtd) who setup that conference to hear from
us, after which their decision can be based on the report submitted. Agreed, but
you don’t elect a person to please some body outside the electorate’s area of
authority. So this question that they are talking about Dariye this or Dariye
that, is neither here nor there. If Dariye commits a crime, of course he must be
dealt with. But for you to think that the man is dull, or daft, it is the people
of Plateau State who know him more than you know him, who elected him, that can
say better. Only the people of the state can tell better who Dariye is.
What advice do you have for Plateau
people?
Plateau State should not complicate the
matter. They should not go by what other people are saying, they should look at
the reality on the ground. Plateau is our own. I am surprised that a democrat
will go and ask that democratic institutions in the state be dismantled. I am
deeply shocked and surprised, more so as the advocates felt happy that all the
democratic institutions are no more. The people of Nigeria should be sympathetic
to the fate of Plateau people.
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