As the battle for the number one office of the ruling party rages on, Dr Musa Babayo an aspirant to the office of the National Chairman of the PDP argues that he has the most required competence in party administration to change the fortunes of the party, he spoke to Auwal S. Mu'azu.
Currently you are the acting national Secretary of the PDP and one of the contenders for the office of the national Chairman, may we know what informed your decision to join this stiff race.
Well my decision to present myself for election as the national Chairman of this party was borne out of my desire to add value in a very significant way to the future growth and development of the PDP in particular and Nigeria in general. And much more importantly to help in deepening democracy and strengthening both institutions which will help democracy to grow and prosper. The knowledge in party management and administration which I have acquired in the last four years as the member of the national working committee of this party, a position which I have rare privilege to serve first as Deputy National Secretary and now as National secretary of this party has given me an insight into the opportunities and to know the challenges before the PDP and I believe with all humility I have the required skill, competence and knowledge in party administration to move this party forward. Nigeria is facing some many challenges; PDP as a party that is entrusted with the management and administration of this great country so getting it right in the PDP will translate significantly into getting it right in all the governments that the PDP has formed at federal level.
The PDP at this point in history requires someone who has the vision, capacity and the integrity and much more importantly someone who has the humility to work with the President, with his colleagues in the national working committee and other critical stakeholders in this party, in the Board of Trustees, in the National Executive Committee and our caucus. I believe I posses all these attributes and above all the tremendous knowledge I have of the Party's internal environment. These and many more other reasons informed my decision to humbly present myself to the members of this party for election into the office of national Chairman of our party in the next coming convention on the 24th of March 2012.
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Before this contest the party was at different times under one leadership or another, what do you think you can do that these past leaders couldn't do in order to move the party forward.
You know, organisations just like human beings always pass through evolutionary process, the leaders of this party who managed the party since its formative days have done very well in terms of putting the basic structures that have served as the building blocks for the growth of PDP.? Today, Nigeria is going through a period rapid transformation, the nation is facing some many challenges in our political economy and the PDP cannot afford to continue as usual, we will have to pursue real pragmatic reforms in order to support the government that we have formed and Mr. President in his efforts to transform our politics and economy.
So the issues that defines the PDP today are fundamentally different from those issues that defined it a decade ago and since the music has changed it is only normal as the adage goes, that the dance steps should equally change, the reforms that this party requires are critically and are very important for its survival and its desire to continue to maintain its ruling power. These reforms are anchored on what I define as my determining vision or rather my guiding vision, what I called the 3Rs which present Rebuilding, Redirecting and Reconnecting, each of these three elements represent a set of the reform which we intend to carry out.
The objective of the first phase (R) which is rebuilding is basically is to rebuild institutions of? internal democracy within the party, because rightly or wrongly, Nigerians perceive us as party that has a disputed record of party internal democracy and since politics is about perception, it is important we begin to look at this institution in order to rebuild it so as to connect those issues with the generality of wishes and aspirations of the Nigerian people whom we are striving hard to have. Closely to the rebuilding of the internal democracy is our rule of law principle anchored on transparency, integrity in managing the party procedures and processes these are fundamental, because when you get the first phase right, then you can be able to move to the next stage which is redirecting stage which is to completely redirect the orientation and perception of Nigerians about the PDP, the current slogan campaign of rebranding and so on, of course they have added value but still lots needs to be done in order to make our party peoples friendly, on the conclusion of the second phase, then you move to the phase three of the reform which is the reconnecting stage which is to reconnect the entire membership of the party with millions of Nigerians under its umbrella.
These whole reform frameworks which clearly define our guiding vision and principle stand out in this campaign from the rest, because as I have mentioned severally, we intend to run this part by rules instead of whim, we will run the party based on international best practices so that the PDP will become Nigeria's democratic export vehicle. So this is basically what differentiates us from the rest.
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Based on the conflicting interest within the PDP it is seen as fractured party, what can you do to practically bring these divergent groups together.
I have the rare privilege in the last four years to serve as the Secretary of the reconciliation committee of the party, in carrying out this assignment; I had a rare privilege of interacting with virtually all the key stakeholders that are critical in PDP. So dialogue in politics is what is always important, we will continue to encourage our leadership and our membership to continue to engage themselves. As long as we keep on talking, we will be to resolve most of the contending issues currently being pursued by different groups within our party. I feel I have that rare experience to approach these issues holistically, based on objective criteria and not based on subjective one and by the special grace of Allah we will be able to reconcile all the divergent interests towards attaining a common goal.
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