Osita Okechukwu, Director General of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), has said that Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha is demarketing the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South East region of the country. In this interview with WILLY EYA, he spoke on various issues affecting the nation ahead of 2019 general elections.
How do you feel about the gale of defections from your party, the APC to the PDP?
It is part of politics and I believe it will lead to the development of our democracy. I was getting worried when the PDP was almost becoming a regional party when its activities were mostly in the South East and South South. So, the fact that they came back makes democracy more dynamic. There is no worry about the defections. By the time they finish their primaries, I do not know anybody that they are going to elect that will beat President Buhari. So, why should I worry myself? I would not lose sleep at all because I know those who are jostling to be the candidate of the PDP or the CUPP. I do not know any of the aspirants of other parties that would defeat President Buhari. And I know how the Nigerian politics is played. By the time they finish the primaries, there would be fresh rancour in the party. Those aggrieved would most likely leave and support the APC candidate. So, I am not bothered; it is still for the development of the Nigerian democracy. It is not anything anybody should worry about; the storm will soon be over. Those who are shouting today, do you know basically why they shout; if President Buhari has used the money for critical infrastructure and shared it on roads, the APC will not have any problem but his interest is on infrastructure. That is the only difference between Buhari and the PDP government. If President Buhari was sharing the money, most of them would not be complaining. This is a country where it takes about a N100 million to create a kilometer of road. So, if you are building a road of about 10 kilometers, you are spending about a billion. If you adopt the PDP method and decides to share that one billion, there would be handouts and probably some people will be happy but in the long run, they would be suffering because there will not be the critical infrastructure that would lead to development. Economic development is tangential to the security of the people. It is not only weaponry that you use to fight insecurity in the country. One of the greatest tools in fighting insecurity is good governance and economic development.
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