Dokpesi is with IBB for money – Clark

Weekly Trust: You are among those who are in the forefront of agitating for President Goodluck Jonathan to contest for the presidential election in 2011.  What informed your support? Chief Edwin Clark:  Well, it is not a question of today and it’s not a question of Jonathan alone. As far back as 2004-2005, we had […]

Weekly Trust: You are among those who are in the forefront of agitating for President Goodluck Jonathan to contest for the presidential election in 2011.  What informed your support?

Chief Edwin Clark:  Well, it is not a question of today and it’s not a question of Jonathan alone. As far back as 2004-2005, we had taken a decision after Obasanjo’s second term. We took a decision that it was now time for the people of the South-South to have the presidency of this country, for two reasons. One, for the last fifty years and above, we have never had a leader or Prime Minister from this country coming from the South-South or the Niger Delta.

So, we thought if the North had got it for over 38 years within the last fifty years and the South-West have got it for twelve years and the Igbos had it for only six months and we in the Niger Delta have never had it, if we have a country where everybody is equal, it is only proper for those that have not had it to have it now. Those talking about zoning, zoning is based on equity, fair play and justice, that this thing should not be taken over by a group of people alone. We expect that it should go round.

If the North-West and Igbos had it and we followed patiently, the question is, when would the so-called rotation come to us? The second reason why we are supporting him is that when we went to Calabar we talked about resource control and other issues, that there should be true federalism in this country, but it never happened. So, we are now saying that for the people who have been producing the wealth of this country for a long time now, we should also be given a chance to wear the shoe and feel the pinch because we have been neglected, humiliated, bastardized and we have not been regarded as part of this country. So, these are the issues that made us to say Jonathan should become the president of the country. So, as he is already there, we are giving him our full support.

When you say ‘we’ took a decision, who are the “we” you are referring to?

We have today what we call the South-South People’s Assembly; it is a merger of two organizations. The first organization was the South-South People’s Congress and the other body was known as South-South Consultative People’s Assembly.  We thought since we were working towards one goal we decided to work together. Both organizations were merged to form what we have today as the South-South People’s Assembly.

Then, we went to Calabar in October 2004 to make a declaration that the South-South should fight for the Presidency of this country.  We went round the country and the candidates that wanted the presidency at that time included Odili, who was the governor of Rivers State. It included Donald Duke, Admiral Mike Akhigbe and some others.

These were the people who campaigned and as the leader of the South-South People’s Assembly including Dokpesi himself, who channeled the whole thing, that is why today we are against him for being a man who betrayed the trust we had invested in him. We went round the country to solicit for votes. The Northern Union headed by Olusola Saraki came into the show that they would have the presidency and we should have the vice and we said no. when our people were touring the whole of the North, no one said there was zoning or rotation; they all accepted us.

If Obasanjo had not jumped into the show by bringing Yar’adua, Odili could have won! So, the South-South People’s Assembly championed the course of the Presidency. So, it is not now that we started.

Jonathan came in by accident.  Odili was to be the Vice-President when they denied him the presidency at the Eagle Square at the end of the National Convention of the party. Only Rivers State and Kaduna State delegates were there. It was during the acceptance speech of Umaru Musa Yar’adua that we noticed that the acceptance speech had been changed. It was changed from ‘Odili will be my running mate’ to ‘I shall decide after due consultation with the elders.’ Odili nearly collapsed in the field. So, it was the following morning that the issue of Jonathan came in and that was how Jonathan was announced as the running mate of Yar’adua.

Are you saying that the zoning thing does not exist?

Zoning has been there. All we are saying is that Jonathan and Yar’adua contested on the same ticket and that ticket was to be for the president and the other the vice, which signified they were pilot and co-pilot of a plane. If the captain dies by way of a heart attack or by any other means, the co-pilot automatically takes over. The co-pilot has to take the plane to the destination which they had taken off for.

It is just that the co-pilot is from another zone ….

It doesn’t mean anything. It was the likes of Ogbulafor who were singing that there was no vacancy in Aso Rock. They knew very well that Yar’adua was very sick and that there was no way he could go for a second term. Now, Jonathan is the president; are you asking the incumbent to step down simply because someone wants to contest? What we are saying is, Jonathan should be allowed to finish the eight years which he started, and in 2015, any other person can take over.

PDP recently said that the zoning issue stands. Isn’t this conflicting?

Yes, it stands but in every rule there must be an exception. The exception being that since Jonathan was part of the Yar’adua government, he is free to contest with other Nigerians. Jonathan is contesting because PDP allowed him to contest. If they did not allow him and he wanted to contest, he would have been asked to go to another party.

There are allegations recently that you and some elders from the South-South are threatening anyone from the South-South who refuses to support Jonathan. Why is this so?

That is not true. That is a blatant lie! That is a wicked lie being peddled by no other person than Dokpesi, who is an opportunist. Dokpesi cannot win an election even in his ward, his AIT is heavily indebted to various banks and he has not been able to pay his workers for the past six months. He has been looking for where he will get that money from, and when he could not get it from the Federal Government through the under-17 World Cup which he wanted absolute right to broadcast, he then looked elsewhere where he could get money and he thinks Babangida has that money. That is why he has gone there.

If it is for monetary consideration, don’t you think he would have remained with the president?

It is. The president would have given in to that. Come to think of it, Dokpesi is not the only person from the South-South working for Babangida. M. Efegbi who is the spokesman for Babangida is from Edo State. Chief Legogi who was the Deputy Senate President, who is also from the same area as Dokpesi is working for Babangida. Have we talked or threatened them? It is a free country. You are free to support any candidate or party you like.

So, I want to wipe away the notion that we do not want any South-South person to work for Babangida or Atiku. One of my boys, Timi Frank, is working for Atiku, he is an Ijaw boy, the same tribe with Jonathan. All we are saying is that Dokpesi is an opportunist. Dokpesi cannot be trusted, he is fraudulent. Dokpesi was the main initiator of the Calabar Declaration. He agreed and signed the declaration and he became the campaign manager of Odili. He went round the whole country saying the South-South must produce the next president and all of a sudden he changes course. He is an unpatriotic, betrayer and fraudulent politician.

Nobody wants to kill him. Who is he to be killed? I am 83. He mentioned my name as one of those who are after him and some ministers, senators, professors and some others, that we gathered to kill him. Some of these people he mentioned are greater than Dokpesi himself. Why should we waste our time on him?

There is also this insinuation that you are the brain behind the on-going lobbying for the release of Major Al-Mustapha so as to boost Jonathan’s campaign in the North. Is this true?

That is nonsense because I am a lawyer and I have been one for over 45years. I am a trained London lawyer; I belong to the Honorary Society of Inner Temple. What we are just saying is that we believe in fundamental human rights. There is nowhere in the world where one is being tried for twelve years. If the Federal Government or the Lagos State Government has enough evidence against him, then let them jail him.

Some people are just merely talking rubbish. Was it wrong for him to say the judge took N10 million; it was General Bamaiyi who said that. So, what we are saying is here is a man whose father died while he was in detention, whose six-year-old boy has grown up to become a teenager, whose mother who is 67 is sick in the hospital. The whole family is scattered. What offence has he committed? If he had been jailed for life, by now, he should have been completing his term.

There is nowhere in the world where this happens. I know him very well, he was and still my boy. It is ridiculous for anybody to think that we want him released because we want to use him for Jonathan’s purpose. I have not even discussed it with Mr. President. These are my own views and I stand for justice, fair play and equity. I will not allow a fellow Nigerian to be suffering in jail when he has not been sentenced and not been found guilty.

The Ibru family for which he is being charged for the attempted murder is a respected family.  Alex Ibru comes from a very important family, a family with principle and pedigree who’ll not like their name to be associated with a cruel trial.  I belong to that family.

Mustapha alone cannot make Jonathan to win the election; Kano State alone cannot realize that dream. So, it is not because of Jonathan’s election. I take this stance because I believe in justice.

Should Jonathan lose, what then happens?

I am optimistic that he will win. He has the support of all Nigerians

But what happens if he loses; will the ex-militants return to the creeks as they have vowed to do?

They did not say so.

There is the growing fear that should the president contest the elections, it could have the potential of creating divisions in the nation, especially since the ticket is believed to be that of the North. Don’t you think this fear is genuine?

It will not create crisis. We have met with 25 factions under the umbrella of the ACF who are against the ambition of the president. We looked into all these problems; there is no problem without a solution. We will continue to dialogue with various groups.

My worry is, has the north forgotten so easily? The people of the South-South have been supporting them for a very long time. They should realize that the people of the South-South have been their friends. I challenge even Adamu Ciroma, how many ACF meetings has he attended? I have attended more of the meetings than him. I have attended meetings with them under the chairmanship of Emir Gambari, MD Yusuf, Dambatta, Awoniyi among others.

So, what we are saying is that there would be no crisis, we are all Nigerians. If you do not want to support me then you are the one creating crisis in Nigeria. If I have always been supporting you, then, it is only obligatory for you to do likewise to me when it is my turn. That is why I said in every given rule, whether zoning or not, there must be an exception. I am appealing to the northerners to give peace a chance.

Some leaders even within the South-South like Tam David West, view people like you as opportunists…

How can he call me an opportunist? I have been in politics even before he thought about being part of it. Who is Tam David West? He has no home in his home town. What is he by following Buhari?  What role has he played? If at his age, over 70, he cannot support his younger brother who has done nothing wrong, then he must examine himself. What makes me to be an opportunist; I have been in government since when Jonathan was in school. You hear that! I was a commissioner in 1968 when Jonathan was in school. Where was he at that time?