Transcription
All right, let's uh turn our attention back to uh party politics, especially in Delta State. With that stunning development where heavyweights in the PDP—um, the governor, Sherif Orbih, former governor Ka, um, national assembly members, local government chairmen—have all now defected to the APC, and and people were stunned by that development.
But let's bring in um one man who can help us, you know, explore this further. He's the APC national publicity secretary, Felix Simoka. He joins us live in the studio on the news at 10.
Good to have you join us.
Thank you. Um, in this conversation, you are wearing two hats. One of them as the APC national publicity secretary and the other as a PDP chieftain—sorry, APC chieftain—in Delta state. But let's start with you as a national publicity secretary. How is your party um receiving this news um at the national level?
Yes, we we are very elated by this development of um the decision of the governor um to join our party, along with eminent leaders of the PDP, including the former governor, um, Senatora, who was also uh the vice presidential candidate of the PDP in the last election. You know, along with literally all of the um members of the administration, uh, leaders and members of the, you know, state house of Assembly, the National Assembly members and, you know, the local government chairmen and counselors, and for that matter, you know, the entire structure of the party um, you know, announcing their, you know, uh joining our party today. So we we're very pleased with that because um, you know, we that as you know, Delta has been a PDP state, you know, from you know the beginning of um this republic in 1999, and for them to you know, collapse into our party today, you know, we welcome it because um, you know, this is you know a multi-party democracy we we we have, and it's about numbers. So when people you know exercise their constitutional freedom to join our party, we celebrate it, because more so because the south south has been predominantly PDP.
Now you have two states in the south south.
That is correct. But let's get to you as an APC chieftain in Delta State, because many are now raising concerns and they have described this as a potential crisis where you have um heavyweights with vested interests. First of all, the former deputy senate president, um, Omo-Agege, who has vested interests. Um, Ned Nwoko is there, the former governor, Ibori, is there, and then you have Sheriff Oborevwori, also the governor, also in that party. Can the APC manage um heavyweights like this who all have vested interests?
You know, I I think this is one thing that people don't give us enough credit for, uh, which is that our internal mechanisms for conversation, for negotiation, for compromise, is really very advanced. You know, our national chairman, you know, um, uh Dr., you know, Abdullahi Ganduje, is someone who thrives on you know this sort of challenge, and every member of the national working committee, we are all you know very attentive to you know this point you make, but we are not phased by that because we are prepared to sit down and talk and work it out so that you know the the mutual interests of the incoming, you know, uh, you know, the newcomers and you know those who are in the party, the leaders and the members of the party, you have this worked out in a way that is mutually respectful and beneficial. But look, ultimately it's also about you know uh a third party in all of this, which is you know the the the president of the federal republic, and you know we have a duty as a party to also mobilize you know support for the vision of this president who is you know tasked himself with the responsibility to tackle generational problems created by leaders who prefer to kick the problem of Nigeria—whether it's the economic problem, you know, problem of security—you know, kick that can down the road for others to solve. But he has said, you know what, listen, I will not kick this can down the road. I'm going to, you know, try the best I can with the mandate he has to fix the problems. And so, you know, what we see today is really that, you know, mobilization.
I'm sure Nigerians are listening to you because one of the things you find trending on Twitter today is the name Ned Nwoko, and many have said that look, uh, it looks like he's now at a tipping point. He left—he said he left the PDP uh because of his relationship with the governor that has gone—how the governor has come to meet him in the APC. Um, how again I am wondering how you navigate um all of that, especially tickets um have been contested for, not just you know at the gubernatorial level, but also you know uh the assembly as well.
Yeah. No, you're you're right. I mean, look, you know, I've also seen some of those commentaries, but you know a lot of those who make those comments are not politicians. Ned Nwoko, you know, Senator Nwoko is a politician. The incoming governor is a politician. Some of us who are in the party who are also officials of the party, we are politicians, you know, and look, one thing in politics, that nothing is guaranteed, you know, change, and you know, I mean, and and circumstances you know change, and when they change, you change with it, you adapt to that, you know, and I think that nobody is you know coming in to threaten anybody. I don't think Ned himself has you know raised an alarm, but you know people say that because they think, oh, he left the PDP, yes, but Ned is a a politician. And that's what we do. We negotiate. We sit down to solve problems. And I think that every leader in the party, every member of the party expects in the coming days, in the coming weeks to sit down and actually talk through some of these, you know, intricate, you know, dimensions of this, you know, move today. But one thing is unmistakable, and that is that our party today you know gained these you know massive membership, and we you know in our democracy.
But we hope we hope you don't also have defections on your hand by people who are looking for tickets and moving to other parties as well. But I wanted to ask you if you think that your party can consolidate it at the national level. PDP has been very dominant um in Delta state, and then in 2023 it was a Labour party that won the presidential election in that state. How do you consolidate this defection at a national level?
No, definitely I I think that you know that's exactly what we're prepared to do, you know, and you know our national leadership is very attentive to all of this, you know, subtle, you know, I think disclosures of tension that you know people on the outside see, but on the inside these are you know threats that we need to weave together to build a stronger, more formidable, you know, platform that we go into the 2027 election more confident and more purposeful, offering Deltans I think a reason to come with the APC, you know, in order to begin to reset the fundamentals of you know governance in the state and to chart a you know a new path to you know prosperity uh for the entire state and and hopefully Nigeria.
We hope we hope so, because a store what you just left to your party and now looking for national coalition you know with other parties. We hope that you can actually manage it.
Thanks. Thank you so much. Always a pleasure to have you on. Uh, National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Simoka.
Thank you so much. Appreciate it.