A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former commissioner in Edo during the Adams Oshiomhole administration, Kassim Afegbua, in this interview, with Adibe Emenyonu explains his grouse with the PDP at the national level and his home state. Afegbua also talks about the critical 2023 general elections, demanding old men aspiring to be Nigeria’s next president to take a backseat and made a compelling call that northerners should let the presidency go to the South. The PDP chieftain also revealed his desire to contest Edo’s next governorship election.

Which political party do you currently belong to?

I am a full-fledged member of the Peoples Democratic Party. I am sure you are trying to use the incident of my not supporting the Edo state governor in the 2020 election as the reason for asking such a question. I remain a bona fide member of the PDP.

You worked for an APC government in Edo, suggesting that you might have sympathy for the party. Yet, on the other hand, you still have an affiliation for the PDP. Where exactly do you stand?

I am happy you asked this question. I stand by PDP but frowned at how the previous National Working Committee under Uche Secondus gifted Governor Obaseki the ticket without concrete agreement on power-sharing. The interests of the older members of the PDP were not factored into the whole arrangement. I complained at that time, but they seemed too desperate to have a governor defecting to the PDP. So, they played mute on all the issues I had raised. I had no option other than to support the candidate of the opposition APC in the state as a form of protest. It happens everywhere, even in the US; in the last election, some Republicans openly supported Joe Biden when they realised that Donald Trump had become catastrophic.

At a time, you were reportedly expelled from the PDP for anti-party activities by the Uche Secondus-led NWC. What really led to your expulsion?

That was a fluke. They tried to use that fakery to confuse the public. The state chairman was overzealous, and he suddenly woke up from sleep and said I had been expelled. But members of my Ward 5, including their executives, held a meeting and disowned my purported expulsion on the grounds that the chairman had no right and powers under the PDP constitution to expel me. An expulsion takes a process from the ward level of the party, so it is not one of those powers vested in the state chairman. I am at peace with my ward executives and have been participating in PDP activities since then. Whether as a member or not, I am a voter and have the right to interrogate persons who are not living up to the conditionalities of their offices.

You made grave allegations against the outgone Secondus NWC. Can you prove them before a court of competent jurisdiction, assuming the man goes to court to sue for slander and defamation of character?

I would not want to comment on this because the outgone chairman is in court with me. Permit me not to pre-empt the court. When we get there, we will do justice to the facts of the matter.

Some people say you don’t have a political base. They accuse you of playing PDP in the morning and the APC at night. Where’s your support base?

First and foremost, I am not an itinerant politician who does not have the power and courage to raise concerns when certain injustices are committed. I speak truth to power, not minding whose ox is gored. It is not just about the outcome of any engagement but the processes leading to the outcome. When you raise serious questions about the propriety of an action, you are easily called names. I don’t do anything secretly. I open up on any issue or grievances to free my conscience.

The Edo gubernatorial experience was a novel idea to a lot of people. But those who abused and insulted me have since realised that I took the most plausible step to voice out my position. The events that followed have since vindicated me, and I have no regret whatsoever for my action. I don’t pretend on any issue. I am a PDP member both at night and day, but you cannot because of politics stop me from seeing my friends in other parties, just because I hold a different position to yours. Those who do both parties under the cloak of darkness know themselves too well.

You’ve been described as an armchair critic looking for relevance. But since you could not get any, you decided to use politics to gain a foothold. Does that not define your current standing?

Very funny question. What is the meaning of armchair critic? You are bound to be labelled and called all sorts of names once you don’t agree with any status quo position. They will readily see you as quarrelsome and confrontational because you have the balls to look them straight in their eyes to tell them what they don’t bargain for. Politics is a game of numbers. But even the minority have their voices, no matter how faint. What is the meaning of relevance when I have a voice to voice out my resentment about any issue? The level of dishonesty and lack of transparency in political parties is what baffles me. You see something wrong, when you try to complain, they tell you not to, that you should play along. I am not wired that way. I like to ask questions on the rationale behind any action. I like to interrogate the major actors and do some psychoanalysis to situate the credibility of their actions: if that makes me an armchair critic, no problem. The point must be made that politics should be undertaken by saner minds like a form of reform so that the right calibre of persons can participate in it.

You claimed to be a member of the PDP. But you’re not supporting your Governor Godwin Obaseki. Why?

I am not compelled by any law to support the governor of my state. I made my position about him known before his re-election when he joined the party out of sheer desperation to find a platform when he was thrown out of the ruling APC. If he was that popular, I had expected him to take APGA to test his popularity at the elections. He was not only gifted the PDP ticket, a party that had called him a failure shortly before that. He also enjoyed all the privileges accorded older members even though he was just entering the party. After the election, he started fighting those who campaigned vigorously for him and planted himself as the ultimate godfather of a party he was just joining. He said anybody who doesn’t play to his rules of engagement should find the exit door, or he would chase them out.

How do you want me to support such a person who is a tenant and wants to dictate the functions of the landlord? How do you reconcile that? My position is based on principles. You cannot arrogate the powers you don’t have to yourself and expect me to celebrate you. I am not like those jobless felons out there who are salaaming themselves around the governor to be seen, heard and patronised. A governor of any shade or hue must earn my respect. But given my understanding of the governor having served in the same cabinet before, I cannot indulge pretences, not at all. That’s where I am different.

Is it true you want to seek an elective office in Edo in 2023? If yes, which office are you gunning for?

I am still consulting my constituents and other political players in trying to weigh my options. I am more interested in contesting the governor of the state than the House of Reps position, which my followers are saying I should consider. I love big challenges. I have also paid my dues. I have all it takes to govern the state. I have ideas that can turn around the fortunes of the state and not the present tokenism that is being charted by the present occupant. I would still continue to consult far and wide in the event that the position is zoned to Edo North, but if it is zoned to Edo Central, who have been clamouring for the position, I would give my total support to the quest of the party. As per 2023, my constituents want me to run for Federal House of Representatives, which I consider to be a clarion call. I am still consulting across the three local governments that make up the Etsako Federal Constituency to determine the level of support and the possibility of being able to win the election. I am not a desperado. I take my considered step on each adventure before I do anything. If the optics are not right, I will drop the ambition.