Udengs Eradiri was the candidate of the Labour Party in the last governorship election in Bayelsa State. In this interview with SAMUEL ESE in Yenagoa, he talks about his experiences, why he decided to quit the party and look elsewhere to pursue his political ambition
Why did you quit the Labour Party?
I thought that Nigerians truly meant this their so-called cry of bad leadership, that we need good governance and all that. It’s just a farce. Nigerians are not serious. They are just looking for who will give them money. When the chips are down, Nigerians look for money from politicians. They jettison all they’ve gone through. I was fooled, let me put it that way. I thought that our people really needed leadership and that was why when I was growing up any opportunity I had, I made sure that I maintained a certain trajectory without getting my hands stained in all these mess, thinking there have to come a time when in leadership people interrogate you from where you’re coming from to say based on your track record we can entrust public responsibility to you. But, I was fooled. I went to the nooks and crannies of Bayelsa and I saw the sufferings, I saw the nakedness of neglect and poverty in Bayelsa State. I saw the people lamenting, graduates without work. I interacted. On Election Day, they were after money. They were looking for who will bring money. I know what I went through from primaries to winning my election in the party to the demands here and there. But, I didn’t have that kind of money, I couldn’t afford it. And on Election Day, they had already negotiated with the system and collected money; people were even fighting over money they took from selling me. In my village, money was deployed in millions. It was ‘see and buy.’ The election was a disgrace. INEC sending emissaries; they had agents that were around politicians – ‘you bring this, we do it this way.’ I knew I was not going to go anywhere with the build-up to the election. You see security agencies coming to you, telling you ‘you go shake body make we do am like this.’ I possibly can’t play when I’m just a young engineer with the little resources and support from my friends. The things I saw shocked me because I am a man from the struggling background, an activist who had always been on the other side and decided to go into politics. I became a commissioner in the state. I saw the rot and neglect. I started seeing the rot that needed to be connected as a leader. Bayelsa is too rich to be in this quagmire. What are we doing with the resources that we have? That’s why I don’t support resource control. I don’t anymore. If you check, the Ijaw Youth Council presidents, I am one person who didn’t support this resource control thing. I said why are we making resource control about oil and quick money? What about the green vegetation? Is it not part of our resources? Why are we not converting it to wealth? What about the flowing river, the sand? Why are we not converting them to wealth?
You said the Labour Party leadership sold you…
(Cuts in) N100m. They were punching each other. The state said they sent N50m to Abuja. When they went for the sharing, the people said, ‘The money they agreed to give us is N100m, why are you bringing N50m?’ I called the national chairman. He said they were just accusing him and he was going to take action. But, until this minute, he has not taken action. But, when it happened in Rivers State, he was quick to suspend the exco; when it happened in Imo State, he was quick to suspend them while the same thing happened in Bayelsa and they accused you of taking half of the money, and till today, you didn’t take any action. And, of course, the revelation from Abuja over the years has shown that they are as rotten as the same system they claim to be fighting. I paid N25m for my form, the same form that people bought N15m. They said they were going to return the N10m to me. Till today, I’ve not seen the money. I’ve written several letters asking them to return it to me. From day one, the injustice started against me to try to stop me from the process.
Are you saying there was a kind of gang up?
They negotiated from day one, they started from day one. The opposition in Nigeria is not serious, there’s no opposition. In any case, I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re too poor for opposition politics in Bayelsa, only former governors that are rich people in the state can. Where are the businesses? Money is only in the hands of those who have been former governors in Bayelsa. In that kind of society, how are you going to be the opposition? You can’t compare it to the eastern society or the Yoruba society where individuals have money more than the state. So, as a young man, I came up to say I wanted to do this thing, I struggled to get this thing and the entire burden is on my head and then I became a tool for negotiation.
Following the electoral system in Nigeria, the party was supposed to sponsor your campaigns and so on. You mean they left everything to you?
They left every dime to me. A few days to the election (Peter) Obi sent me N20m.
Was it Obi’s personal money or party money?
I suppose it was his personal contribution. Party money? A party that gave me conditions? They went to the government and the entire party said they were supporting the governor. Why? I didn’t have the money to give them.
How much did they demand from you?
The monies were in various amounts and conditions. If they followed me to campaigns, they would roll out how much I would pay them. One time I said I didn’t have the money, and that even if it’s N20,000 each they should manage. It was used against me, that how can I give party exco members N20,000 after following me to campaigns? I’ve not stolen money anywhere before. I know what I went through, so when I hear people saying nonsense, I tell them, ‘go and buy a form, contest election in this town and see what candidates go through in elections.’ I know what I went through to manage two factions in Labour Party and I became the candidate in both factions. This faction gave me INEC form, this faction gave me INEC form. From day one, I was at a disadvantage and then you are seeing the party in Edo State, they have sold it out – fighting over money. It’s a mess, no accountability. You see men, who in old age haven’t seen N50m, so they are going to die if it’s not parted.
Now that you’ve resigned from Labour Party, what are you looking at?
I’m recalibrating. I’m looking at the scenario, studying most of the politicians and what’s going on. I became Commissioner for Youth and Commissioner for Environment. I played with the system and got involved and I did my best to change it from the inside. And, that’s why I hear a lot of stories of the things I did when I was in a very brief time Commissioner for Environment. If I wasn’t inside how would I have been able to do that? I found myself inside the same system, but I contributed immensely to changing the way things were done.
When you look at the scenario that has played out, are you sure you’ll be able to change anything from the inside now?
There are exceptions. I was a commissioner here. Did you hear anywhere that Udengs took the money of the ministry? You can see that I contributed. The underlining word is service to the people. Do your job and I will do mine. Anything other than that are pecks of office, but don’t allow the pecks to be your overriding drive, let it be service. Service to the people should be the ultimate and in carrying out that service there shall be benefits attached to it. Why should my own be different? I was a special assistant in the NCDC, the same NCDC that people have been going to the EFCC up and down. But, I was never invited to the EFCC. Obviously, I did my job and I also had a few pecks that I enjoyed, but the job should be number one, that’s it.
The next governorship election will be in two years. Are we seeing you carrying another party’s flag?
In politics, 24 hours is a long time, let alone two years. As time goes on, Bayelsa is a place where we have this unwritten rotational politics and that’s one of the reasons why I was very keen about participating in the last election because it fell within my senatorial district. So, I was counting on part of the benefits. The advantage will be that I’m from central and it’s central’s turn. When it’s passed that time, it will rotate, so, I will be at a disadvantage and in my campaign, I said it. I said if I don’t contest now, it will be 20 years before it gets to our turn again because the political equation also favoured it. The reason why Douye Diri won that election over (Timipre) Sylva and me is the issue of rotation. It played its own role, that if he has done one term, let him just complete it so it can rotate. But some people said Sylva couldn’t distort the rotation because the next one was coming this way. Why not wait till that time? These are factors you consider, and then the candidates. Bayelsa is in a mess and needs people who are prepared, not people who will loot the Government House.
Lastly, your resignation coincided with that of your running mate and the leaders of the party in the local government areas. Are you looking at moving to another platform of your choice en bloc?
There are a lot of people who genuinely worked for a better Bayelsa but were disappointed by the leadership struggles in the state. The state has government appointees as leaders of the Labour Party in Bayelsa. The chairman is an appointee of government. So, from day one, we expected that we were obviously going to fail. We only tried to see; as a candidate who came in, we couldn’t have changed those things, you know. So, it’s very clear that Labour Party in Bayelsa State is an extension of the Government House of Bayelsa State. People are disappointed and that’s why a lot of people who gave their best have decided to move out of the party. Politics in Bayelsa is all about negotiation, ‘Come, let’s go and negotiate and take something.’ But one of the achievements, for me, at the last election is that I was able to stand firm despite every setback, to get to the apex of the struggle. So, people will realise that it is not every politician in Bayelsa that is a pot of porridge politician who you can just pay off and he will leave it. I had all the offers, all the pressures, all the calls, but I said I wanted to see the end of it. I’m not for sale. I’m a man who stands by conviction. If I stand with you, I’ll rather be there with you till you fall. I will not leave you halfway. And, that’s why when Dickson’s government fell and people left, I was part of the men who stood until the court gave it to Douye Diri. Even when I had meetings with the opposition members, I told them that I would stand with this man till the end.
