The National Publicity Secretary of the New Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Chukwuemeka Eze, speaks on whether President Goodluck Jonathan should run for second term or not, among other issues, in this interview with OLUSOLA FABIYI of PUNCH

Gulak said two governors had backed out of your group, G7. How true is this?

If you have watched us since we came on board, there are some elements in President Jonathan's administration that we have ignored because of their antecedents and Gulak happens to be a principal of this category of people. Asking me to comment on a statement credited to such a fellow is forcing me to give credibility to such a funny character, whose statements these days do not make any sense to any sound mind.

Reading what he says most of the time, one can understand why this administration is termed to be a kindergarten government because of the characters that lack substance operating or assumed to be in government.

If I may ask, under what condition should two of our progressive governors decide to jump ship at this period when five other governors have contacted us and expressed interest in joining us.  I am only happy that Nigerians no longer take most of the statements coming from Gulak as sound. So, in this case, I don't need to react because Gulak is a well-known peddler of falsehood.

But is it true that your governors are using the Hajj as a ploy to shun the scheduled peace meeting?

The question we should be asked under this situation should be – is Hajj operation currently going on? If the answer is yes, then the second question should be – are most of our governor muslims and expected to perform or participate in the Hajj? If the answer is yes, then the next question should be – are our governors and other principal actors attending this year's Hajj? And if the answer is yes, then we should conclude that Gulak is a very bad adviser and assistant to Mr. President and should be sacked to save the Presidency from the shame such a fellow brings to governance in the country. My national chairman just finished speaking with me before flying out with others to Mecca.

The Presidency has also said that the seven governors in New PDP do not have the capacity to stop him from winning in 2015. Do you agree?

 I doubt if this statement could came from the Presidency unless it came from a jester like Gulak! Who in his sound mind will tell you that states like Rivers State do not matter to any serious-minded leader aspiring to be President of Nigeria? Tell me who could say Sokoto no longer counts in deciding who becomes the President of Nigeria?  Tell me who in his right mind will say Kano, Jigawa, Niger, Adamawa and Kwara do not matter in determining who becomes Nigerian President?

The President said there was no time he said he would not run in 2015.

That is not correct.  The President said in February, 2011 while interacting with Nigerians and diplomats working in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union in Ankara, Turkey, that he would have loved that the Nigerians in Diaspora voted during the election that year, but added that that would be very difficult. If I can also quote the President, he said,  "Presently, the law does not allow the voting outside Nigeria and so this year Nigerians in Diaspora will not vote but I will work towards it by 2015 even though I will not be running for election."

The President went ahead to say four years was enough for anyone in power to make significant improvement and that if he couldn't improve on power within this period, it then means he could not do anything even if he was there for more four years.

When will your group show Nigerians the memo or the agreement signed by the President with the governors?

That would be done at the appropriate time. Why would our President deny the statement he made in a broad daylight, even in the presence of international media?  Because of ambition, would our President denied the words that came out of his mouth and statements he made without duress. Truly, the President is desperate and with this, he has shown that he cannot be trusted. At the appropriate time, Nigerians will get a copy of the communiqué of the PDP governors meeting.

Your group described Nigeria as a crumbling edifice…

Yes, Nigeria is still a crumbling edifice, wrecked to the seams by corruption, bad leadership, ethnicism, parochialism, sectarian intolerance and childish political recrimination. The country at 53 has turned into a borderless valley of tears where life expectancy hovers between 40 and 43 years. That is the truth. Nigerians are callously extorted through various government agencies like the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, which today excels in generating darkness and subjecting Nigerians to the highest ever tariff regime. The Federal Road Safety Commission set up as a well-meaning agency to tame the rising cases of road accidents has become a tool for mindless extortion through the issuing and re-issuing of vehicle number plates and drivers' licences at very exorbitant prices.

The petroleum sector has become an illicit cash cow for the people in government, their friends and relatives, who exploit hapless citizens through sundry means and cleansing the treasury via a phantom fuel subsidy scheme that targets the friends and fronts of the members of the government for enrichment.

What could best demonstrate the wanton brigandage going on in Nigeria than the fact that the government, which set up the SURE-P programme with the huge N32 increment in each litre of fuel Nigerians purchase, has recorded no known achievement with the huge accruals from the increment? Today, SURE-P has sacked the 110,000 youths it placed on N10, 000 monthly allowances on the excuse that there is no money to pay them. We ask, where is the government keeping the huge amount it realises from the inhuman increment in the price of petrol, kerosene and diesel?

At 53 years of independence, our educational sector has completely crumbled and our universities have been shut for close to three months simply because a government that celebrates free loading of the nation's resources cannot meet the agreement it signed with university teachers four years ago. Our secondary and primary school sectors are jerking at the most inefficient level; neglected, abandoned and dejected and all have contributed to make Nigerian certificates almost worthless.

The health sector is in a pitiable state as our hospitals cannot handle simple malaria cases. Nigerians now troop to India and the far east Asian countries to treat common ailments and nothing is being done to arrest this sad situation.

How would you appraise the President's media chat?

We had expected Mr. President, during his media chat of last Sunday, to make a categorical statement that he would not seek re-election but he, unfortunately, chose to dodge the question when it was put to him. We once more wish to appeal to President Jonathan, if he truly loves Nigeria, to abandon his second term ambition and concentrate on how to rescue the sinking Nigerian ship of state.

Is there any hope for the country and its people?

We urge Nigerians not to lose hope but to remain resolute in demanding good governance, transparency and accountability from government at various levels as that is the only way to force the corrupt clique in power to change their ways.