The Nation Newspaper

Category: Politics

  • Abia 2015: Youths, women endorse Ogah for governorship

    Youth and women groups have endorsed the businessman, Dr. Uche Ogah, for the governorship of Abia State at a rally held in Onuaku-Uturu, reports EMMANUEL OLADESU.

    Youth and women groups in Abia State have endorsed the businessman, Dr. Uche Ogah, for the governorship, urging the stakeholders to support the push for change.

    The community leader and philanthropist was asked to declare his interest in the seat a Onuaku Uturu, a small community reputed for producing eminent Nigerians in many walks of life.

    It was a carnival-like rally for the son of the soil. Ogah, the President of Masters Energy, an oil and gas outfit, hailed the crowd for the gesture. He said that good governance in Abia State is a task that must be done.

    The huge crowd attested to the young entrepreneur’s popularity. The people said that they wanted him to replicate in governance what he has achieved in the private sector. It was hectic for him to walk a distance of less than 100 metres from his residence to address the crowd of admirers. Security men and aides also had a herculean task clearing the road to the reception for the businessman.

    Onuaku is in Isuikwuato local government area. Supporters came to the community from other local governments. Some came from Ishiagu, Enonyi State, and Afikpo, Imo State, in solidarity. neighbouring Imo and Ebonyi states.

    “The people of the neihbouring states are envious of Abia people for having a person like Dr Ogah. Abians have not fully appreciated what God has given to them. 2015 will be an opportunity for them to exploit his full potentials in service delivery”, said Ikemba Ezekwen Okigwe, one of the guests from Imo State.

    Ezekwen noted that Governor Theodore Orji has laid a good foundation. He said Ogah is the best person to succeed him, assuring that he will build on the foundation.

    “We’ve been observing how Ochendo has been governing Abia in peace, love and we have seen his legacy projects. We need somebody who would continue the good works. Uche Ogah is the best man for the job”, he added.

    Another speaker, Mr Nwosu, vote for a competent candidate who will sustain the tempo in post-Orji era. “Our people, I ask you to open your eyes. Ogah will keep the flag flying. he will not lower the bar of performance”, he said.

    A former member of the House of Assembly, Monday Ejegbu, hailed the crowd for the bloc support for Ogah. The politician from Isuikwato Constituency said that the businessman “is well qualified” to take the baton of leadership from Ochendo. He said that, after Orji, Abia would need more development, and to keep the flag flying, a worthy successor should fill the void. “We need the kind of person like Uche Ogah”, he added.

    An indigene, Prosper Mba Okorie, who spoke on behalf of Abia North Senatorial District, described Ogah as “a wonderful man like Theodore Orji”. He said that there was no reason for Abia not to go for a man who operates on the same wave length and shares the same passion with the governor for development.

    In Abia State, power shift is on the front burner. There are agitations for the rotation of the position. Dan Silas, who spoke for the Abia Central, acknowledged that, though the seat is being occupied by the zone, this cannot affect Ogah’s chance. He said many people want the businessman to succeed Orji to avoid a relapse in development. Silas argued that the right man for the good job should take the mantle of leadership and pilot the affairs of the ‘God’s Own State for the benefit of the state, irrespective of his zone of origin.

    Ogah thanked the people for their love. He however, did not give a definite answer to them.

    Thanking the people for their love and solidarity, he said” “I need to think about it, pray over it and then, call you back for a feedback”.

    Acknowledging the slippery political field, he asked from the crowd whether they would remain steadfast when the time comes. The businessman got a resounding affirmation.

    Ogah urged them not to relent from backing him, if he decides to heed their advice to run.

    He congratulated Orji for fulfilling his campaign promises to the people. Ogah said that Orji’s successor should be ready to wear a very big shoe of the governor, who has won many awards for sterling performance. However he did not shy away from the raging debate on power shift, arguing that the zone that should produce the next governor is immaterial.

    “The governorship has always been contested by every zone, but nature has a way of making sure that a proper person emerged,” Ogah said.

    Going down the memory lane, he said that the governorship has moved round the zones. He said it is now the turn of Isuikwuato to produce the governor.

    Ogah said that two out of the three component parts of old Abia North have had their turns, maintaining that Isuikwuato should complete the circle. To buttress his argument, Ogah pointed out that, since Ohaozara and Bende had produced governors in the past, power should shift to Aba zone.

    Abia’s first civilian governor, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, hails from Ohaozara, which was in Abia before it was carved into Ebonyi State. Bende’s turn came when Dr Orji Uzor Kalu mounted the saddle. As Abia North is agitating for the seat, the people of Abia South(old Aba Zone), are not relenting in their struggle to get the slot.

    Ogah may have some hurdles to cross. The perception is that he has only played behind the scenes roles in politics. However, he has a success story in business. He is also a philanthropist, who through his Uche Ogah Foundation, has touched many lives.

    Ogah is building a petrochemical complex at Onuaku. It will generate over 10, 000 jobs. The feeling is that Ogah would bring his Midas touch to bear on governance, if given the chance to serve. He is conscious of this high expectation and he believes that the people clamouring for him are right. “My people have seen that I am capable,” he said.

    But, will he run? Time will tell.

  • Akpabio’s senatorial ambition causes stir

    Akpabio’s senatorial ambition causes stir

    The plan by Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio to represent the Ikot Ekpene District in the Senate in 2015 is generating ripples in the Abak Federal Constituency as many people believe that the governor’s ambition could distort the zoning arrangement, writes KAZEEM IBRAHYM

    The gathering was meant to celebrate one of their own. But, it turned out into a political meeting. The people, mainly youths and women from Abak Federal Constituency, came on different brands of motorcycle to catch a glimpse of the yearly event.

    Abak Federal Constituency is made up of three local government areas- Abak, Etim Ekpo and Ika. The event, tagged ‘a get-together party for Ekerete Inyang,’ the Managing Director of Ekinyang Petroleum, was full of fun and excitements.

    The people were unanimous in pleading with Governor Godswill Akpabio to jettison his senatorial ambition and allow a credible aspirant from Abak Federal Constituency to represent the people at the National Assembly as the senator representing Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.

    This, they argued, was the only way the zoning formula currently in place in the district would not be distorted. Dr. Alloysius Etok, who hails from Ikono Federal Constituency, is the current senator representing Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District.

    It is already public knowledge that Akpabio, commonly referred to as “uncommon transformer” intends to move from the Government House in Uyo to the upper chamber of the National Assembly when he completes his tenure on May 29, 2015.

    As the controversy rages, public discussions on politics in the state has centred on how the governor, who has earned himself some credits with his “uncommon transformation” programme, would handle the battle for his successor and how to scale some of the obstacles on his way to the Senate.

    The governor had told The Nation when asked what he would be doing after the expiration of his tenure in 2015 that he would want to be a senator. This, incidentally, is an agenda the governor has been pursuing vigorously, telling his people that his senatorial aspiration in 2015 was a done deal.

    Here him: “Beyond 2015, I always imagine that with democracy prospering in Nigeria. I will see myself as a senator in 2015. I have actually been approached by my people and I have accepted their request that I should not just retire immediately. I had wanted to retire but they insisted that I should not retire. So I will be contesting for the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and God willing, God’s will will be done.”

    But will the forces from Abak Federal Constituency allow the governor achieve his aim? Only time will tell.

    Speaking on the rationale behind the yearly get-together event, Inyang observed that the annual get-together party for this year had suddenly turned into a political rally, where the people of Abak Federal Constituency declared their demand for Ikot Ekpene senatorial seat. He noted that Abak Federal Constituency was the only constituency that had not produced a senator in the history of the state.

    According to him, Ikot Ekpene Federal Constituency, where Governor Akpabio hails from, had produced three senators in the persons of the late Chief Raymond Umoh between 1963 and 1967; the late Chief Nsima Akpabio between 1983 and 1984 and Chief Emmanuel Ibokessien between 1999 and 2003.

    Inyang explained that the unfolding political scenario had made it imperative for the people to use the forum to create awareness among the grassroots people and to declare their demand for Ikot Ekpene senatorial seat in 2015, adding that the demand was not negotiable.

    Praising the people of Abak Federal Constituency for being united for the task ahead, he urged themto shun money politics and be prepared to mobilise support for an experienced man from the area, who has contributed his quota meaningfully to its development.

    Corroborating Inyang’s stance, the Managing Director of Bleadway Petroleum, Prince Benjamin Mboho, argued that Abak Federal Constituency had been marginalised, especially in the areas of infrastructural development and representation in the Senate.

    Mboho urged the people to stand up against marginalization, adding that they should be committed to the task ahead. He said it was the right of Abak Federal Constituency to produce a senator in 2015 since other federal constituencies in Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District had already had their turns.

    His words: “We know that from the history of the state, we have been cheated in terms of representation at the Senate. So, we are warming up to take our turn in 2015. We shall continue to use every opportunity given to us to tell our people that it is the turn of Abak Federal Constituency to produce a senator. Our people

  • ‘Let’s adopt 1960 Constitution and parliamentary system’

    ‘Let’s adopt 1960 Constitution and parliamentary system’

    Afenifere chieftain Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye spoke with Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN on the proposed national dialogue, Afenifere crisis, insecurity in the North, the threat by the electoral commission to postpone elections in the troubled Northeast states in 2015, and its implications for democracy.

    President Goodluck Jonathan has declared that the national Ccnference will hold in 2014. Don’t you think that it will coincide with the preparation for 2015 general elections?

    Without being a prophet, one can visualise that something will give way. Either the conference will not be properly conducted for lack of time and concentration or that the people would be forced to ask for a tenure extension in order to do a thorough job on such a monumental and fundamental national assignment.

    I once participated in a constitution making exercise in a setting that was more orderly and peaceful than now. That was the 1998/89 Constituent Assembly, to draft, to debate and produce a Constitution for the country. The Assembly work took nearly nine months to complete. We went to examine and debate clause by clause a draft constitution earlier prepared by professionals/expert legal draftsmen to produce the 1989 constitution. That straight forward exercise took about nine months to complete.

    Mr President may be smarter than some of us might imagine by luring those of us who have been clamouring for constitutional conference, right from our NADECO and Afenifere hey days to go headlong into constitution conference in 2014, which will be a very busy year for party congresses, national conventions and campaigns for the early 2015 elections. On the face of it, we would be “estopped”, having clamoured for the national conference for so long, only to turn around to say we don’t want it. Mr President had shown a deft hand at this chess-like type of game. It is like boxing us into a corner to say no to what we have been clamouring for over three decades.

    But, we would be a foolish fish to take the bait and the hook together because we must not bite than we can chew.

    There is no way we can complete the job. For the while essence of the conference is for the people in their various ethnic nationalities and clans, professions and vocations to come round and deliberate on how best we can live together in a modern democratic society based on a true federal setting where residual powers are vested in the federating units. For what we have today is a unitary form of government under the guise of being a federal republic.

    The dilemma is the unfortunate fact that in our own clime, which is unlike the established democracies like Britain or the United States, where certain state policies are pursued by whatever political parties take over after an election. For instance the state policy of Britain towards the European Common Market has never altered despite the change of government from Conservative to Labour back to Conservative. Similarly, U.S policy towards Israel and Britain has been virtually the same, whether Republicans or Democrats are in power.

    Now that you have said the delegates to the national conference would not have enough time to do a thorough job, what do you suggest?

    It is tempting to suggest that the national conference be postponed to the latter part of 2015. To avoid such a volte face and the risk involved in it is to suggest that the government should adopt the 1960 Constitution, the draft of which was debated and agreed by the founding fathers of this nation, that is the Azikwes, the Awolowos, the Sardaunas, the Balewas,the Aminu Kanos, the Anthony Enahoros etc.

    Fundamental issues such as true federalism, residual powers in the federating units, derivation and resource control have been well thrashed out in the 1960 Constitution. What the new constitutional conference will do is to modify the fundamental basics already settled in the 1960 Constitution and making adjustment to take care of major environmental changes such as three regional governments and a federal government and over 35 million people. We should now have six geo-political grouping or states and one federal government now that we are about 150 million people.

    Although the 1960 Constitution is a parliamentary one , the proposed national conference should be charged to consider returning to parliamentary system of government which is believed to be less expensive, less corruption-prone than presidential system we have practised for many years.

    The PRONACO headed by late Chief Enahoro also produced a draft constitution that may be worth considering being based on the 1960 Constitution.

    The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that elections may not hold in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, unless the security situation there improves in 2015. Is it right to disenfranchise the people?

    A prudent man needs to be very careful in castigating aspersion on what others say. There must always be a benefit of doubt that the person one is criticising may have some facts known to him, which may be unknown to the critic. Having said this, I find it difficult to agree with the alleged statement of the INEC Chairman knowing that Boko Haram even exist before the 2011 elections. Why didn’t he say because of terrorists’ threat/Boko Haram activities in Plateau, Kaduna and other parts of the country where Boko Haram activities had already manifested before May 2011, there should be no election. Technically, postponing election in the three states amounts to disenfranchising the majority of the citizens from those parts of the country. Since everyone in those areas could not be Boko Haram terrorists, it stands reason to believe that only a few people are terrorists. They are in minority and government cannot because of that deny law abiding majority in those states their constitutional right to vote and be voted for.

    Another issue is to ask whether it is not the responsibility of government to maintain law and order as well as to ensure security of live and property of every citizen. A famous political philosopher, Thomas Hobbes opined that a man is supposed to live in an organised society where law rules but the life of a man who lives outside an organised society is short, nasty and brutish. It could appear to be an admission of failure of government or any of its strategic agencies to deny the people of their right for the inability of government to provide security, law and order.

    One doubts, if the INEC Chairman could have made such a far reaching statement without clearance from government . Another inference that is obvious is that government may be planning to allow election in only areas where it can win since these three states happen to belong to the opposition party- All Progressives Congress (APC). The government should come out to dissociate itself from the INEC Chairman’s statement.

  • 2015 polls: Adamawa, Borno, Yobe’s fate hangs

    2015 polls: Adamawa, Borno, Yobe’s fate hangs

    The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, has declared that elections may not hold in three Northeast states in 2015, owing to the security challenges. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the implications of the proposed fractional elections for democracy.

    Perilous times are around the corner for democracy in Nigeria. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INDEC) has alerted that, unless the Boko Haram insurgency is nipped in the bud before 2015, elections may not hold in the troubled spots in the North. Its Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega, ruled out elections in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, if the security challenge persists. He said the commission may be compelled to postpone or cancel elections in the affected areas.

    Already, the Federal Government has declared a state of emergency in the three Northeast states due to the Boko Haram insurgency.

    According to the 2011 voters register, the Northeast has over 10 million voters. The three states under the emergency rule have 5.5 million registered voters. Borno is credited with 2.2 million voters; Adamawa 1.7 million and Yobe 1.1 million.

    The implication of the INEC decision not to hold election in the three states, if the security situation does not improve, is that voters in the troubled stateswould forfeit the right to elect their governors, federal and state lawmakers. Another implication is that the three states would not participate in the presidential election. The question is: can the presidential election be conclusive, if the three states are excluded? Also, will the President appoint administrators for the states in 2015?

    Analysts agree that peace is a pre-requisite for a free, fair and credible election. This is because voters should be able to move freely to cast their votes on election day without fear or intimidation. Critics say Jega’s warning was too early. They noted that the state of emergency, which was renewed for six months on November, is expected to expire in April next year. The 2015 general elections will hold between January and February, eight months after the expiration of the emergency period. Is INEC predicting that the emergency period will be permanent?

    Another school of thought has submitted that the umpire has accorded prominence to the dreadful sect over and above national sovereignty, instead of encouraging the Federal Government to create an environment devoid of violence.

    A lawyer, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), said Jega’s statement is a signal that there is danger ahead of 2015. “It is a wake-up call on the leaders to speak out on the situation in the country”, he said. Akintola said that if a fractional election holds in 2015, democracy will be in jeopardy. “The statement is very unfortunate. If the INEC Chairman can say that elections would not hold in certain states in 2015, especially when those states are controlled by the opposition, then, we are getting the results of the presidential election, ahead of 2015”, he added.

    The legal luminary urged Nigerians to resist the move, saying that it is a bad omen. “The leaders of this country must speak up and call Jega to order. The 2015 elections is very crucial to the survival of this country. We should not sit on the fence and allow political charlatans and their official collaborators to plunge this country into chaos”, he advised.

    Another lawyer, Ajibola Bashir, expressed a similar view. “Does it mean the security situation in those states would not change before 2015? Will there be no governors in those states after 2015? Does the state of emergence cover every part of the three states in question?”, he queried.

    Bashir challenged Jega to tell Nigerians whether the poll can be credible, if some states are excluded. He said the umpire made the statement without sparing a thought for democracy. “It appears he didn’t make consultation with his legal advisers before making such a sensitive statement. Nigerians should watch the body language of the INEC, considering its role in the Delta senatorial by-election and the bungled Anambra State governorship election. The INEC officials may be acting the script of a political party for 2015”, he said.

    A lecturer at the University of Lagos, Akoka, Dr David Aworawo, submitted that Jega had led out the cat from the bag by sensitising the polity on what it is required by the government to perpetuate itself in power. He said the electoral agency was offering to the government an excuse to postpone the poll and achieve tenure elongation.

    “Now that Jega has given a condition that, unless security situation changes in the Northeast zone, the commission would not conduct elections in the affected states, the media should continuously put the security challenge in the North on the front burner and put pressure on government for an improvement. If Jega had not raised the issue now, it would have taken us unaware in 2015 and that could have led to catastrophe”, he added.

    A banker, Malam Bukar Shuaib, said he was not surprised by the statement made by the INEC boss. “We in the Northeast know that President Goodluck Jonathan has a motive other than the restoration of peace in declaring a state of emergency in the three states”, he said.

    Bukar said the Federal Government may not lift the emergency rule before the 2015 elections for political reason. “The three states are governed by the opposition party. If elections are not held in those states, it would be to the advantage of President Jonathan and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). I won’t be surprised, if the President declares a state of emergency in states like Kano and Sokoto before 2015 to decimate the fortunes of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “I don’t know how the INEC would conduct the presidential election without some states participating and come up with a result that would reflect the decision of every part of the country. Both the Federal Government and the INEC should know that Nigerians are very sensitive about the 2015 elections. Any attempt to rig or bungle the election would be resisted”, he added.

    Afenifere chieftain Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye disagreed with the INEC, saying that its fear about insecurity in the Northeast is unfounded. He said that any attempt to postpone elections in the states amounts to disenfranchising a section of voters from the zone. The politician said that not everybody in the states are members of the Boko Haram sect.

    “Only a few people are terrorists. They are in the minority and the government cannot because of that deny the law abiding majority in those states the right to vote and to be voted for”, he said.

    Durojaye said that the fundamental duty of government is to provide security of life and property and maintain law and order among the people, adding that the corresponding duty of citizens is to obey the law and discharge their civic responsibilities.

    The security situation in the North, the politician said, appears to be an admission of failure of government, urging the President to rise to the occasion.

    A youth activist, Shehu Danjuma, said the INEC should not hide under the state of emergency to disenfranchise the people. He said the latest pronouncement of Prof Jega was in tandem with the familiar strategy of the Federal Government to prolong insurgency in the Northeast.

    According to Danjuma, the plan is to prolong the emergency rule and use it as an excuse to disenfranchise voters in that zone because the government knows it cannot win a free and fair election in those states.

    The youth leader urged the Federal Government to resolve the crisis in the Northeast and the country in general. “We need a peaceful, free and fair election in 2015. We will resist any attempt to disenfranchise Nigerians under any guise. Instead of disenfranchising citizens for no fault of theirs, the Federal Government should tackle insecurity in the North”, he added.

  • ‘Why I want second term’

    ‘Why I want second term’

    Shortly after he hosted this year’s Nigeria Media Merit Awards at the Ikogosi Warm Water Spring Resort, Ikogosi-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Governor Kayode Fayemi spoke with reporters on the defection of five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the defection of Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele from the APC to the Labour Party (LP) and his second term ambition. Assistant Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF was there.

    Do you really trust that the five PDP governors, who recently defected to the APC, are bringing something good to your party?

    Political parties, by their very nature, always evolve. And in every political party, you have people who constitute a broad choice – some are left of center, some of right of center, you have the good, you have the bad and you have the ugly. What every political party aspires to everywhere that I know in a democratic dispensation is to have the dominance of the good and the dominance of the people who really adhere strictly to the vision of the party and can contribute positively to its development in order to attract the trust and earn the confidence of the populace. If you look at the five governors that have come to us, as broad as the ideological spectrum in Nigeria is, what really is it that I do here (in Ekiti State) or that Governor Fashola does in Lagos or that Governor RaufAregbesola does in Osunor any of our government that Governor RotimiAmaechi is not doing – free education, free health care, infrastructure development in Rivers State? So you could argue that although he was in the PDP, he was in the left of center of the PDP. If you take Governor Kwankwaso and look at his infrastructure development agenda or you look at his micro finance scheme, it is first of its kind in the country. Or you look at some of his focus on education, as I speak to you, Governor Kwankwaso has about one hundred people studying medicine outside the shores of the country – all sponsored by his government. Everybody who made a first class in Kano State gets an automatic scholarship to study abroad. This is the kind of thing you will associate with us because that is our mantra. Broadly speaking, in situations where ideologies blur, personalities become critical and the commitment to the people in their own agenda become central to the equation.And just as you have that in the PDP, even in the APC, we are not a monolith. We have people who are on the extreme right wing of our broad choice who may even pass for conservatives, just as you have people who are in the extreme radical bent of our politics. To answer your question, the five governors are now in our party. And the nature of our political processes is such that governors are not unknown quantities by virtue of office they occupy and the incumbency that is associated with it. They have what we politicians call structures.

    Talking about these five governors, your party alleged recently that there are plans to declare their seats vacant and probably remove them from office.What is your own take on that?

    If you were in the shoes of the leadership of the PDP, although they say good riddance to bad rubbish and that they won’t miss them and all those statements, they know what it means to be a governor.Governors are in control of paraphernalia of power in their states. The PDP will try everything within their powers to subvert that, but the question to ask is: what law are they going to hold on to in order to declare the seat of any governor vacant? A government or a party in power is deemed to be owned by all the citizens of the state once the person becomes the governor. Before you become the governor, you can say you are card-carrying member of any party and this voted for me and that did not vote for me. So it (removing these governors from office) is not going to happen. I don’t see it happening. Let look at our history again. How many people have been recalled in our National Assembly that has that provision that if you move from one party to another without evidence of a split in the party you are moving from, automatically you lose your seat?

    For example, Hon. Bamidele Opeyemi recently defected from your party and joined the LabourParty where he wants to run for governor. Does your party have any plan to recall him or ask the National Assembly to declare his seat vacant?

    Really, the case of Opeyemi is a case for his constituency. It is not really a party matter.

    But your party can ask the National Assembly to declare his seat vacant because there is no faction in the party is defecting from…

    That is not a matter we have given a serious consideration. I understand that he is saying that he is running in another party, but he is yet to formally inform his party that he has left the party. When he does that, there are two ways he has to do that to make it formal: it is not enough be rumoured that he is doing this or he is doing that. He has to formally notify the leadership of the House of Representatives that he has crossed to a purported party. He also needs to inform us that he is no longer a member of our party. When he does that, we will cross the bridge. And to the best of my knowledge, he has not done that.

    Is it not a bad omen that a prominent member of your party (Opeyemi Bamidele) has chosen to run against you?

    What is wrong with that?

    At what point did you disagree with Opeyemi Bamidele?

    You don’t need to disagree to be ambitious. Ambition does not necessarily require any reason; just an ambition. I have not had cause to disagree with anyone, not least Opeyemi. If Opeyemi wants to run for office for whatever reason, the endorsement is not tantamount to refusal to run or not to run. Has he approached anybody in the party that he wants to run? Has he approached his ward? Has he approached his local government party leadership? Has he approached his state party leadership?

    Maybe, he feels he does not need to do that, since you have been endorsed by the powers that be in the party…

    For goodness sake, recall our history.Adekunle Ajasin was endorsed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Chief Josiah Olawoyin was endorsed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the UPN. The party primary took place and C. O. Adebayo, who was not endorsed, won that primary against Josiah Olawoyin, a close pal of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was publicly endorsed, but Chief Obafemi Awolowo said all the candidates of the party at the time should be allowed to run in the primary. In Ondo State, Omoboriowo ran against Chief Adekunle Ajasin in the primary and lost. That was why he left the party. In Kwara State, C. O. Adebayo ran against Olawoyin and won.

    In essence, are you saying there is going to be governorship primary in Ekiti?

    As far as our party is concerned, there is a process. If you choose to run for governorship on the pages of newspaper, that is your own prerogative. This is a party that has process. Everybody who belongs to this party is fully aware of what the constitution of this party says. I am in this state, at least, no fewer than thirty aspirants have gone to PDP secretariat in this state to formally notify the leadership of the party that they are in the gubernatorial race in their party. How do you declare gubernatorial ambition in newspapers and you do not inform your party that you want to run?And then, you claim you have been debarred from running and say there is no internal democracy. Yet all you have a problem with is what the leadership of the party –both at the state and national levels – said that by what they have seen and the feedback they have got from people in the state,they don’t want to change a winning team. They want the governor to run again but they never at any point debar anyone from running.

    But, if the leadership of the party said they don’t want to change the winning team, it is a clear message that nobody should run against you at all?

    No, no, no. I just gave you an example from the same progressive camp. C. O. had no chance in the air if you go by the parameters of the politics of Kwara at the time. He won the primary in Kwara.

    Are you saying you could be beaten in a primary?

    It is about internal democracy. It is about allowing the people to have a say; it is not about portraying that you have support, you need to test the support you claim to have. That is what I am saying. I am not saying I could be beaten and I am not saying I could not be beaten. I am saying it is a democracy and I am a passionate democrat. If you believe that you have the popularity you often claim in the press that you have, test it with the people. And there is a process to do that. That is what I am saying.

    Why do you think you deserve a second term of office?

    In very simple terms, you were in my inauguration and you were here before then. All anyone needs to do, at the risk of sounding arrogant and immodest, is to take the Roadmap to Ekiti Recovery, which is my campaign promise, and take my inaugural speech on October 16, 2010, and mark it paragraph by paragraph. What I said I was going to do for Ekiti people and what I have done in three years. If you want to mark me on what I have done and how I have done it, you can judge whether I have passed the test of leadership or not.

    Are you jittery anything could go wrong at all?

    Am I am jittery? Not with the people of Ekiti.

    What with the quality of candidates that may be coming out from other parties?

    The quality of candidates will enhance our democracy, it will not diminish it. I really want a lot of good candidates to come up. But don’t forget that I ran for primary in this party in 2006 against some popular names you can imagine in Ekiti politics and I won when I was nobody. In fact, I was not known. I was an unknown quantity and a lot of people said I was a foreign candidate who just appeared from nowhere and came to run in the state. Compare that to now that I am seen across the length and breadth of this state as a promise keeper; a man whose word is his bond. He said he was going to do social security that has never been done anywhere in this country and he did it. He said he is going to do free education in a qualitative manner and he did. And the result in secondary school jumped from twenty percent pass rate to seventy percent pass rate. A man who said he was going to do free health care and he has done it.That’s what I want to be judged on. Of course, there are people who will want to judge me on other parameters. There are people who will say we don’t see him at parties, that we don’t see him eat booli by the road side, that he is not a populist noisemaker and he does not share money and that their personal infrastructure has been addressed, even though he is building Ikogosi and building roads and fixing schools and hospitals all over the state. He does not throw money at people, and in politics money is the oil of politics. But I will say that I share money. It is just that I have a different philosophy of sharing. When I give social security, the N5,000 old people collect at the end of every month is sharing. It is institutional sharing backed by law. It is not N200 thrown at people on the street that diminishes their self-esteem and dignity. I don’t share money as baba rere, baba ke, owomeji fun baba. I don’t come from that school of politics, and I am not apologetic about that. But it is a marketplace of ideas. Those who come from that line of politics will also come to the people. They had an opportunity and for seven and a half years, they were in this state. People knew what they did. It was one week one trouble. It was six governors in seven and a half years. So, why is it that we don’t deserve stability that others have had, especially where you have evidence that nobody has done what this governor has done in this state?

    So, based on your work in the three years, are you confident of victory, if an election is held today?

    Of course, yes. You know Ekiti people are very discerning. They are very educated and fastidious. It is difficult to please our people and I know. But once they discover the sincerity of purpose and they see that what you say is what you do, that you walk your talk, our people are generally passionate about that. And that is why we were more passionate about Awolowo here than in Ijebu. If you check the history, we were. It is because there is a connection. I was discussing what happened in Anambra with a couple of my friends and I said it cannot happen in Ekiti. In Anambra, you have non-governmental organizations, people who have more money than the government of Anambra, people who will run Governor Peter Obi out of the state because their own convoy is twenty times longer than the governor’s convoy.Here we all are very interested in governance and who governs. That is why you cannot take our people for granted. It was not fun for me to travel in the last one month to 131 communities as I do every November. In every single community that I went, people have their criticisms, they have their praises for government; they have what they will like me to do. I commissioned projects in 85 of those communities. So there is a direct connection because some of the projects are projects from our community government. The town unions run them – all we just do is to give them money because they decided on the projects themselves. There is no community you get to in Ekiti that people will not tell you that the government has just done this or that or that they gave us money to do this. And that is the greatest challenge anybody who is going to run against me in this state will have. That is why they resort to what they said I don’t do – the personal infrastructure that I don’t take care of. We will cross that bridge when we get there. We will define personal infrastructure the way we should.

  • Can Tukur survive crisis?

    Can Tukur survive crisis?

    As a business mogul,  Second Republic governor of Gongola State and Minister of Transport, life was rosy for Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. But as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), his tenure has been characterised by crisis. Can he hold on to the end? Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the strengths and weaknesses of the party leader and his chance of survival

    Bamanga Tukur, prominent businessman and embattled National Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was in a pensive mood in his office last week.

    In the last one year, the ruling party has been battling with protracted crises. These crises are not good for a man of Tukur’s age. The 80 year-old politician pondered on the lingering crisis that has decimated the platform. Signals from the troubled chapters suggested that more troubles were on the way.

    There was no PDP National Chairman who had been insulated from crisis in the last 15 years. But the raging controversy has assumed an alarming proportion. Although the National Working Committee (NWC) had passed a vote of confidence on his leadership, he acknowledged the limitation of the partisan endorsement. Reality dawned on Tukur that his perception as the obstacle to peace in the troubled party by the aggrieved governors may soon turn the table against him. Therefore, he took a step.

    In a surprise move on Wednesday, the chairman visited the Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih in his Abuja home. Both Tukur and Anenih are founding fathers of the PDP. They are also loyalists of President Goodluck Jonathan. However, they have been working at cross-purposes. They embraced, discussed the logjam and resolved to revive the moribund reconciliation process. ‘Mr. Fix it”, as Anenih is fondly called, was said to have promised to work harmoniously with the chairman to resolve the lingering crisis.

    As the meeting was going on, the aggrieved governors were sharpening their deadly arrows. When the swords of five out of the seven governors hit the party few weeks ago, it bled profusely. Their defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC) created ripples. It was the first massive defection from the acclaimed largest party in Africa. But, the two governors who are reluctantly staying on in the PDP have been firing salvos at Tukur. Thus, reconciliation with Anenih only paled into a tip of an iceberg.

    At the weekend, Tukur’s agony increased geometrically. The governors insisted that the chairman should go. In fact, some names were suggested to the PDP National Leader, President Goodluck Jonathan, as replacement. However, at the weekend, there was another trouble for the chairman. To his consternation, 37 House of Representatives defected from the PDP to the APC. Now, there are fears that some senators may join the band if defectors.

    Since he became the chairman in a rancorous convention, Tukur has not had peace. Ahead of the national congress, governors rose against his candidature. Yet, as a party source said, he was the only aspirant the President could depend for loyalty. But, despite the fact that President Jonathan had his way, he could not prevent the volley of attacks on his anointed candidate.

    From day one, Tukur could not go along well with the National Secretary, Gen. Olagunsoye Oyinlola. The National Executive Committee (NEC) was divided. Oyinlola complained that Tukur’s Chief of Staff, Abu Fari, was an interloper doing the work of the national secretary by proxy. Following the confrontation, Fari was shoved aside. But it was not the end of the matter. When party chieftains in the protested the congress that threw up the national officers, the agitation, which was backed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led to the resignation of some national officers.

    Tukur survived the purge. But preparations for the next congress created rift between him and many PDP governors. A section was bitter over the suspension of Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and later, Sokoto State Governor Aliyu Wamakko. Although Wamakko’s suspension was suspended, Amaechi was not pardoned. Wamakko said that the chairman had erred, warning that his activities will injure the health of the party.

    The PDP went into its supplementary convention in distress. A section of the party led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje formed the New PDP, which has now fused into the APC. Prominent chieftains were summoned before the National Disciplinary Committee chaired by the ailing Dr. Umaru Dikko. The committee had not commenced its sitting when many party stalwarts started to desert the ruling party. Although the governors had persisted in their call for Tukur’s removal, the President has refused to yield.

    The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, has dismissed the call for Tukur’s ouster as illegal, stressing that he emerged in a proper congress witnessed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). “The INEC attested to it that he emerged in a proper convention. How can you ask a duly elected chairman to leave?”, he queried.

    A presidential source said that Tukur is being perceived as the only shield for President Jonathan, who is believed to be nursing a second term. “It is a game they are playing in the PDP. Tukur is not the problem. His problem is that he is committed to the President, who is the target”, he said. Asked to shed light on the source of the discord, he added: “The President may actually declare his intention for re-election. Tukur is loyal to the President. Therefore, they believe that he is loyal to one of the candidates or aspirants in the PDP”.

    Another chieftain, who collaborated this view, said that the adversaries of the President, notably the aggrieved governors, are also eyeing the Presidency in 2015. “They too want to be President and they believe that, with Tukur as the chairman, the President will still be in charge of the party, just as the governors are in charge of the state chapters”, he added.

    Both the PDP National Executive Council (NEC) and the National Working Committee (NWC) are solidly behind Tukur and the President. Two week ago, they both passed a vote of confidence on the National Chairman, urging him to team up with the President in the implementation of his transformation agenda. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his letter to the President, also exonerated Tukur, saying that he only accepted dictation from the President.

    The camp of the former President in Ogun State are unhappy with Tukur for recognising the State Executive Committee headed by Adebayo Dayo, an engineer, instead of the factional executive led by the eminent politician, Senator Dipo Odujinrin. But, Tukur had explained that he only obeyed the court’s ruling on the Ogun PDP leadership tussle. He said he could not have ignored the court judgment, having vowed to return the party to the path of integrity, discipline, rule of law and party supremacy.

    In Adamawa State, Tukur and Governor Murtala Nyako have been at loggerheads. There is a sort of ego war between the two Fulani brothers and neither was ready to sheath his sword. Nyako’s group had accused the national chairman of projecting his son, Awa, for the governorship in 2015. Initially, Tukur objected to the objection against his son’s ambition, saying that he is an adult who can decide for himself. However, when he persuaded the younger Tukur to defer his aspiration, the discord generated by the ambition did not vanish.

    However, a source said that crisis brew between Tukur and the PDP governors because they resented the reforms introduced by the chairman. Tukur’s advisers have furnished him with the information that the governors would ultimately become his albatross because they constituted a powerful cult. He was told that past national chairmen fell because the governors did not want them or the President instigated them against the chairman. In fact, they warned him against falling into the same trap like Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, who did not survive his quarrel with the governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime. Therefore, he decided to liberate the office of the national chairman from the jaw of the governors.

    Tukur introduced the on-line membership registration and payment of dues by members at the ward level. It is an innovation that could aid aggressive mobilisation of party members. The former chairmen relied on the governors for money for running the party. Therefore, with on-line registration, Tukur sought to assert his independence by relying on the party members, whose dues would now be used for running the party.

    The chairman also attempted to sideline the governors by canvassing for the sponsorship of the party by the Federal Government. The governors felt slighted. A source said: “The reforms initiated by Tukur were in good faith, but they were damaging to the personal interest of the governors. Tukur and President Jonathan were governors in the past. They know that the governors are the leaders of the party at the state level. They control the party across the states. But they do not want the President to control the party at the centre.

    “Tukur’s on-line registration of party members meant that the party secretariat will have access to all party members across the wards. This may disrupt the governor’s plans to rig primaries at the state level”.

    The heat is on. The forces against the chairman are not relenting. They are unanimous that Tukur should go in the interest of the party. The chairman is in the eye of the storm. But the President is also sensitive to the danger of letting down a dependable ally. Will Tukur step aside? Will he survive the crisis? Time will tell.

  • ‘PDP, LP can’t dislodge APC in Ekiti’

    ‘PDP, LP can’t dislodge APC in Ekiti’

    Former Ekiti State Governor Adeniyi Adebayo is the All Progressives Congress (APC) Interim National Vice Chairman (Southwest). He spoke with EMMANUEL OLADESU and MUSA  ODOSHIMOKHE on the challenges confronting the mega party, preparation for Ekiti and Osun state governorship elections, Jonathan Administration, single term tenure, national security and other issues.

    Why was it difficult to resolve the rift between Governor Kayode Fayemi and House of Representatives member Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele?

    We did everything possible to bring about rapprochement. We tried to pacify all the parties, but I really don’t know why it did not yield the desired results.

    As a big brother, people thought your influence would have robbed off and brought about peace…

    But unfortunately, this did not make the impact and, like I said, I did my best to ensure that the parties involved resolve their differences.

    What do you think is the bone of contention?

    The reality is that Opeyemi Bamidele don’t want to step down for Kayode Fayemi. He has made up his mind to go to another party to contest. All I can say is that I wish him the best of luck.

    It has been speculated that his departure will have adverse effect on the party….

    Sincerely speaking, I don’t see how that will happen in Ekiti State. I don’t see how our members will leave a winning party and join a party that is not yet tested in Ekiti. I do not think that people will move from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Labour Party (LP). It will not have any adverse effect on our party.

    Some people said that Bamidele has grievances, which you elders failed to address…

    Frankly speaking, Opeyemi Bamideles is a non-issue with me for now. He has left my party. So, I wish him all the best in his future endeavour.

    Why is it difficult for the progressives to resolve their differences?

    Your question is hypothetical. I am a progressive and I don’t think I have problem with anybody.

    People are of the opinion that you don’t have crisis resolution mechanism in your party

    You will always have aggrieved people in any political party, whether progressives or conservatives. That is because sometimes, reasons do not prevail where a man has an ambition. And I don’t think this happens only among progressives. We have it in the conservative fold.

    A month ago, the APC only had an adversary, the PDP. But now, it has the PDP and Labour Party to contend with…

    Add both together; they cannot pose a threat to the APC in Ekiti State. I keep saying it and I will say it again ,until we hold election in Ekiti. The APC will win not less than 70 percent of the votes.

    What is responsible this over confidence?

    It is not over confidence. It is confidence borne out of the reality on ground. The governor has done a fantastic job. He has done fantastic a job, in term of developing the state and that is what gives me the confidence. Any attempt by the Independent National Electoral Commission to rig the election will be resisted. As a politician, I go round the state. I see what is on the ground and I feel the pulse of the people. The feeling is that the governor has performed. Everybody in Ekiti is desirous of having continuity in government. The problem of Ekiti is non-continuity in government. After I left office in 2003, I think we have had about five or six governors in the state. This has created a lot of disruption within the system.

    So, all we are saying is that we admire places like Lagos as a result of continuity of government. When there is a continuity of government, there will be continuity of policy of development. And many people are saying that, with the kind of job Governor Kayemi has done, if allowed to continue in another four years, he will continue to do the same job by making Ekiti greater.

    And whoever comes after him, the developmental stride will continue. That is what people want to see. All they are interested in is to ensure that there is continuity, in term of development. Now, they have somebody who is doing a good job. So, he will continue.

    Between now and 2014, what do you think should be the pre-occupation of Fayemi Administration?

    I think by the time the detail of Governor Fayemi’s budget is out, it will be the continuation of what he is already doing. He will be involved in bringing more development to Ekiti State. He will continue with the development and construction of roads in Ekiti State. He will continue with the development of infrastructure for school, hospitals. I know there is plan to expand the social security for the elderly people. He will put more money in agriculture togenerate employment. He plans to do a lot and he should be given the opportunity to carry this out in another four years.

    The APC has been protesting the outcome of the governorship election in Anambra State. You are going to elections in Ekiti State and Osun states. What are your fears?

    We have learnt a lot from what happened in Anambra State. We have studied the situation and we are going to ensure that we guard against what happened. We are not going to allow that to play out in Ekiti and Osun states.

    The defection of Alhaji Rafiu Ogunleye from the Ogun State APC to the PDP has been described as a minus. What happened?

    I have to ask you why he decided to leave. Sometimes we engage ourselves too much on personalities. It is not the personality that is the issue; it is the followership. For instance, in Ekiti, my deputy decided to go to the PDP, but his followers did not go with him. At a time 14 members of the ACN left and they thought it was going to weaken the ACN, but this did not happen because, when they left, their followers did not go with them. And that is the situation in Ogun State as well. Though Ogunleye has left, many of the followers did not go with him. Many in the APC believe in our party. No party is perfect; there will always be differences. Even within families, there is difference. You are not going to say because you have differences with your children or relatives, you are no long a member of that family. It should not be that way. And incidentally, when these people leave and believe that they are going to move with their followers, they get disappointed. If you want to go, you can do that, f am not happy with what is going on. But I prefer to stay within my own house and fight for my right than abandon the ship.

    Is there no lesson that we can learn from their defection?

    If you say the grass is greener onthe other side, it is when you get to the other side that you discover that it not so. I don’t understand how you profess to be a progressive and you now leave it to the conservative camp. That I don’t understand.

    The PDP is targeting the Southwest for liquidation…

    That has always been their ambition, even when they used might and everything that they have to overrun us in the Southwest. Later, the Southwest liberated itself. They have always dreamt. Let them continue to dream.

    But, how are you prepared to curtail them?

    They did it once. We made the mistake that we tried to support a Yoruba man for the Presidency, but he used everything at his disposal to get us out of office. Now, we are smarter. Our eyes are opened and you can be rest assured that nobody can deceive us. We know what they are planning to do. we are tiding up and prepared to stop any attempt by them to do thingss we considered inimical to democracy.

    You have been celebrating the expansion of your party. How will those who are coming be able flow together with you ideologically?

    If we look at those who have come to join us so far, you find out they have progressive tendencies. And, if you remember, the PDP was formed by progressive politicians. It was unfortunately that they allowed it to be taken over by the conservatives. At the time the PDP was formed and, if you look at the founding fathers of the PDP, majority of them were progressives. Unfortunately, there was an influx of conservatives and, as at today, the party has been taken over by them. And you will find out that it is the progressives among them that have said enough is enough and have moved back to their traditional abode. If you want to get progressives together, people of like minds, you will find out that there is always accommodation.

    There are diasagreements on whether the new governors will have overriding influence in their states…

    We believe strongly in internal democracy. For now, what we are going to face is the registration of our members. Anybody that is interested in our party will be registered and, from then, we will hold our congress. The congress will hold from the ward level, local government to the state level. It is at that point we will know who is in control and who is not in control. What I am saying in essence is that it is the party that will be in control of the party machinery. The leadership of the party will be decided by the people themselves, as supposed to anybody being foisted on anybody. We are not a party where you will say, come ,you are going to be the leader of the party. There is theparty constitution and the leadership will emerge by the will of the people.

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar defected to the Action Congress (AC) 2007 and, after the election he went back to the PDP. What is the assurance that those who defected now will not go back to the PDP?

    I cannot predict the future because I am not a soothsayer. From what they are saying and their body language, I feel comfortable with them. I think they have chosen to come back to their natural abode.

    It has been said that you are eyeing the Senate…

    I always laugh when I heard such comments. I have never nursed any ambition in this direction. I had the opportunity to contest for the Senate and I refused such opportunities. I am not interested in the Senate; my interest is building the party. My ambition, when I was young, was to be a governor. Ekiti State was created and I got into politics and I was elected the first executive governor of Ekiti State. Ever since, I have not shown any interest in an elective office. I still have no such plans and, ever since I left office, I have been involved in the process of building the party from the AC to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and now the APC. I have been involved in building a national political party. We have now got to the state that we have to do something to achieve a national party. This will be done such that, by the time we hold our national convention, we will have on ground a national party that will be the envy of everybody and that, for now, is my ambition. I want to state categorically that, either now or the future, I doubt very much that I have such intention. I can tell you categorically that, in the immediate future, I have no interest.

    What is your position on the proposed national conference?

    I have been around long enough. Many people use these conferences for tenure elongation. During the time of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and now President Goodluck Jonathan, I believe that, in this country, we should have a national conference. If we are serious about having a national conference, this is not the time to have it. If President Jonathan was serious about it, we should have had that earlier. This is the same President that had stated categorically that he does not believe in it. And, all of a sudden, it is coming to election time and he has changed. He wants to use it as an opportunity to try and convince some people to get their support. The Yoruba people voted for Jonathan for him to become the President of the country, but the Yoruba have not been treated well under the administration.

    There are complaints in Yorubaland and I think honestly, he must have been advised that the Yorubas are not happy with him and what you can do now to make them happy is to tell them that he will hold a national conference. For someone who for many years opposed the national conference and toward the end of his tenure now decides to hold a national conference is a smack of deceit. I for one do not believe that it is feasible. I do not believe it will work and I believe it was something somebody suggested to him.

    They believe he can use this one to keep people quiet for sometimes and get support from the Southwest. President Obasanjo tried it, which was the beginning of his tenure elongation. The Deputy Senate President has even told us that there should be tenure elongation. He has suggested that people should stay in office for another two years. It is the same script. They are reading the same book, the same attempt that was used by Obasanjo. They have now brought the same script again and the way it failed during President Obasanjo time, that is how it will fail again.

    Does that mean that the proposal will not work?

    Even if we are going to have it, it is not the way he put it to us. Not by saying that the present elected officers should stay for another two years. If we are going to have that, let us sit down and do a proper national conference. We should have proper resolution made; have everything properly put in a constitution. And not that the present people who have been elected to stay in office for four years should now come and extend their tenure. No way. We did not vote for them to stay for six years; we voted for four years.

    What are the factors and issues that will shape 2015 general electionn?

    Number one, it is corruption. There is massive corruption at the federal level. In fact, I am happy that the Minister of Finance, Dr. Okonjo Iweala, made a comment yesterday that corruption is a major problem they are unable to tackle. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, said categorically that corruption is being encouraged by the executive. Nigerians are sick and tired of it. That is one issue that we will put on the front burner.

    The mood in the APC tends to suggest that its presidential slot may be zoned to the North…

    Even, if it is so, there will still be primaries. Whoever is going to emerge will be chosen by the people through a democratic process as provided for in the constitution.

    Will the primary be guided or open?

    We have different procedures. Which ever that is decided upon will be used.

    Most of you who are leaders of Afenifere are not prepared for reconciliation in the fold again…

    I believe that, one day, we will all come back together again. Efforts are being made in that direction. At the end of the day, really what is Afenifere all about? It is the wellbeing of Yoruba people. Many of us are in different political parties today, but we still have the wellbeing of the Yoruba at heart. The most important thing is that, as long as we are fighting for the progress of the Yoruba people, irrespective of political parties, then, we are still on course.

    Are you not worried that local government election has not been held in Ekiti?

    The election has not held because of the case in court. The PDP took the government to court and that is what is holding us. It is not something that we are happy about.

  • Behold, a new National Assembly

    During the past week, a phenomenon of significant proportion took place in the power structure of the federation. Never before has the party or a party in opposition to the incumbent President gained control of the federal legislature or any of the two chambers. But, during the week, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) took control of the House of Representatives. In line with the change in the power configuration of the House, and the expected announcement of the defection of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, it is obvious that some changes in the leadership would be effected. Of significance is the likely change of the Majority Leader.

    It is not yet clear what would transpire at the Senate. It cannot be lost on any analyst that Senators like Bukola Saraki, Abdullahi Adamu, Danjuma Goje and Magnus Abe, among others are already in APC. All that is required now is to make their new standing and status known to the leadership. Then, as has been done in the House, the numbers would decide which is the majority party, and which is the minority.

    In legislative tradition and practice, should the APC have the upper hand, a new era may begin.

    This is great news. As I have always maintained, my interest is not the name of the party in charge. There isn’t much in the name, Peoples Democratic Party. It is neither democratically run, nor is it for the people. If it were both, it would be working in the people’s interest and there would be fewer clamours for a change. But, there is very little to recommend the All Progressives Congress yet. I am yet to see it as a Congress or assembly of the progressives. Many of those who have moved into it have pedigrees that suggest that they are merely shopping for a platform to ply their trade in 2015. It needs to do much more to convince the people that it has a pro-people, progressive agenda. It is still suffering the crisis of integration. However, I am glad that the ruling party knows that it is no longer business as usual. The earlier defection of five governors from the PDP to APC, and the notice of disaffection by at least two others have shown the redefinition of the political map. The Northwest has shown it would not join the Jonathan train in 2015. The South West people had always shown that they have their own plans. They voted Jonathan in 2011 because there was no other viable platform. Now, there is APC that is least at par with the ruling party. It may be faced with its own challenges, but, as a label, it has enough to scare the ruling party.

    This is good for the country. It must be known to all that there is a reward for performance in office, and punishment for incompetence and sloppiness. The PDP governments, since 199, have demonstrated that entrusting the governance of Nigeria in their hands was a mistake. It is therefore time to demonstrate that democracy is about choice and supremacy of the sovereign will of the people. First, the PDP government, in a desperate bid to hold on to power, is likely to step up its game, hoping that it’s not too late. Second, the opposition would be emboldened to make a big bid for power, and, in so doing attempt to impress the people with the performance of governors inn states under its control. And, in the event that change is effected in the personnel running affairs of the country, it would be obvious to all that the Nigerian people cannot be taken for granted. It would show that the votes do indeed count in this country. It would be a lesson to all politicians that ultimate power resides in the electorate, and that a we party in power could also be voted out if it fails to meet the people’s expectation.

    From now till 2015, President Jonathan who was frightened off personally presenting the Appropriation Bill will have to sit up. He must realize that the giant that has been asleep for so long is being roused after all. He will be faced with a crisis of monumental proportion in the party and in the country at large. The only consolation he has is that the APC is not yet an organic whole. It is still a conglomeration of tendencies. In Kano, the challenge of integration is staring the party in the face. In Kebbi, Adamawa, Sokoto, Kaduna and other North Western states, it will take ingenious, transparent intervention by the national leadership to keep the party intact. But, that is one reason the new season starting in 2014 would be interesting: while the PDP is struggling to control the exodus, the APC is devising strategies for building a political party. How would it keep and align the interests of General Buhari, Atiku (if he eventually joins), the new

    PDP governors, the ACN and the ANPP? Do the leaders have the needed experience and patriotism to quickly douse the tension being generated all over?

    Whatever happens, there can be no dull moment from this point.

  • Taraba: ‘Umar is not being fair to his boss’

    Taraba: ‘Umar is not being fair to his boss’

    Emmanuel Njiwah  ran for the presidency in the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1993 and the governorship of Taraba State on Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) platform in 2007. He was holding sway as Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in the Danbaba Suntai administration before he, alongside five commissioners and two advisers, were  sacked by the Acting Governor Alhaji Garba Umar. In this interview, he speaks on the political impasse and other burning issues in Taraba State. Senior Correspondent, FANEN IHYONGO  was there. Excerpts

    What led to your removal as the Secretary to the Taraba State Government?

    My removal was purely an intrigue of politics. It was far from what I was accused of. There was no correlation between what they said I did and the actual facts on ground. The truth is that after the Governor Danbaba Suntai plane crash on October 25 last year, I visited the injured governor in Germany in January. By this time, the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Garba Umar, had been sworn in as acting governor, according to the dictates of the constitution. Now, after my visit, he also went to Germany and saw the governor. When Umar returned, I noticed quite clearly that he was scheming to supplant our boss, the governor. He thought the governor was permanently incapacitated. But I refused to give in to his demand that I should do a memo to the executive council to kick start the process of booting out Suntai. That is the constitutional provision: I would do an executive memo, directing the executive council to authorise the House of Assembly to set up a medical panel to ascertain the governor’s health. Thereafter, anything could happen. Pressures were mounting on me from Umar’s supporters who wondered why I was not ready to assist their man to become the substantive governor. In fact, by April, the pressure heightened. I was promised the deputy governor’s slot if I could make it happen for Umar. But I didn’t dance to their tune. Somehow, I knew the governor was not permanently incapacitated, and Umar was just blindly ambitious. I have worked with the military where I learnt that loyalty to your principal must be 100 per cent, not even 99.9 percent. So, I am 100 per cent loyal to Governor Suntai. Besides, the governor was not permanently incapacitated. What permanent incapacitation means is that the governor would not recover forever or till the end of his tenure. In this case, the governor was recovering very fast. Thus, I became an obstacle and the best thing for Umar to do was to give me a bad name and hang me.

    But your name was mentioned in the flood scandal?

    That is the intrigue I told you about. I was not in the committees of purchase and distribution. I was in the main committee chaired by Alhaji Garba Umar himself. There were committees A and B who were given money to buy relief materials for the flood victims. Our [main] committee wasn’t given any money and the deputy governor is there to bear me witness. Go and ask him if he gave me a kobo of that flood fund. But I can point to some people he is having now in his fake cabinet, who lobbied for contracts from the flood fund for their wives and relatives. He is with them now in his government. I never lobbied for any contract from the committees.

    So, why have you been quiet after all the alleged false accusations?

    I am not quiet. We are in court. Immediately we went to court, Umar sent two people to me not to go to court. But we went ahead because we have to clear our names.

    Say the truth, do you think Danbaba Suntai would ever return and continue as governor, because there are alleged moves to ensure Umar is sworn in as substantive governor?

    Why not? Governor Suntai is getting better every day. He is already back and if not for the machinations of Umar, he should fully resume now. We are aware of all the moves to remove Suntai but we are resisting it, because he is well. This was why Garba used some members of the House of Assembly to say they don’t recognise the governor’s notification of return. This was why he removed the Suntai loyalists from the leadership of the House of Assembly and planted his men there. This is why we were called thieves and sacked. It is a master plan or road map that he is executing now. We knew his plans from start to finish. Governor Suntai is fit to rule. An American president ruled from a wheel chair. So, what is the hullabaloo that the governor is not fit to rule? The governor can make full use of all his faculties. So, what is anyone saying?

    Do you think there is a religious or ethnic dimension to the political crisis?

    Ethnic, a big no, but religion, a capital yes! It is a well known fact that Garba Umar, being a Muslim, wants to institute an Islamic State in Taraba State. There are inscriptions in various parts of Jalingo suggesting an Islamic agenda by Umar. Nigeria does not operate on the basis of a Christian or Muslim state. When Suntai held sway, he never dubbed Taraba a Christian state, because Taraba state consists of Muslims, Christians and animists. So, if Umar rules on the basis of being chosen by God to lead a plural state, fine. But there is great danger when you try to pin a religion on the state. And if he is going about trying to gain the sympathy of other Muslims outside the state, he is going about it wrongly. Taraba is a secular state like other states in Nigeria. Governor Danbaba Suntai did not discriminate against the religions.

    He built the Secretariats of the two great faiths -Christians and Muslims in Jalingo and invited the Sultan of Sokoto and CAN President to co-commission the edifices. Suntai gave them equal treatment. I do not know where this has been done in Nigeria. Today, Umar is not being fair to his boss who was totally fair to both faiths. He is going about calling himself the acting governor when the governor is around.

    If religion is such a factor, how can you explain the fact that some Christian members of the House of Assembly are supporting Umar and even want him to replace Suntai, who is a Christian?

    You see some things are better not said. The fact is that massive funds are at work in the House of Assembly. Garba Umar is manipulating some of the members.

    What is the wider implication of this crisis as the state goes to the poll in 2015?

    Let me start with some basic facts. Taraba is a heterogeneous state with many ethnic groups. A state with 2.5 million people, we have a unique experience of religious harmony. If you go to any homestead in Taraba, you will find members of all the faiths co-habiting. But Graba Umar does not understand this. He is a stranger in the state. He was born in Makurdi and grew up largely outside Taraba. He then worked like all of his life at the UTC where he was living outside the state. He finally settled in Jos. After the crisis there he relocated to Gombe State. So he just came to our state brandishing religion. He doesn’t know that in Taraba, we don’t mix politics with religion.

    It is a taboo. Suntai is a devote Christian but his wife is a Muslim. His elder sister is also a Muslim. He has brothers and cousins who are Muslims. He lives with them. In my family I have Muslims who don’t see me as a Christian and I don’t discriminate against them either. We can die for one another, because we are one family. Even in my tribe, that is the way we are.

    But Garba came from nowhere and started whipping up religious sentiments. He goes about trying to get the support of Muslims outside the state as if he is on a religious mission.

    So, no one should support him on religious grounds.

    What is your view on General TY Danjuma referring to Umar as deputy governor?

    That is the right interpretation by the constitution; he is the deputy governor. You see, the good General does not want to be dragged into all of these. But he knows the constitution and he wouldn’t do anything otherwise.

    Recently, your House of Assembly went ahead to screen commissioner nominees in spite of a court order restraining them. What is your view on that?

    It is unfortunate, but then it is part of a long string of lawlessness and unconstitutional acts going on in Taraba. For a government to blatantly disobey court orders is something else. But then worse things had happened before that. He removed the leadership of the House of Assembly and instituted a docile one. He sacked me and some commissioners and special advisers on trumped up charges. He later said he won’t recognise the letter transmitted by his boss. He was also caught using the governor’s letter head paper.

    What is the way out of all these crises?

    The House of Assembly. It is as simple as that. They were the ones who started the Taraba crisis, especially the constitutional issues. It is they who can resolve it. Then of course the judiciary who would soon give the necessary interpretation on what the law says about this.

    The acting governor has maintained that he is protecting the governor from a cabal that is trying to rule the state by proxy and steal the money he has saved.

    That is laughable. Umar is not protecting the governor or saving anything. He is trying to unseat the governor.

  • Tukur waves white handkerchief, calls for peace, forgiveness

    Tukur waves white handkerchief, calls for peace, forgiveness

    In an early Christmas message to Nigerians, particularly members of the Peoples Democratic Party, the National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP ), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has called for peace and understanding.

    I wish to once more as a father and elder statesman of our dear country offer my good counsel, wisdom and advice for national unity, peace, love and coexistence.

    While wishing Nigerians mostly Christians the best of the Christmas festivities and prosperous new year may I, utilize this opportunity to stress the urgent need for Nigerians to use this period to seek the face and intervention of God in institutionalizing brotherly care and peace both in our polity and dear country Nigeria.

    I further entreat Nigerians to eschew bitterness, rancor and acrimony in their social, political and economic dealing with fellow Nigerians.

    In the message of peace, coming at the height of the crisis in is party, the chairman, who is alleged to be one of the prime targets in the face- off, said,

    “Let us learn to forgive one another no matter the gravity of the offence or provocation. It should be noted that my cardinal 3Rs immediately I took over the mantle of leadership of PDP as the National Chairman centered principally on Reconciliation, Reformation and Rebuilding, all based on Equity and Justice.

    To our Governors of PDP extraction, I extend my right hand of fellowship, cooperation, peace and love to you all in the interest of our great Party and the government at the centre competently captained by our beloved President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan whose reformation agenda has given hope, succor and salvation to Nigerians.

    The message, signed by Prince Oliver Okpala, Special Assistant on Media to the National Chairman said further, “as an elder statesman, I also appreciate some of those governors who are not of PDP extraction but are working closely with the President and PDP governors to ensure the unity and progress of our dear nation, Nigeria.

    “Once more I wave the white handkerchief to you all, signifying peace, love and unity to all Nigerians and our dear country and also pray God in his wisdom and infinite mercy to help protect our dear country Nigeria and her citizens. Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year in advance.”