The Nation Newspaper

Category: Politics

  • ‘How national conference can succeed’

    ‘How national conference can succeed’

    In this piece, legal scholar Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN) highlights the differences between the 2005 Abuja Political Conference and the proposed National Dialogue and offers suggestions on the mode of operation, membership composition and report ratification.

    In February 2005, President Olusegun Obasanjo suddenly convened what he called the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC).

    The charade did not end with the abrupt disbandment of the NPRC, but was continued by the National Assembly Joint Constitutional Reform Committee (JCRC) under the chairmanship of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibraham Mantu, whose main object was to obtain, by fraudulent manipulation, a semblance of public approval for the elongation of the President’s and state governors’ tenure of office.

    Purpose of the proposed national conference and a legal framework for its operation

    Being a palpable fraud, a farce, and programmed to come to nothing, the 2005 NPRC cannot in any way be equated with the proposed National Conference, or be used as a basis for saying that the latter will also come to nothing. As conceived, the proposed National Conference has a specific purpose, namely, to discuss and agree on the terms and conditions to be embodied in a new Constitution as the basis on which the diverse nationalities and peoples comprised in Nigeria can live together in peace, security, progress and unity as one country under a common central government. This is the primal purpose of the proposed National Conference, the crux or pivot of its agenda, and to which everything else is ancillary.

    Given the above primal purpose for it, the initial problem facing the Conference is to fashion out a Legal Framework for convening and holding it, and for holding a Referendum to approve a Constitution adopted at the Conference. Without such a Legal Framework, the Conference cannot effectively take off as conceived, and will be doomed to fail as did the 2005 NPRC for the reason, among others, that, as earlier explained, there was no law establishing it and backing up its work. The task of fashioning out appropriate Legal Framework for the proposed National Conference has, happily, been entrusted to a Presidential Advisory Committee. No Committee of this type, with wide-ranging Terms of Reference, was set up in 2005 as a prelude to the convening of the NPRC, and to lay the foundation for its successful outcome. In any case, as earlier stated, fashioning a new Constitution for Nigeria was never part of the agenda or purpose of the NPRC.

    Some years ago, in October 2001 to be precise, The Patriots prepared such a Legal Framework in the form of a Bill, titled the National Conference and Referendum Bill, which it submitted to the Presidency and the National Assembly. The Bill, after some revision, was re-submitted to the two bodies in 2013.

    The long title of the Bill describes it as “A Bill for an Act to make provisions for convening a National Conference of the peoples of Nigeria for the purpose of discussing and adopting a new Constitution to be submitted for consideration and approval by the people of Nigeria at a Referendum and matters ancillary thereto.” The long title thus provides a clear enough description of the character of the Conference proposed. This is reaffirmed by a declaration in a Preamble that the Conference is “a Conference of the nationalities and ethic groups comprised in this Nation so as to give them the opportunity to exercise their inherent right to determine democratically for themselves the Constitution by which they wish to be governed in one united Nigeria” (emphasis supplied). The Preamble further declares that the need for the Conference arises from the fact that the Constitution under which the country is governed “came into existence as a result of a Decree enacted by the Federal Military Government.”

    The Bill then goes on to spell the process for holding a Referendum for the approval of the Constitution by the entire mass of the people, which is to bestow legally binding force upon it.

    A Referendum of the people to approve the Constitution is the most fundamental aspect of the whole process. It is no doubt a novel process in the country, but that is what is legitimately due to the Nigerian people– an opportunity, for the first time since the creation of the Nigerian state in 1914, to adopt, through Referendum, a Constitution by and for themselves in exercise of the constituent power inherent in them as a‘sovereign people, not just to make an input in the amendment of an imposed Constitution. It is their birthright as a sovereign people, a birthright of which they have long been denied, first, by our British colonial masters, then, by our military masters, and, now, by our so-called democratic rulers in the Presidency and the National Assembly. There is no justifiable reason for continuing to deny them that birthright.

    Given an existing legal order, constituted by a Constitution, the principle of the Rule of Law, by a Legislative Assembly, a Presidency, a Judiciary and other instrumentalities of government, such as we have in Nigeria, a National Conference to adopt a People’s Constitution, and a Referendum to approve the Constitution so adopted, must be authorised by a law enacted by the National Assembly and assented to by the President, in the terms set out in The Patriots’ Bill. There is no way a Referendum can be held in the country under the existing legal order without an enabling law prescribing how it is to be conducted, its outcome and the force of the result in law. People cannot just troop out to vote in a referendum. Anything else outside the legal framework set out in The Patriots’ Bill can only take place by way of a revolution, such as happened in the eight African countries where the Conference took place outside the pre-existing legal order. It is doubtful, to say the least, whether such a revolution can take place in Nigeria, as things are at present. The impediments are too many and too great.

    Sections 16(1) and 17(8) of the Bill deserve to be specially noticed. Section 16(1) provides : “The Chairman and Secretary of the National Conference shall certify the Draft Constitution as passed by the National Conference and lodge authenticated copies thereof with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall cause it to be laid before the appropriate House but the said Draft Constitution shall not be subject to any change or amendment by any of these authorities.” (emphasis supplied).

    Section 17(8) says : “… the Draft Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria adopted and passed by the National Conference shall become law and be binding on all persons and authorities when and if there is a majority of ‘YES’ votes at the Referendum approving it….”

    Thus, the National Conference and Referendum Bill prepared by The Patriots sets out in clear enough terms an appropriate Legal Framework for the proposed National Conference. The Presidential Advisory Committee may propose amendments to it.

     

    The vexed question whether the conference has the character of a sovereign body

     

    The Legal Framework for the convening and holding of a National Conference and a Referendum, as set out above, does not confer upon the Conference the character of a Sovereign National Conference. It is a contradiction, both in ideas and in terms, to demand a Sovereign National Conference when a sovereign government is still in place and in control; you must first displace or emasculate the latter before you can have an SNC, as was the case in the eight African states of Benin, Togo, Congo (Brazzaville), Niger, Mali, Chad, Gabon and Zaire in the period 1990 to 1993.

    For the sake of a proper understanding of the meaning of the term, “Sovereign National Conference”, it needs to be explained that the provisions in The Patriots’ Bill to the effect that a Constitution adopted at the National Conference “shall not be subject to any change or amendment” by the National Assembly or the Presidency (section 16(1)), and that the Constitution, so adopted, “shall become law and be binding on all persons and authorities” directly it is approved at a Referendum (section 17(8)), do not make the Conference a sovereign body, in the strict sense of the term, inasmuch as the finality of its decisions and the legally binding force of the approval of its decisions by the Referendum derive from a law enacted by the sovereign legislative authorities under the country’s existing legal order.

    But refusal by the National Assembly or the Presidency to enact into law, the provisions in sections 16(1) and 17(8) of the Bill, or to abide by them after their enactment into law, will be a test of the ability of the Nigerian people, in spite of the impediments, to assert and demonstrate their power and supremacy as the repository of the country’s sovereignty and the source of the sovereign power exercised by the legislative and executive organs of government. From the contest of power over this issue between the sovereign government and the people as the ultimate sovereign, the National Conference may emerge as a sovereign body.

     

    Ensuring the adoption of a suitable new constitution by the conference

     

    Ensuring that the National Conference adopts a suitable new Constitution for the country raises a problem perhaps more troublesome and more perplexing than the issue of fashioning out appropriate Legal Framework; the problem is not taken care of by fashioning out an appropriate Legal Framework. Unless the adoption of a suitable new Constitution for the country is ensured and is realised, it (i.e. the Conference) may become a talk-shop, as did the 2005 NPRC, without achieving its primal purpose, which is to give us a new Constitution. It would thus be a failure, as asserted by those opposed to the idea. To ensure the accomplishment of this primal purpose, the Conference, when it convenes, must have before it, a Draft new Constitution to form the basis of its deliberations; without this, its meetings are bound to become a talk-shop and will not accomplish their primal purpose. Clearly, a situation where every Nigerian or every member of the Conference may submit a Draft new Constitution for consideration by the Conference will result in the Conference having before it too many Draft Constitutions, which may make it difficult for it to accomplish its primal purpose.

    Thus, the problem boils down to the issue of a modus operandi for the Conference.

    But, whilst the Committee’s recommendations are awaited, it seems clear that we cannot run away from the imperative necessity of having a Constitution Drafting Committee. The Okurounmu Presidential Advisory Committee itself is not envisaged as a Constitution Drafting Committee, and is neither intended nor mandated by its Terms of Reference to function as one. The job requires a specialist committee of experts.

    A Constitution Drafting Committee was part of the modus operandi used in making the 1979 Constitution. The Federal Military Government (FMG) had in 1976, by an executive instrument, set up a Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) of 49 members (the 50th member, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, declined to serve) composed of prominent lawyers, men and women knowledgeable in the principles and practice of statescraft, and other seasoned experts/specialists (the 49 Wise Men, as they came to be known), to prepare a Draft Constitution. A Draft was duly prepared by the Committee. Thereafter, the FMG enacted a Decree establishing a Constituent Assembly – the Constituent Assembly Decree 1977 – corresponding more or less to the proposed National Conference. As constituted under the enabling Decree, the Assembly had 230 members, of whom 20 were appointed by the FMG, seven were the Chairman of the CDC (Chief FRA Williams SAN) and the chairmen of its six sub-committees (I was one of the six), and the remaining 203 members were elected, not directly by the people, but by the local government councils acting as electoral colleges.

    But the important point to note as regards the issue of modus operandi is that the Draft Constitution prepared by the CDC was laid before the Assembly and formed the authorised basis for its deliberations. The enabling law required the Draft Constitution to be presented in the Assembly in the form of a Bill, which the Assembly was to deliberate upon following a procedure of first and second readings and detailed clause by clause consideration in a committee of the whole Assembly. The procedure allowed for amendments to be moved by members. Indeed, an amendment seeking to replace the presidential system proposed in the Draft with the parliamentary system of cabinet government was rigorously pressed upon the Assembly in two different forms and lost : see Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly, Official Report, vol. 11, cols 1943 – 55; cols. 1981 – 8. The Chairman of the CDC and the Chairmen of its six sub-committees, sitting in the front benches, were assigned the responsibility of piloting the Draft Constitution Bill through the Assembly. It needs to be stated, despite the controversy that arose over the issue between the Assembly and the FMG, that the 1977 – 78 Constituent Assembly was not a mere deliberative body, and that the substance, content and form of the 1979 Constitution were the product of its decisions, notwithstanding a few changes surreptitiously slipped in by the FMG at the last minute after the Constitution Bill had been passed by the Assembly. Such, then, was the modus operandi used in making the 1979 Constitution.

    Recognising the imperative necessity of having before the proposed National Conference a suitable Draft ew Constitution to form the basis of its deliberations, I formed in the course of the Uyo National Political Summit the idea of getting a team of prominent lawyers, political scientists and other experts with specialist knowledge to work with me to prepare a suitable Draft new Constitution and, when the Draft is ready, to re-convene the Uyo Political Summit to have a thorough and critical look at it, and make such revisions and changes as may be considered necessary. The re-convened Uyo Political Summit would be a kind of mini National Conference. Leaders from the various geo-political Zones attending the Summit will be duly inducted to mobilize and enlighten participants from their Zones on the provisions in the Draft in order to facilitate deliberations on it and its adoption at the National Conference proper.

    As I said in my last letter, dated October 31, 2013, to the 15 members of my Committee of lawyers, political scientists and other experts, drawn from the six geo-political Zones,, “unless the National Conference, when it convenes, has before it a Draft New Constitution, to be piloted by people well acquainted with its provisions and well inducted on what is necessary to be done to get it adopted, the Conference may lose focus and degenerate into a talk-shop and end without achieving anything, like the previous ones”.

    In preparing a Draft, we will look at Drafts prepared by Pronaco, The Patriots, the amendments/revisions made on the 1999 Constitution or under consideration by the National Assembly, and proposals from other quarters, as well as the constitutions of some other African countries. When my Committee completes its work, then, its Draft, with changes made on it by the re-convened Uyo National Political Summit, will be sent to the Presidency, the National Assembly, and the Presidential Advisory Committee if its life/mandate has not expired by the effluxion of the time given to it to wind up its work and turn in a report.

    Chairmanship of the conference

    It needs hardly be emphasised that the character of the proposed National Conference, and its success or failure, would be determined, to a great extent, by the credentials, the personality and forcefulness of character of its Chairman. He or she must be a person with a considerable measure of acceptability in the Northern and Southern segments of the country, and whose mind, attitude and disposition are not known to be unduly conditioned or otherwise affected by the North-South Divide, which must be acknowledged as among the worst of the country’s many afflictions – a person who, therefore, commands the confidence of the generality of people in both segments. In addition, he or she must be a person whose age and condition of health leave him or her sufficient physical strength as well as mental and emotional stability to be able to withstand the enormous strain and stress of piloting, mediating and moderating the proceedings of the Conference, which are expected to be stormy, even acrimonious, a task that would tax the patience of even the Biblical Job.

    It is as well that the President, as the authority to appoint the Chairman of the Conference, should start right away to give serious thought to the choice of a person to chair it. The choice is not going to be an easy one, because there are not many Nigerians that meet the above criteria.

  • Aregbesola: Three years of renewal

    Aregbesola: Three years of renewal

    Three years ago, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola took over the reins in Osun State. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the achievements of the administration, which underscore the governor’s endorsement for a second term by stakeholders.

    Six years ago, a pall of gloom descended on Osun State. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had just wreaked a monumental havoc on the people. Following the governorship election. The loser, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, was declared the winner. Voters were dejected. The winner, Comrade Rauf Aregbesola, was left in the cold.

    Undaunted, the former Lagos State Works and Infrastructure Commissioner approached the temple of justice for redress. For three years, the legal fireworks raged. The people could only heave a sigh of relief, following the Oyinoloa’s deposition and subsequent inauguration of Aregbesola as the third civilian governor of the State of the Living Springs.

    The engineer-turned politician met a state writhing in pains. The stolen mandate had been used to the disadvantage of voters. Almost all the sectors were on their knees. Roads were bad. Schools laid prostrate. The morale of the civil service was down. Internally generated revenue was at a low ebb. Governance was reduced to a tea party.

    The euphoria of victory withered immediately in the face of the challenges. Aregbesola swung into action. His first step was to plug the loopholes. For six months, he did not have an executive council. Through this measure, he succeeded on saving N30 billion. His Spartan lifestyle, disdain for opulence and aversion for primitive accumulation made Aregbesola to reduce the cost of governance. The painstaking planning and metyicu-lous execution of projects have yielded dividends.

    Today, observers believe that the state is counting its blessings across the sectors. This, they argue, is in fulfillment of the promise to make the government friendly and responsive to public yearnings.

    Aregbesola re-christened Osun State as “Ipinle Omoluabi”, which translates into a state of character. In his opinion, the people should return to the old value and virtue, which defined their past and made their leaders to shun vices. An ideologue, he is also a believer in the Awoist philosophy of welfarism and “Life More Abundant.”

    For three years, the governor has canvassed for the practice of the federal principle and regional integration. Although he has come under fire for his federalist ideas, he is unrelented. To him, the clamour for decentralisation of power, preservation of identity and agitation for autonomy in a federal set-up is in tune with reality.

    Aregbesola promised to maintain a clean break from the past. Today, the governor has turned the state into a huge construction site. Many have applauded him for constructing roads that will connect the state with the neighbouring Ogun and Kwara States.

    Another key area his government has recorded transformation is the education sector. Shortly after assuming the reins, the governor organised the Osun State Education Summit. It attracted eminent Nigerians, including the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, and other stakeholders. The public schools have become a burden to the society. Indigent students became drop-outs. The students, especially those in primary schools, were roughly dressed and malnourished. School buildings were in dilapidated state, students’ performance, both at the internal and external examinations, were abysmally poor.

    There were no instructional materials and tuition fee was beyond reach of many indigenes.

    From the recommendations of the summit, the government developed a blue-print. Since then, education has not been the same in the state.

    One of the steps taken by the administration in sharpening the sector is the provision of two pairs of unified school uniforms to each of 750,000 pupils in the public primary and secondary schools. It was meant to boost the morale of the students and promote unity among the public schools.

    The provision of free uniforms. This is apart from N800million. This is apart from N1.8billion being injected into the basic education, including the provision of examination and running grants and instructional materials for public schools.

    No fewer than 3,000 tailors were contracted by the government to sew the new uniforms made of Adire batik. The material was chosen to empower the artisans and Adire makers in the state. It has become a showpiece of creativity.

    The deputy governor and Edu-

    cation Commissioner, Mrs. Titi

    Laoye Tomori, said that N30billion has also been spent on the physical structures, especially the classrooms, to guarantee a conducive atmosphere for learning. She explained that the administration is also constructing 170 new model schools to replace the dilapidated buildings. The new classrooms will have state of the art facilities, adding that it will enhance and stimulate the teaching and learning environment.

    Tomori said that 20 schools are for students in Senior Secondary Schools. When completed, she said that each is expected to conveniently accommodate 3,000 students on the basis of 40 per class. Each of the structures will have an examination hall that can comfortably seat 1,500 students and two e-libraries; one for sciences and the other for arts and social sciences would cost the N700 million, according to the government. Many of these school building have since been completed and commissioned.

    For Junior Schools, from Primary 5 to Junior Secondary School 3 (JSS3), 50 of them would be constructed, each accommodating 1,250 students while the elementary schools, Primary One to Four, which would be 100 pieces, would accommodate 900 pupils.

    To further stimulate the interest of students to learning, the government has invented computer tablets. The equipment, designed in form of an iPod called “Opon Imo,” contains the entire senior school syllabus, including Yoruba traditions, past questions of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO) and Joint Administration and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for 10 years in the software design for the system.

    Besides, in a bid to encourage the enrolment of children in public schools, government has rejuvenated the school feeding programme, tagged ‘O’MEAL’. The programme has increased the enrolment figure in public primary schools by 40 per cent in the last session. Determined to ensure the sustainability of the programme, government also said it was committing N3 billion annually for its implementation.

    Besides, the government, which also increased the running and examination grants per student in public secondary schools to N150 and N400, making a total of N550 against the N150 made available by the last administration, and N400 per pupil in primary schools, has now decided to invest N500 million annually, for the scheme.

    The state-owned tertiary institu-

    tions are also funded ad-

    equately. School fees have been reduced. For those at the polytechnic and College of Technology, the fee was reduced from N42,000 to N25,000, while those in the state university was slashed from N205,000 for Law and Medical Students to N100,000. Sciences was reduced from N155,000 to N75,000 while Social Sciences and Art now pay N75,000, instead of N130,000.

    Another milestone in the educational sector under the current administration was the scholarship offered to all the 98 medical students of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) for their clinical courses to complete their medical programme in Ukraine.

    The intervention gulped N146 million at the rate of $7,000 each, comprising the cost of training, accommodation and other sundry matters while their parents were supposed for care of their feeding only.

     

    Security

     

    Aregbesola is presiding over a peaceful state. Security experts are of the opinion that the state has the lowest crime rates. “Aregbesola’s government places high premium on security of lives and properties.

    This stems from the belief that peace and security engender growth and development. On the contrary, insecurity poses direct threat to direct investment both local and foreign as no investor would risk investing in an atmosphere of violence and insecurity”, said his media aide, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon. He added: “Against this backdrop, apart from the regular police manning the state, government set up dedicated crime response team nicknamed Swift Action Squad (SAS), who are now visible in strategic areas in the state as well as identified troubled sports.

    “Government also equipped this special squared with five Armoured personnel Cars (APCs) and 25 patrol vans for surveillance. Government also constructed two state-of-the-art police stations and multi-force security control centre.

    “Additional 100 patrol vans were also to be provided for the SAS and seven more police state to be built. Currently, a state –wide distress management system, which would allow security agency to respond within 40 minutes, is being developed so as to guarantee effective and efficient crime, detection, crime prevention and crime control”.

    The community policing network is evolving to boost security network across the country. Thus, the government recently purchased a helicopter for SAS for area surveillance. The goal is to make the state a “no-go-area for criminals” and “a no-crime-area”.

    As a humanist, Aregbesola is an exponent of poverty alleviation.

    About 90 percent of the Nigeria’s over 150 million people are said to have been living below poverty line. An average Nigerian lives on less than a Dollar per day. The rising unemployment has compounded the poverty rate. The Aregbesola government’s response to this is a structural empowerment programme, a social security trust, for vulnerable indigenes. It is tagged “Agba Osun”. Under this programme, 1, 600 people are placed on monthly stipend of N10, 000 for their upkeep.

    The governor is also committed to youth empowerment. No fewer than 20, 000 youths were employed in Aregbesola’s first 100 days in office. The Youth Empowerment Program-me is tagged “OYES”. Beneficiaries are young volunteers who render community service. They are placed under a monthly stipend of N10, 000. Also, about 5000 youths have been trained to acquire special ICT skills through the “OYESTECH”. Last month, they had good tales to tell during their graduation ceremony. Some of them were employed by private organisations. Some received soft loans from government to start their business.

    Under the “OREAP Programme”, 600 youths were trained in the government’s Agricultural Enterprise Academy. Also, 50 youths were sent to Germany to acquire advanced farming skills.

    The administration has also recuited over 6000 qualified youths as teachers in the public schools. The school feeding scheme (O’MEAL) for the elementary school also employed about 3000 caterers, who cook delicious meals for the children.

    Equally, through the school uniform programme, government has empowered 3000 tailors, who were sourced locally to sew over 750,000 pieces of school uniforms for elementary, middle and high school children. All these schemes have reduced poverty and crime.

    Many experts have lauded the

    urban renewal efforts of the

    Aregbesola Administration. To improve the physical condition of urban areas,the aadministration has provided N100m counterpart fund to the UN-Habitat initiative.

    The partnership, which will explore the state’s urban renewal potential, will also focus on rural-urban developmental potential. The partnership is sequel to the collaboration of the state government with the UN-Habitat for the preparation of structured plans for nine cities.

    The cities, which include Osogbo, Ife, Ilesa, Ejigbo and Ikire, have been earmarked for urban renewal by the government. The partnership agreement was concluded at the UN-Habitat Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, during the 24th Governing Council meeting of the agency. These programmes are aimed at preparing and implementing the structural plan project currently going on in nine cities in the state.

    The state’s N100m contribution to UN-Habitat was fully paid last year by the state government. In consonance with these preparations, the UN-Habitat has agreed to give technical support in the area of effective deployment of these tools.

    The training programme will address the unsuitable urban growth, problems affecting the environment and growing inequalities between the rich and the poor, and serious distortion in the form and functions of cities.

    Health is wealth. Thus, health care-delivery is a priority in Osun State.

    The government has planned the location of the facilities in such a way that the sighting of the hospitals, referral hospitals and healthcare clinics fall within reasonable radius to one another across the state.

    For example, a Primary

    Healthcare Clinic is sited within

    10 kilometers radius of every Osun town, with special attention to the needs of the children, women and elderly. Also, a functional General Hospital is sited within 20 kilometres radius of human habitation and referral hospitals within 30 kilometres radius of human settlement. The nine state-owned hospitals and 12 comprehensive healthcare centres have been rehabilitated for optimal functionality, easy access and quick service delivery

    In three years, government has also built 74 additional primary health centres. It has carried out six medical and surgical missions to offer free treatment and surgeries to several thousand citizens. Provisions have been made for over N300m worth of drug to state hospitals and primary health centres.

    Apart from physical development, government also focused on human capacity building in the health sector by empowering about 400 youths as paramedics to join Osun Ambulance Service Authority.

    Aregbesola believes that the health sector has not been uplifted to an optimum standard. Thus, it has shifted his attention now to training and upgrading of cadres of health sector. Oddly, this has not been done in the history of the state since its creation twenty years ago.

    The idea behind this retraining is for the medical personnel to be exposed to latest medical technologies and techniques in various fields of medical practices. Hence, the State of Osun Government has committed N18 million for sponsorship of six medical personnel to the University of Magdenburg Teaching Hospital, Germany.

    Aregbesola is of the opinion that no nation or state can thrive in an atmosphere of violence and insecurity. Peace and security are the major developmental ingredients without which any investor, local or international, can be attracted.

    Statistically, Osun is said to have one of the list crime rate in the country. The security of lives and properties ably guaranteed in the state is a veritable carrot the state dangles to investors and they followed.

    Dagbolu as a commercial hub is a mid regional market for the entire South West. Less than five kilometer outside Osogbo, it is expected to be a logistic village where various warehouses would be specifically built for relevant investors and manufacturers so that their goods would be sold to the people of the state at the exact prices they are being sold at Oke Arin in Lagos, for instance and other major markets in Lagos.

    There are also international markets for ready-made products. Currently, Ayegbaju International Market, located at the old governor’s office and Aje International Market, sited at the state Trade Fair Complex, Osogbo.

    Osun State is a tourist state. One of its major towns, Ile-Ife, is the cradle of Yoruba. The tourist centres in the state is being re-activated. “It is the priority of this administration to generate revenue through tourism and that is why we are developing the tourist sites”, said Sikiru Adetona, the Commissioner for Tourism.

    Recently, the government hosted the traditional rulers from the old Yoruba Empire, stretching to Togo and Republic of Benin. At the ceremony, the governor stressed the need for cultural renewal and unity among the members of the race.

    Aregbesola is very passionate about Southwest integration. He is one of the governors, whose commmitment to the regional vision has inspired the re-chanelling of creative ideas towards the drive for self-reliance in the region.

  • ‘Why there is stability in Senate’

    ‘Why there is stability in Senate’

    Senator Munirudeen Muse was a member of the sixth Senate Lagos Central. He Spoke With Musa Odoshimokhe on the national conference and other issues.

    What is your position on the national conference?

    It is a welcome development. In the first place, government never kicked against national conference. What the government is against is the Sovereign National Conference (SNC). I think the conference is appropriate at this time. It is important that we should have it, to discuss the challenges facing the country.

    Will this not have some negative effects on elections that will hold in 2015?

    Why do you want to procrastinate? We have been shouting let us have a conference and now, they said it’s time for conference, you want to preempt the situation. Why do you want to preempt? That is not necessary. Let us go for the conference. That is my feeling about it.

    Some stakeholders have expressed reservation about the conference and the fear that it will lead to break up…

    In the past, the north felt this way. But, since the agitation from the south about the conference goes on unabated and the president has called for the conference, they would have to be part of it. That has removed whatever position anybody holds and let us go ahead with the conference to reach a common ground on how best the country can live together in peace and harmony.

    Is the current Senate living up to expectation?

    All I know about the Senate and the people that were elected into the Senate is that they are people of integrity. There is maturity in that chamber including the current one. The Senate has done well vis-à-vis the Houses of Assemblies are doing very well.

    So, many things that would have distorted the progress of the country have been well attended to by lawmakers. Looking back, when the late President Umaru Yar’Adua succession issue was generating problem, you could see the way it was settled. If not for the Senate the country would have been plunge into crisis. And looking back, I likened the period to what happened at the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), when a gang of four wanted to take over the government. It took the deft intervention of the Russian President, Boris Yeltsin to avert the situation. This is similar to what happened here.

    So, I said what had happened should not be swept under the carpet, we should investigate it thoroughly. We thank God, that we found a solution within the Senate which ensured that everything was resolved. The seventh Senate which is now legislating for the people has not disappointed. I have passion for the Senate and listen to its deliberation. I want to read what is going on there. So, I followed it so well, they are trying their best. And I am very confident about the leadership of the Senate. The Senate President, David Mark, is a man who will put all his cards on the table for you. He has nothing to hide. He is a well respected man within that chamber and, I think, within the country.

    The presidency of the Senate has been stable under this regime…

    There is maturity in the Sixth Senate and it goes on till now. This is because of the leadership of the Senate, who is open and will tell you his mind. He will tell you, we are going to solve our problem here. I am not going to settle it only in my office. When we go into close session and discuss everything.

    Why is the Senate playing a hide and seek game with the Academic Staff Universities Union (ASUU) strike?

    The Senate must have dabbled into it. They must have given their advice to the executive. You see, because I am out of the Senate now or government, I don’t know what exactly is the cause of the prolonged strike is. One side is saying we have reached an agreement and the other side is saying they have not. I believe that from my own little idea, the people involved in the strike are going too far. And I tell you that is why I did not allow my children to go to public universities. I send them to private universities.

    But the private university is expensive…

    It is not the cost that we are talking about, but, if you can afford it do so. Gradually, the price will come down and many people will be in the position to send their children to private universities. It is just that the private universities are just springing up in the country. This probably informed why they are expensive for now.

    Some have said the All Progressives Congress (APC) is not united and that this may affect its performance in future election. What is your view?

    I am not aware of any division in the party. And I want to tell you now that I have not really made up my mind to go along with the party. The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), to which I belonged, is moribund. Throughout my time nobody talked about the APC. I have been a Senator and I am still a Senator. I don’t believe that we would be talking about merger in our party without inviting some of us. That, to me, was not good enough. It would have been better everybody was carried along.

    Are you saying the party is not cohesive?

    If you want to merge, you have to think about this nation in general perspectives. This nation comprised of so many ethnic groups. The main three languages; Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba must be carried along in the discussion. If you want to do any merger talk, you don’t do that to their exclusion. I remember very well that our brothers in the Southeast have this opinion that it is a Yoruba party. I can tell you that this has been said for long ago. They even say our ACN is Yoruba party. I have put it across to our leaders that we must live above board because others from the other places see us a Yoruba party.

    There was one meeting we held in Abuja, a leadership meeting, and our leaders were there. I raised the issue. I said look at us here as we sit here, and can anybody say this is a Yoruba party? This is because we have so many others who are non- Yoruba present at the meeting. In fact, those of us who were Yorubas sitting at the meeting were less than seven in number, despite the fact that the number was fairly large. Our leader Asiwaju, was there. Chief Bisi Akanda, Mamora, Lai Mohammed, Ganiyu Solomon and I were there. And when I mentioned it, they looked around and could see that there were other tribes well represented from the North, South and Southeast. You see, we should not do something that will make people to see us as tribalist. The party should be seen as national party and that depend on the deliberate efforts get others involved.

  • Lagos APC warms up for membership registration

    Lagos APC warms up for membership registration

    Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) has unfolded plans for the membership registration at the wards.

    The Deputy Chairman, Alhaji Abiodun Sunmola, said the first phase of the registration at the ward level will last for five days, adding that subsequent registration of members will take place at the state secretariat of the party.

    He said: “ The registration of the authentic party members will take place at the ward meetings. After the five days, the registration venue will shift to the party headquarter. I urge you to mobilise our members for the exercise”.

    Sunmola spoke at the recent meeting of the Lagos East APC stakeholders’ meeting held at the Somolu Local Government Secretariat. Hailing the party leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for his political shuttles across the six geo-political zones, in a bid to enlarge the APC’s coast, he urged the members not to let him down at the grassroots.

    Sunmola, who is the Lagos East leader, said: “As Asiwaju is working at the top, let us forge unity at the grassroots”.

    Three items were on the agenda at the meeting-the personality rift among the party elders, agitation for governorship by the East District and membership registration. Shortly before the meeting commenced, a member of the Publicity Committee, Mr. Tunde Temionu, said: We are not doing rally. We are not introducing anybody as candidates. We are here for the stakeholders’ meeting”. However, it was a carnival-like meeting.

    The mood at the gathering reflected the crisis among the party leaders. Prominent chieftains, including Otunba Busura Alebiosu, former Deputy Governor Abiodun Ogunleye, former Secretary to Government Olorunfunmi Basorun and former Speakers of House of Assembly, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora and Joko Pelumi, were absent.

    The Lagos APC Vice Chairman, Alhaji Akanni Seriki-Bamu, also urged the gathering to ponder on the suspicion in the Publicity Committee between Temionu and Hon. Tunde Braimoh. Urging Sunmola to unite he fold, he advised him to shun bad advisers, who wanted to mislead the leadership.

    Party members protested their neglect by the some big wigs in elective and appointive positions. For example, they hailed Senator Gbenga Ashafa, former Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Commissioner Prince Rotimi Agunsoye, his successor, Hon. Ademorin Kuye, Bariga Council Chairman Hakeem Sulaimon-Oris, Mrs. Yetunde Arobieke, and Education Commissioner Mrs. Funmilayo Oladunjoye, when they stormed the venue. But they jeered at other chieftains, claiming that they had neglected what they described as “personal infrastructure”. Ashafa said that “there is still time to correct the mistake”.

    Party chieftains at the meeting included House of Assembly Speaker Yemi Ikuforiji, Primate Charles Odugbesi, former Housing Commissioner Dele Onabokun, his Special Duties counterpart, Dr. Tola Kasali, House of Assembly member Hon. Segun Olulade, former legislator Hon. Goriola Agbara, former Rural Development Commissioner Hon. Lanre Balogun, House of Assembly Commission Chairman Chief Wale Mogaji, Bayo Balogun, Mrs. Folake Sokunbi, Hon. Muyiwa Adedeji, Hon. Bayo Osinowo, Hon. Suntai Agunbiade, Denga Anifowose, Chief Oyedele, Pa S.B. Banire, Hon. Tobun, Bode Alausa, Rotimi Abiru, Biodun Aigbe, Prince Busayo Adebayo, Alabi Macfoy, Hon. Folami, Alhaja Okulaja, and Hakeem Oso.

    Ashafa, who was the first to speak, urged members to cultivate the symbol of the party, the broom, which signifies unity. ‘Don’t allow cracks on the wall. 2015 will not be easy. We need to cooperate together. Our leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is working. We should support him. Let us wake up every morning and pray for Asiwaju. He is leading us aright. Those of us in Abuja will also not let you down.

    Ikuforiji, who spoke next, said that the APC has been planted, urging the party followers to spread the political gospel at the grassroots.”It is being nurtured. We will get to our destination”, he added. The Speaker also advised the leaders in the district to resolve their differences and learn to forgive. He hailed Tinubu for his leadership role in the progressive camp, saying that the political risks he had taken in the past had paid off as it heralded the victory of the progressives in the Southwest. The Speaker said that APC will rule at the centre, urging the members to guide their loins. Peeping into 2015, Ikuforiji said: “In this coming dispensation, the East Senatorial District must produce the next APC governor of Lagos State.

    A party leader from Ibeju-Lekki area, Dr. Kasali, spoke on unity, admonishing the district to operate in an atmosphere of trust and oneness. “If we people of the East want to produce the next APC governor, we must unite. The units of operation are the wards, local governments and senatorial districts. Let all our members return to their wards to forge unity”, he advised.

    The former commissioner for Health also urged those in government to help party members who voted for them at the polls. “People are in politics because of what they want to be and what they want to eat. Only few people can get to elective and appointive positions, but all of us should be able to get what to eat. Let the elect4d people look back. Let them remember those who worked for their success at the polls. Let no councillor limit his gestures to his personal group. Let our leaders remember all party members”, he added.

    Seriki-Bamu, who hit the nail on the head, lamented that some aides and associates are giving wrong advice to the zonal leader, Sunmola, to mislead him and create confusion in the district. “Don’t gove bad advice to our leader, Pa Sunmola. When we decide anything in our meeting, don’t twist. You personal assistants should not give information on behalf of our leader, unless you are instructed. There is still problem in the East District and the onus is on Pa Sunmola to resolve it. He should muster the strength to resolve the crisis”.

    Seriki-Bamu clarified that there is no friction between the two leaders, Alebiosu and Sunmola. “We were at an event recently and the governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, myself and Bayo Osinowo-Pepper were with Pa Alebiosu there. Aregbesola spoke on the importance of the unity. He said the comrade-capitalist, that is Alebiosu, is a good leader and he emphasised that there should be no strife and rancour. But some people are trying to create problem for us. As the leader of the East District, Pa Sunmola should make sure that the district remains one”, he added.

    Another leader, Pa Banire, urged the members to learn from the blind and cripple, who depend on mutual assistance to survive. “We need unity in this district. We need ourselves to politically survive. The blind needs the eyes of the cripple to see. The cripple needs the legs of the blind to walk”, he said.

  • Can PDP joke with Northwest?

    Can PDP joke with Northwest?

    Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the protracted crisis between Northwest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains and the National Working Committee (NWC) and its implications for the 2015 elections.

    The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have shot its arrow in a wrong direction. Ahead of the 2015 general elections, things appear to be falling apart. Prominent chieftains from the Northwest geo-political zone, who have an axe to grind with the embattled National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, over the handling of party affairs, are considering the option of teaming up with the opposition. Reconciliation is deadlocked.

    Three aggrieved governors from the zone- Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State, Alhaji Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and Musa Kwakwanso of Kano State – have drawn the battle line with the party. In Zamfara State, the PDP, which has lost its grip since 2011, has not bounced back. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has continued to enlarge its coast there. In Katsina State, the influence of the APC leader, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, is expected to change the tide in the next elections. Even in Kaduna State, aggrieved party stalwarts have opened discussions with the APC.

    In a breath, the PDP has waved the olive branch by initiating reconciliation with the governors and their supporters. In another breath, the governors claim that the Federal Government has been intimidating them and their children with the anti-graft agencies. Their meetings have also been disrupted by the police, following orders from above. Now, the PDP National Disciplinary Committee headed by Dr. Umaru Dikko has summoned their principal associates to appear before it for alleged anti-party activities.

    Last month, APC leaders visited the three governors to woo them to the party. In the past, the trio had enjoyed deep interactions with the APC leaders, either in the banned Social Democratic Party (SDP) or the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). Although they have now unfolded their next move, it appears that they may defect from the PDP, if the reconciliation fails.

    The three anti-Tukur governors are critical to the survival of the party in the zone. They are also experienced politicians. Kwakwanso has been a major operator since the Second Republic. In the Third Republic, he was the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He lost the governorship in 2003, but regained it in 2011. Lamido, who was the National Secretary of the defunct SDP at that time, later became Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Obasanjo Administration. In 2015, he, like Wamakko, would have completed his two terms as governor.

    Analysts have raised some posers: Can the PDP joke with the Northwest? Can the damage control by the reconciliation teams resolve the self-imposed crisis? Will the party now learn to exercise caution and gauge the public mood before taking decisions that may alienate prominent members? Will it insist on the suspension slammed on its National Vice Chairman and Northwest leader, Ambassador Ibrahim Kazaure, risk the exit of the two governors and damn the consequence?

    Criticisms have trailed the disciplinary action against the key party leaders, who are in sympathy with the Kawu Baraje faction. A source close to the Sokoto governor described Wamakko as the target of the arrow that has now hit Kazaure. The feeling in the zone is that Kazaure is being punished for standing up for truth. “When the governor was suspended, Ambassador Kazaure, who is the National Vice Chairman, decried it. Now that Kazaure has been suspended, how do you want the PDP chieftains from this zone, who have not rejected his leadership, to feel? It was another wrong step,” he added.

    Few months ago, there was uproar in the Northeast when Wamakko was suspended by the NWC. In Sokoto State, the governor is perceived as a vital asset, who has contributed to the growth of the party, since he defected from the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2007.

    The rejection of the suspension by the leaders of the Northwest PDP underscores Wamakko’s popularity in the zone. It has also portrayed the zonal chapter as a cohesive bloc under the leadership of Kazaure, who openly flayed the national leadership, of which he is a member, for hasty decision and lack of consultation. To the PDP chieftains in the populous zone, an injustice to one is an injustice to all.

    The governor rode on the euphoria of the zonal support to challenge his suspension. He was welcomed back to Sokoto by a tumultuous crowd of party supporters, following a brief visit abroad. With him was the House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal. Both advised the PDP to engage in soul searching and deep reflection, urging the helmsmen to imbibe the virtue of great leadership, tolerance and discrete.

    The Northwest, which is Wamakko’s and Kwakwanso’s pillar of support, is the cradle of the formidable power brokers in the polity. If the zone takes exception to any of the PDP’s mistakes, conventional wisdom dictates the retracing of steps, if an electoral tragedy of monumental proportion is to be averted, ahead of the 2015.

    From Sokoto, the seat of the Caliphate, through Kano to Kaduna, the acclaimed political capital of the North, the Northwest is a vibrant zone. It is a pre-eminent geo-political zone occupying a strategic place in the country’s political history. Sokoto, despite the popular and sustained opposition, has not suspended its acronym, ‘Born To Rule’. Since the days of the legendary Othman Dan Fodio, the city has wielded enormous political power and religious influence. His great grand son, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, became the rallying point. He was the first and last Premier of the Northern Region. Although he was the natural choice for the position of the Prime Minister, he declined, preferring to queue for the Sultanate.

    Many Northern political leaders owe their ascendancy to the Sardauna, the Lion of the North, who before his demise, had established an academy of leadership. He had used his influence to recruit young Northerners into the civil service, army and diplomatic corps. Later, many of them rose to prominent positions during the military regime. Many Northwest indigenes have served as top ministers of government, federal permanent secretaries, legislators and ambassadors. In the march of history, theyb have played critical roles in the private sector of the economy.

    In the hey days of the famed Kaduna Mafia, the cult of leaders and pride of the one-time monolithic North, the impetus came from the Northwest axis, which coordinated the real or imaginary battle for national dominance. Four zones-Northcentral, Northeast, Southwest and Southsouth-have six states each. The Southeast has five. But the Northwest has seven. Politically, this is an added advantage because, in the National Assembly, the zone has the largest number of legislators in the Upper and Lower Chambers, and ultimately, the highest number of appointees in other critical sectors.

    The Northwest has produced three military Heads of State-Gen. Muritala Mohammed (Kano), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Katsina) and the late Gen. Sani Abacha (Kano). The fourth, Gen. Yakubu Gowon from Plateau State, is more of a Kaduna man. The first civilian President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, hails from Sokoto State. He was the political son of the Sardauna.

    Politicians from the Northwest zone are no-pushovers. The voting population is sophisticated. It is huge. Therefore, it can sway away the votes. It is natural that, at every periodic election, PDP presidential aspirants often target the zone because they perceive it as a critical factor. The analysis of the voters’ list from the zone also underscores its vibrancy, electoral asset and indispensability. The zone will always be in the national reckoning. In the last voter’s registration released by the electoral commission, next to Lagos (6.2 million) were Kano (5.10 million), Kaduna (3.50 million) and Katsina (2.9 million). The figures spoke volumes about the potency and electoral numerical strength of the leading zone. This may continue to make it an electorally sought-after zone in any critical national contest.

    Party sources confirmed that the APC leaders have not limited their consultations with the visits to the zone. “They are in regular contact with our leaders in the Northwest and they are offering a better deal for the zone”, said the source.

    Already, the APC has 11 governors. In those states where it holds sway, it has a history of winning in general elections. If the three governors defect to the APC, it is clear that they will tilt the pendulum of victory, along with Buhari, who has emerged as a potent factor again in the Northwest.

    But the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, said that the options before the aggrieved governors are narrow. He said, if they defect from the PDP, they will become strangers in their next point of call. He also said that the conditions they are insisting on for a truce are also illogical. One of the conditions is that Tukur should step aside as the chairman. He objected to this, saying that he was properly elected.

    “The most viable option is reconciliation and I urge the governors to make it work”, he said.

  • ‘How national conference can succeed’

    ‘How national conference can succeed’

    In this piece, legal scholar Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN) highlights the differences between the 2005 Abuja Political Conference and the proposed National Dialogue and offers suggestions on the mode of operation, membership composition and report ratification.

    In February 2005, President Olusegun Obasanjo suddenly convened what he called the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC).

    The charade did not end with the abrupt disbandment of the NPRC, but was continued by the National Assembly Joint Constitutional Reform Committee (JCRC) under the chairmanship of the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ibraham Mantu, whose main object was to obtain, by fraudulent manipulation, a semblance of public approval for the elongation of the President’s and state governors’ tenure of office.

     

    Purpose of the proposed national conference and a legal framework for its operation

    Being a palpable fraud, a farce, and programmed to come to nothing, the 2005 NPRC cannot in any way be equated with the proposed National Conference, or be used as a basis for saying that the latter will also come to nothing. As conceived, the proposed National Conference has a specific purpose, namely, to discuss and agree on the terms and conditions to be embodied in a new Constitution as the basis on which the diverse nationalities and peoples comprised in Nigeria can live together in peace, security, progress and unity as one country under a common central government. This is the primal purpose of the proposed National Conference, the crux or pivot of its agenda, and to which everything else is ancillary.

    Given the above primal purpose for it, the initial problem facing the Conference is to fashion out a Legal Framework for convening and holding it, and for holding a Referendum to approve a Constitution adopted at the Conference. Without such a Legal Framework, the Conference cannot effectively take off as conceived, and will be doomed to fail as did the 2005 NPRC for the reason, among others, that, as earlier explained, there was no law establishing it and backing up its work. The task of fashioning out appropriate Legal Framework for the proposed National Conference has, happily, been entrusted to a Presidential Advisory Committee. No Committee of this type, with wide-ranging Terms of Reference, was set up in 2005 as a prelude to the convening of the NPRC, and to lay the foundation for its successful outcome. In any case, as earlier stated, fashioning a new Constitution for Nigeria was never part of the agenda or purpose of the NPRC.

    Some years ago, in October 2001 to be precise, The Patriots prepared such a Legal Framework in the form of a Bill, titled the National Conference and Referendum Bill, which it submitted to the Presidency and the National Assembly. The Bill, after some revision, was re-submitted to the two bodies in 2013.

    The long title of the Bill describes it as “A Bill for an Act to make provisions for convening a National Conference of the peoples of Nigeria for the purpose of discussing and adopting a new Constitution to be submitted for consideration and approval by the people of Nigeria at a Referendum and matters ancillary thereto.” The long title thus provides a clear enough description of the character of the Conference proposed. This is reaffirmed by a declaration in a Preamble that the Conference is “a Conference of the nationalities and ethic groups comprised in this Nation so as to give them the opportunity to exercise their inherent right to determine democratically for themselves the Constitution by which they wish to be governed in one united Nigeria” (emphasis supplied). The Preamble further declares that the need for the Conference arises from the fact that the Constitution under which the country is governed “came into existence as a result of a Decree enacted by the Federal Military Government.”

    The Bill then goes on to spell the process for holding a Referendum for the approval of the Constitution by the entire mass of the people, which is to bestow legally binding force upon it.

    A Referendum of the people to approve the Constitution is the most fundamental aspect of the whole process. It is no doubt a novel process in the country, but that is what is legitimately due to the Nigerian people– an opportunity, for the first time since the creation of the Nigerian state in 1914, to adopt, through Referendum, a Constitution by and for themselves in exercise of the constituent power inherent in them as a‘sovereign people, not just to make an input in the amendment of an imposed Constitution. It is their birthright as a sovereign people, a birthright of which they have long been denied, first, by our British colonial masters, then, by our military masters, and, now, by our so-called democratic rulers in the Presidency and the National Assembly. There is no justifiable reason for continuing to deny them that birthright.

    Given an existing legal order, constituted by a Constitution, the principle of the Rule of Law, by a Legislative Assembly, a Presidency, a Judiciary and other instrumentalities of government, such as we have in Nigeria, a National Conference to adopt a People’s Constitution, and a Referendum to approve the Constitution so adopted, must be authorised by a law enacted by the National Assembly and assented to by the President, in the terms set out in The Patriots’ Bill. There is no way a Referendum can be held in the country under the existing legal order without an enabling law prescribing how it is to be conducted, its outcome and the force of the result in law. People cannot just troop out to vote in a referendum. Anything else outside the legal framework set out in The Patriots’ Bill can only take place by way of a revolution, such as happened in the eight African countries where the Conference took place outside the pre-existing legal order. It is doubtful, to say the least, whether such a revolution can take place in Nigeria, as things are at present. The impediments are too many and too great.

    Sections 16(1) and 17(8) of the Bill deserve to be specially noticed. Section 16(1) provides : “The Chairman and Secretary of the National Conference shall certify the Draft Constitution as passed by the National Conference and lodge authenticated copies thereof with the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives who shall cause it to be laid before the appropriate House but the said Draft Constitution shall not be subject to any change or amendment by any of these authorities.” (emphasis supplied).

    Section 17(8) says : “… the Draft Constitution for the Federal Republic of Nigeria adopted and passed by the National Conference shall become law and be binding on all persons and authorities when and if there is a majority of ‘YES’ votes at the Referendum approving it….”

    Thus, the National Conference and Referendum Bill prepared by The Patriots sets out in clear enough terms an appropriate Legal Framework for the proposed National Conference. The Presidential Advisory Committee may propose amendments to it.

     

    The vexed question whether the conference has the character of a sovereign body

    The Legal Framework for the convening and holding of a National Conference and a Referendum, as set out above, does not confer upon the Conference the character of a Sovereign National Conference. It is a contradiction, both in ideas and in terms, to demand a Sovereign National Conference when a sovereign government is still in place and in control; you must first displace or emasculate the latter before you can have an SNC, as was the case in the eight African states of Benin, Togo, Congo (Brazzaville), Niger, Mali, Chad, Gabon and Zaire in the period 1990 to 1993.

    For the sake of a proper understanding of the meaning of the term, “Sovereign National Conference”, it needs to be explained that the provisions in The Patriots’ Bill to the effect that a Constitution adopted at the National Conference “shall not be subject to any change or amendment” by the National Assembly or the Presidency (section 16(1)), and that the Constitution, so adopted, “shall become law and be binding on all persons and authorities” directly it is approved at a Referendum (section 17(8)), do not make the Conference a sovereign body, in the strict sense of the term, inasmuch as the finality of its decisions and the legally binding force of the approval of its decisions by the Referendum derive from a law enacted by the sovereign legislative authorities under the country’s existing legal order.

    But refusal by the National Assembly or the Presidency to enact into law, the provisions in sections 16(1) and 17(8) of the Bill, or to abide by them after their enactment into law, will be a test of the ability of the Nigerian people, in spite of the impediments, to assert and demonstrate their power and supremacy as the repository of the country’s sovereignty and the source of the sovereign power exercised by the legislative and executive organs of government. From the contest of power over this issue between the sovereign government and the people as the ultimate sovereign, the National Conference may emerge as a sovereign body.

     

    Ensuring the adoption of a suitable new constitution by the conference

    Ensuring that the National Conference adopts a suitable new Constitution for the country raises a problem perhaps more troublesome and more perplexing than the issue of fashioning out appropriate Legal Framework; the problem is not taken care of by fashioning out an appropriate Legal Framework. Unless the adoption of a suitable new Constitution for the country is ensured and is realised, it (i.e. the Conference) may become a talk-shop, as did the 2005 NPRC, without achieving its primal purpose, which is to give us a new Constitution. It would thus be a failure, as asserted by those opposed to the idea. To ensure the accomplishment of this primal purpose, the Conference, when it convenes, must have before it, a Draft new Constitution to form the basis of its deliberations; without this, its meetings are bound to become a talk-shop and will not accomplish their primal purpose. Clearly, a situation where every Nigerian or every member of the Conference may submit a Draft new Constitution for consideration by the Conference will result in the Conference having before it too many Draft Constitutions, which may make it difficult for it to accomplish its primal purpose.

    Thus, the problem boils down to the issue of a modus operandi for the Conference.

    But, whilst the Committee’s recommendations are awaited, it seems clear that we cannot run away from the imperative necessity of having a Constitution Drafting Committee. The Okurounmu Presidential Advisory Committee itself is not envisaged as a Constitution Drafting Committee, and is neither intended nor mandated by its Terms of Reference to function as one. The job requires a specialist committee of experts.

    A Constitution Drafting Committee was part of the modus operandi used in making the 1979 Constitution. The Federal Military Government (FMG) had in 1976, by an executive instrument, set up a Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) of 49 members (the 50th member, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, declined to serve) composed of prominent lawyers, men and women knowledgeable in the principles and practice of statescraft, and other seasoned experts/specialists (the 49 Wise Men, as they came to be known), to prepare a Draft Constitution. A Draft was duly prepared by the Committee. Thereafter, the FMG enacted a Decree establishing a Constituent Assembly – the Constituent Assembly Decree 1977 – corresponding more or less to the proposed National Conference. As constituted under the enabling Decree, the Assembly had 230 members, of whom 20 were appointed by the FMG, seven were the Chairman of the CDC (Chief FRA Williams SAN) and the chairmen of its six sub-committees (I was one of the six), and the remaining 203 members were elected, not directly by the people, but by the local government councils acting as electoral colleges.

    But the important point to note as regards the issue of modus operandi is that the Draft Constitution prepared by the CDC was laid before the Assembly and formed the authorised basis for its deliberations. The enabling law required the Draft Constitution to be presented in the Assembly in the form of a Bill, which the Assembly was to deliberate upon following a procedure of first and second readings and detailed clause by clause consideration in a committee of the whole Assembly. The procedure allowed for amendments to be moved by members. Indeed, an amendment seeking to replace the presidential system proposed in the Draft with the parliamentary system of cabinet government was rigorously pressed upon the Assembly in two different forms and lost : see Proceedings of the Constituent Assembly, Official Report, vol. 11, cols 1943 – 55; cols. 1981 – 8. The Chairman of the CDC and the Chairmen of its six sub-committees, sitting in the front benches, were assigned the responsibility of piloting the Draft Constitution Bill through the Assembly. It needs to be stated, despite the controversy that arose over the issue between the Assembly and the FMG, that the 1977 – 78 Constituent Assembly was not a mere deliberative body, and that the substance, content and form of the 1979 Constitution were the product of its decisions, notwithstanding a few changes surreptitiously slipped in by the FMG at the last minute after the Constitution Bill had been passed by the Assembly. Such, then, was the modus operandi used in making the 1979 Constitution.

    Recognising the imperative necessity of having before the proposed National Conference a suitable Draft ew Constitution to form the basis of its deliberations, I formed in the course of the Uyo National Political Summit the idea of getting a team of prominent lawyers, political scientists and other experts with specialist knowledge to work with me to prepare a suitable Draft new Constitution and, when the Draft is ready, to re-convene the Uyo Political Summit to have a thorough and critical look at it, and make such revisions and changes as may be considered necessary. The re-convened Uyo Political Summit would be a kind of mini National Conference. Leaders from the various geo-political Zones attending the Summit will be duly inducted to mobilize and enlighten participants from their Zones on the provisions in the Draft in order to facilitate deliberations on it and its adoption at the National Conference proper.

    As I said in my last letter, dated October 31, 2013, to the 15 members of my Committee of lawyers, political scientists and other experts, drawn from the six geo-political Zones,, “unless the National Conference, when it convenes, has before it a Draft New Constitution, to be piloted by people well acquainted with its provisions and well inducted on what is necessary to be done to get it adopted, the Conference may lose focus and degenerate into a talk-shop and end without achieving anything, like the previous ones”.

    In preparing a Draft, we will look at Drafts prepared by Pronaco, The Patriots, the amendments/revisions made on the 1999 Constitution or under consideration by the National Assembly, and proposals from other quarters, as well as the constitutions of some other African countries. When my Committee completes its work, then, its Draft, with changes made on it by the re-convened Uyo National Political Summit, will be sent to the Presidency, the National Assembly, and the Presidential Advisory Committee if its life/mandate has not expired by the effluxion of the time given to it to wind up its work and turn in a report.

     

    Chairmanship of the conference

    It needs hardly be emphasised that the character of the proposed National Conference, and its success or failure, would be determined, to a great extent, by the credentials, the personality and forcefulness of character of its Chairman. He or she must be a person with a considerable measure of acceptability in the Northern and Southern segments of the country, and whose mind, attitude and disposition are not known to be unduly conditioned or otherwise affected by the North-South Divide, which must be acknowledged as among the worst of the country’s many afflictions – a person who, therefore, commands the confidence of the generality of people in both segments. In addition, he or she must be a person whose age and condition of health leave him or her sufficient physical strength as well as mental and emotional stability to be able to withstand the enormous strain and stress of piloting, mediating and moderating the proceedings of the Conference, which are expected to be stormy, even acrimonious, a task that would tax the patience of even the Biblical Job.

    It is as well that the President, as the authority to appoint the Chairman of the Conference, should start right away to give serious thought to the choice of a person to chair it. The choice is not going to be an easy one, because there are not many Nigerians that meet the above criteria.

  • Between politics and missing funds

    Between politics and missing funds

    The recent revelation by Governor Rotimi Amaechi that a whopping $5b was missing from the country’s excess crude account is only the latest in the long tale of missing funds in Nigeria. In this report, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, takes an in-depth look at the politics of missing funds in Nigeria and why they are hardly ever found

    In Nigeria, money has become a spirit, with wings as powerful as that of a royal Eagle. As a result, tales of missing billions of Naira have become so recurrent in the public sector that it would seem inconceivable for a month to pass by without large sums springing out wings and flying away from the reach of common citizens.

    Before January 2012, when millions of Nigerians staged an effective protest against federal government’s removal of fuel subsidy, the issue of missing billions of Naira has remained a mere secret topic by few intellectuals and subjects of idle gossip in drinking joints and kitchens.

    Then, many thought that only corrupt, frontline public office holders, like presidents, governors or minsters were guilty of direct stealing from the public treasury.

    But since after the protest, which encouraged private campaigns to clean up the country’s economic sources, like the oil sector, government has been forced to set up committees on missing funds.

    As a result, more awareness has been created and public officials have become more outspoken on the country’s missing trillions.

    So, last weekend’s revelation by Governor Rotimi Amaechi that a whopping $5b was missing from the country’s excess crude account is only the latest in the long tale of missing funds in the country.

    Trillions that developed wings in two years

    Just between April and October 2012, barely nine months after the 2012 protest, a lot of revelations of stolen trillions of Naira in the oil sector alone, were made.

    It would be recalled that in the wake of the nationwide strikes against the fuel subsidy removal, a House of Representatives committee was constituted to investigate the matter. Chaired by Hon Lawan Farouk, the committee’s report, released in April 2012, revealed a monumental scam. It shows that oil companies were being paid hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies by the government for fuel that was never delivered. The scam was estimated by the committee to have cost Nigeria about $6.8 million.

    In August of that same year (2012), barely four months after, former World Bank’s Vice President for Africa, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, reportedly revealed that an estimated $400bn of Nigeria’s oil revenue were either stolen or were misspent since independence in 1960.

    That same year, a Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force report, released in October, said about $29bn have been lost by the country in the last decade through what has been described as “price fixing scam.”

    That was not all for 2012. Just in the oil sector alone, reports citing leaked information from the Petroleum Revenue Special Task Force Report, also said in October 2012 that Nigeria may have been losing $6 bn in a year to oil theft alone.

    Following the staggering revelations of missing funds in the oil sector last year, and the protest over the increment of the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit from N65 to N97, President Goodluck Jonathan’s government moved to cushion the harsh effects on Nigerians by setting up the agency known today as Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), to manage the proceeds from the fuel subsidy removal. It is reportedly “financed by the savings or the difference which would have been used to subsidise premium motor spirits.”

    According to earlier reports, “the difference between the N65 cost as full subsidy and the N97 as partial subsidy is what the government uses to fund the project.” The arrangement is that the funds saved would be divided among the three tiers of government for development purposes.

    But the recent allegation this year, by the Senate, that N500 billion was missing from SURE-P has again revealed that it even this so-called re-investment package may have been turned to another drain pipe.

    In the course of the controversies surrounding the SURE-P saga, Plateau State House of Assembly’s SURE-P Chairman, Dalyop Mancha was reported as declaring that funds from the project were not disbursed to the state and local governments since January last year.

    To find the truth, concerned Nigerians and organisations have urged government to institute credible investigation on the matter.

    For example, an organisation, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) last week asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to “urgently begin a thorough and efficient investigation into allegations of corruption, following a shortfall in the remittance of accrued funds for the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) projects of over N500billion from January 2012 to September 2013.”

    In a petition sent to the commission and signed by the organisation’s executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni, they said: “SERAP is seriously concerned that the failure to account for the shortfall of about N500billion out of the over N800billion which ought to have accrued for the SURE-P projects is a flagrant denial of the social and economic development of millions of Nigerians.”

    It is while this SURE-P’s missing millions is still on the table, last week that Amaechi came up with excess crude account $5 billion bombshell.

    Given the seemingly unending takes of such missing billions, Nigerians are wondering why the government and the anti- corruption agencies seem helpless, even when it is an agreed fact that such large scale corruption is responsible for underdevelopment and lack of respect for political leadership.

    SERAP for example lamented, in it’s response that “the inability of government officials to account for huge amount of resources mapped out for the improvement of the country is a serious impediment and setback to the goals of development for which the SURE-P funds have been set aside to achieve in the first place. The denial of the rights of millions of Nigerians has contributed hugely to extreme poverty and civil strife.”

    Why are Nigeria’s missing funds hardly found?

    Politics and other selfish interests have been adduced as the reasons missing funds in Nigeria are hardly found and recovered.

    Dr. Frederick Mba, in his explanation of why missing funds are hardly found in Nigeria told The Nation that missing public funds are intricately linked to politics in Nigeria. As he puts it, “The so-called missing funds are stolen public resources. The truth is that nobody is looking for these monies because the authorities are shamelessly involved in their disappearance. They are not missing. They are stolen by the same officials and used for political campaigns, and personal luxurious life. If they look for these monies, they will surely find them,” he said.

    But a top security official, who refused to be named, told The Nation on Thursday that many of the missing funds have been recovered. He however failed to name the alleged recovered funds.

    Over the years, stories of missing billions in Nigeria have confirmed allegations of large scale corruption in the country. Before, especially during the military era, these monies were hardly recovered. But today, as more Nigerians, including public officials like Governor Rotimi Amaechi are boldly speaking against these corrupt practices, more Nigeians are optimistic that some of the missing trillions may be recovered one day, notwithstanding the political clout of the culprits. How soon this dream would be fulfilled remains to be seen.

     

  • ‘We could afford to enrich ourselves and go in 2015, but we’ve chosen to cry out'(2)

    ‘We could afford to enrich ourselves and go in 2015, but we’ve chosen to cry out'(2)

    Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, is a fighter. After the powers-that-be in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) muscled him out of the gubernatorial ticket he had won fair and square, he battled through the courts to reclaim his prize. Now he’s engaged in the fight of his life  battling foes who have thrown federal might at him. Head unbowed, he inveighs against unprecedented corruption, his differences with President Goodluck Jonathan, his wife and sundry matters in this interview with Festus Eriye and Femi Macaulay.

    Do you have the powers to suspend local government chairmen?

    Yes, the law. The law empowers me to suspend/dissolve a council. I was a speaker when that law was made. It is there in the local government law; I passed it as a speaker. Peter Odili had used it before as a governor. Two council chairmen were suspended under Peter Odili. You can even dissolve if he so desire. As a former speaker, one of the ways I instilled discipline to be able to get the control of the house. I got the house to pass a rule: if you came late, you pay us N1500, if you are absent you pay N3000. Magnus (Abe) was the first, by the time he looked at his salary we had taken away 90, 000, he was bitter and said from today henceforth I would be here, anybody that comes late we must implement this law. Again, it is to instill discipline because what we used to see that time is that you come to the house, there won’t be more than 10 to 15 members. Or if they come before 12 they had disappeared. But once that rule was in place and peoples salaries were being tampered with, you see members would sit from 8’o clock till we close. I felt that is another way to discipline and control this inter-government. So I said gentlemen, what do we do to control latecomers and absentees? I don’t see anything wrong in that. The only thing that I see wrong is that now that I am governor it is the law. I have been asking myself that question; should a governor possess the power to dissolve a democratic institution? Shouldn’t you as a governor go and amend that law and take away the power of the governor to suspend and to dissolve a democratically elected…because it took people pain to go and chose who they will elect as chairman then one man sits in his office and dissolves the council or suspends. Even if you don’t want to do that, why not make it more stringent for the governor to dissolve or to suspend. Those were personal questions I asked myself, not the law. The law simply empowers the governor to dissolve or to suspend.

    Tied to what you have just said, as part of federalism, how would you…

    (Cuts in) Do you have federalism here? Do you have federalism where you don’t have state police? Where the president can order the police to go after a governor? We don’t have federalism in Nigeria.

    So how do you describe what we are running?

    It looks more like a unitary government and very authoritarian. The governors are like commissioner or ministers.

    But it is informed by a so-called federal constitution?

    Are they practicing the federal constitution? Even if we assume the constitution is federal? First, the constitution is not federal enough, even if it is, are they practicing that?

    The way you are painting the governors, it’s like they are victims. But a couple of months ago, people were saying that the governors were running the country, dictating to the president. Don’t you agree that the governors were becoming too powerful?

    What power is that? Have we ever interfered in the affairs of the governance of the country? We have a meeting in Sokoto for Friday and Saturday, we would look at the ills of the country and go public. When we go public then E. K. Clark will say we are too powerful. What power is that? We are a mere pressure group. The difference between we and you people… okay not the press because press has been wonderful to the country. I am sure if they annihilate you then country will go completely. I am not sure the governors are as strong as the press. (General laughter)

    I’m sure that was meant as a joke.

    No. It’s true. Most governors don’t want to see in their names in the paper in the negative manner. So even amongst us, a governor can yab his fellow governor and nothing will happen, but once you see in the paper ‘Amaechi steals 2 trillion’, me I will go for my lawyer. I don’t know how other people will react. In fact there is one my lawyer has been….one magazine in Abuja published ‘How governor Amaechi looted 3. something trillion.’ I gave it to my lawyer and he said ‘abeg leave me. It’s not everything you take up.’ I wanted to go to court; my lawyer said it’s a waste of time to after that kind of man. I am just giving you examples to show how powerful the press can be. In comparison to what the governors do, it’s a matter of explaining what is going on in the country and saying we don’t agree. You won’t believe when the oil subsidy started, when we saw that it was 1.7 trillion naira we said we won’t collect out monthly allocation until the president stops the collection of the oil subsidy. For 3-4 months we refused to collect our monthly allocation. We are saving the country. Don’t forget that the current governors are patriotic. I am sure if we did not start the protests, if we had exceeded the 2.3 trillion, the stealing would have possibly exploded. What has happened? Nothing! Those who stole it said nothing will happen that the reason is that they didn’t steal it, that those who are in government stole it – that they are just conduits by which the money was taken from the country. So we are just like an NGO.

    You have been governor for six years now, what are the enduring lessons you have learnt in personal terms and in terms of Nigeria and its challenges?

    We are looking for a leader. The different leaders who have led the country have made their own contribution and if you ask me who I admire most among them: Obasanjo and Babangida, then Abdusalami as a gentleman. Don’t forget he had few months in office. I think if God had let Yar’Adua spend some time on earth, he probably would have been one of the wonderful presidents we would have had but he had health challenges. So you look at them they made their own contribution but we are still looking for a Nigerian leader. Not one whose his decisions would be coloured by extraneous factors; somebody who would come out and say ‘I want to change the country.’ So it starts with: do we need a federation, a confederation or unitary system of government? And you ask and they have to discuss. Just like this national conference… have you heard me doing something about it? For me it is a waste of time.

    You dismissed it?

    Of course I did. I said if they are serious about national conference, let’s do a sovereign one. Let’s surrender our sovereignty; I am ready to surrender my tomorrow.

    Some people would be shocked to hear you say that among Nigeria’s past leaders you admire Obasanjo…

    Of course I do. He has a God complex. What I mean by God complex is the Messianic complex. He thinks he wants to save the country.

    And you are interpreting that in positive terms?

    Yes. He has both his positive and negative sides. Because of that God complex he may go to the extreme. Look, ‘this country is going bad, I want to save it so he has that Messianic tendencies. He is patriotic to the extent but that he wants to save the country. I have not stayed close to President Obasanjo to interpret him very well but I want to assume that in a bid to save the country, there are times he would not want to take in as many opinions as possible. He would go by his own position which is good but it has also its own negativity … but he has that messianic tendency. He wants to do all he can do to save the country. I have bought a lot of books about him that I am yet to read. That’s why I am hoping that I will leave government quickly so I can read all I want to read. But reading him, you see him believing that he is in a position to change things, to make things progress. He doesn’t want to divide the country, he wants a country that is united, but one which economy is growing. So he has that God complex. Then Babangida: very suave, very intelligent, a true politician that ordinarily he shouldn’t be a military head of state. You can attribute the developments in Abuja to Babangida. Just like Obasanjo’s first tenure as head of state, you saw the kind of developments he put in place as head of state. More progressive when he was the head of state than when he was the president, maybe he encountered more challenges as president because by then the country wasn’t as bad as it is now so you can see that he is grappling with more things than he would have grappled as head of state. But there was a lot of development when he was there. He is a man that you admire his strength of decision making. I poked that joke when I saw him in Abeokuta ‘like your anticipatory approval.’ (General laughter) That’s how he built that stadium; maybe he felt ‘look if I go to the National Assembly.’As far as he is concerned, he had made up his mind he wants to build a stadium for the country and he goes for it. So he went ahead and when the national assembly discovered it he says anticipatory approval. How did you know they were going to approve? (Laughter).

    When the APC came to Port Harcourt to woo you, you said you were going to consult President Jonathan. Are you going to ask him for permission to defect?

    No, not permission.

    Then what consultation when you are clearly…

    If I go to the president, I am going to start going round people in River State and say see the situation of things in Rivers State and the country. In PDP the pressure is on to move on to APC, what is your view? I will get those views and go to the president. Don’t forget, you will say president is South-south but he grew up in Port Harcourt. ‘Mr President this is the Port Harcourt you grew up in, this is the opinion of our leaders’. And I will call them one after the other and say to him this leader this, this leader said that. There is a leader who have said my friend I have no business seeing you, after all I have already met a leader who had told me that. There is a leader who have told me, ‘have you thought it through.’ There is leader who has told me ‘how does it affect the South-South presidency?’ There are questions to ask. When you do that, you aggregate the views and put it before the president let him put his opinion.

    Why do you need that process?

    Because you can’t go without your people. Have you ever seen a governor that governs himself?

    If he says don’t go, will you stay?

    No he has to look at the majority of the opinion.

    You know how vicious this political environment is and what has happened in the course of the new PDP fight. If in 2015, President Jonathan and the PDP win reelection and you are no longer in power, are you afraid of what will happen to you?

    Well that’s a possibility but am not more afraid for myself than I will be afraid for the country. I’m more worried for the country than myself. For instance, if I leave the country and I will go and study. What will President Goodluck Jonathan do if I’m studying?

    Would that be exile?

    Which exile? I can come home and face the police. I have my lawyers waiting. For me, I fear for the country because if the stealing in the first tenure is like this, the stealing in the second tenure will quadruple to such a point that there will be nothing to steal anymore. I tell people that the way the country is going, we may end up impoverishing the poor in such a way that there would not even be food at the refuse dump and they will begin to eat human beings. And guess who they will eat? The rich! The poor man’s body will become very skeletal.

    What are the chances of success with the PDP fence mending? Where does your heart truly belong?

    My heart belongs to everywhere. I don’t know about the fence mending in PDP. We are still waiting for the president but I don’t know how far it would go because the issues are complex, the issues of good governance. These G7 governors, people must praise us… we can actually keep quiet and enrich ourselves and go in 2015. I will go with my children and my wife quietly to the US. The president won’t look for me because I have been a good boy. Or we make the trouble to save the country. Once we are good boys to the president is anybody going to fight us? You can make as much noise as you want to make after we have left office so bloody what? But at least we are good boys to the president who will not allow us to be prosecuted when we leave office. But the G7 governors in particular are patriotic enough that they are asking questions. When we go to that meeting, we could have said okay Mr. President we agree with you, give us minister for oil, minister for finance, etc and they say go and give names. We give you names and we’ll be like ‘this is my own share of whatever they give you in Abuja’ and they would bring. We could have done that and this meeting would have been…. You know everybody has always said in PDP, there is no time we did not pass through this kind of crises, we have always reconciled and things would move on. They were not expecting it to last for more than one month; it lasted for nearly a year. It started from January this year, before two or three months PDP would have reconciled. It depends on the president, for every day we have refused to reconcile, it becomes more complex. The president spoke with Niger governor, the next day they suspended Oyinlola and all that so it has worsened and made these issues more complex. So when will this reconciliation take place? I have a friend who used to tell me ‘Amaechi keep quiet! The president will make another mistake very soon’ and then when you wake up, another mistake has been made.

     

  • Borno 2015: PDP still struggling against the odds

    Borno 2015: PDP still struggling against the odds

    Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan, in this report highlights the odds against the efforts of Peoples Democratic Party to govern Borno State

    Right from the inception of the current democratic experiment in 1999, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in spite of its huge presence in the northern geo-political zones of the country, has found itself remaining in the opposition in Borno State.

    Borno State, which is a strategic one politically and geographically, now under the leadership of the newly formed All Progressive Congress (APC), was administered by the defunct All Peoples Party (APP) and the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) respectively.

    And in spite of contesting and losing the governorship election in the state on four different occasions, the PDP remains determined to change the near age-long identity of the state as an opposition state by replacing the current APC administration with that of the ruling PDP in 2015.

    Towards achieving this obviously uneasy task, several efforts are being made by both the state chapter of the PDP and its national leadership. While chieftains of the party in the state continue to put the Governor Kashim Shettima-led administration on its toes, through incessant criticism and outcries, the national leadership of the party daily plots how to ensure its victory in the state come 2015.

    As part of this moves, on July 25, 2013, the national leadership of the party invited PDP chairmen, secretaries, treasurers, youths and women leaders of all non-PDP states, namely; Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Nasarawa, Imo, Anambra, Edo, Borno, Zamfara, and Yobe to a parley where the 2015 governorship election was discussed.

    The party also received report of state of affairs in their various chapters and also suggested ways of strengthening the chapters in preparation for the forthcoming gubernatorial contests.

    Speaking after the meeting which lasted for almost three hours, a leader of the party, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, said the party would take over the leadership in 13 non-PDP states once the disagreements among its members were resolved. Mantu said from the deliberations, it was discovered that some sections of the country had been short-changed in the sharing of political positions, particularly the cabinet slots.

    The former Deputy Senate President pointed out that Borno State had always been given a Grade C position by PDP-led governments, assuring that all efforts would be made to ensure that it is corrected while all issues arising from other grievances are addressed.

    The Nation also learnt that a plot to ensure victory for the PDP in Borno State as well as its neighbouring Yobe State, has been hatched by the party’s leadership following fears that it may lose Adamawa State to the opposition in 2015.

    Currently being coordinated by the zonal leadership of the party in the North-East, the agenda is for the party to win the next gubernatorial election in the state at all cost. The governors of Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba states, according to sources, have been mandated to support the plan with logistics.

    Mohammed Wakili, North East Acting National Vice Chairman of the party, confirmed the determination of the PDP to win the state in 2015. According to him, the party has been struggling and will continue to struggle until its candidate emerges as the governor of the state.

    “As a party, we will continue to struggle and the other parties will also struggle. Everybody has to play his part. But we will emerge the winners this time. If you are a good student of Borno politics you would have noticed this kind of attempt in 2007and even in the last election.

    “We as a party did our best to capture the state and we even challenged the election; meaning that the election was characterised by a lot of malpractices. So you try for something only for somebody to come up and use malpractice to do away with your mandate.

    “That does not mean we are not struggling. This is politics. We are struggling and we want to assure you that in the zonal office that we are coming in, our intention is to capture Borno and Yobe states. Our intention is to make our zone a PDP zone.”

    The state chairman of PDP, Alhaji Baba Basharu, while recently boasting of his party’s preparation for the 2015 poll said: “We will retrieve the mandate of the PDP in the state which was falsely snatched from us through the court and not through the ballot papers. The PDP would be the next occupiers of the Borno State Government House after the 2015 elections.

    “In 2011, the current deputy governor and some of their cohorts left the party; yet, we were able to capture two senatorial seats out of the three, including the one of the then sitting governor, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff. We also got two House of Representatives and considerable number of state assembly members. Please, note, we rose to that level from zero representation,” he said.

    But in spite of the confidence being exuded by PDP chieftains over its readiness to spring a surprise in Borno State, analysts say there are too many odds against the party in the northeastern state, chief among which is the formidable nature of the ruling APC.

    “It will be difficult for PDP to win here in 2015. The closest they came were in 2003 and then in 2007. On both occasions, Alhaji Kashim Imam, arguably one of the most visible faces of the party in Borno, contested but lost the governorship elections.

    “In 2011, largely because of the many internal wrangling within the party, it failed woefully. Imam was poised to get the party’s ticket for a record third time but was schemed out by conflicting interests in Abuja. In protest, Imam allegedly consented to a political understanding with the All Nigeria Peoples Party.

    “As a result of this understanding, his then running mate, Zanna Mustapha, emerged as running mate to the governorship candidate of the ANPP, Kashim Shettima. Shettima eventually won the elections. Imam was said to have approved the move by many of his supporters to defect to the ANPP.

    “The party has not recovered from that blow. Rather, it has found itself in more and more troubles. If PDP couldn’t win the election when it was one indivisible party, then I doubt if it can even make an impact in 2015. Yes, we are aware of several plots and efforts to ensure its victory but its house is currently in disarray,” Comrade Hassan Bala, a pro-democracy activist based in Maiduguri, told The Nation.

    The Nation also learnt that the many crises rocking the party, both locally and nationally, may have led to massive loss of confidence in the party by its members as reflected by the high level of defections of party faithful into the APC.

    What started with the defection of the Deputy State Chairman of the PDP, Habu Hamman; State Secretary, Mallam Gana Radu; and Woman Leader, Hajia Fati Kakena into the APC, led to hundred of party chieftains across the state abandoning the party within weeks.

    Claiming that their defection was based on the achievements recorded by the Kashim-led administration, the defectors, who were received into their new party by Governor Kashim Shettima, condemned the multiple divisions within the PDP in its entirety.

    “We the Borno State Executive Committee members of Peoples Democratic Party in Borno State have voluntarily resigned and withdrawn our membership from the party and shifted our loyalty to All Progressives Congress under the leadership of Kashim Shettima, Executive Governor of Borno State.

    “We as members of the State Executive Committee of PDP decided to take such decision due to some developmental achievements carried out by the present administration that touch the lives of the common man in the state.

    “We shall continue to give our support to this administration on developmental aspects in the state. Despite all the security challenges facing the state for years, we witnessed tremendous achievements by this administration.”

    Barely two weeks later, fifteen state party officials and 17 members of the Hawul Local Government Council chapter executive committee of the party, as well as 31 campaign officials, who ran the campaign for Mohammadu Goni, the PDP candidate during the 2011 governorship elections, also defected to the APC.

    This new set of defectors accused the federal government of neglecting the state and its people during their most trying period. They said the President Jonathan-led federal government “gave Borno State a paltry N200m as relief after giving over N20bn to Cross River State.”

    Few weeks after that, sixteen executive members of the PDP from Gubio Local Government Area of the state have dumped the party. Expectedly, they moved over to the APC.

    Those who defected include the PDP Chairman of the local government, secretary; ward leaders, youth and women leaders of the party in the area. The defectors cited lack of vision and good leadership in the PDP as reasons for their movement.

    As the 2015 general election in the state draws nearer, many political observers are of the opinion that while the APC is consolidating its hold on the politics of the state, the rival PDP is also unrelenting in its struggle to govern the state.

  • Anambra supplementary poll holds Nov 30 – Jega

    Anambra supplementary poll holds Nov 30 – Jega

    Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Attahiru Jega Saturday announced November 30, 2013 for Anambra supplementary election.

    Jega, who confirmed that the Returning Officer declared the poll inconclusive admitted that the election “was not the best by the commission.”

    He regrets irregularities encountered during the exercise.