The Nation Newspaper

Category: Politics

  • My plan for Anambra, by Obiano

    The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate in the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State, Dr. Willie Obiano, spoke with reporters in Onitsha on his plans for the state. AUGUSTINE AVWODE reports.

    How has the campaign been?

    We are still on it and I enjoy every bit of it because, for me, it is expository. Though as a son of the soil, I had visited many parts of the state before, the campaign has afforded me the opportunity of visiting more places. I am confident that, before the election proper, I would have visited all the 177 communities in the state. If you have followed my campaign, you would have noticed that it is more of grassroots sensitization. Some people say I should buy airtime in all the electronic media, including CNN. I have watched some of those adverts and my conclusion is that what they show us is the confirmation that they are not worthy of leadership in any capacity, not to talk of being the governor of a state.

    How do you mean?

    Take the case of an advert where a particular candidate goes to different schools in the state, going to a school where three out of the, may be, existing six buildings had been rehabilitated, and he takes those yet to be rehabilited and presents them as the state of Anambra schools. I have personally done on the spot visits of projects going on in the state for a first hand understanding of what obtains in Anambra State. One area Governor Peter Obi has done marvelously well is education. Now, the man doing selective shooting is merely showing us his deceptive character. You cannot, because you are standing for election, categorically propagate that the incumbent is doing nothing. This shows that you are inherently deceptive and will continue to deceive the people in whatever capacity you find yourself.

    What would be your policy thrust, if you are elected the next governor?

    Governor Obi has done so well and we must commend him. Going round the state, I saw many completed projects and many on-going projects. I discovered that, apart from roads, where Ngige did his best, it is only Governor Peter Obi that has touched all sectors. You know, as much as I do, that development is nothing, if it is not integral; it must touch the very being of those for whom it is meant. On roads, I saw on-going road projects like the Amasea-Ndiukwuenu road, Atani-Ozubulu, Amansea-Ebenebe-Ugbene-Ugbenu etc., Ekwulobia-Ekwulumiri, Umuoji and many road contracts. I saw many completed bridges and many that are still on-going. I saw the impressive work in our schools, as well as the great efforts to work on the environment. I saw many on-going and completed small town water schemes as well as the on-going rehabilitation of Onitsha Major Water Scheme. I saw the great improvement in the health sector. I have visited the teaching hospital in Awka, the Umueri General Hospital, the Holy Rosary, Onitsha; Iyienu Hospital, Ogidi; Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Ihiala; St. Joseph’s Hospital, Adazi-Nnukwu, and others. I interacted with pensioners and they told me how the governor liquidated the arrears of pension and gratuities owed them since 1999. The judiciary told me that Obi was the first to give them official vehicles.

    In the area of value re-orientation, those who know Obi acknowledge him as a man of his words, who leads by example. In his tenure, scandal is not part of the life of the state. I have watched with satisfaction how he tries to project men of worth as models to be emulated. I have also observed that, through partnership with credible organisations, such as the church, he is achieving more in the area of education and health. In my efforts to understand Anambra State, I have read many literatures on the state, particularly as they apply to the recent history of the state. I am enthused about the awards Governor Obi has won in the areas of prudence, education, immunisation coverage, among others. Generally, one can say with every assurance that the governor has lifted Anambra State from the dungeon, and what the state needs now is somebody that will keep the lifting it sky-bound.

    This is why we have predicated our campaign on three Cs: complete the on-going projects, commission them, and commence new ones. The Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS) is working, and we have no need to jettison it. Modelled after the Millennium Development Goals expected to end by 2015, ANIDS is sure to receive the full support of my administration. The United Nations is right now working on Post 2015 Plan, and I assure you that as Obi keyed into the MDG, we shall key into the Post 2015 Plan.

    Governor Obi appears to be spending a lot of money on projects and he keeps saying that part of the money is sourced outside. How would you cope with this?

    My background revolves around keeping records of money and what one may call “growing of money.” For nine years, I was the number two man in the Fidelity Bank. I am not alien to the language and rules of money, how it is attracted, grown and deployed into productive ventures. This is why I tell the people of Anambra State that you must know the antecedents of the people who want to be their governor. As a banker like myself, Governor Obi knows where money is and that is why he has been able to attract it. He has not come openly to announce that because some anti-people politicians among us will try to sabotage the efforts. Those intricacies are familiar to me and I will harness them effectively for the good of the state. You might be surprised to know that some of those jostling to become governor know very little or nothing about the IMF and the workings of other related organisations. Like the banks, these international organisations are thorough in dealing with money, even if as grants. International organisations do not extend grants to institutions headed by questionable characters. Obi enjoys cosy relationship with these agencies because of his prudent and stable character. These things are not rocket science. If, for example, you are a banker who has free money to offer and three people come forward, would you give to a spendthrift, to a chronic debtor, to one noted for not honoring agreements, to a loafer or to any person with negative tendencies? Money, whether free or not, is better given to those who know its language and deploy it effectively. So, gentlemen, when it comes to money and doing anything with it, trust my expertise. My running mate is also an expert in monetary matters. He read monetary economics to Ph.D level. He has worked tangentially with international development agencies and is an astute lecturer who also consults for some of these organisations.

  • Enugu: A fertile ground for APC, APGA

    In this piece, CHIDI OGBUEFU examines the controversial Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairmanship and councillorship primaries in Enugu State and contends that the state can become a fertile ground for the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), if they put their acts together.

    Following the general belief that corruption is the bane of grassroots development and because of the need to strengthen the overall electoral processes in the country, most Nigerians clamour for the total abolition of the state electoral commissions and the State-Local Government Joint Account System. They argue that it was meant to check the excesses of some fraudulent state governments, who use the agencies to foist their surrogates as conduits to siphon the council statutory allocations at the expense of the rural populace. From one state to another, the breach assumes different dimension.

    Many people have alleged that these vices also manifest in Enugu State. There have been allegations of massive rigging of local government elections and hijacking of the funds meant for that tier of government. Thus, the grassroots are being utterly impoverished. Critics contend that these are being facilitated through the joint account arrangement and the state-‘dependent’ electoral commission.

    Governor Sullivan Chime-led government made a sharp departure in some critical areas from that of Chimaroke Nnamani, his godfather and benefactor. Following the public outcry that trailed his party primaries and the manner he cowed the opposition parties into his government, an unprecedented apathy greeted the first general council elections he conducted in December 2007.

    But because the leadership of other parties had suddenly become agents of the PDP, there was no moral basis for challenging the outcome of the predetermined election results, including the subsequent ones in 2009 and 2011. The few members of the opposition, who were courageous to speak up were intimidated.

    The only selling point of the regime was the chorused tunes by the council chairmen that their allocations were coming intact. Honestly, many believed it and even sang along. This particularly ,was because of the artificial difficulty in drawing a distinction between state and local government projects.

    In other words, he was apparently making judicious exploitation of the joint account mechanism, where he was actually helping the councils spend their monies in the name of uniform development through counterpart funding. But with time, the truth began to emerge. Bob Marley, it was, who sang that you can fool the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.

    A conservative comparison of the actual amount earmarked for the 17 council areas with what is on the ground would reveal the magnitude of loss the people were being forced to suffer.

    Sad enough, it has continued unabated, which, no doubt, necessitated the vehemence in calling for the abolishment of state-local government joint allocation account, among others. Enugu’s experience presently is so peculiar that it is just a privileged few that are being enriched by the proceeds of this organised economic rapeThe national president of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Nwabueze Okafor of Enugu South council openly admitted on a radio phone-in programme that, contrary to popular belief, council funds were being tampered with by the state government even to the extent of leaving the local governments with practically nothing aside the statutory overhead costs.

    It is undisputedly an understatement to say that Enugu is about the only state where powers to legislate on local government administration are being grossly abused. It is also not possible to ascertain the true staff strength of the council workers in the state.

    This unfortunate subjugation of local governments in Enugu State was advanced penultimate week during the PDP primaries ,preparatory to the November 2 council polls. The exercise was marked by sheer absence of internal democracies statewide.

    It was designed such a way that stakeholders from various local governments could come as a delegation to confer with the governor on how to select their candidates. In Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s Aninri, the chairman was cruelly persecuted before he could get back his ticket. Reason was just because it was the Deputy Senate President that originally nominated him. Either Jide Chime or Sullivan has been slated to take up Ekweremadu’s seat in 2015, the same way that of Gilbert Nnaji has been reserved for Nwobodo as a parting gift for her roles.

    Another prominent casualty was Vita Abba, the state PDP chairman, who despite prostrating severally for Nwobodo, could still not deliver his aide as the party’s standard bearer in his Nsukka Council. It is instructive that Abba was prevailed upon to drop his gubernatorial ambition to remain involved in the scheme of things in the post-2015 Enugu State.

    An anecdote to show how Chime has sold his birthright was in Enugu-North where the trio of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Chime Oji, his mother, May Oji, who is also elder sister of Governor Chime and Jide Chime combined efforts to replace the incumbent chairman, Emeka Ede.

    The implication of this wicked and treacherous move marked the beginning of enmity between the council chairman and this elder statesman.

    The other interesting irony was that the duo of the Nkanu-West and Enugu-South council chairmen could not make input in the overall processes of deciding their successors. While Nwabueze Okafor projected one Obiora Ogbodo (a.k.a Apiti) as his anointed successor, Ekene Okenwa, not only built a hous,e but married for his cousin, Collins Arum, whom he had celebrated as eminently qualified to take over from him come November 2, 2013.

    Little did they realise that it is a grave offence against her majesty to aspire to be relevant until after 2015. While Nwabueze Okafor was accused of nursing senatorial ambition, using his current status as ALGON helmsman, Ekene Okenwa was dismissed as being over-ambitious.

    The chief victims are Senator Nnaji, former Senators Jim Nwobodo and Nnamani, and former Secretary to the Government, Onyemauche Nnamani. Nana Ogbodo and Ben Nwonye, who once variously contested for the Senate, are being pressurised to drop their ambitions.

    Her present preoccupation is going from one traditional ruler within Enugu-East Senatorial District to another blackmailing them into rooting for her and also requesting them to nominate their children or wards for state government appointment.

    The only reason councilors were given automatic return ticket was just that they are yet to complete the car loan repayment, irrespective of performance.

    These developments have combined to present Enugu as a fertile ground for the opposition parties, if only they are perceptive enough. Majority of the PDP faithful in the state now live in apprehension of what would become of the party in the long run relative to how Ifeoma Nwobodo is running the party as a personal venture. PDP’s loss should be a gain for others.

    The rest of the story is captured in an online publication by an American-based Enugu State born Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba, which he dubbed “Great Political Gaps Are Opening in Enugu for Parties Other Than PDP”.

    It goes thus: “As has been the practice in the past, the Tin God of Enugu, Mr. Sullivan Chime, sat in a corner office and selected the would-be-chairmen. There was no open primary political campaign and the ordinary party card holders had no involvement. No open election in the wards where delegates were elected or where the people voted. I called home to various wards in Oji River to ask who was running. I could not find one person who knew the candidates.

    They did not even know when the general election would take place. I had to tell them that the PDP nomination was already over. This method of selection is why an opening has been created for APGA and APC.

    There is a different name for the government of the few, for the few, and by the few, and it is not democracy. If APGA and APC abstain from LGA elections in Enugu and other states, they would have allowed the status quo to continue and they would have nobody to blame but themselves. The parties would have allowed a great opportunity to pass them by. They would have done Enugu people a great disservice. They would have also done themselves in.

    Internal party competition during the primaries brings out the best candidate to represent the party. External competition during the general election brings out the best person to run the local government, the State and the nation.

    APGA and APC would also use this opportunity for the local government elections as a practice run for the gubernatorial and presidential competitions. There will not be any other pre-season or trials. This is the time to make mistakes and learn from their mistakes. Enugu State is open for business. Do we have interested investors?”

  • ‘New PDP can’t last in Kwara’

    ‘New PDP can’t last in Kwara’

    Kwara State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and former Works Commissioner Afolabi Yunus told reporters in Lagos that the original members of the party are not part of the insurgency led by the factional national chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE was there.

    You are the former Principal Secretary to the former Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Kawu Baraje, who is leading the splinter group, nPDP. Is the faction justifiable?

    I am not one of the people supporting Baraje in the venture to divide the PDP with their self-styled nPDP, which has no place in Kwara State politics and Nigeria in general. As a result of that, I am not with him at all. We are not even happy that he can go to that length because we believe that, having been given the opportunity to serve as the National Secretary by Baba Saraki (may his gentle soul rest in peace), and had the opportunity of becoming the Acting National Chairman, he should remain loyal to the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan. But with all these, Kawu Baraje still went ahead to sabotage the government, considering that he was also given the position of the Chairmanship of the Board of Nigerian Railway Corporation. I believe that it is in Baraje’s character to betray the hands the feed him. Available records show that Bukola Saraki was even against Baraje taking that position. But he went ahead and took that appointment and, at the same time, he is now working against the same government that gave him that opportunity to serve.

    Not only that. Back home, I know Kawu Baraje very well. I am his senior when we talk about politics because I had the opportunity of being a member of the defunct Constitutional Conference in 1994 and I even served under Bukola Saraki Administration in the first tenure. I was Commissioner for Works and Transport between 2003 and 2007, while Kawu Baraje was made Permanent Secretary under Saraki’s government and this appointment was given to him by Baba Saraki because all forces were against Kawu Baraje as a civil servant then becoming Permanent Secretary. But Baba Saraki insisted that Kawu Baraje should be considered for that post. Having been given that post, he served as Permanent Secretary all through and thereafter, Baba Saraki still considered this same Kawu Baraje for the last Constitutional Conference in 2005. It was immediately after that that Baba still nominated this same Kawu Baraje for the position of the National Secretary, and it was when he got there that he started nursing the ambition of working against Baba Saraki’s interest when he teamed up with Bukola to supplant Baba in Kwara politics.

    What is wrong in Baraje’s decision to back former Governor Saraki?

    The general public will agree with me that the step Baraje took against Baba Saraki was an unfortunate step because, having had the opportunities from Baba, people expected him to advise Senator Bukola Saraki against taking steps against Baba Saraki. But he went ahead and gave Senator Bukola the support and ensured that they worked against Baba. So, as a result of this, I am seeing Kawu Baraje as a betrayer when you consider the fact that he betrayed his political mentor in Kwara State and now he has betrayed the President at the national level. Even, while he was in office, he had the opportunity of becoming the NAMA Chairman. All these are enough for him to have advised Bukola against the unfortunate step he took against Baba Saraki.

    Don’t you see any element of truth in what Baraje is fighting for now in the PDP?

    There is no truth in what he is fighting. He is only being selfish and arrogant. In fact, I want to say he is just being parochial. He is narrow minded and that is why they are now just pursuing their own self-styled PDP. It is surprising to many people to hear Kawu Baraje calling himself the Chairman of the new PDP. What sort of new PDP? The original PDP is the only future for Nigeria. We don’t recognise any new PDP or the self-styled version of PDP that they want to bring into place. There is no place for nPDP in Kwara and I know that it has no place in Nigeria. So, for that reason, any reasonable person will not join them because we know they are just buying time.

    I want to even say that I know they have made up their mind about where they are going. Maybe they have another party in mind and they are just buying time with what they are doing. That is just my observation.

    But the new PDP is in control of the government and the structure in Kwara. They produced the governor, the former governor and Kawu Baraje

    The original PDP is still on ground in Kwara State and the PDP in Kwara State has no problem with anybody. People are still interested in the PDP. It is only the way Senator Bukola and his team are managing the affairs of the PDP, that is why some people want to criticise the PDP. But really, the original PDP is on ground in Kwara State and people are prepared to go with the PDP. Those that call themselves the new PDP in Kwara State, we don’t know how they will define it. We don’t know what they will tell us, whether they are a faction of PDP and that they want to have a say in the PDP. No. Majority of the people in Kwara State today are tired of the leadership of Bukola. Baraje even has no place politically.

    You are saying that the loyalists of the mainstream PDP are still in Kwara now, despite the firm control by Bukola and the governor?

    They are still intact. We are very many and people are just waiting for time to come when this self-styled PDP will move to where they belong because we believe strongly that they are not fit to be in PDP.

    The belief is that the followers of original PDP or late Dr Olusola Saraki have moved to the ACPN, which he endorsed before he died

    I want to say that before now, Baba Saraki directed everybody in Kwara State to remain in the PDP. So, the issue of the ACPN in Kwara State is not happening now. Even long before now, while Baba was alive, he directed that nobody should go to any other party, whether CPC or ACN. He said they should all remain in the PDP. Everybody returned to the PDP while Baba was still alive. As far as I’m concerned, Baba never asked us to go to any other party and that is why we remain within PDP.

    But what of Senator Gbemi Saraki, who was fielded on the platform of the ACPN as the governorship candidate?

    I want to tell you that, at that time, it was just a kind of arrangement that came up. We started everything. I was in the PDP too with Baba, but it got to a level that Bukola just said he wanted to hold on to the PDP and let other people go wherever they like. So, that led to the introduction of the ACPN, which was short-lived. But immediately after that election, everybody dropped whatever allegiance they had with the ACPN. It happened within the election period and, immediately after the election, we dropped the idea of anything ACPN. Baba Saraki instructed us to be in PDP and that’s why all along, we have been in PDP. We are still card carrying members of the PDP.

    Are you saying that all the supporters of Oloye Saraki are now back in the PDP?

    All loyalists of Baba Saraki are in PDP. As I’m talking to you, I’m a card carrying member of PDP and I have my membership card with me. So we are still card carrying members of PDP.

    You are supposed to know the National leader of nPDP, Kawu Baraje inside out, do you see him as somebody who fights for principles because what the new PDP is telling us is that they are fighting on the principle of liberating the party from a few persons?

    Very far from that. They are the people that want to introduce a kind of selfishness into the PDP. They are not objective at all. When Baraje was even the National Secretary, the attributes of a good politician were never seen in him at all and efforts to advise him on that did not succeed. He would rather try to play his own parochial interest and have his way and when people come to see Baraje as the National Secretary, he would rather ask them to go and see the Special Assistant or the Principal Assistant. He was literally avoiding people and as a politician, you need not avoid people. You are supposed to listen to people and table solutions to whatever deplorable condition that is before you. But instead of that, Baraje would be avoiding people and as such, I don’t see him as a serious politician. He is not fighting for the interests of the people and he is not fighting for the grassroots. Instead, he is pursuing his own selfish end and that’s why I’m now saying that he’s not fit to be in politics because if you are a politician, you must listen to the masses and table solutions to deplorable conditions before you.

    What about Senator Bukola Saraki? You have worked with him; do you see him fighting for principles?

    I have worked with Senator Bukola and I want to say that he too has not been working for the principle of the common man. Rather, Bukola will bring people from nowhere so that, at the end of the day, they will be responsible only to him. Bukola will not carry the indigenes of Kwara along. Many of us were just pushed aside by Bukola and he will go to Lagos, go to Kaduna, go to Kano, bring in those people that have nowhere to point to as their base.

  • Stakeholders to Jonathan: there must be ‘no-go’ areas

    Stakeholders to Jonathan: there must be ‘no-go’ areas

    The Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference flagged off consultations with stakeholders in Akure, the Ondo State capital, last weekend. BISI OLADELE, who captured the thrills and frills of the forum, reports that the Yoruba, other ethnic groups and stakeholders made emotional presentations and insisted that ethnic nationalities must discuss the basis for peaceful co-existence.

    It was an emotional session in Akure, the capital of Ondo State. The various groups and individuals presented and submitted their memoranda for the proposed national conference with passion. The time was exerpt for the ethnic leaders, groups, community leaders, professionals, students, women and politicians to address the national question.

    At 11.30 a.m, the Babafunke Ajasin Auditorium Akure was filled to capacity. In spite of the perceived short notice, the interest groups managed to prepare their positions. At the end of the meeting, the committee had a good idea of public feeling.

    Presentations were made by interest groups, including the Afenifere, the Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO), the Afenifere Renewal Group, the Yoruba Unity Forum, the Arogbo Ijaw Community, Ijaw Study Group, Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi, Chief Ayo Adebanjo and the constitutional lawyer, Dr Tunji Abayomi.

    The groups were different, but their demands were similar. They include lack of restriction on subjects to be discussed at the conference, discussion of the terms of engagement, opposition to subjecting the outcome of the conference to the National Assembly and true federalism.

    The programme commenced at exactly 2.35 p.m, shortly after committee members arrived at the venue. It had been slated for 1.30 p.m, but stakeholders waited patiently. About 90 per cent of participants were, however, groups and individuals from Ondo State.

    Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko saluted President Jonathan’s courage for creating the platform for Nigerians to discuss their future.

    He described it as “the right step in the right direction,” pointing out that the outcome of the confab would provide the framework for a new Nigeria.

    The Chairman of the committee, Dr Okunrohunmu, urged participants to restrict their presentations to the terms of reference. They are the structure of the national conference, it’s composition, mode of selecting candidates, it’s size and what should form the agenda of the talk shop. Each group or individual was given five minutes to make presentations.

    The Movement for National Reformation set the tone for the discussion. The group proposed that the structure of the conference should be based on ethnic nationalities. According to the group, each nationality should be allowed to determine whether it will stay or leave Nigeria. It emphasised that representations of the nationalities should be equal.

    The Yoruba socio-political group, the Afenifere, also submitted its proposals. Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who represented the group, reeled out facts to support claims that Nigeria is a mere geographical location in desperate need of a confab to negotiate its continued existence. He cited several examples and references to confirm that the belief cuts across the geo-political zones.

    Afenifere proposed a sovereign conference, but which will not hurt the existing sovereign government. The group said that sovereignty belongs to the people, hence, outcome of the conference should not be tampered with by the Federal Government.

    “We insist on a national conference with sovereign power, with regard to the implementation of the decisions of the conference. Only a referendum should be conducted.” Adebanjo said.

    The group also insisted that the nationality question is the most important subject to be discussed at the confab. Afenifere said the conference should be peopled by ethnic nationalities, the civil society, students, labour, women and professional groups, adding that delegates should emerge through election.

    To Afenifere, delegates should be 700. Each of the six ego-political zones should produce 100 while the remaining 100 should be representatives of professional and other groups. It wants the conference to sit for only six months.

    The group also said that the outcome of the conference should be subjected to a referendum and be approved by the Presidency after which it would be sent to the National Assembly.

    The Yoruba Unity Forum, proposed that political parties should not play any role in selecting, appointing or electing delegates. It also proposed that delegates should be representatives of nationalities from the same zone.

    The Forum recommended a manageable size that is representative of the stakeholders. It proposed 400 delegates, with 91 per cent allotted to ethnic nationalities and the rest allocated to other interest groups.

    On the legal framework for the confab, the Forum suggested that the President should initiate an executive bill to the National Assembly for legitimising the conference.

    The group also suggested that the outcome of the conference should be subjected to a referendum and later sent to the National Assembly for ratification as the new constitution.

    The group’s position was read by Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu on behalf of Bishop Gbonigi.

    In its own proposal, PRONACO suggested. But the group said that 600 delegates each nationality to hold a conference to select their delegates and discuss their presentations at the confab.

    The group also suggested that the outcome of the conference to be the new working document for Nigeria.

    The Ondo State Chapter of the ARG expressed fear that the conference may be another jamboree like the previous ones whose outcomes were not applied in solving the nation’s problems.

    However, the group proposed that the committee should ensure that politics does not override the aim of the conference.

    “Let it be discussed whether Nigeria is one and, if the country still wants to be one and on what terms? People who want to pull out of Nigeria should be given an opportunity to express themselves without fear,” it group said.

    The group also recommended true representation, in cases of clusters of ethnic groups in the same local government, adding that resolutions at the conference should be acceptable to the majority of Nigerians. It also urged the committee to make use of the report of the Justice Uwais committee on electoral reform and other relevant reports.

    For the Arogbo Ijaw Community and Ijaw Study Group, which believe that the country is “recklessly sliding down the precipice,” the prediction in 2015 should be averted. “Hence this conference is good. This conference will lay a solid foundation for the crumbling edifice,” the group said.

    They proposed that the conference should be composed entirely by ethnic nationalities because each has distinct history, values, hopes and aspirations. The two group described the nationalities as the real federating units, lamenting that they never had the opportunity to discuss their terms of engagement. “Ijaw would have opted for their sovereign nation, if given the opportunity,” they said.

    In its memorandum, the groups want all ethnic nationalities to bring all issues and their positions up for discussion, emphasizing that the outcome should form the basis for the continued relationship of the various nationalities. “The National Assembly, as presently constituted, is part of the Nigerian fraud. The outcome cannot go to them. Sovereignty belongs to the people,” they insisted.

    They also proposed that the conference should wind up towards the end of the tenure of the current administration, saying the new constitution must be the basis for the 2015 election.

    “There must be ‘no-go’ area. Every issue shall be discussed, including the desire by any nationality to opt out.”

    Other groups that made presentations at the forum included the Atayese, National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) Ondo State Chapter, youths organisations, the Ondo Roundtable, Irele Ikale Ethnic Nationality and the Ilaje Development Forum.

    The constitutional lawyer, Dr Tunji Abayomi, said the outcome should not be subjected to the NAtional Assembly because the lawmaking organ derived its sovereignty from the people they represent. According to him, it will be illogical for representatives to tamper with the will of the people.

    He also said that the conference should not be restricted on the subjects to be discussed adding that ethnic representation should be de-emphasised. He suggested the emergence of delegates through both election and representation for a balance.

    “We have enough ethnic emotion. We should not aggravate it. The better option is election and representation for a balance.

    “National Assembly is an agent of people. People have the sovereignty,” he said.

    He also argued that the current constitution lacks 10 validating factors, which the conference must correct.

    At the forum were traditional rulers, including the Deji of Akure; Oba Adesida Afunbiowo, Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Victor Kiladejo, the Olugbo of Ugboland; Oba Obateru Akinruntan, and the Olowo of Owo, Oba Folagbade Olateru-Ologbegi – all in Ondo State.

    Others are the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the last year election in Ondo State, Mr Olusola Oke, Senator Meroyi and the Secretary, Yoruba Unity Forum, Dr Kunle Olajide.

  • Endless committees, no white paper

    Endless committees, no white paper

    Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the committees set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to study many problems confronting the country and the implication of dumping their reports into the waste bin.

    Nigerians are sceptical about President Goodluck Jonathan’s proposed National Conference. They hinge their suspicion on the inconsistencies and the ad-hoc approach of his administration to sensitive issues. The government has set up many committees to study critical national problems. But it developed cold feet in implementing the reports.

    As the Acting President in 2010, Dr Jonathan set up a 26-member Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) headed by Gen. Theophilius Danjuma to advise on policy issues. PAC, in its report, urged him to reduce the size of government so that money can be saved for the development of the infrastructure.

    The committee’s recommendation was ignored by the President, who initially, created the impression that he was averse to bloated and wasteful government. The number of committees/task forces that have, so far, been set up calls to question the sincerity of the administration to genuinely cut down the cost of governance.

    Observers contend that, rather than conserve resources and plug all the loopholes in the system, the government is opening up more leakages that are bound to impact negatively on the polity and the economy. It has piled up over 20 extra-ministerial committees, in addition to the huge number of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

    The plethora of committees and task forces, whose reports are gathering dust in the cabinet include the Police Reform Committee, Presidential Advisory Committee on Constitution Amendment, the Ibrahim Bunu Project Assessment Committee, Restructuring of Government Agencies Committee, Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission and Pension Fund Reform Task Team. Others are Task Force on Management control within Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Committee on Transparency in oil sector, Committee to Monitor Oil Export, Presidential Committee on Road Infrastructure, Food Fund Raising Committee, Committee for Abuja Park and Zoo and Presidential Committee on Security Challenges and Amnesty for Boko Haram insurgents.

     

    Will conference report be

    implemented?

     

    The fear of many Nigerians is that the report of the Committee on National Conference and the recommendations of the National Conference may end in the waste bin.

    The Chairman of the Transition Monitoring Committee (TMG), Mr Moshood Erubami, said the motive of President Jonathan in organising the national conference has failed because it was not well intentioned.

    Erubami said: “The National Conference is not well intentioned. Planning conference now when the general election is due in 2015 is a master stroke for tenure elongation. It will take the planning committee, at least, three months to conclude its preparation and turn in its report. This government, known for its tardiness in implementing reports, may take another two or three months to come out with its position on the committee’s recommendations.

    “The deliberation in the National Conference itself may take another six months. If there are issues of sharp disagreement among delegates, the conference will be deadlocked as it happened when the Obasanjo regime organised a constitutional conference. By the time you know what is happening, it will be too late to organise 2015 elections.

     

    Strategy for tenure elongation

     

    “We won’t have time to arrange for election. The President will now decide when to hold election. They are using the national conference as a shield against 2015 because they know Nigerians are fed up with the lacklustre performance of this administration.

    “National Conference is the brain work of the political strategists in the Presidency. They believe it will be stalemated and that will make it impossible for election to hold in 2015 so that the President’s party will have more time to put its house in order.”

    The President, according to Erubami has exposed his diabolical intension by saying that he will send the conference report to the National Assembly for approval. The final authority on the outcome of the conference is the people, who will through a referendum accept or reject the report, he said.

    “If the National Assembly is doing well, there will be no need of national conference. The National Assembly is a conference on its own that ought to give us a new constitution.”

    Erubami said the conference will not hold and it will not serve the interest of the people. Nothing positive will come out of the conference and that is why people like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu described it as a distration, he said.

     

    Diversionary tactics

     

    Civil rights activist Shehu Sani shared Erubami. He said that the proposed national conference will produce reports that will not see the light of the day.

    Sani said: “It will amount to self deception for anyone to think that Jonathan’s government will embrace and implement critical views of Nigerians from the conference, given his failure to tolerate dissenting views within his party-the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He added: “The national conference is another diversionary circus aimed at setting the North against the South in a war of words that will only overheat the polity. It is blackmail and a mischievous political chess game meant to hang the fate of the nation on the continuity of the Jonathan regime.

    “It is technically impossible to organise a meaningful and orderly conference at a time when the President, members of the National Assembly and governors are out on re-election campaigns. Thus, it will be a waste of time and resources on the part of those who will take the pain to write and submit their volumes of memoranda to the conference.

    “This government, like its predecessor, has not implemented any committee report and undoubtedly, this conference will meet its fate of dust. The conference will only be embraced and attended by people who have enough time to waste and government protégées.”

    The Director-General, Electoral Institute of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Abubakar Momoh, faulted the appointment of the planning committee by the President. It is a misnomer, he said.

     

    Faulty composition

     

    Momoh said what is is on the ground is the Presidential National Conference and not people-driven conference. According to him, the President has set the tone of the conference report because the committee put in place by him would ensure that the report reflects his thinking.

    “By setting up the committee, the President has pre-determined the outcome of the report. We should not expect a report that would re-shape the country from a national conference holding at the initiative of the President.

    “The President assumed that the national conference is the prerogative of his office, hence, we should expect that the outcome will reflect the thinking of the Presidency, Momoh added.

    Erubami examined the composition of the Okunrounmu committee and concluded that it is made up of PDP members, the Afenifere and The Patriots who are sympathisers of the Jonathan administration. The Afenifere, according to him, has lost political influence in its regional base, the Southwest. Afenifere is now seeking relevance, in view of the fact that the emergence of the new political party, All Progressive Congress (APC), has drowned its image . Hence, it has become an unrepentant supporter of the Jonathan administration.

     

    History repeating itself

     

    A lawyer, Emeka Ngige, said nothing would come out of the national conference or dialogue because the composition of the planning committee were made up of the President’s party men or political allies. The terms of reference were tailored to serve the President’s interest.

    Ngige said history is repeating itself. He recalled how former President Olusegun Obasanjo organised a constitutional conference headed by Justice Nikki Tobi, which was intended to legitimise his third term bid. The conference collapsed when the Northern delegates pulled out. Jonathan may be playing out similar script, he said.

     

    Pre-determined conference

    report

     

    Analysts say the report of the committee is easy to predict, going by its terms of reference. According to observers, the agenda for the proposed conference will reflect the president’s interest and his party while the delegates will be made up largely by government appointees. Despite the fact that one of the committee’s term of reference was to advise government on the legal procedure and options for integrating the decisions of the national conference, President Jonathan has pulled the carpet off the feet of the committee, when he said unequivocally that the conference report would be referred to the National Assembly for ratification and incorporation into the constitution.

    A social critic, Bernard Briggs, said the setting up of the Okurounmu committee was faulty. “I am yet to understand the rationale for the numerous committees that are springing up every day at a time the Jonathan-led government should be thinking about running a slim government and save for the country.”

     

    Job for cronies

     

    Briggs was furious with the composition of the committee which, he said, is made up of the President’s men. For instance, he said, Tony Uranta is Jonathan’s friend, Dr Mairo Ahmed Amshi is a PDP stalwart from Yobe State, Alhaji Daiuda Birma is Bamanga’s childhood friend, Dr Akilu Indabawa was former PDP National Youth Leader, Dr Femi Okurounmu is an ally of President Jonathan while Col. Tony Anyiam is a pro-Jonathan campaigner.

    “What kind of report do we expect from this President’s foot soldiers? The conference foundation is built on sand. We don’t need a soothsayer to tell us that it will collapse. President Jonathan is using the issue of national conference to divert the attention of Nigerians from 2015 general elections. He and his party-PDP-will fail just like his predecessor, Olusegun Obasanjo failed in his tenure elongation bid.

    “The committee is not coming out with anything spectacular. The Presidency has drawn up issues to be discussed by the delegates at the conference. The delegates list is a foregone conclusion. The contraption is deliberate. It is intended to cause more confusion and over heat the polity as issues to be discussed are likely to divide the delegates and the conference will end abruptly, Briggs added.

     

    Legitimacy crisis

     

    Momoh’s main concerns are the issues to be discussed, the quality of delegates and the outcome. If people are not going to make in-puts in reshaping the country, I don’t think there is anything to expect from such gathering, he said,

    “If you don’t invite the right persons, if the real issues are not deliberated upon, then we are wasting time on trivialities. The quality of discussion and the outcome are very important. If the outcome failed to address the issues that will reshape the nation, the whole exercise is diversionary and a waste of time and resources”, he concluded.

    Briggs said the planning committee may likely remain in office after submitting its report in order to guide the conference delegates in their assignment.

    According to him, the planning committee will set up its own office or operational base and recruit ad-hoc staff that will also draw some remuneration. The committee and delegates will procure vehicles for mobility and also enjoy some allowances amongst other financial considerations.

  • Blaming National Assembly for high cost of governance is escapist, says Ndoma-Egba

    Blaming National Assembly for high cost of governance is escapist, says Ndoma-Egba

    Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba spoke with Assistant Editor Onyedi Ojiabor and Sanni Onogu on the alleged jumbo pay for members of the National Assembly.

    THE high cost of governance in the country remains an issue. The National Assembly is accused of being a major source of the drain…

    Let us put the cost of governance in perspective. First of all, you know for the many years that we had military rule, the National Assembly did not exist.

    For almost 30 years of our post independence existence, we did not have a National Assembly. And in those 30 years that the National Assembly did not exist, the cost of governance was still an issue.

    I remember I was commissioner under the military and one of the most topical issues was the cost of construction in Nigeria. It was said to be the highest in the world. That is cost of governance because it is public procurement.

    That was when the National Assembly did not exist. The cost of governance was still an issue. So, the issue of cost of governance has nothing to do in my view with the National Assembly.

    And let us come to the figures. We have maintained a budget of N150 billion in the last four or five years. Our figure has been the same. That of the judiciary has been dwindling, from N97 billion four years ago to about N60 billion.

    What has been the trend for the executive? Has it been stagnant like the National Assembly or has it dwindled like the judiciary?

    I don’t think so. That of the executive has continued to go up. Now, what is the ratio or the percentage of N150 billion, out of a national budget of approximately N4.8 trillion? It is about three per cent. So, why do we have this fixation on three per cent of the budget and not on 97 per cent of the budget? Three per cent of the budget is getting 97 per cent attention and 97 per cent of the budget is getting three per cent attention.

    What is the fixation? And now the impression out there is that ‘oh you collect this N150 billion and just share it among members of the National Assembly.

    Nothing can be more fallacious. Because one, the N150 billion includes our capital, it includes recurrent, it includes the salaries of 109 Senators, 360 members of the House of Representatives, their aides – we have a maximum of six aides – it includes the salaries of the civil servants from the Clerk to the National Assembly to the Deputy Clerk, to the Clerk of Senate, Clerk of House and to all the civil servants here down to the lowest cleaner.

    It includes the salaries of the National Assembly Service Commission, from the Chairman his Commissioners, down to the civil servants there to the lowest cleaner. It includes the salaries and allowances of the National Institute of Legislative Studies, from the Director General through the many Professors down to the cleaner. It includes our subscriptions to international parliamentary organisations. The total running cost of the National Assembly is that N150 billion out of a budget of N4.8 trillion.

    What does it cost to maintain the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation? Do we know? What does it cost to maintain a senior manager in NNPC? I am not talking of the Managing Director. Do we know? What does it cost to maintain a senior manager in Petroleum Technology Development Fund? Do we know? What does it cost to maintain a senior manager in Central Bank of Nigeria? Do we know?

    How do we reach a conclusion that this is the source of the drain when we don’t know what is happening elsewhere. It is only when you have a holistic picture of the cost of governance that you can compare. How much does it cost to keep a Minister?

    Members of the National Assembly are also accused of flamboyant life style every where they go.

    When they say we are flamboyant, do you know any senator that has a convoy? I am the Senate Leader. If you go downstairs, I drive in one car. It is only the presiding officers that have a convoy. Every other senator moves in one vehicle.

    Do you see a minister move in one vehicle? All ministers have convoys. All. So, picking or looking for a scapegoat to blame on the cost of governance is escapist as far as I am concerned. You can’t talk about the cost of governance when you don’t talk about cost of procurement, the cost of running every office. What does it cost this country to run the office of a chief executive of a parastatal? How many parastatals do we have? You have more parastatals than you have members of the National Assembly. So, I think we are being escapist and in the approach we are now reducing it to scapegoatism, tokenism.

    If you catch the National Assembly, then, that is where the cost is. When the National Assembly did not exist for 30 years, the cost of governance was an issue in this country. It has always been an issue.

    Members of the National Assembly are also accused of awarding themselves outrageous salaries, travel allowances and oversight function allowances…

    You talked about salaries. I just collected a report of the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission last week. It is the RMAFC that fixes salaries for everybody and you can compare the salary they fix for us. Is it any different from what a minister earns or the Supreme Court Justice earns or the Chief Executive of a parastatal earns? It is not different.

    So why are you insisting, if we all earn the same? Why are you insisting that my own is jumbo, their own is not jumbo. You talked about traveling allowances. When I am going on official duty, am I suppose to pay for it from my pocket? When you go on official duty do you pay for it from your salary? When a Minister is going on official duty does he pay for it from his salary? When a chief executive is going on official duty, does he pay from his salary? When a Judge is going on official duty, does he pay from his salary?

    So, how come we expect National Assembly members to go on official duties from their salaries? Why are you holding us to different standards? You have one standard for other top public officers and another standard for National Assembly members. All the trips you referred to are funded from the same N150 billion. So, if you take the salaries plus the trips, flam

  • ‘APC has better plan for Anambra’

    ‘APC has better plan for Anambra’

    Human rights activist and Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) Interim Publicity Secretary Comrade Joe Igbokwe is an indigene of Anambra State. He spoke with reporters on the party’s preparation for the November 16 governorship poll and major issues that will shape the exercise. EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

    Has did APC resolve the minor crisis that trailed the emergence of Senator Chris Ngige as its governorship candidate in Anambra State?

    Senator Chris Ngige had no serious competitor at the primaries. Ngige has a fantastic, excellent and unquestionable pedigree that tended to dwarf the personality of other candidates. Comparing Ngige and these other contestants is like comparing apple and orange. It is like comparing President Obama and President Jonathan. It is like comparing the capacity of a brand new 504 pickup with the capacity of a 30year old Mark Truck. His structures in Anambra State are formidable, alive and strong. So, what you call a crisis is the mere imagination of those that expected crisis in the emergence of Ngige, but who were disappointed in the transparent way and manner the primaries were conducted by the APC. It is a fact that, apart from Ngige, other candidates in the election are battling with serious intra-party crisis. So, there was no crisis to resolve, except in the fertile imagination of the opponents of Ngige.

    What is your assessment of Nigige’s campaign, in terms of public acceptance?

    The campaign train is moving as expected, riding the smooth roads, the bumpy roads, climbing the hills and descending with grace and dignity, breaking ossified beliefs and heresies, engaging the high and the low, drilling the deepest wells, making politics adorable. The campaign is moving with common sense, even though common sense is not common, reaching to Igbo in Nigeria and Igbo in the Diaspora. Without sounding immodest, Anambra is the engine of Igboland. Anambra State parades the highest class of intellectuals in the Southeast and Southsouth. Anambra State is one of the richest states in Nigeria. Most celebrated leaders in the East of Nigeria are from Anambra State. In Anambra State, wealth is almost distributed house to house. In fact, a school of thought says that, if Anambra State is not good, Igboland cannot be good. It is based on this compelling need to keep Anambra State strong that informed our decision to beg Ngige to run again and our people are happy that he accepted. Consequently, anywhere we go there are shouts of ONWA GA ETI OZO (The sun will shine again)

    What effect has the relocation of Anambra indigenes from Lagos had on the chance of Ngige and how are you handling the saga?

    A sound and patriotic policy not targeted at any particular ethnic group, just to make Lagos livable, clean and decent has been grabbed by ethnic chance takers and miserable politicians to score cheap and dangerous political points. The plan of these political nitwits and dwarfs is to use the so-called deportation to bring Ngige to their level. These clowns know that they are not in the same political page with the former governor, Senator Chris Ngige, and their devilish plan is to beat down Ngige from his towering height to their miserable level by engaging in primordial sentiments and ethnic pre-occupation. It has failed and it will remain so. It is dangerous politics that may rock the boat and put to danger the cordial relationship between Igbo and Yoruba, if not properly handled. The chance takers and peddlers of misinformation will fail. In 2011, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State deported 29 Akwa-Ibom State and Ebonyi State indigenes on the pretext that they were begging in Awka and Onitsha and heaven did not fall. About the same time, Governor Orji of Abia State sacked over 3,000 indigenes of Anambra, Imo, Enugu, and Ebonyi states from the Abia Civil Service and sentenced tens of thousands of Igbo men and their families to untimely death, eternal poverty and degradation. As at today, Lagos still hosts more Anambra people than Anambra State. Anambra people generate more wealth in Lagos than in Anambra. So, who loses in the devilish plot to use 14 destitute victims of poor, timid and rural governance in Anambra, who were chased into Lagos to live under the bridges, for primitive politics in the end? The Igboman is not foolish and will like to know why a government feels its citizens are better off living as destitutes under the bridges of Lagos than in their home state.

    Don’t you think that APC rally in Onitsha on the day the Obi of Onitsha was celebrating Ofala festival was a political miscalculation?

    Again, it is another dangerous politics to reduce the towering image of Senator Chris Ngige. If reality is to prevail, Ngige Campaign Organisation had extensive discussion with the palace secretary on the matter and the campaign organisation was asked to go on, since the Ofala festival in Onitsha is always conducted without asking people to close shops or markets because Onitsha people are civilized people who practise their well-respected tradition with grace, respect and profound dignity. Unfortunately, by the time the campaign organisation was talking to the palace secretary, our own Igwe (Dr) Alfred Achebe was in retreat (the normal tradition before the Ofala Festival) I am sure the palace secretary did not get the nod of His Royal Highness before he asked the campaign organisation to go on. That was the mistake. Senator Ngige is a traditionalist who understands Onitsha tradition very well, and he could not have ignored the highly revered Obi of Onitsha. Beyond all these however, it speaks of the depths and the height of depravity some people have taken Anambra politics to, for them to believe that such issues, and not the general welfare of the people, will count in the coming election. They will be in for a shocker at the end of the day because the common masses who know the intricacies and conspiracies between the present APGA government and the PDP federal government, which wants to sell APGA as a knockdown carcass to the PDP federal government.

    How are you addressing the issue of power shift agitation to Anambra North?

    In Anambra State, we do not believe in the doctrine of power shift because we do not celebrate mediocrity. Only the best is good enough for Anambra, Ndigbo and Nigeria. Four years is too much for a vibrant and a very important state to lose in the name of zoning. In Anambra State, we believe that, if need be to form a football team for the state, only the best is good enough. If eleven players come from Nnewi North, so be it. Zoning breeds incompetence, mediocrity, and backwardness in governance. You fall back to such compromise when you have failed in governance. When Dr Chris Ngige was governor between 2003 and 2006, every corner in Anambra felt his impact. He didn’t need to appeal to primitive sectionalism that breeds such factors as zoning to leverage his tremendous transformative powers in all nooks and crannies of Anambra.

    What is your candid assessment of Ngige’s chance in the coming election?

    There are 10 reasons why Ngige will be elected Ggvernor on November 16, 2013?

    Dr Chris Ngige is a trained medical doctor of almost 40 years. He was in the Federal Civil Service for 18 years. He has served as a governor for three years and made unprecedented impact under very difficult and dangerous circumstances. He is a serving senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He is first President-General of Aka Ikenga, an organisation of Igbo intellectuals. He liberated Anambra State from despicable money bags and notorious godfathers. Of all the candidates contesting for the Anambra governorship, Senator Ngige is the most experienced, both in politics and governance. Ngige is the only candidate that opened the eyes of the people of Anambra State that there is money in government, contrary to the picture the previous governors painted. Ngige initiated and started the extensive road network we have in Anambra today. Ngige is the boldest, the most courageous, capacity driven, independent minded, most outspoken, fearless, strong willed, and firm among the lots.

    Can you briefly give an insight into what he has in stock for Anambra people?

    The taste of the pudding is in the taste. Anambra has tasted the Ngige pudding and needs no other factor to know he remains the best. The APC governors are putting up superlative performances in their respective states because they draw richly from the party manifesto and belief, which place the people above all other considerations in governance. We have star performers in the APC, who believe in the works of their hands to gain electoral approval and not those who believe in writing election results, whether they perform or not. Senator Ngige is coming back to reposition Anambra State. Insecurity in a cash-driven state like Anambra is the biggest problem. Ngige will bring security to Anambra State the way he did it before. Our people must travel home to enjoy their mansions without being harassed by kidnappers, armed robbers and petty thieves. Next is that we want to make the state capital, Awka, to look like a capital of a state like Anambra. The APC wants to rebuild our educational institutions, our hospitals, our courts. The APC wants to boost the economy of Anambra and Igboland by making Onitsha a seaport. The APC wants to build a world class airport in Anambra State. The APC wants to lift embargo on employment in Anambra State, which has been put on hold since 2006.

  • Propaganda will not save APGA, says Ubah

    Propaganda will not save APGA, says Ubah

    Anambra State Labour Party (LP) candidate Dr. Infeanyi Ubah has said that falsehood and propaganda will not save the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the proposed governorship election.

    He said the people will reject APGA at the poll because the governor, Mr. Peter Obi, failed to generate employment and boost human capital debvelopment.

    “This election will be defined by issues, not by empty boasts about achievements. It will not be won by the invocation of the revered name of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu., who would be turning in his grave at the great rape carried out inthe state”, his campaign office said in a statement.

    Ubah objected to the campaign of calmuny against him by the agents of the government. He said the misinformation and propaganda will will because the eyes of the people are open.

    He lamented that political and business illeterates were smearing his name becaue of the Capital Oil controversy, which they have used to to maximum advantage by twisting the facts.

    “We expect the aide of the governor, Valentine Obienyem, to challenge Ifeanyi Ubah’s plans for the state, rather than make up stories to support his attack on Ifeanyi Ubah. It is lamentable that, in all the years of Peter Obi as governor, human capital development and job creation took a back seat. It was deemed  unimportant”, Ubah said.

  • APGA preaches continuity at Onitsha rally

    APGA preaches continuity at Onitsha rally

    The Anambra State All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) recently held a mega rally in Onitsha to drum support for its governorship candidate in the November 16, election, Chief Willie Obiano. AUGUSTINE AVWODE reports.

     

    Onitsha, the commercial hub of Anambra State, literally stood still as the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) took the town by storm. The party held a mega rally to drum support for its governorship candidate in the November 16, governorship election, Chief Willie Obiano. It was dubbed the “mother of all rallies.” The expansive ground of the All Saints Cathedral, Onitsha, became too small as the crowd spilled to the, adjourning roads and streets. There was traffic gridlock.

    The party stormed the town with the gospel of “continuity.” The message was delivered with passion for the greater part, influent Igbo language.

    The import of the election is not lost on the ruling party. Except APGA wins poll it may go into oblivion. It was, therefore, not surprising that on all banners, posters, big or small; the message, of continuity was inscribed. Some of them read: “Forward ever, backward never”, “Let us continue to build a better future for our state and children”, “The good work must continue”, “Continuity! Continuity!! Continuity!!!.

    It was, in a way, more than a campaign rally. It was a carnival of sorts. What with the flamboyant colours, hilarious displays by comics, huge, intimidating masquerades and the suspense by stilt dancers. The cultural displays, an almost endless parade by various groups – women, youths, traders in age grades, communities and societies, transport workers, Keke-NAPEP operators, different caucuses of the party, all trying frantically to out shine one another. And if course, the boisterous, heavy metal sounds threatening to tear one’s ear-drums all the time.

    The deputy governor, Mr Emeka Sibeudu, arrived the venue around 1.30 pm. His arrival was greeted with praise singing and more dancing. The venue was thrown into frenzy around 2.00 pm when Governor Peter Obi arrived in company of the national chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh; Obiano and his running mate, Dr Nkem Okeke. Security details had a hectic time controlling the crowd. Obi acknowledged cheers from the surging crowd, which made movement for the smiling governor almost impossible. The team was eventually assisted to get t o the VIP area by a horde of security details. The National Anthem was immediately played, followed by the APGA Anthem, which attracted more passion as the crowd sang it in the Igbo language. The shouts of “Willie for governor” followed. Some of the personalities were then called to the podium to address the gathering and endorse the Obiano’s candidature as the party’s flag bearer.

    In the welcome address Sibeudu told the party faithful that, going by the huge crowd, he was sure that the party will win the election. He, however, urged them to go back and preach the gospel of continuity and support for the party.

    “This huge crowd is very reassuring. With this type of turn out, one can say that we are sure to win the election. However, I want to appeal to you all not to relent on your oars. Go out there and preach the gospel of continuity to all Anambra people. Our able Governor Peter Obi has done well. The party has done well; it has moved Anambra State from where it was before to a higher realm. Our party is our hope for the future. We have the most credible and the most accomplished candidate. Tell others about Dr Willie Obiano. And on the election day, go out there and cast your vote for APGA. Vote for Obiano and vote for continuity. He is our candidate”, he said.

    Hon Uche Ekwenife, who is the Leader of Anambra State caucus in the House of Representatives, described the gathering as a sign of the victory that will be celebrated after the election. She called on the teeming supporters to vote for the party’s candidate.

    “We are here to tell you that we are all strongly in support of the candidature of Dr Willie Obiano. The party belongs to all of us and we cannot allow it to be defeated. We must all work hard and ensure that the party retains power come November 16, after which we will all celebrate just like we are doing now”, she said

    Emeka Ojukwu Jnr, scion of the Ikemba Nnewi; and Senator Chris Anyanwu from Imo State also called for continuity. Anyanwu said that APGA is not dead as being insinuated. She spoke on danger of losing the state by the party and the need to work hard for success at the election.

    The Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon Princess Chinwe Nwaebili, endorsed the candidature of Obiano using the parliamentary method of passing resolutions or motions. Surrounded by other members of the House on the podium, she introduced them one after the other. She said: “success without a successor is a failure. We believe in continuity. That is why we are here to show you the man who is capable of continuing the good work of our dear governor”. After announcing Obiano as the candidate she called for a voice vote, asking those who are in support to say ‘yes’. She had hardly finished when a thunderous “aye” resonated across the venue, even by non-parliamentarians. She equally called on those who were against it to signify by saying ‘nay’. A muffled nay sound was heard. And she quickly demonstrated the banging of the gavel with her hand, declaring in the process “the ayes have it.”

    Umeh described the party’s campaign as ‘operation osmosis’. He said the strength of the party, the good will it enjoys, and the performance of Governor Obi in the last seven and a half years have all combined to put the party in a position of leadership. According to him, politicians like to identify with stronger parties, adding that the APGA has been receiving many defectors from weak, small, medium and even seemingly established parties in the state. He assured that Obiano will build on the foundation that has been laid by Obi. He jokingly asked Obiano, if he would do that or not? Obiano replied that he will not disappoint the party and the people.

    Obi said the party has picked the best man for the job. He said the party “found in Obiano, a man that will continue with the good work, a credible, urbane, humanistic and humble individual, who has achieved profound success in his career just as he is also a distinguished administrator”. Obi reeled out the projects that the APGA, under his watch as governor had carried out.

    The shouts of Willie, Willie, Willie rented the air. Obiano, in his speech, praised Obi’s policies, saying they are yielding tremendous fruits. He also assured that he would expand on them.

    Obiano said he was ready to sustain the legacy of the Obi administration. “I will continue the good work. I will not disappoint you or the people or the party. In fact, I will try and do better. I will mechanize agriculture; ensure that there are industries for manufacturing. Our children in primary and secondary schools will enjoy free education; there will be free health care for our adults, pregnant and nursing mothers, too. Therefore, make sure you vote and guide your votes on November 16”, he said.

    Speaking to The Nation, APGA leader in Orumba North Local Government, Chief Okey Ezibe, said the people are willing to retain APGA in power. He said the election, which is less than a month away, would be favourable to the party.

    “We are very confident of victory. This is Anambra State and the party is well entrenched here. You can see for yourself. The people are going to return APGA to power. The governor has done very well. He is the most prudent governor in the whole country. The projects are for the masses. The candidate is a special person. He is an accomplished individual and humble. He is well educated; he knows the needs of the state and how to tackle them. He also has a running mate, who holds a Ph.D in Monetary Economics, I mean Dr. Okeke. He is a senior lecturer in the university. They are ready to serve our people, our state and the people will give them the opportunity, I am very sure”, he added.

    Also, Dubem Obaze, who was Commissioner for Local Governmen, expressed optimism about the chances of the party. He said the party has done so much for the state and the election should be a pay back time.

    “APGA has given Anambra State a governor, who has been able to judiciously manage its resources in the person of Governor Peter Obi. But for him and the party, the state would not have recorded the noble achievements. It is our party, we know the people, the people know us, we are all one and on that day, Anambra people will speak and speak very loud and clear that APGA is their party”, he said.

    Mr Emeka Nwosu, a chairmanship aspirant for Awka South Local Government Area, and the chairman of the Aspirants’ Forum in APGA said APGA is in a pole position to clinch the governorship election.

    Obi said the party is the people’s party and nobody should be afraid, adding that he was sure that the campaign was a mere formality. Those at the rally endorsed the candidature of Willie Obiano. Different groups, such as the Hausa and Yoruba communities, Traders, all the President Generals in the 177 communities in Anambra State, students and youth bodies.

    Some of the dignitaries at the rally included the Chairman of the APGA Board of Trustees, Dr Tim Menakaya, State Chairman of the APGA, Chief Mike Kwentor, Chief Emeka Ojukwu Jnr, Senator Chris Anyanwu, Hon Uche Ekwenife, Commissioners, APGA national and state lawmakers, Ifeanyi Chukwu Enemchukwu, Ambassador Odi Nwosu, Okey Udeh, Chinedu Eluemunoh, Nollywood members led by Bob-Manuel Udoku, among others.

    However, while the APGA is beating the drums of continuity, other parties are chanting the songs of change. Will there be a change in 2014 or will APGA continue to occupy it? The answer will be known in less than a month from now.

     

  • Dafinone challenges Aguaravwodo’s victory

    Dafinone challenges Aguaravwodo’s victory

    Delta Central Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) senatorial candaidate Chief Ede Dafinone has vowed to contest the outcome of the recent poll at the Election Petition Tribunal.

    In a statement in Sapele, the politician described the April 12 bye- election as a political evil perpetrated against Urhobo, the acclaimed fifth largest ethnic group in the country.

    “There is little recognition of Urhobo at the federal and state levels, in terms of appointments and positions. Similarly, the interference in the last election, where the candidate foisted on the PDP in Delta State was again foisted on the people of Delta Central, is unacceptable”, he said”.

    Dafinone rejected the results, saying that the poll was not free and fair. He alleged that the PDP disrupted the election by promoting violence. The DPP candidate also accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of overturning the rule of fairness and allocating victory to the PDP.

    “We reject this outright robbery of the people’s will. We condemn this grievous injustice, this unconscionable mockery of all that is decent, of all that is fair and just. The army and INEC, both Federal Government institutions, worked with the PDP’s candidate to ensure his victory. The PDP used the army to unleash terror on the people of Delta Central. For hours, gun shots rent the air and the people were clobbered. Also, the announced result shows PDP in first place. As if that is not bad enough, the result shows the All Progressives Congress (APC) in second place with the DPP, the Populist Party, in the third place. All that combines to make the whole result laughable” he said.

    Dafinone said the party’s legal team had been told to head to the poll tribunal.

    “As law abiding citizens, we intend to explore all legal means to nsure this sham of an election is cancelled. We shall be proceeding to the election petition tribunal to present our case” he added.