As the preliminary preparations for the 2015 presidential election gather momentum, one major issue that has taken the front burner is the debate over alleged one-term pact in 2011 between President Goodluck Jonathan and northern governors. Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu and Assistant Editors, Remi Adelowo and Dare Odufowokan, report some of the untold stories of the controversial deal
Since Nigeria began preliminary preparations for the 2015 presidential elections, one contentious issue that is poised to determine, to a very large extent, the fortunes of the People’s Democratic Party in the coming elections, is the one-term pact allegedly reached between President Goodluck Jonathan and political leaders of the north.
While the President’s men continue to either deny the existence of the said pact or allude to the fact that it cannot be binding on the President in the run up to the 2015 presidential election, the opposition is saying there must be some iota of truth in the stories making the rounds.
Investigation by The Nation revealed that talks about the single term pact didn’t start today. In fact, some chieftains of the ruling party recalled how the issue was used to campaign especially at several rallies in the north with the belief that such a revelation will sway the then aggrieved northern voters in favour of Jonathan.
“I can still recall ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo at the grand finale of the presidential campaign in Abuja, commending Jonathan for agreeing to a single term. Obasanjo called it ‘an act of great sacrifice.’ When he made that comment, we all turned to look at Jonathan as we hailed and clapped for him. But I observed that his face was expressionless.
“His face betrayed no emotion but could not hide the fact that he was either uncomfortable or in disagreement with Obasanjo’s proposition. That was the day I knew he had no intention of keeping the promise he made,” said Alhaji Yunus Ibrahim, former Organising Secretary of the PDP in Niger State.
A chieftain of the PDP in the South-West said it is unimaginable to think that the President will deny agreeing to do a single term. According to him, while he may not know of a formal pact signed between the governors and Jonathan, he was at a meeting where former President Olusegun Obasanjo told Southwest PDP leaders of Jonathan’s decision to do just one term.
“While making a speech when Jonathan met with Southwest PDP leaders in 2011, shortly before the PDP presidential primaries, Obasanjo told us Jonathan has resolved to do just one term in office. He said this right in the presence of the President and he didn’t say it is not so. Even when Jonathan later addressed us, he never said what Baba said was not so. He agreed with Obasanjo’s position that day.
The PDP chieftain, who represented Osun State in the senate between 2003 and 2007, said it will be difficult for Jonathan to convince members of the party, especially in the northern geo-political zones, that he did not promise to do just one term in office.
The chieftain directed our correspondent to look up the text of Obasanjo’s address at the said meeting on the internet. “I read it on the internet recently. I had a copy which I kept for a long time, so I am sure the one published on the internet is a true reflection of what Baba said at that meeting.
“In the present circumstance, let me reiterate what I have said on a number of occasions. Electing Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in his own right and on its own merit, which is there to be seen as the President of Nigeria, will enhance and strengthen our unity, stability and democracy and it will lead us towards achievement of the Nigerian dream.
‘We are impressed with the report that Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has already taken a unique and unprecedented step of declaring that he would only want to be a one term President. If so, whether he knows it or not, that is a sacrifice and it is statesmanly. Rather than vilify him and pull him down, we, as a party, should applaud and commend him and Nigerians should reward and venerate him. He has taken the first good step.
“Let us encourage him to take more good steps to achieve what we need to achieve for this country by voting for him in landslide victory as the first elected President of Nigeria on basis of our common Nigerian identity and for the purpose of actualising the Nigerian dream. God bless you all,” Obasanjo was quoted as saying at the said meeting.
Ibrahim also recalled how President Jonathan while on a working visit to Kaduna State with the Vice President Namadi Sambo in 2011, had said he would only spend a single term of four years if voted into power in 2011 within which he would ensure that young men and women were engaged in various sectors of the economy so that they would be productive and things would improve generally in the country.
“I can remember him saying if the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegates from the North West zone support him and Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo to emerge victorious during the 2011 Presidential election, he will spend just four more years and ensure greater development effort in the region. I think he was talking to party leaders then,” he said.
In his own contribution to the discus, retired federal Permanent Secretary and astute public commentator, Akeem Baba Ahmed, recalled that the President had, while on a state visit to Ethiopia, talked about doing just one more term in office if elected in 2011.
“In far away Ethiopia, President Goodluck Jonathan informed a group of Nigerians that he has no plans to run for another term in 2015. He stated that he will ensure free and fair elections from the April polls this year, and if voted in for the next four years, he will ensure significant improvements in key sectors of the economy such as security, power, education, roads and health, among others.”
How the pact was sealed
It was a stormy meeting that lasted for over five hours. For President Goodluck Jonathan, the outcome of the meeting would either make or mar his political future, both in the short and long term. And for the northern governors present, there was a steely resolve to gain as much political capital from the meeting as was possible.
Held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja in the first week of January 2011, the parley between Jonathan and the governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the words of an aide to a former governor, who was present, was ‘heated and emotional’.
With a voice barely audible, the president after welcoming his guests, reportedly took time to brief the governors of the many initiatives taken by his then eight-months old administration, which included the establishment of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC), headed by Gen. Theophillus Danjuma (retd) and his plan to formulate a road-map for the power sector.
Then the president, according to The Nation’s source, worked on the emotions of the governors, by recalling his relationship with his former boss, late President Umaru Yar’Adua, whom he said, he enjoyed an excellent relationship with until the death of the latter on May 5, 2010. He added that in spite of the ‘machinations’ of aides of the former president to pitch him against Yar’ Adua, he remained loyal till the very end.
To cap up his speech delivered extempore, the president formally informed the governors of his intention to contest for the 2011 presidential election, while soliciting for their support in this regard. The governors, according to findings, took turns to explain to the president that contrary to insinuations in certain quarters, they had nothing against him, and that their perceived opposition to his (Jonathan) presidential ambition was borne out of the need to protect the political interests of their region.
They further informed the president that it was imperative that a northern candidate completes the tenure of Yar’Adua until 2015, adding that throwing their weight behind Jonathan will put their own personal safety and political career at grave risk.
Realising that the discussion was moving in an unexpected direction, Jonathan, according to a source, decided to act presidential. In a tone laced with subtle threats, he allegedly reminded his guests that as the president, he should be accorded the honour to contest the presidency, adding that as the President/Commander-in-Chief, he should not be compelled to deploy the awesome powers at his disposal to actualise his ambition.
The governors were stunned. A source said it was a defiant Governor Bukola Saraki, the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), who allegedly told the president that the governors should not be bullied and that he (Saraki), regardless of the president’s threats, will also contest for the PDP presidential ticket.
The meeting ended in a deadlock, but a follow up meeting was fixed for the following week.
In the days preceding the next meeting, the president and his supporters embarked on a series of informal negotiations with key stakeholders in the north, whose support was vital for the success of the Jonathan’s ambition.
Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who was, unarguably, the chief promoter of Jonathan-for-2011 project, allegedly took on the responsibility of ‘convincing’ influential northern emirs and governors to back Jonathan’s aspiration.
A source revealed, “It was Baba (Obasanjo) who called Bukola Saraki; Niger State’s Dr. Babangida Aliyu, who headed the Northern Governors Forum, Bauchi State Governor, Mallam Isa Yuguda, Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and a couple of other governors in the north and pleaded that Jonathan be given another chance at the presidency.”
The former president, it was gathered, also contacted traditional rulers, which included the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Saad Abubakar; Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris, Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, to mention but a few, urging them that supporting Jonathan will not only give minority tribes of the country a sense of belonging, but most significantly preserve the unity of the country.
While Aliyu and Yuguda were allegedly receptive to Obasanjo’s entreaties, Saraki, it was gathered, told the former president that he would only support the president if he failed to get the endorsement of the Northern Elders Forum headed by former Minister of Finance, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, which was then in the process of screening interested presidential aspirants from the north.
The four governors enjoy a somewhat close relationship with Obasanjo. Saraki served briefly as Obasanjo’s Special Assistant on Budget, while Aliyu and Yuguda served as Permanent Secretary and minister, respectively during the Obasanjo administration. Lamido was also a Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2003.
Northern aspirants who had indicated interest in the race were Saraki; former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida; former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar and ex-National Security Adviser, Gen. Aliyu Gusau.
Speaking on how the one-term pact was conceived, a source disclosed that it was Obasanjo, who, following his negotiations with influential northern stakeholders, informed Jonathan that the only option left to make his ambition fly is for him (Jonathan) to serve only one term in office. Left with no other choice, the president allegedly agreed to the one-term deal.
In spite of all these allegations, recollections and revelations, the President and his handlers say there is nothing to discuss regarding the alleged pact between Jonathan and some governors to the effect that he would not be contesting the presidency in 2015.
Interestingly, both PDP stakeholders and opposition parties are keen to see the end of the debate and it’s effect on the fortunes of the party. The question observers are asking is what would happen if Jonathan, in spite of the claims insist on picking PDP ticket?
