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Tag: 2015

‘Why Jonathan should not run in 2015`’

The leader of the ‘Patriots’, – a group of emiment citizens seeking good governance – Prof. Ben Nwabueze (SAN), spoke with Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU on the presidential pardon for former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, constitution review and the second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.

What is your reaction to the recent state pardon granted to the former governor of Bayelsa State, Dipyere Alamesayagha, by President Goodluck Jonathan?

I think it is quite within his power to grant pardon to anybody who has committed an offence against the state. In the case of Alamieyeseigha, there is nothing wrong at all for President Jonathan to grant him pardon. I felt bad with the way Alamieyeseigha was treated because he was a state governor. He represented part of the sovereignty of Nigeria. It was too bad for the Nigerian state to be party of the way Alamieyeseigha was maltreated in London. He told me that I will represent him and I said to him that, who am I? I’ll do it. Whatever he must have done, you don’t disgrace him like that in public, in the presence of the passengers in the plane. Nigeria had disgraced itself; not Almesayagha alone, but the whole nation and, if the government that impeached him wants to corrects its mistakes the way it was done, it would have been better. These were done under the administration of Obasanjo. If now the federal government under President Goodluck Jonathan, who was his deputy, chose that the country should make some amendment by granting him pardoning, I think it is in order.

But some people said there were allegations of corruption against him and that this pardon now appears to be a set back to the anti-graft war in Nigeria…

I think that the state had already dealt with the corruption issue. I think they seized money from him and that had been settled. They recovered a large sum of money from him and that closed the chapter of corruption. That is behind us now. The real issue now is to pardon him for whatever he must have done. There is no way you can be raising the issue of corruption now after you had settle that by taking back part of the money that you allegedly unlawfully acquired.

Is the National Assembly competent to make a new constitution for Nigeria?

A new constitution? Not amendment? If you are talking of making a new constitution, not amendment, I will say no, they are not competent to do it. It is only the people of this country that are competent to do that. The power to make the constitution belongs to the people of this country by the virtue of Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution. The constitution is very clear on this. It says sovereignty of the country belongs to the people of Nigeria, through whom the government derives its powers. Only the people of this country have the power to make a new constitution for Nigeria, not the National Assembly.

How can that happen without the convocation of a national conference?

That is what we have been demanding from the federal government. The national conference should be called for two purposes. One, all the ethnic nationalities, the civil society organisations and individuals should sit together at the conference table and deliberate on how they will live together. There are issues on how every nationality and the people of this country should to live together in peace. This is beyond the competence of the National Assembly. The second one is for them to decide on the issue of the constitution. The most important issue really is not about the contents of the constitution, but the primary issue is the source of the authority of the constitution as the supreme law of the land. Section 1 of the constitution says that this constitution is the supreme law of the land and certainly not the National Assembly. The National Assembly cannot be the source of the authority, but it is the creation of the constitution. So, it cannot be the source of the authority of the constitution that created it. Where is the source of authority of the constitution as the supreme law of the land? So, the source of the authority is the people and the constitution said that the sovereignty belongs to the people, whom the organs of government belong. This is the primary issue we have to address before we talk about the content of the existing constitutional provision and about how you want to amend the constitution. You must call all the people together and adopt a constitution, through the national conference and through the constituent assembly of the people. When you talk about a Constituent Assembly, it is not the same as the National Conference, but people may not understand the difference. A Constituent Assembly is established and manifested specifically to make a constitution. It does not have any other business. The National Assembly is an assembly elected by the people to govern themselves under the constitution. Under the Constituent Assembly, the people are constituted for the interest of the country. The National Conference is not the end because after the conference, that is agreed upon should be ratified in a referendum before it becomes the people’s constitution. Any constitution made by the National Assembly cannot be seen as the people constitution.

The North is calling for amnesty for the members of Boko Haram sect. What is your reaction?

I agree with how President Jonathan has refused to grant them amnesty. The analogy they have drawn between is wrong between the militancy in the Niger Delta and the Boko Haram is wrong. Boko Haram is insurgency. Insurgency is when you organise a revolt against the authority of the state, but the people in the Niger Delta never did that. They are militants. Militancy is a protest against deprivation. They never staged any revolt against the authority of the state. Although they were involved in gang activities, which involved in kidnapping, destroying pipelines and so on, but they never revolted against the authority of the state like the Boko Haram is doing. So, why should the question of the amnesty arise? They are not entitled to any amnesty the way it was granted to the militants in the Niger Delta.

Do you see the birth of the mega party, the All Progressive Congress (APC), leading to the restoration of the two-party system in Nigeria?

What is two party system? Is it the two-party system that was created by Babangida? When you talk about two party system, you are talking about a kind of party created by fiat. A two-party system that is created voluntarily, that is true two party system. What decree says there must be two-party system in the country? To me, it is a nonsense. It can’t work. In this country, if we are to have a two-party system, it is going to be voluntary process. The merger has not created two- party system because, apart from the PDP and the parties in the merger, there are other parties. Not all the parties outside the PDP are in the merger. When Nigerians voluntarily agree that there should be only two parties through the process of merger, realignment or cooperation with other small parties, they will rather fold up or merge with either the PDP or other large parties. That is what I understand as the two-party system.

What is your reaction to the North’s agitation for power shift in 2015?

That is part of what the National Conference is meant to address. I have always believed that the highest office in the land should be made to go round the ethnic nationalities and the component units in the country. We are 300 ethnic groups. There is no way you can say it will go round like that, but it should go round the six geo-political zones as suggested. Now, the power shift, frankly, it does not make any sense to me. But let us sit together and decide on how the office should be rotated. Have all the zones held the office? We need to take that into account and know if you have held it for the same number of years with other areas. Some areas have never held it before and you are clamoring for power shift again. I am not impressed with it at all. Let all of us sit together and agree on how this thing is to be rotated. I think with that, we can come to a reasonable conclusion. But we should not sit down and start shouting power shifting.

Does that means that the alleged pact between the President and some groups in the North is meaningless?

I am not taking about the pact. I am talking about the country as a whole, that the people should come together and decide on how the office should be rotated. I am not concerned about any agreement they have reached. Within the PDP, that is their business. Although the whole country might like to know what is happening within the PDP, either they have agreement with Jonathan to run for only one term or not, it is their own business. Let them settle it. But in my own view, if I were Jonathan, I will not run.

Why won’t you run?

Because of the interest of the country. It is obvious that, if Jonathan is going to run, some people will use it as a reason to create anarchy. I will prefer him to concentrate between now and 2015, which is more than two years, achieving something implementable on the transformation agenda of his administration, so that he can become a national hero. He will become a hero, if he were to announce that he is not going to contest in 2015 and he is to concentrate on his transformation agenda. To change this country requires a revolution. His effort, the transformation agenda are inadequate. So also his approach to the economy revival is inadequate. Is that transformation? Transformation is to change the the nature and the character of the economy, to make it transform the society. Our society is morally and economically bankrupt. We cannot have economic development through the corrupt and bankrupt society. It is a disaster. I am talking about the social and ethical revolution and that he should come out and lead it. People will follow him and he will become a national hero. I expected him to mobilize people for national transformation. You cannot transform this country while sitting in the office, but you need to come out and address people on how to move the country forward. Anywhere you go, you should be campaigning for national transformation and you become a national hero. People need to understand that power is transient and immediately you leave the office, it disappears. That is why you see the politicians fighting against each other because they don’t want to be forgotten. But they will be forgotten, except they make themselves a national hero. Forget about power, he will be more than four years in 2015, what else does he need? What I think he should do is to make sure that his name is counted in the history of this country and he will become national heroes. That is what I expected him to be concernd with. Is it money, power or what else does he want? If he continues again for the next four years, at the end of the day, he will be forgotten, if he has no good record. Nobody will ever remember that he was once the President of this nation. People are not remembered for the office they have held, but the legacies thay are leaving behind, what they have done and the ideas that they have invented, which made the world to advance and the country a better place to live. It is not all about money and the number of years you are in power. So what else does he want?

March 20, 2013
The leader we need in 2015

SIR: Nigeria is one of the most blessed countries in the world, with enough resources to develop its citizens and take them to the Promised Land. But our failure today has been from the corrupt and dishonest politicians we have.

Can Nigeria have honest and upright leaders in 2015? That is a question that’s worth a million naira. With the present crop of politicians, it will be difficult.

The president we need must be a person who has the experience, is principled and of course who will listen to the people without creating much gap between the high class and the working class. We cannot afford to go for a lucky man but rather a hardworking man. Our leader must know Nigeria; possibly speak another Nigerian language apart from his native tongue; one with literate and working knowledge of Nigeria.

Our next president must have carriage and charisma, charm and finesse, bold and courageous and above all, he must have confidence and passion. He must be willing to fire any minister who is incompetent and corrupt, deal with economic issues and oil subsidy thieves.

We need a leader that in 2015 that will supervise projects and not commissioning.

How can we identify the honest leader who will take us to the Promised Land? Surely, we can find sincere and upright politicians in the lower echelons of government service. There are also non-politicians who do not have the means or people to prepare them for the 2015 elections, especially when it comes to campaign funding.

We need to pray and seek for a God-fearing individual who will consider our needs and provide good education, employment, infrastructural development as well as good health for the people.

•Abdulkadir Zainab

IBB University, Lapai, Niger State

March 19, 2013
My plan for 2015, by Bamidele

House of Representatives member Opeyemi Bamidele spoke with EMMANUEL OLADESU on Ekiti politics and 2015 general elections.

There are speculations that you want to run for the governor- ship election. Is it true?

I am one man who believes in timing. I am one man who believes in strategy. whatever I want to do, there must be a strategy of doing it. There also must be timing for it. When I feel it is time for me to make an open declaration, I will. I have a passion for Ekiti. Politics is about love. I love this state passionately and I say without fear of any contradiction that Ekiti people love me. They love me genuinely. The only question that I have to answer myself is, as to when am I going to be running, am I running in 2014?, 2018? Whether or not I will or I will not run for governorship in Ekiti, I think have gone past that. Definitely I will. The only thing left to announce is the timing and that is why I say the timing strategy is something that I take very seriously and It is not going to be too long. But I am watching events. I am consulting and very soon, I will let the people know where I stand on this issue.

So, you are not endorsing the governor for a second term?

As far as I am concerned, the issue is not whether or not the two senators and five other House of Representatives members from Ekiti have endorsed Dr. Fayemi for second term. I consider it extremely unfortunate that in the last one year, people have tried to make the possibility or otherwise of Governor Fayemi spending a second term in office as an issue. I feel they have been unfair to the nation and Ekiti State and I also don’t think they are doing Dr Fayemi any good. We had his one year anniversary in office on the October 16, 2011 and some characters from that ceremony had begun to distribute leaflets and souvenirs announcing the second term bid of the governor. I thought it was immoral. I have no apology, if my objection to this style has attracted the wrath of some people. There has to be a clear line of demarcation between governance and politics. Politics has to do with our own narrow, sometimes selfish political or ideological interest and governance has to do with overriding public interest, regardless of what is political, ideological, religious or ethnic affiliations or origin. And I feel that there should be a time for politics. You cannot convince me that one year into office, you cannot spend the next two, three years making rigorous issues and campaign about second term. If you do that, you will mislead the governed and create a bad image for the administration. That is my own position on Ekiti. I have no objection for anybody endorsing Governor Fayemi for a second term, but I am convinced that one million endorsements from Senator Ojudu cannot translate to an additional vote for any aspirant.

Are you aware of the difficulty of challenging a sitting governor and the peculiarity of your party ACN?

Well, let me put it this way. Mark my word, when I interchangeably use the word aspiration and ambition. An ambition has to do with the broad understanding of what ought to be, on what you expect to do or what you hope to be able to achieve. Aspiration has to d o with your specific desire, either you want to get to that place yourself or want to help someone get there, or be part of a platform to get there. As to ambition, my ambition in Ekiti is to have a better, united and well developed state where there will be security of life and property and infrastructural development. That is my ambition and that is what people are quarreling with me as far as I am concerned. My aspiration has been consistent and it is going to remain so, regardless of who is governor of Ekiti.It is about Ekiti first. Your question is whether or not I feel I could defeat an incumbent. I don’t think this is peculiar to Ekiti. About the party, I will say this again that I believe ACN as a party. Given the current political dispensation, giving international political best practices and given the much needed desire to have a united front within the party, I don’t think ACN as a party will encourage any kind of imposition. If I chose to aspire, there will be free and fair primaries and at best, the party will be interested in presenting a candidate that is capable of winning a general election for the party. I said that in order not to appear like I am running away from the question. But in the event that I choose to run for election in 2014, I will weigh the various options and come up with my own ideas of how best I feel I can emerge and it may be sooner than you think.

Are you in good terms with the governor and the party hierarchy?

I am in consultation with the party hierarchy and I meet with the governor from time to time. Do I have to visit the governor? If I find myself in the State House, for instance, it depends on what we called a visit. If the governor calls for a meeting I will attend; if the party calls for meeting I will attend. The governor might be there.I try to take personalities out of this issue, so that the whole thing doesn’t look like i a personality clash.

When last did the governor call you?

The only meeting that I remember not attending was when I was away in South Africa and the governor met with the National Assembly caucus. That was February, and the meeting was in Abuja and of course, the governor himself knew I was in South Africa. That is the only meeting that I can remember and everybody knew where I was.

What about the speculation that you are planning to contest the governorship under another platform?

I am glad you use the word speculation and I think the speculation has become open. Some people paid for posters announcing that I was running for governorship on the platform of Labour Party. They are trying to make it open. Again, I emphasize that whatever I am running for is going to be under the platform of the ACN, ACN of today, or if tomorrow we get registered as APC, on the platform of APC.

Let me put it to you directly. Would you support Fayemi for a second term?

I will put it this way. If this is actually an attempt to put me on the spot, I’d say it is a good one. The question you are asking is as good as asking Dr. Fayemi a similar question. I would say that Governor Fayemi is my person and all the other five governors elected on the platform of the ACN are my persons. Because you asked the governor a question specifically about me and he told you that Opeyemi is my person and I am also confirming to you that Governor Fayemi and all the other governors elected on the platform of the ACN. As far as I am concerned, the issue of second term is much more fundamental than what people are talking about. I will not talk about the second term of someone, just one year into office or two year into office. I will not celebrate the achievements at a time that I am supposed to join other leaders of the party and other elected representatives of the people to be encouraging the administration to do more work.

When you see yourself as a change agent, it comes with a lot of risk, a lot of denials, but God sees my heart that I mean well for the state. I mean well for democracy and I am not the aggressively ambitious man that some people are trying to portray in different quarters and I am not apologetic for my philosophy, that I carry in my own head and my commitment to change and passion and drive for speedy change.

What is responsible for the fued between you and Senator Babafemi Ojudu?

I will say that Senator Ojudu is so paranoid about me and about what I do, and to the glory of God, what people say about me on the streets of Ekiti. He feels that at the very least, I would go after his senatorial seat in 2015 and in an attempt to do this, he also done everything that he can to build an alliance with other people. Early enough, he started creating the impression that I was preparing to run for governor. Ojudu also needed to fuel that kind of rumour to ensure that he got Governor Fayemi and I at loggerheads to protect his own interest. Senator Babafemi Ojudu, since April 2010 that he took the membership card of Action Congress of Nigeria, the party has not known peace in Ekiti and that is consistent with his own antecedents. He became a card carrying member of ACN in 2010 and before then, he had interacted very closely and very broadly with the PDP. Ask Ekiti people, who was standing next to Chief Ayo Fayose on the campaign rostrum of PDP in 2002 and 2003. He was the closest person to Fayose until almost two years into his administration, until they quarreled. And as soon as they quarreled he became the chief organizer of the anti-Fayose campaign to get him out of office. while all of us were campaigning for Dr. Fayemi to be governor of Ekiti State between 2005 and 2007, Senator Ojudu worked for Segun Oni and I don’t think any of us begrudged him for it. He was the closest person to Segun Oni and Governor Segun Oni gave him the only hotel of the state, Fountain Hotel, to manage.

Up till 2010 he was not a card carrying member of any party.He would not have a leader to whom he could defer to. That is why no one could do to him what they did to me in Jnuary 2011 when people appealed to me to surrender a mandate that was freely and popularly given to me by Ekiti people. More than half of whatever crises that ACN has been witnessing today has been occasioned by the manipulation of Senator Babafemi Ojudu. It would be funny for somebody like him to say that he is endorsing any candidate for a second term. If you ask me with respect to the politics of Ekiti and the rating of the people, he is not more than a footnote.

What is your reaction to the statement byto a senator from your state about Ekiti politics?

Among other things I chose to react to two conclusions made by Senator Ojudu, the first one has to do with the state of the nation and the allusion that it will take God himself to come down and solve the problem, I want to say that I found that hypocritical and a disservice to the people of Ekiti Central Senatorial District who elected him into office.

For the record I want to say again, that I ran for the senatorial race in Ekiti and for the record I want to say again that by the grace of God and the support of the people, I won the primary of the party. Again, for the record, I want to say that in the overriding interest of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the appeal made by the national leadership of the party and again as a Christian, who believe that it is God who makes princes and princesses, and that He has his own timing for every one of us, I chose to be the good boy of the party, unfortunately, a lot of people were assuming that I will always chose to be the good boy.

In 2011, I chose to be the good boy of the party and concede it, not to Babafemi Ojudu, but to the national leadership of the party because I won that mandate and I gave it back to the leadership of the party to hand it over to Babafemi Ojodu. And this interview will be the third major statement that will be issued. Sometimes around July last year, Ojudu, through the PM News, issued a statement alluding to the fact that he wanted to set the record straight regarding the central senatorial election 2011 and said a lot of things, people called me, those who voted for me felt aggrieved; everybody expected me to react, till today I refused to react and I am sure that must have been the things that gave him the courage to also say what he had to say about me two weeks ago. But today, my position is that if you had served as a journalist for almost three decades and had served as Managing Editor of one of the respected news magazines in this country before being elected as Senator, one would expect you to have an idea of what you are going to do in the Senate and have an idea of what is wrong with Nigeria, because you don’t want to give me the impression that you are running a public office without having an idea of what you are going to do there or without an idea of what was wrong with Nigeria; that is the first thing, also I want to say that I am personally amused by the style Senator Ojudu has adopted, all the issues he raised in his interviews I believed, were issues that he could use the floor of the Senate to address. If you are elected as senator, and in one and a half years you cannot be found to have spoken two times. And if you are elected as a senator and in 21 months all you have is one motion to your credit on NSCDC which is to be debated by the Senate. If in 21 months you have not been able to state any categorical position and there is no policy statement that can be credited to you and you are using pages of newspapers to condemn everything being done in the Senate, condemn the leadership of the Senate, condemn the presidency and conclude that only God himself would have to come down to solve the problem of Nigeria, I feel that is disservice to the nation and to the people who elected him and as far as I am concerned, the Senate rules are clear, they provide for point of order; the rule says a point of order must be heard at all times.

March 19, 2013
2015 may be Nigeria’s last election –Junaid Mohammed

National Coordinator of the Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, Dr. Junaidu Mohammed said yesterday that unless efforts are made to ensure that the 2015 general election are free and fair, it may turn out to be the last election in the history of the nation.

Mohammed also said that the promoters of the All Progressive Congress (APC) must learn to imbibe democratic tendencies and ensure that the leadership of the party emerge through a truly democratic process and not toe the line of the PDP whose leadership are not elected, if they want the confidence of Nigerians.

Speaking on a programme, Guest of the Week, on Kaduna based Liberty Radio monitored in Kaduna, Mohammed hit out at northern leaders whom he said are no longer of use to the north, but are feeding fat on the region while the average northern suffer in abject poverty.

While saying that the issue of whether President Jonathan should contest the 2015 elections, he said “I would rather we subject that to constitutional interpretation by the highest court in the land; but the president does not want to subject the matter to constitutional interpretation.

“The National Assembly are not interested, the governors are more interested in who become president after Goodluck must have been hounded out of power. As far as I am concerned, all three are making serious mistakes.

“The only thing to do in a democracy is to subject the whole thing to constitutional interpretation and the rule of law because there can be no democracy without the rule of law. I believe that the governors in the north are making serious mistake.

“They will be shocked by the way they will be willing to give in to blackmail. I want to assure you that the Nigerian people will continue to put pressure on them. All those people who are talking right now cannot make Jonathan president.

March 17, 2013
‘Lagos PDP will fail in 2015’

The Chairman of the Lagos State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Henry Ajomale, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will build on its electoral failure in the next general elections.

He urged Nigerians to support the All Progressive Party (APC) in its bid to dislodge the party at the centre and offer a credible leadership to the country.

Ajomale, who spoke in Lagos, said the PDP had destroyed crippled the economy and extended the national lean years.

The party leader said that God had heard the voice of the masses who are struggling to overcome poverty, adding that they would be liberated by the APC in 2015.

Ajomale said: “The Poverty Development Party will fizzle out. They have misused the wealth of the nation. Nigerians are tired of the PDP. That is why they are waiting to support APC in the future elections. PDP is already jittery because the masses have accepted APC. The end of the PDP is near”.

The politician described the Jonathan Administration as a national burden, pointing out that its transformation agenda has collapsed.

Ajomale added: “It is time for all Nigerians to support the APC to send PDP out of the Nigeria in the 2015 elections. PDP has failed Nigerians and they should be sent parking. They cannot intimidate any of us. They are just spreading lies all around.Whether they like it or not, APC has been accepted by the people and people continue to troop in everyday.

“ People are tired of the PDP and they are ready to get involved. We must rededicate ourselves to the task of liberating ourselves from the PDP, which has destroyed our economy and increased poverty in the land”.

March 8, 2013
‘Lagos PDP will fail in 2015’

The Chairman of the Lagos State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Henry Ajomale, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will build on its electoral failure in the next general elections.

He urged Nigerians to support the All Progressive Party (APC) in its bid to dislodge the party at the centre and offer a credible leadership to the country.

Ajomale, who spoke in Lagos, said the PDP had destroyed crippled the economy and extended the national lean years.

The party leader said that God had heard the voice of the masses who are struggling to overcome poverty, adding that they would be liberated by the APC in 2015.

Ajomale said: “The Poverty Development Party will fizzle out. They have misused the wealth of the nation. Nigerians are tired of the PDP. That is why they are waiting to support APC in the future elections. PDP is already jittery because the masses have accepted APC. The end of the PDP is near”.

The politician described the Jonathan Administration as a national burden, pointing out that its transformation agenda has collapsed.

Ajomale added: “It is time for all Nigerians to support the APC to send PDP out of the Nigeria in the 2015 elections. PDP has failed Nigerians and they should be sent parking. They cannot intimidate any of us. They are just spreading lies all around.Whether they like it or not, APC has been accepted by the people and people continue to troop in everyday.

“ People are tired of the PDP and they are ready to get involved. We must rededicate ourselves to the task of liberating ourselves from the PDP, which has destroyed our economy and increased poverty in the land”.

March 6, 2013
2015: So you want to be president?

Until lately, few of the many puzzles the first-time visitor to Nigeria encounters could have been more intriguing than the warning in bold letters they find on the façade of many homes in many of the bigger towns: THIS HOUSE IS NOT FOR SALE.

“If it’s not for sale,” the visitor must wonder in his or her innocence, “why call attention to that fact? Surely, any person offering to buy a house that is not on the market cannot complain if they roughen him up and throw him into the streets on the perfectly sensible ground that he could well be an intruder with criminal intent on his mind.

It could be worse, of course. The owners of the property could just as easily – and with greater profit to their own equanimity – hand him over to area boys forever lurking in the neighbourhood and abandon him to their not-so-tender mercies. Or they could march him to the nearest police station, serenaded by the jeers and taunts and curses of passers-by, and turn him in as a burglar caught in the act

Even in the more genteel section of town, offering to buy a house that has not been placed on the market is a fraught proposition. When it is proclaimed in bold letters on the property that it is not for sale, the contumacy is compounded.

As if this puzzle was not mystifying enough, a new one that cannot fail to raise questions in the visitor’s mind about the political rationality of the natives has now been added.

Hardly a day passes without a political figure proclaiming in full-page newspaper advertisements in lavish colour, on radio and television, on billboards and wall posters and in handbills, that he is not contemplating running for higher office (usually for president), has never contemplated such a move, and will never contemplate it.

To leave absolutely no room for any misreading, the statement usually adds for effect that any person who asserts, suggests, insinuates, implies, or in any other way creates the impression, by word or image or any other means whatsoever, that the declarant has ever harboured, now harbours or will ever harbor such an ambition, belongs in a lunatic asylum and should be rushed there without further delay.

You could hardly blame any visitor who concluded on encountering such abject disavowal again and again that aspiring to higher elected office is the greatest political crime in this realm. You would have a hard time convincing the visitor that political ambition has not been criminalised – at least, not yet.

It was not always like this.

Back when politics was politics and politicians were politicians, you adopted one of two strategies if you were desirous of climbing higher on what Disraeli called the greasy pole.

You proclaimed your desire from the rooftop and as loudly as possible, thus serving notice on anyone with any eye on the same position that he or she would have to reckon with you.

This strategy also carried with it the advantage of primacy, which is no small matter in politics. If you were the first to declare, you or your supporters could always label anyone declaring after you a spoiler driven by no higher motive than envy and malice.

Nor is that all. If you cannot silence them altogether, jumping out ahead of the pack could also be an effective way of serving notice to all those professional malcontents who are forever kvetching about one thing or another to keep their intrusive eyes off you or face the consequences of their temerity.

The late Godwin Daboh understood this strategy very well. Even while the rules of the game were yet to be fashioned, Daboh would declare that he was going to run for governor of Benue. Thereafter, if anyone wrote or said anything he didn’t like, he would threaten to file a lawsuit seeking compensatory damages on the ground that the speech or publication had ruined his chances of being elected governor. . .

Daboh had his faults, but you could never accuse him of reticence.

The second strategy is to keep everyone in suspense, without affirming an intent to run or denying it – the kind of strategy Dr Goodluck Jonathan has been employing with regard to the presidential election scheduled for 2015.

Those “on ground,” to employ a delicious Nigerian locution, say that his “body language” points powerfully to his seeking a second substantive term in 2015. But the wily resident of Aso Rock has steadfastly refused to be goaded into saying anything remotely definitive on the issue.

“It is too early to talk about it” has been his stock response when pressed on the matter. He could for good measure add that the whole thing is a distraction when so much that has been malformed, deformed or unformed is awaiting transformation. From this vantage point, he can survey the entire field, identify potential challengers, and neutralise them on the threshold.

Could this be what has happened to Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido and Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, or are their current travails the products of pure coincidence?

No sooner was it bruited that the one might be running for president in 2015, with the other as vice president, than the political environment began to crackle. Though billed only to play second fiddle in the rumoured project, Amaechi frantically bought acres of pages in the newspapers and large chunks of prime time on radio and television, not forgetting billboards and handbills and social media, to proclaim that he had no plan to run for president or vice president.

Apparently, they did not take him at his word.

So, knock him off his perch as chair of the influential National Governors Forum. Failing that, create a separate caucus of PDP governors with a complaisant governor as chairman, to dilute whatever influence Amaechi may still muster. He may be governor of an oil-rich state, but he knows only too well that he can be brought to heel by the Federal Might.

Did I hear someone just say that the EFCC is waiting in the wings?

In this political season, fear of the EFCC is the key to self-preservation. Consider the cruel swiftness with which it was deployed against Timipre Sylva, former governor of Dr Jonathan’s home state, Bayelsa. Recall how it was pressed into service to rein in one party in what was essentially a war of words between protagonists of the previous order and the present one.

After his son was arrested, charged with trafficking in foreign currency and denied bail, Sule Lamido, who had been playing the waiting game, announced that he would not be a candidate for president in 2015.

In the months ahead, we are likely to see many more political figures declaring in the most emphatic manner possible that they have no plan to run for president, possibly going so far as to echo American Civil War general, William Sherman, who warned those seeking to draft him to run for president, that if nominated, they would not accept and if elected, they would not serve.

The PDP might well end up begging Dr Jonathan to run for re-election in 2015 because no one in the party currently holding high elected office is willing to risk being smothered in the EFCC’s net.

But the “No Vacancy In Aso Rock” opera, led by Tony “The Fixer” Anenih, had better not take the curtain call yet. Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu for one is not in the least fazed. He says he is not afraid of running for president and will announce his plans at the opportune moment. He has even summoned the audacity to assert that Dr Jonathan, having solemnly undertaken to hold office for just one term, cannot in good conscience run for another.

Bravo, Talban Minna.

Expect the EFCC or the ICPC or both of them to come calling shortly.

February 26, 2013
2015 and the return of Yar’Adua’s men

Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan takes a look at the ongoing reforms in People’s Democratic Movement and wonders whether the platform created by the late General Shehu Yar’Adua is still relevant.

Citing the need to protect the common interest of its members, leaders of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), the political machinery of the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, are currently leaving no stone unturned in their determination to revive the movement ahead of the 2015 general election in the country.

Sources said the group, which recently elected new officials to pilot its affairs and lead the way in its quest for total revival, has received the support of some leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to re-position itself so as to once again be able to influence decision making in the party.

Expectedly, the development is causing some leaders of the ruling party to shiver. Sources within the party said speculations are rife that the rejuvenated PDM is designed to checkmate any re-election plot by President Goodluck Jonathan ahead of the 2015 presidential race.

”Consequently, plots are already being hatched to stop the ongoing move by PDM leaders to regroup their members within and outside the party. There is already an allegation that the revival of the group will contravene the latest move by the PDP to outlaw caucus and factions within its rank. The idea is to stop the revival of the group because it can cause serious damage to the unity of the PDP,” a southwest executive committee member of the party said in Lagos.

But when asked whether the revival of the association will contravene any rule of the PDP, a leader of the group, Mallam Shehu Garba, said there is no rule of the PDP that forbids the revival of the PDM.

“PDM is not a caucus; it is only an interest group within PDP. It is just a situation where people with common interest decide to come together to protect their common interest,” he explained.

Among the pioneer members who have sensed the need to renew acquaintance with the movement are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Chief Anthony Anenih, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande, Chief Dubem Onyia, Prince Tonye Princewill, Dame Titi Ajanaku, Professor Ango Abdullahi, Professor Aborishade, Alhaji Kabiru Sa’idu and Dr Faruq Abdulaziz, just to mention a few.

It would be recalled that the PDM was the most influential component of the PDP at the formation of the party in 1998. Parading political heavyweights which included former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former works minister, Tony Anenih, amongst others, the group was so strong that it was regarded as the engine room of the party for years.

Its influence, however, diminished over the years as the party gradually subsumed it. Although some members of the group continued to play crucial roles in the party and the successive governments it formed since the return to democracy, the cohesion and unity for which the PDM became a household name, was no longer visible amongst its members.

As witnessed during the 2007, 2011 and lately, 2015 general elections, it became difficult for the group to take common position on issues. Members openly disagreed on political issues and the group’s place within the ruling party was no longer assured.

The situation got so bad that some PDM members left the PDP and pitched their tents in other political parties thereby leaving their associates behind. Although some of such deserters like Atiku did return to the PDP years later, sources said the division among the group was yet to be healed.

“It is this division caused over the years by various issues and actions that we are out to put behind us with the formal revival of the group. PDM was never dead. It is an organisation built in the minds of its members. We never for one day forgot our common platform, but the truth was that the movement was no longer in a position to protect our interest within and outside the ruling party,” a member of the group told The Nation.

However, questions are now being raised on the ongoing discussions between the group’s contact and mobilisation committee and some politicians as well as politicial groups outside the PDP.

“There is need for decorum within the political space and that we intend to see to. Our party will not condone such anti-party activities. There is no way these people will claim to be PDP members and they will be hobnobbing politically with various groups and people opposed to the aims and aspiration of the PDP. We are not unaware of their antics,” our source said.

But the PDM debunked such allegation, saying its committee is only discussing with organisations of like-minds with a view to finding ways of solving some pressing national problems. In a communique signed by Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, Prince Tonye Princewill and Murtala Shehu Musa Yar’adua, PDM further fuelled the controversy surrounding its revival when it said Nigerians are tired of things being done the same way for too long.

“The Movement resolved to open discussions with the organisations of like-minds, with a view to finding common grounds on issues of principle, policy and strategy in order to move the Nigerian project to the next level.

‘These discussions must be open, transparent and above all, in the best interest of the peace, unity, stability and economic progress of Nigeria and Nigerians as a whole. The era of business as usual should be dead and gone.

‘Politicians must begin to do things differently henceforth in order to save Nigeria from imminent collapse. Nigerians are sick and tired of more of the same and are clamouring for change, a change which they deserve,” the group said.

The group’s position on the alliance among some of Nigeria’s opposition political parties is also fuelling suspicion that there may be more to its revival than the public is yet to be told. Coming just short of endorsing the newly formed All Peoples Congress (APC), the PDM urged it to provide a credible alternative to Nigerians.

“The movement received briefing on the ongoing merger talks among opposition political parties in the country and commended the opposition for its resolve to give Nigerians an alternative political platform. We call on all opposition political parties and organisations across the country to close ranks in order to provide Nigerians with a clear choice between conservative and progressive ideologies.

“While we are gladdened by the development, we implore the opposition to define its own identity based on progressive ideology, with clear and contrasting policies and programs capable of pulling Nigeria out of the current state of despoliation, despair and debasement. Telling Nigerians how bad things are simply won’t suffice. Clear and practical solutions are what Nigerians need.

‘PDM is developing a clear roadmap for the entrenchment of profound national social, political and economic reforms which will lead to creating jobs, steady power supply, improved security, transparent and credible elections and bring corruption in all its manifestations to an end,’ the group said.

During the week, the PDM announced the formation of two new organs, a National Elders Committee and a National Caucus. Members of both are to be announced soon alongside those of State Coordinators, Youth and Women Leaders for the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT.

The group also presented a new zonal, state, senatorial and local government area management structure across the country. According to the new leadership of the group, all the new structures are to take effect immediately.

From the current look of things, it is unclear whether the PDM simply wants to reclaim its former position within the PDP as a power bloc or it is actually out to do more than just that ahead of the 2015 general election.

Some close observers wonder if a new political party is about to be born from the current reform efforts. It is just a matter of time before a clearer picture emerges.

February 17, 2013
2015: PDP seeks to join suit against Jonathan

The Peoples Democratic Party has applied to be joined in a suit challenging the eligibility of President Goodluck Jonathan to contest in the 2015 election.

A PDP card-carrying member, Henry Amadi, is before a Federal High Court, Abuja, contending that Jonathan is no longer viable to contest in 2015 because by so doing he would be spending more than the maximum period of two terms of four years provided in the 1999 Constitution.

The suit is similar to another one filed by a chieftain of the PDP, Mr. Cyriacus Njoku on March 20, 2012, asking an Abuja High Court to stop the president from participating in the next general election.

Judgment in that suit is pending before Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi.

In the present suit, the Respondents are Jonathan and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In the application by its National Legal Adviser, Mr. Kwon Victor, PDP prayed the court to join it as an interested party because it would be affected by the outcome of the suit.

It is also asking the court to make a consequential order directing the plaintiff to amend his originating processes to reflect PDP as a defendant and cause same to be served on the party.

In the affidavit in support of the application, Kwon argued that from the reliefs sought by the plaintiff in this suit, PDP’s right to sponsor Jonathan for the office of the President in the 2015 presidential election is being challenged.

He averred that ‘’this action cannot be effectually and completely be determined without joining the applicant herein.

‘’By the very tenor of the reliefs sought by the plaintiff, this suit questions the right of the applicant to sponsor one of its members (Jonathan) for the 2015 presidential election. The applicant herein seeks to protect its interest in the present action by this application.”

Justice Adamu Bello has fixed February 26 to hear the PDP’s application following the plaintiff’s lawyer, C.N.Eke’s intention to oppose the application for joinder.

January 23, 2013
Re: Okorocha, Chris Anyanwu flex muscles over 2015

I write in direct response to two of your publications on the face-off between Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State and Senator Chris Anyanwu who represents Imo East Senatorial district (Owerri zone) at the Senate. The first was the opinion piece written by Jide Oluwajuyitan on January 3, while the second was the features article in The Nation Politics of your January 7 edition, written by Okodili Ndili.

In the January 7 piece titled “Okorocha, Anyanwu flex muscles over 2015”, Okodile got the facts obfuscated, leaving the innocent reader with a confused impression of what happened that fateful day of December 26, 2012 and the real issues at stake.

Without attempting to rehash the accounts of the incident, it is necessary to state clearly that contrary to the writer’s statement that “the convoys of the two eminent politicians nearly collided in Owerri, the state capital…”, what happened was an unwarranted excessive show of power by the governor and his men. Senator Anyanwu and her “convoy” of three cars had pulled off the road to make way for the rampaging convoy of the governor coming behind them. Instead of passing, the governor’s men blocked their way, swooped on them and unleashed raw, brutish violence on her men.

Again, Okodile quoted the governor’s spokesman, Ebere Uzoukwa. as saying that “the senator’s vehicle suddenly rammed into the governor’s car, close to the staff car….” The question to ask here is “how could Senator Anyanwu’s car, which was ahead of the governor’s car ram into it?” Could it have suddenly made a backward movement?” He equally reported Uzoukwa as having said that Senator Anyanwu ordered her security orderlies to open fire on the governor’s convoy. How conceivable is it, that an individual with only three security escorts would give such an order in the face of over 50 better armed security personnel in the governor’s convoy. Such a person must be on a suicidal mission, especially after having the temerity, as Okodile reported, to slap the governor’s ADC; but definitely not Chris Anyanwu.

Okodile also passed a very wrong impression when he stated in his own words that “Okorocha in his New Year message has forgiven the erring senator”. This implies that the writer himself is telling the reading public that Senator Anyanwu was in error. He thereafter quoted Okorocha’s spokesman asking “her to apologise for her wrongs”. This is a clear case of turning the truth on its head. Here is a classical example of an individual’s fundamental human rights being grossly abused by the very same person who is supposed to protect him. Instead of the aggressor swallowing his empty pride to apologise, he is demanding apology from the oppressed. Yes, Governor Okorocha owes Senator Chris Anyanwu an apology, and he knows it.

Unfortunately, most of the reportage published so far on the incident interpret it as flexing muscles over 2015 race for the governor’s seat in Imo State. Chris Anyanwu is perceived as having gubernatorial ambition, while Okorocha wants to hold on to the coveted seat or go for the presidency. But can anybody say that Anyanwu has declared that intention to him or her, or at any forum? Yet, is the right to run for an office not her constitutional right? Assuming she comes to say “I want to run for the governorship seat in Imo State”, should she be killed for it? Should her rights be grossly abused by the governor? Should she be harassed and intimidated so that she chickens out? What gives Rocha Okorocha or anybody else more right to contest than Chris Anyanwu? Is she not eminently qualified for that position, going by her education, capability, experience and her position as a distinguished two-term senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Yet Anyanwu has not declared any interest so far. If anything, she is pre-occupied with how to deliver to the people of Owerri Zone, who took extra-ordinary steps to get her re-elected in the face of overwhelming odds. Knowing her passion for uplifting the living standards of her people and put smiles on their faces, she would rather devote good time now, delivering on this, than focusing on 2015, which is still two clear years ahead.

My guess is that she will not let herself to be distracted. She will continue to work hard to satisfy her conscience and the people she represents and if in the end she decides, and the people decide too, that the next step in her record of service is to run for governorship, why not?

So why should gross violation of human rights by Governor Okorocha be seen from the prism of her so-called 2015 ambition. What does 2015 have to do with breaking the head of Anyanwu’s driver and injuring others in her team? Yet, Okodili described this deliberate brutality as resulting from an accident. His words: “one of the senator’s drivers was injured in the accident”. What gross misinformation is this?

Equally in his own analysis titled “Imo’s Battle of Convoys”, Oluwajuyitan wrote without having all the facts at his disposal. True enough, Senator Anyanwu visited the governor earlier that day on a courtesy call, but not in the manner Oluwajuyitan presented. According to him the Senator visited Okorocha “with a convoy of cars probably bought, fueled and driven by public officials at the expense of the tax payers”. Haba! Dr. Oluwajuyitan, this is a very unfair assessment of Chris Anyanwu, who I believe you should know to some reasonable extent; at least that she is a woman of means enough to afford and maintain three cars in her entourage: one for her escorts, another for herself and a back-up, in a state and country where insecurity is quite high.

I also think it was most uncharitable of you to describe Chris Anyanwu as a “warlord”, when all she did was to make way for the all-powerful governor, who didn’t consider her human enough to ply the same route with him. You also overdid it by grouping Senator Anyanwu in the class of overpaid legislators and undisciplined governors who unleash corruption on our nation. Accepted, there are corrupt politicians in our system, but there are also very good politicians in Nigeria, who are doing their best for the society. It is definitely on overstatement to brand all of them in the negative.

Chris Anyanwu is indeed one of the new breed politicians who are out to serve. Just check out her records since she entered politics and you will discover a hard working, passionate woman who takes her job very seriously; she would rather leave the job than not deliver on her mandate. I think such persons should be encouraged, rather than being harassed, intimidated and lampooned.

Onuoha, is Special Assistant to Senator Chris Anyanwu.

January 17, 2013