The division in the North over the power shift has come to the fore, with the former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Alhaji Abba Gana, declaring that the region’s opposition to President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term bid is false.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) elder said that the party, and not the North’s elders, will decide the fate of the President at the primaries.
He denied the insinuation that the North’s Elders’ Forum, led by the former university don, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, was pursuing the agenda of power shift on behalf of the region, stressing that he lacked the mandate of the entire region.
Gana supported the suggestion by the PDP BoT Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, that the incumbent President and governors should be given automatic tickets in 2015. He said the crisis in the party is temporary, adding that certain chieftains are only grandstanding and jostling to protect their interests.
Also, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha (Taraba North) dispelled the rumour that the North is opposed to the President’s re-election bid, clarifying that he (president) has the constitutional right to seek re-election. Bwacha said: “The President has the right to aspire to continue in the office beyond 2015. Prof. Ango Abdullahi is not speaking for all of us. I advise the majority group in the North to back the President because the minority groups have been backing the northern candidates. They should now reciprocate by backing the minority”.
Gana, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT), and Senator Bwacha spoke separately with reporters in Lagos on the Jonathan Administration, the PDP crises and controversial rotational principle in the ruling party.
The former minister described the forum led by Abdullahi as an interest group existing outside the ruling party, which lacked the opportunity to unduly influence the party.
He said: “The group cannot choose delegates. It cannot nominate candidates and cannot hold the primaries for the PDP. On the power shift to the North, there is division in the north. Some people want it to come to the north. Some want President Jonathan to finish his two terms. Despite the fact that the North has produced many Heads of State, crisis and poverty remain in the North”.
Gana emphasised that the PDP was formed to protect the national unity and integration, warning the chieftains fanning the embers of disunity in the party ahead of 2015 to desist.
Dismissing the opposition by the key PDP members to Dr. Jonathan’s second term bid as a rumour, he said: “PDP cannot say no to President Jonathan’s second term. He is the sitting President. So, most of us in the North will support him. It is wrong to bring someone to contest when Jonathan is still sitting in the Aso Rock. How can Jonathan support that person? How can the person benefit from the power of incumbency?”
Gana urged the north’s leaders to ponder on the advice offered by the former Defence Minister, Gen. Yakubu Danjuma, to the region. He said: “Gen. Danjuma said that the North should learn, plan, relate better, work harder and talk less. The north needs another four years to plan, relate well, work hard and talk less. We need to groom a leader in the North to do that. It cannot be done in a crash manner. That leader should unite the North”.
The former minister accused some PDP chieftains of inordinate ambition, urging them to learn from the lessons of history.
He said: “They should look back and realise that greater Nigerians have tried to rule this country, but did not make it a do or die affair. They should emulate the likes of Olu Falae, Adamu Ciroma, Lateef jakande, and Bamanga Tukur, who wanted to be President, but did not achieve it and never caused trouble. It is a question of destiny”.
Gana said that the media report that the Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, would defect from the PDP was untrue, pointing out that he is a loyal, consistent and committed party leader.
He described the Nigerian Governors’ Forum as a non-governmental body, which derailed, owing to the politicisation of the forum by some members.
Gana lamented the collapse of party supremacy and discipline in the ruling party, recalling that no governor would take on the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) national chairman, the late Chief Adisa Akinloye, in the Second Republic.
The politician said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) will not dislodge the PDP from power at the centre. He added: “APC is a hurricane warning to the PDP. We will take care of it before it comes”.
Senator Bwacha said that President Jonathan is qualified to re-contest in 2015, adding that efforts to use the security challenge in the Northeast to discredit his administration will fail. He added: “Satability is coming back to the Northeast. Boko Haram was orchestrated by certain individuals to discredit President Jonathan. Nigeria should give a second term opportunity to him”.
