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  • APC blames Fayose for Ekiti kidnappings

    APC blames Fayose for Ekiti kidnappings

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State has said Governor Ayo Fayose should be blamed for the spate of kidnappings in the state.

    The party said the governor had failed to deliver his campaign promises, six persons, including medical doctors, have been kidnapped in the last five months.

    Publicity Secretary Taiwo Olatubosun, in a statement, said the kidnapping of medical doctors had forced medical practitioners to down tools.

    “We raised the alarm when the trend started, calling the attention of Ekiti people to the governor’s refusal to fund security agencies, even though Fayose increased his personal security vote to N200 million monthly.

    “What is happening now is a confirmation of our earlier claim that the 19 APC lawmakers were targets of kidnapping to reduce their number to stall his impeachment.

    “This would have been done if they had attended the meeting at ABUAD where we were informed that an ambush had been laid for them,” Olatunbosun said.

    He added that the recent kidnappings could not be detached from the earlier state of siege and insecurity by criminals after the government unleashed thugs, miscreants and escapee-inmates to harass political opponents.

    “The thugs, who are still being lodged in the Government House, had in the past, unleashed terror on opposition members in every town across Ekiti State.

    “We have every reason to believe that they are the same criminals together with their colleagues from neighbouring  Ondo State who are responsible for the kidnappings in the state,” Olatubosun said.

    He added: “We raised the alarm about the state of insecurity in Ekiti in the last six months.  It was first the jailbreak, followed by the reign of robbers, next was the reign of thugs who maimed political opponents and now kidnappers.

    “We call on security agencies, especially the Acting IGP Solomon Arase, to revisit our petitions on the Government House thugs. They should be arrested and prosecuted now.

    “We sympathise with Ekiti people who were deceived by Fayose into believing he is the best for them.  They now know better, as the difference between a government that really cared for the masses and a government of stunts and deceit is becoming clearer by the day.”

  • COUNTDOWN TO MAY 29: Inheriting an empty treasury

    COUNTDOWN TO MAY 29: Inheriting an empty treasury

    ‘Nigeria jaga, jaga, poor man, dey suffer, suffer…’

    Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) last Tuesday literally opened a Pandora’s Box when they admitted to President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari that the President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP had milked the economy dry, a development, which set off a chain of reactions. Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf in this report examines the issues

    WHEN Nigeria’s famous hip hop sensation, Eedris Abdulkareem, born Eedris Turayo Abdulkareem Ajenifuja, in 2004, waxed the above lyrics, he was made the butt of derisive jokes and roundly condemned by government apologists, many of who believed he was buoyed by selfish reasons rather than by patriotic fervour.

    But when you fast forward to 2015, the import of what Eedris Abdulkareem sang about remains a sad reality still: Nigeria’s economy is in the doldrums. Put more succinctly, Nigeria is dead broke!

    But how? Why? What happened? A penny for your thought: after constant self-denial that Nigeria’s economy was in good standing, albeit, financially, those vested with the responsibility of managing the nation’s common wealth have since recanted. Finally, the chicken has come home to roost and the jury is out: there is no money left in the treasure. Truth be told, all the assurances of the past years, it does appear, were all false claims after all.

    Reality bite

    Peeved by the gloomy reality that stares them on the face, the APC governors had last Tuesday met with President-elect, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) at the Defence House, Abuja, to express their displeasure over the parlous state of the economy.

    The governors cried out that most state governments had gone bankrupt and, therefore, cannot pay workers’ salaries.

    According to them, it was obvious that they were going to inherit huge debts which may delay speedy progress in their respective states. They were, however, silent on APC states like Lagos, Edo and Osun, which are currently the most indebted in the country.

    Addressing journalists after their indoor meeting with Buhari, chairman of APC governors, Chief Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, said the outgoing government had ruined the economy.

    According to him, the fact that the federal government has not paid April salaries was an indication that the economy was not healthy.

    “One of the issues that became of concern to all of us is the state of the Nigerian economy which is really in bad shape. We have come to notify the incoming president of the challenges ahead of him,” Okorocha said.

    Pressed further, he said: “As it stands, most states of the federation have not been able to pay salaries and even the federal government has not paid April salary and that is very worrisome.

    “By May and June, the salary will be in cumulative of three months. With the huge expectation from Nigerians and people who have voted us into power, we wonder. We are hoping that the president-elect will do whatever that is humanly possible to bring about a bailout not only in the states but the Federal Government, at least for people to get their salaries and turn around the economy.”

    Nigeria’s troubling debt burden

    As at December 31, 2014, Nigeria’s debt burden was put at N11.24 trillion.

    After the Paris debts buy back, a lot of people expected that die down but that has not been the case.

    In its 2014 Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA), the nation also adopted a  subsisting debt management strategy as captured in the approved Nigeria’s Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS), for 2012-2015, which seeks to achieve an optimal mix in the debt portfolio of 60:40 for domestic and external debts respectively as against the current mix of 83:17 through a gradual substitution of relatively more expensive domestic borrowing with cheaper external financing.

    Thus, the 2014 DSA has already incorporated government’s policy objective of reducing the overall cost of government borrowing at an acceptable level of risks. This may have informed the minister’s statement of government’s preference for approaching multilateral agencies.

    The objective of the 2014 DSA is to assess the country’s capacity to finance its projects/programmes and service its debt obligations, without undue large adjustments that may compromise its macroeconomic stability, overall growth and development.

    The growing concern over the country’s debt overhang has been on the front burner for years, but often times, government officials have always argued that the nation’s debt level has not gone out of a safe trajectory. However, the lid over this confidence margin, appears to be weakening and increasingly contested.

    A lecturer at the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, Dr. Austin Nweze, pointed out a grave danger in accumulating excessive foreign debts as such would place undue burden on future generations, especially if the loans are not channeled into capital projects. Nweze, however, said that there is nothing wrong in borrowing provided the funds are well utilised or invested in the provision of infrastructure.

    According to him, the fall in oil prices has reduced revenue receipts, forcing the government to look for money to run the economy.

    Dr. Isaac Nwaogwugwu, a lecturer at Department of Economics, University of Lagos, said there is no way we are going to finance capital budget without borrowing.

    He said: “That is why the allocation to capital account or expenditure is very small unless the government says it not ready to invest or provide for the future then it’s going to borrow.

    But how did we get to this sorry past? At this juncture a short anecdote would suffice:

    Remote cause of cash crunch

    Despite becoming the largest economy in Africa, the Nigeria economy faced major headwinds last year, from the substantial decline in international oil prices in the second half of the year to significant constraints to business activities in the north-eastern part of the country owing to the activities of insurgent and then the build-up to the 2015 elections.

    Thus the cash shortage caused by low oil prices have forced Nigeria to borrow heavily through the early part of 2015, with the government struggling to pay public workers the federal government admitted last Wednesday.

    “We have serious challenges. Things have been tough since the beginning of the year and they are likely to remain so till the end of the year,” said Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

    Despite been Africa’s top economy and largest oil producer, Nigeria has been hammered by the 50 percent fall in oil prices, with crude sales accounting for more than 70 percent of government revenue.

    Okonjo-Iweala said the federal government had a projected borrowing allowance for 2015 of 882 billion naira ($4.4 billion/4 billion euros). But N473billion had already been used up to meet recurrent expenditures, including public worker salaries. “We have front-loaded the borrowing programme to manage the cash crunch in the economy,” the minister told reporters.

    While Okonjo-Iweala said the severity of Nigeria’s cash crunch requires daily management, the problem will certainly be off her desk in a few weeks time, as president-elect Muhammadu Buhari will be sworn in on May 29 and may not likely retain any of the key ministers appointed by outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Okonjo-Iweala said Nigeria was still projected to grow at 4.8 percent this year and was therefore “doing much better than many other oil producing countries,” similarly hit by the collapse in crude prices.

    Before the headwinds in the oil market, the country set its benchmark crude price between 75 and 80 dollars, and was supposed to deposit excess revenue in a savings account. But even when crude was selling above $100 last year, the federal government struggled to build savings.

    The federal government had pauperised most states and made it impossible for them to pay the salaries of their workers by refusing to refund the huge funds they spent on federal projects.

    Points to ponder

    To Festus Keyamo, one of the sad reality of Jonathan’s government is the brazen crude oil theft which became so legalised that there was now what is known as “Bayelsa diesel” in the market, a fall-out of the 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil valued at $60billion stolen in Nigeria, which is the equivalent of the daily crude oil production of Equatorial Guinea.

    Besides, he said, another case in point is the $20 billion missing oil funds which ought to have accrued to the Excess Crude Account (ECA).

    “The crude oil benchmark for 2014 budget was $77.5, in which Nigeria made $33 per every barrel of oil, which amounted to about $24 billion in a year. But we recorded less than $6 billion in the ECA. So, the question is what happened to the remainder?” he queried.

    Sadly, Keyamo said, over N1 trillion was budgeted for defence in 2014 with little or no result to show for it.

    The Jonathan administration reportedly built a new banquet hall at the presidential villa to the tune of $100 million just as it bought a brand new private jet to add to the presidential fleet, much bigger than those of more endowed nations as well as most airlines across Africa.

    Way forward

    While attempting a prognosis of the economic fundamentals in Nigeria, Razia Khan, Managing Director, Head, Africa Macro, Global Research, Standard Chartered Bank, United Kingdom, said, “In terms of future monetary policy, there isn’t a great deal of new news at this point. The current monetary policy stance is considered to be sufficiently tight and this will continue.”

    “Our sense is that this stance will be viewed positively by investors – many of whom will be looking to re-enter Nigerian markets post-election. However, we are only likely to see this happen in scale when investors themselves start to share the CBN’s optimism on the stabilisation of the Nigerian naira.”

    Prof. Jide Osuntokun, Pro-Chancellor of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, in an article titled: ‘Buhari: Sweat and tears’, he suggested a change in revenue mobilisation as a means to revamp the economy. “There has to be a change in revenue mobilisation, a situation in which Nigeria charges a VAT of seven percent while other African states are charging 18percent must change. We have to increase VAT to 18percent especially at a time when our income for oil has been reduced by 50percent.”

    Otunba JK Randle, renowned financial expert while advising the incoming government on what economic template to adopt in terms of interest rate management, said: “You cannot isolate interest rate, you have to look at the entire picture. You have to look at the exchange rate, as well as the inflation rate and most importantly, the productivity rate. All of them have to be in alignment.”

    On further devaluation if the naira, he said: “Devaluation of the naira is a function of supply and demand. Again, it is combination of two things namely: supply and demand.”

    Continuing, he said: “There is element of confidence in other words, there is no panic-buying or speculative buying or round-tripping or what have you, you can establish a certain reasonable level of stability. What is happening now, volatility, which is being driven by equity factors. The reality is that you will be earning less and less. The price of oil has dropped considerably.

    They have not explored the non-oil sector sufficiently enough for whatever reason, is very instructive that.”

    The duo of Mr. Walter Ahrey, a former Director of Strategy and Performance at the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Prof. Jonathan Aremu, renowned economist and professor of International Economic Relations at the Covenant University, hold the view and very strongly too that what better way to address the legion of economic woes bedeviling the nation is by taken decisive steps aimed at blocking all leakages and wastages in the system.

    Such measures, Ahrey and Aremu said would ensure an uptick in the economy sooner than later.

    A cross-section of analysts have also assured that the second half of the year is expected to offer some respite to the domestic economy as political uncertainties taper, the international oil prices gradually inch upward on the back of the expectations of output cuts by OPEC at its next meeting in June 2015.

     

     

  • APC, Fayose and the Ekiti malaise

    APC, Fayose and the Ekiti malaise

    Widely circulated and deeply offensive as Governor Ayo Fayose’s antics and methods are in Ekiti, it is not his brutality or his infernal lies, or even his ignorant and cantankerous supporters, that grieve the heart of the judicious. What is in fact most noticeable about that state’s politics is the near total disintegration of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a morbid process that began once the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the June 2014 governorship poll. Mr Fayose swept into office on the magic carpet of lies, damned lies, fraudulent claims, thuggish disposition, and mindless populism. Indeed, his victory was incontrovertible, and even the several lawsuits filed against him to upturn his election have lost steam. Without doubt, Mr Fayose will sustain his governorship on the same diet of reckless lies, uncouthness and propaganda that have become his stock in trade, not caring a hoot what anyone thinks, and being loved and cherished by the yokels that caress his every word and extravagant posturing.

    The APC did not have to win the state a second time to keep the light of its civilisation burning, but once the state began its precipitous descent into the sewer, it became tempting for patriots to imagine what might have been had the progressives kept their heads and managed their politics fairly imaginatively. Though the embattled national leadership of the PDP appears to regret supporting Mr Fayose for last year’s governorship race, given his intemperate attacks against their persons and leadership, yet only someone with the talent to appeal to the basest and beastliest instincts of the electorate, someone like Mr Fayose, could have won that agonising poll. Whatever pose he strikes, whatever inanity he utters, and whatever braggadocio he exudes, the fact is that he is less of a problem to Ekiti than the confusion that afflicted the APC camp once the guns fell silent on that sanguinary electoral battlefield.

    There is of course nothing fundamentally wrong with losing an election, whether to the wrong person or to the right party. That the APC lost is, therefore, nothing inherently disturbing. What is dismaying is the manner of their retreat from the battlefield. They simply fled once the battle pressed hard against them and the enemy swooped on them, and it did not matter what their ranks were. Generals, troopers and conscripts alike fled ignominiously, without dignity, without class, and without shame. More intriguingly, they have not really stopped fleeing. Three generals, to wit, Kayode Fayemi, Niyi Adebayo and Segun Oni, led the APC army, and they were routed. They were right to observe the unlawful and inordinate use of federal might against the APC, but that excuse was insufficient to explain their loss. And for a brief period they talked of scientific rigging, but even this excuse has lost steam.

    Somehow, the generals didn’t quite understand that even if their loss was unwholesomely procured by the PDP using different and dangerous federal artifices, nothing excuses their inability or reluctance to provide strong, concrete and inspiring postwar leadership to their disheartened party supporters. Suffering from shell shock consequent upon Mr Fayose’s incendiary methods, nearly all the lawmakers on the APC platform announced their disinterest in seeking reelection. They followed their generals in that unexampled display of cowardice. Even though some of them offered what passed as plausible and even altruistic explanations, it was apparent none of them was willing to confront Mr Fayose’s brutally effective electioneering in the March and April elections. Consequently, the PDP again swept the polls, from the presidential to the legislative, in such a dramatic and overwhelming manner that had any other election being added to the constipative menu, Mr Fayose would again have rendered the APC absolutely knackered.

    To pull the APC’s chestnuts out of the fire, the fleeing generals and their men have splintered into a number of groups in their effort to regroup and fight the rampaging Mr Fayose. There is the so-called mainstream APC led by Jide Awe, the APC state chairman, former governor Fayemi, and his predecessor, Niyi Adebayo. This group is blamed for the ignominious defeat the party suffered in the last polls, including that of 2014, and its leaders are either in self-imposed exile or are seldom seen in the state to organise anything properly describable as opposition to the PDP. A second group within the APC led by Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Ronke Okusanya, a princess from Efon Alaye in Ekiti State, is ambitiously christened Action Group. Not much action has emanated from them, however, nor have they proved capable of even smothering the controversies and rivalries within the party. The third group is led by Opeyemi Bamidele, a one-time defector from the progressives rank to the Labour Party (LP). More popularly known as the Bibire Coalition, the group led by Mr Bamidele has also not found a way to make a dent on the reputation of Mr Fayose.

    The three APC groups reflect the confusion and disunity prevalent among the progressives in Ekiti. Not only are they incapable of offering strong or credible opposition to Mr Fayose, they are themselves a study in weakness, lack of courage and lack of wisdom. Their present predicament is a culmination of bad politics right from their Alliance for Democracy (AD) days. The frictions and fractures could have been mended, but either hubris or lack of vision has prevented them from mending fences. Having thus fought themselves bitterly for many years, and after being unnerved and inundated by the effects of Mr Bamidele’s defection, they opened themselves up to Mr Fayose’s savage beating. And to claw their way out of the rat hole in which they are consigned, they have resorted to garish media activities, such as advertisements, and general, unsolicited media presence, both of which have proved completely ineffectual.

    Mr Fayose’s perverse politics is merely a symptom of the general malaise afflicting Ekiti. Notwithstanding his obnoxious habits and deeply offensive morals, Mr Fayose will in the foreseeable future win any election held in that state. He is doubtless unravelling, for he cannot help being his troublesome, inane and populist self, but the process of his decay is not fast enough for the provincial laggards who admire him to comprehend his intolerably malodorous disposition. This is why both the low ranks and the elite cannot appreciate the implications to their civilisation and democracy of the perversion in the state legislature that has led to the suspension of the constitution. The state’s elite foolishly think they reserve the freedom and the power to curb Mr Fayose whenever they please. They should beware of riding the tiger, as the PDP national leadership is discovering, lest they end up in its stomach.

    It was expected that even if the APC was so distracted and immature in their politics, the Ekiti people would sensibly and futuristically draw the line between their detestation of the progressives’ style and the enthronement of an appalling character like Mr Fayose. The malaise is thus complete, and there is no settling who is the preeminent villain in the state. Indeed, between Mr Fayose’s malfeasance, the electorate’s dimwittedness, and the elite’s shortsightedness, the Ekiti tragedy, of which the governor is nothing but the harbinger and human manifestation of gruesome tastes, is complete and implacable.

    If that state is to be saved, if Mr Fayose’s buffoonery is to be knocked into a cocked hat, the progressives will have to put their best foot forward. Sadly, there does not appear to exist any altruistic and visionary politician in that state today able to claim and hold the moral high ground. Even if they make do with any of the leaders in the three APC groups active in the state, it will be because the logic of submitting to a flawed leader compels them to unaccustomed abnegation, not because the potential leader possessed the character to offer real, charismatic and intelligent leadership.

  • ‘APC’ll reclaim Ekiti in 2018’

    ‘APC’ll reclaim Ekiti in 2018’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) will reclaim Ekiti State in 2018, four members of the House of Representatives have said.

    Bamidele Faparusi, Ifeoluwa Arowosoge, Robinson Ajiboye and Oyetunde Ojo have floated a political platform, Ekiti APC Restoration Group (ERG), to make the dream a reality.

    They vowed to pool resources and manpower and begin mobilisation early to reclaim the state from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    In a statement yesterday, the group said there was need to mobilise resources towards strengthening the party and motivating stakeholders.

    It expressed deep concern over the political crisis in the state, saying it was time to rescue Ekiti from the pit.

  • 173 dump PDP for APC

    The former senatorial aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the 2011 general elections, Dr. Aboki Zhawa has defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Zhawa made public his defection at his Rubochi Ward in Kuje Area Council.

    Zhawa, a retired Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum, Education and Head of Service, who crossed over to APC with 173 of his loyalists and supporters, was received by the former Speaker of Kuje Area Council, Alhaji Abdullahi A. Galadima and APC ward chairman in the area, Mr. Dogo Nana Bamaiyi, at a brief ceremony held at the party’s office in the area.

    Notable among those that defected were former councillorship candidate of the PDP in the area, Luka Danjuma Yemison, former PDP elder, Mr. Galadima Tatari Gbako, Mukaila Ibrahim Zhawa and PDP elders in the area.

    The former senatorial aspirant said he and some of his loyalists dumped his party in order to move the country forward.

    He said he was compelled to come into the APC fold with his supporters after he realised that indigenous people of the territory have been schemed out of important positions under the ruling PDP.

    He said, “We are in a world of reality. I have told people severally that we are not born for a party. The party is born for us, as we are not slaves.

    “So my [defection] to APC with my supporters is a matter of interest,” he said.

    He noted that natives of the territory were giving much recognition during the military administrator of the former FCT Minister, General Maman Vatsa, which he said area councils and some ministries were created to carry the natives along.

    According to him, many indigenous people of the territory were carried along under the military administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, adding that the military administration of Buhari was transparent.

    He berated the FCT admini-stration’s land swap policy, saying the PDP-led government has failed to resettled natives whose farm lands and house have been taken away from them over the years without compensation.

    “The natives have scattered all over the places. We do not even know our places again. As nobody is planning anything for the natives. We are just like lost ship. With the coming of Buhari, natives of the FCT shall regain their status, which is why I decided to join the APC with my supporters” he said.

    Responding, chairman of the APC in FCT, Alhaji Usman Abdulmalik said the party was elated by the effort of the former senatorial candidate for his wise decision to dump the PDP to join the APC.

    He said the party would carry him and his supporters along in every decisions of the party in order to ensure that APC delivers dividends of democracy to people in the FCT.

  • ‘APC ‘ll make difference at centre’

    ‘APC ‘ll make difference at centre’

    Human rights activist and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain in Oyo State Comrade Mashood Erubami spoke with MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE on the recent general elections, the mistakes the incoming administration should avoid and urgent steps it should take to reposition the polity. 

    What are the lessons to be learned from the recent general elections?

    For future  elections to be free, fair and legitimate, the leadership of INEC must continue to prove doubting Thomas’s wrong that it is not engaged in unwholesome affiliation with politicians.

    Not only this, INEC must show mastery of its past faults and show capacity that it can correct them,  in the right manner without failing  to  use the past  reported  challenges to improve on its performances.  It will be unacceptable  to Nigerians to be told again why INEC could not perfects its action to conduct acceptable election that meets international standards, It must not  repeat  the same old mistakes which have been highlighted in the past.

    If we consider the way and manner the voters registration was carried out in 2010 with many  of the newly acquired  machines not functioning well , staff of INEC not properly trained to handle the machines and other  logistics problems making it  impossible for majority of prospective voters to register within areas of their domiciliation, all these made  many potential Voters to  register  not necessarily where they live but where the registration machines were available.

    To me and others from my own school of thought, INEC must discourage an electoral process that would  allow voter’s apathy in all future elections.It  should not  deny  registered voters who registered outside their living areas the opportunity to come  out to regularise their registration, in fact it must attend to all outstanding transfers and ensure that all names on the register had permanent Voters Cards while all efforts must be  made.  to transfer their names back to their living abode where they can vote conveniently.

    INEC must publish before the election dates, the list of its officials with their  Names, Contact Phones and Status,  in National newspapers and on its websites to enable local and International Observers and Party Agents to verify the genuineness  of the officials at every polling centre and for transparency.

    INEC should ensure that there is PVC for every name that appears on its voters’ register.

    INEC must publish the list of voting areas and polling units in the states where election is being conducted with contact description and community names to ease navigation and making them accessible to electoral officials, observers, media, party agents and other stakeholders.

    Every efforts must be put in place to ensure that millions of yet to be collected PVCs from the points of printing are collected and distributed to their owners without further complications in preparation for future election and not necessarily very near election dates bearing that voters registration is a continuous exercise.

    Many are worried that bad eggs may infiltrate the government of Gen. Muhammed Buhari and clog the wheel of development…

    These  worries are not unfounded nor misplaced, the members and leadership of APC are not all infallible given the nature of its merger, what  this foist on all of us including the media is not to go to  sleep immediately a new President is sworn in on May 29 2015, we must be  ever vigilant and pro active.  It behoves on all Nigerians to start setting  agenda of good governance for General Muhammadu Buhari,  placing before him the genuine needs of the people  with a strong warning that the bulk stop on  his table and that the electorate will not tolerate frivolous excuses for failure, we need to constantly remind the Government that  some of the party members might turned landmine  for his progressive government, it is therefore left for him and others who are credible  to guard jealously their  goodwill and ensure that nobody is allowed to blot it with mud.

    General Buhari or any government striving to fight corruption and indiscipline should remember that corruption do fight back and only strong internal cohesion and stronger discipline can thwart its impunity.

    The Buhari administration should put in strong barricades that will not allow the infiltration of bad eggs into the system and  use the same barricades  to choke those that would have infiltrated before the count began. No government is bereft of the  bad eggs but they are easily identified through their greed and should be dealt with publicly to send strong signal that their impunities would not be tolerated.

    What is your advice to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari?

    The best choice before the new APC government from May 29 is not to jettison all that the outgoing government did for sixteen years including the good ones, it must condemn what is condemnable and Commend what should be commended.

    General  Buhari should immediately  set up a “multi stake-holdership government” to be constituted with genuine stakeholders who are technocrats and professionals  that will invigorate the already weak Naira, boost the morale of Nigerians who are victims of the 15 years of unimpressive and un rehearsed governance of the People Democratic Party (PDP). The election of Buhari should  throw  up a new phase of  politics in Nigeria which must be accompanied by new style of governance that considers the  concrete reality of mass unemployment of youths and productive adults, lack of electricity, scarcity of fuel and  bad governance to justify  the basis for faulting  the  continuity  of President Ebele Jonathan and  underscore the reasons which have left  Nigerians with no healthier alternative than to change him and replace  him.

    Buhari having  been  giving the chance, should set up  an innovative “multi-stakeholdership government” as interface program to make  genuine  change in the country , for Nigerians to know and enjoy happiness again being the rare genius that can end Nigerians years of misery and hunger in the midst of plenty  including stopping  the seemingly unrelenting insecurity so as to help in halting  the worsening state of our economy,  generating  enough revenue for creating massive employment for all.

  • Major agenda for Buhari

    Major agenda for Buhari

    After voting the All Progressives Congress (APC) into office on March 28, Nigerians will not be able to resist the urge to set agenda for the in-coming government of Muhammadu Buhari. There will indeed be dozens of items on the collective agenda, many of them argued vigorously and persuasively to make them rank high on the president-elect’s priorities. Given the mess made of the country in the past one decade and more, and especially in the past two or three years, everyone will be justified to focus on those critical areas of national life that have become a nightmare for the country. Gen Buhari himself has zeroed in on about four priorities: insecurity, economy/unemployment, corruption, and power. There is little doubt that if he accomplishes these priorities, he will be an instant hero.

    A few analysts may go ahead to proffer ways and methods by which the new government could resolve the mess, and they will be right to feel concerned that while there may be a consensus on the problems, it is unlikely there will be a consensus on how best or how less painful the agreed goals can be achieved. In fact, as a columnist with this newspaper observed, in voting Gen Buhari, it is not clear whether the electorate knew what they were doing, or what to expect from him, or how far his abrasiveness could impinge or grate on their worldview, whether political or social. The scale of the mess is truly staggering, and everyone is waiting with bated breath to see which way the Buhari cat will jump.

    The aroma of change wafts enticingly in the air, and everyone, not the least the president-elect himself and his All Progressives Congress (APC) party, is giddy with excitement over the dramatic political earthquake that occurred during the last polls. Gen Buhari knows that when he hunkers down to begin the massive work of regeneration and renewal, he will step on huge toes, and his popularity, which is sky-high at the moment, will take a tumble depending on how suavely the new ruling party and its leaders execute their goals.

    Gen Buhari’s agenda are consistent and logical spinoffs from his party’s programmes and manifesto. The general in turn also acknowledges huge public expectations, a significant part of which is simple and moderately ambitious. And should president-elect meet these simple expectations, and in ways that neither provoke the poor to irritation and irrationality nor instigate the rich to exasperation and desperation, he will reinforce his image as the man for the times, solidify his party’s change mantra, and enrich and nurture democracy in Nigeria on a truly stupendous scale. However, if he and his party have their eyes on history, if they wish to make their achievements sustainable in the long term and hope that from their efforts world-class governance and democracy would emerge and develop great tap roots, they will have to soar beyond the atmosphere of ordinariness and predictability to the ethereal world of the idealistic and the philosophical. How successfully they manage this greater and more demanding objective will determine how high they climb in public esteem and the lasting impression they will make on Nigeria and the wider world.

    Gen Buhari will be confronted with arguments on the need to moderate his ambition for the country on account of the low level of sophistication of Nigerians. They will tell him that if he accomplishes his three or four main goals, not only will the people be satisfied and reassured of a great future, he will be applauded for laying solid foundation for the growth, stability and future greatness of the country. This line of argument is sincere and plausible, and any president wary of the complexities of idealistic undertakings, such as this column is proffering, will yield to its persuasiveness. If Gen Buhari plays safe, as he seems inclined to do by limiting himself to the understandable and the uncomplicated, he will have done well, that is assuming he manages his safe goals successfully. But if he takes the deeper and more difficult road, that is, the obviously more complex, perhaps even philosophical and encompassing alternative, it will be assumed he understands its many nuances, and is capable of midwifing the dream, and summoning the courage and the discipline to stick with it against all odds.

    This column therefore offers the president-elect this complex option as a non-binding alternative, for travelling that road requires both profundity and vision. It also must come from deep, intuitive conviction, eliciting great passion and commitment. That alternative road does not preclude Gen Buhari’s priority programmes; indeed, the complex option feeds on them. The priority programmes are the ammunition needed to channel the country’s energies to a lofty and philosophical end, far beyond the commonplace existentialism that traps many nations in either ordinariness, if they are yet to achieve greatness, or decay and decline, if they are already great. This lofty alternative road must inspire the president-elect to recognise that his priorities, which are also invariably our priorities, must be seen as means to an end.

    It is not enough to achieve the set goals of fighting corruption, creating employment, and battling insecurity, among other things. These goals are laudable, but their full potentials will not be realised if they are not integrated right from the beginning into the visionary dynamics of developing a great and powerful nation, rivalling some of the best countries around sociologically, politically, technologically and economically. If that template or superstructure of a great and powerful country is not envisioned right from the beginning, it will mean that there will be no enduring and consistent frameworks for today’s and tomorrow’s leaders to apply as models for the task ahead. (Compare and contrast France and Italy after World War II). It will mean that present and future elections will be conducted merely routinely in consonance with the amorphous, conflicting and inconsequential yearnings of the electorate. It will mean tolerating rulers like former president Olusegun Obasanjo who lacked vision and depth, and others like President Jonathan to whom the ordinary art of governance proved inaccessible. It will reawaken the debate on what the purpose of government is, using the Singaporean and American models as examples. Finally, it will also mean that for a long time to come, Nigeria will be satisfied with rudimentary and existential objectives.

    The APC and Gen Buhari have done well to articulate their redemptive programmes for the country, but it is not certain how high their ambition is, which great countries or empires serve as their role model, whether their ambitions have irredentist components, if not spatially, at least ideationally, whether all they aspire to is just to copy one country or the other, with all their limiting attributes, or whether in their study and understanding of empires and empire builders, from Pax Romana to Pax Brittanica and to Pax Americana, and from Julius and Augustus Caesar to Genghis Khan, they see themselves and the country it is their turn to lead as a future role model and pacesetter to other countries and peoples. This kind of ambition is not alien to modern Africa. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana and Gamel Abdel Nasser of Egypt dreamt far beyond the limitations and developing economies of their countries. While war cannot be discounted as an agent of change and expansion, and will still occur on a large scale in the future, the change agents of today are economic and ideational influences.

    Gen Buhari and his party must determine where they want to locate themselves in the developmental and historical continuums. Hopefully, their ambition may be much more sublime and engaging than they have stated publicly. Let them, therefore, develop another richer position paper, other than their current blueprint, in which these deeper, inspiring goals are reconstructed as the superstructure on which the general and mundane yearnings of the people are to be realised. If the APC does not produce and execute something much deeper than they have publicly stated, and notwithstanding the fact that their opponent, the PDP, appears incapable of doing any better given their woeful 16 years performance, somebody or another party will rise and fill the yawning gap — if not now, then sometime later.

  • APC: Breaking into South-East

    APC: Breaking into South-East

    Following All Progressives Congress’ victory at the last governorship election in Imo State where Governor Rochas Okorocha was re-elected and the current moves by Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State to be counted with the party, Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports on the future of APC in the South-East zone

    The concern over the fortunes of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-East geo-political zone is not new. It, in fact, predates the birth of the party itself.

     So, since July 30, 2013, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), after deep intrigues, announced APC’s registration as a political party, keen political observers have expressed concern over its likely fortunes in the South-East zone. Their initial concern was mainly because of the failure of the top leadership of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to agree on the merger details. The result of the disagreement between the Chief Victor Umeh-led APGA’s National Working Committee and the Governor Rochas Okorocha-led radical elements within the party was APGA’s inability to join the merger as a whole. Only the faction led by Okorocha eventually merged with other parties to form APC.

    So, from onset, the leadership of APC in the South-East zone constituted only of Okorocha, leading the APGA arm of the progressive bloc, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu as the then National Chairman of All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) leading the ANPP and ACN’s only senator from the zone, Senator Chris Ngige. The three, in a way formed the major anchor that nurtured the mega party in the zone.

    As would be expected, because of Umeh and former Governor Peter Obi’s negative response to the acceptance of APC in the zone then, not many political leaders in the zone gave the party a chance. This, more than any other singular factor helped to muzzle the young party in the zone. But because of the persistence of these APC leaders, described by their supporters as dogged and determined, it seems the party has weathered the antagonistic attitude, occasioned mainly by PDP’s propaganda that APC was anti-Igbo and that the leaders of the party from the zone were poised to sale Ndigbo to their political rivals in the national political equation.

    This, coupled with APC’s historic success across the nation, made it possible for the party to attract the attention of the people of the zone.

    Today, the party did not only field candidates in all the categories of elections in the zone but can boast of prominent leaders that include Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, whose mandate has been renewed on the ticket of APC, former National Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu from Ebonyi State, Senator Chris Ngige, who was also a former governor of Anambra State, National Vice-Chairman of the party for the South-East, Mr. Nyerere, who contested the governorship election in Abia State, Senator Julius Ucha, who flew the party’s flag in Ebonyi State and Barrister Okey Ezea, the governorship candidate of the party in Enugu State.

    Imo as the party’s base in the zone

    Even before All Progressives Congress (APC) was officially registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), especially after the merger plan was made public by the national leadership of the party and the governors involved in the original merger, Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, who was part of that pioneering team, took charge in the South-East zone, mobilizing other leaders of the progressive bloc in the zone to join and support the new party.

    In one of the earliest meetings he held with the leaders of the party at the Government House Owerri, Okorocha told them that the party was “a child of circumstances” and that it became necessary for Ndigbo to be part of it because PDP has failed Ndigbo. He also prophesied that the party will take over power from PDP as it is the party of the future.

    In that meeting, the Ebonyi State delegation was led by Chief Ben Nwaobasi, who is today the party’s state chairman, while the Enugu delegation was led by General Joseph Okoloagu (Rtd).

    Okoloagu had told Okorocha that “We, the political leaders from the opposition parties from Enugu State are looking forward to your encouragement and support; we have come to identify with you and solicit for your support to build APC in Enugu State.”

    Nwaobasi also said his team came to solicit his support for the success of APC in Ebonyi State.

    His position as the only APC governor in the South-East geopolitical zone has since then positioned him as a form of arrow head for the development of the party not only in Imo but also in all the neighbouring states in the zone.

    But his political opponents, especially the Peoples Democratic Party, however insisted that APC did not exist in either the state or any part of the South-East. Pointing out that he won his seat on the ticket of APGA, they swore that he cannot win any election on the ticket of APC.

    Their claims became more threatening to Okorocha’s ambition and the future of APC in the zone when, during the presidential and National Assembly elections, PDP recorded a stunning landslide in the state.

    Okorocha’s former party, APGA, which did not feature any presidential candidate, mocked APC, alleging that the state remains an APGA state and that the party will win the state elections. PDP, which won the presidential and National Assembly elections also made the same claims.

    But the result of the last governorship election in the state has since debunked the claims as the incumbent governor, Okorocha, emerged winner in the election that dragged to a supplementary election.

    At the supplementary polls, the candidate of APC won in 20 out of the 23 local government areas, polling a total of 31,326 votes. Okorocha’s closest challenger, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha of PDP got 13,624 votes.

    It would be recalled that Ihedioha also trailed Okorocha with 79,525 votes in the substantive election the result of which was declared inconclusive by the Returning Officer, Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, two weeks earlier because the margin of victory between the top two contenders – the APC and the PDP – was less than the number of registered voters in areas where elections did not hold or was cancelled due to irregularities, thus necessitating a supplementary election, as required by the electoral law.

    For observers, who reckoned on APC using Imo as its foothold, it was a period of tension.

    Announcing the total result (substantive and supplementary) polled by the candidates however, Obe declared Okorocha the winner, “having polled the highest number of votes and having satisfied the requirement of the law.

    He polled a total of 416,996 votes out of the total 806,764 votes cast in the election, leaving PDP’s Ihedioha at the second slot with 320,705 votes and Emmanuel Ihenacho of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in a distant third with 28,434 votes.

    Even before the governorship election, Okorocha’s henchmen and ordinary supporters have been boasting that PDP cannot snatch Imo from Okorocha and APC. They insist that the government of Owelle Okorocha performed too well to be defeated through a free and fair election.

    Commenting on why PDP cannot snatch Imo from Okorocha-led APC, shortly before the election, the Deputy Governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere said “When we came into office in 2011,under the rescue mission government led by Owelle Rochas Okorocha, one of the things the governor appealed to the Imo people for while delivering his inaugural address was to have patience because he is in a hurry to develop Imo state. Due to the state of decay of the infrastructure in Imo, Owelle Okorocha quickly declared a state of emergency on Infrastructure.”

    Pinpointing some of the infrastructural developments of their administration, Madumere, who started out as Okorocha’s Chief of Staff, said, “I can tell you that there is no local government area that does not have a minimum of 20km-asphalted road. There is no local government in Imo State that does not have state-of-the-art General Hospital that is 75 percent near completion and that brings them to a total of 27 Hospitals. Each of the 305 wards in Imo State has modern primary schools, which are 80 percent completion. When you come into the city of Owerri, you will see tremendous infrastructural work; we have international conference centers. Apart from the Conference Centre at the heart of Owerri, there is another conference center at Oguta Blue Lake of Leisure that has long been completed with A Class Motel.  Again, we have Concorde Hotel, which has been massively renovated. Anyone who visits Owerri will testify the illumination of the city with stainless solar streetlights.”

    Given what supporters of APC in the zone described as Okorocha’s well deserved victory, his developmental strides are fast becoming a reference point for other South-East states. Most political groups and leaders that have congratulated him made references to his performance in the state and how it will impact on the fortunes of the APC in the zone.

    For example, the South East chapter of All Progressives Congress (APC) while congratulating the people of Imo State for voting Okorocha again as governor described his performance as a proud reference point to what the party can do.

    South East spokesman of the party, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said Imo people’s vote for Okorocha was “a worthy reward, which demonstrates the maxim that election is a referendum on the performance of the incumbent.”

    He explained that by Okorocha’s victory, Imo State had enlisted the South East in the hall of fame of Progressives Governors Forum.

    “We had appealed to the good people of Imo State to re-elect Governor Rochas Okorocha, the candidate of our great party, which they graciously heeded.

    “We had urged the good people of Imo State to complete the good works they have started, for a vote for Owelle Rochas Okorocha is a golden vote to retain the only egg Ndigbo have in the basket of the new Nigeria General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) is constructing; we are happy with Imo State people,” Okechukwu said.

    Explaining the import of Okorocha’s victory and the position of Imo in the future of APC in the South-East, Dr. Francis Udodirim Egu, a political scientist and an activist, said, “Imo has truly become the launching ground for APC’s growth in the South-East and we need not over-emphasise the position of Okorocha in the whole matter. What has happened in Imo will ultimately jolt the hitherto conservative posture of Ndigbo’s politics. Check back in a year or so and you will see a remarkable difference from what our politics has been since 1998, when we all followed either Dr Alex Ekwueme’s PDP or Dim Odumegwu ojukwu’s APGA without asking much questions or daring to challenge certain things. The theatre is becoming more amenable with the arrival of Okorocha and the APC in Imo.”

    Anambra, a fertile ground

    As the state that boasts of Senator Chris Ngige, the only ACN and later APC senator from inception, observers acknowledged the importance of Anambr State as a fertile ground for APC’s development and growth in the South-East.

    A former governor of the state, Ngige’s popularity was further emphasized when he flew the governorship flag of APC in the last governorship election in the state. In that election, which observers said was marred by mass rigging and irregularities, APC, Ngige’s party, though relatively new in the state, was a major contender in the race. “His superlative outing,” said Pastor Israel Uko in Onitsha, “confirmed Ngige as the true leader of APC. We see him as a man that has what it takes to grow this party in the zone. He made APC very popular here.”

    That was before this year’s general elections, when APC emerged the next ruling party at the centre by winning the presidential race and crowned it by winning Imo State governorship election. With its current status, the importance of the party in Anambra State, as in all other states in the country, has appreciated significantly.

    Obiano’s factor

    If Ngige’s looming image is an obvious advantage to the growth of APC in the state, recent reports that Governor Willie Obiano’s body language confirms alleged claims that he is on his way to defecting to APC.

    Until Friday, April 24, 2015, his interest to associate with APC was dismissed as mere rumour. But since that day, when Obiano visited the President-Elect, Muhammadu Buhari in his Aso Drive residence it heightened speculations of his plans to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC from the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA where he was elected.

    Speaking to journalists at Buhari’s premises, after a closed door meeting, the governor said his mission to the president-elect was to congratulate him.

    Asked if was leaving APGA, he said he was still in APGA but would work with Buhari.

    “It is not correct. I will remain with APGA and work very closely with Mr. President”, he said, adding, “I came to congratulate His Excellency, the President -elect, on his victory and I am also here to reassure him that Anambra and the South-East would support him. I also pleaded with him on some pressing problem that are of importance to the South-East like the second Niger Bridge and some of the federal roads.

    “We also pleaded in the area of appointment for the people of Anambra and of course for people from the South-East; be it ministerial, ambassadorial and what have you. So, basically it is to congratulate the president-elect on his well deserved victory.”

    The governor also confirmed reports that he was in touch with APC top leaders from the South East.”Yes most of them have actually paid a courtesy call on me and yes we are talking and I suspect that the President is not going to give appointment to only people from his party because everybody would support him and so he has to consider people from the other parties so that we can all embrace the change,” he said.

    Although Obiano and most of his associates and aides insist he is not going to defect to APC, insiders to the politics of Anambra State after former Governor Peter Obi’s defection to PDP, say Obiano may be making a wise political choice to defect to APC in order to fortify himself against his PDP opponents who may want to hijack political power from his hand.

    Pastor Uko explained that Obiano is currently fighting a grave political battle in Anambra State against Obi and other formidable PDP chieftains who, after losing power at the centre, will return home to contest for political relevance and control in Anambra. Some of these political opponents are too formidable for Obiano to handle. So, for him to survive, he will need the covering of a big party like APC, which now has federal might. It is on this understanding that I see his current moves to be linked to Buhari as a wise political step. Otherwise, his political interest would continue to be under serious threat,” Uko said.

    A source in the Government House in Awka, confirmed that though Obiano has not officially defected to APC, he is determined to work with APC-led federal government.

    This development, according to Uko, means that in reality, APC may have gained two Government Houses in the South-East: Imo and Anambra. This is just beginning.

    Besides Imo and Anambra where the fortunes of the party is looking up, our investigation shows that states like Ebonyi, where Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and Senator Julius Ucha hail from, other South-East states like Abia and Enugu, where some important politicians have also shown interest in the party, are awaiting for the inauguration of Buhari’s cabinet to determine the level of their acceptance in the scheme of things. As a top APC stalwart in Imo, who pleaded not to be named hinted, “Once our people debunk the lie that Buhari will marginalize our people, many will declare their interest to join us. The future is bright for us here in the South-East.”

  • Religious politics is bad for Nigeria – Bishop Ighele

    Religious politics is bad for Nigeria – Bishop Ighele

    Bishop Charles Ighele is The General Superintendent of Holy Spirit Mission (Happy Family Chapel) read Political Science at the then University of Ife. He spoke with David Lawal on the lamentable roles of religion in the just-concluded general elections. Excerpts:  

    How have you been able to use your background in political science to advance religion?

    After graduating in 1980, I have seen that my background in political science and history has helped me to see how decision-making brought about a lot of suffering to families in different parts of the world.

    You now see that the way government is run, the way government is advised to do things, the quality of the citizens and how much the citizens are ready to be a part of the system. All these helped me. When I studied bureaucracy in the university, it made me understand bureaucratic bottlenecks.

    It is helping me so much in the ministry, and when you look at the bible; in the New Testament, in the Acts of Apostles, you will see people sell parts of their properties to take care of the poor and this is what the church has always stood for.

    This is how it supposed to be because it is not about we men of God getting extremely rich and the people getting extremely poor. We were not anointed just for us to feel good and be rich. We were anointed because God has other people in mind. That is what I keep telling people, it is not about us – it is about the people.

    Can religion and politics walk together for the good of the people?

    Well (smiles) you know as a preacher when you look at the Old Testament, you would see the mixture. You see religion and you see politics or should I call it governance. People like King David. You can’t divorce the two but the church has to be interested in the quality of the leaders that are arising.

    So you can’t separate the two. As far as I am concerned, I don’t believe in this is spiritual and this is secular; everything goes together.

    So, you are saying that religion and politics go together. You didn’t mention that clearly enough.

    Well, I didn’t really talk about partisan politics. Consequently, there is something known as partisan politics. What is politics? I don’t want to go into defining what politics is. But you see, man critically cannot be divorced from governance; man cannot be divorced from the people in charge unless you want to live on an island like Robinson Crusoe.

    So, there is also one known as partisan politics. Personally, I am interested in politics; I follow it to the minute details, just as I also follow football. I am not a footballer but I follow it and then I am not a politician but I follow it. I am interested in politics but I am not in partisan politics.

    What do you really mean when you say partisan politics?

    Well, partisan politics is when you decide to join a party then be a politician in that particular party, which I have personally said I will not go into. Now, I’m not saying that some of my colleagues who have gone into it have done anything wrong. As far as I am concerned, there are two groups of pastors, two groups of preachers.

    There is a group of pastors called to go into partisan politics just like somebody can also be a journalist and a pastor. Somebody can be a medical doctor and also a pastor. Somebody can be a pharmacist and also a pastor; somebody can be a footballer and a pastor. So, somebody can be a pastor and also be into partisan politics.

    I don’t condemn them at all but there is yet another group. This particular group, God has taken them to a status and God has put them in a place whereby their own is to act as fathers in the land but it does not mean that a father cannot support any of the children. People like Pastor Enoch Adeboye and Bishop Mike Okonkwo would not go into partisan politics; they belong to this other group I am talking about.

    How do you assess the last general elections?

    I did not like the last elections. I am not talking about those who won and those who lost. I am not going into that at all but you see the forces of religion and ethnicity. These two forces played a major role. Jigawa state governor, Sule Lamido, said during the campaigns that if you were campaigning for Jonathan in the north they will call you a pastor.

    In the north, people were told to vote for Buhari. Now in many churches in parts of the south, there was a lot of campaign also in the churches. People were told not to vote for a Muslim. In the north, Muslims were told not to vote for Christians.

    So, that is what I didn’t like at all and you see this is taking us back to the days of Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), NCNC and Action Group when the election was terminated through the January 16, 1966 coup. That is the element I did not like at all. I liked what happened during the SDP and NRC days when Abiola and Tofa contested. I like it that way because religion did not play a role. When religion become a major issue in campaigning in any nation, it is dangerous. I didn’t like it at all.

    I cannot see what happened during the 2015 election as political progress. It is not political development. I didn’t like it. I don’t want this country to turn to another Lebanon.

    Our two main parties have been stained with religious garbage. Those clothes need to be washed. I am not a preacher of doom but all I am saying is that corrections can be made. The APC-led federal government can begin to see how it can fill the religious gap for us.

    This is what I believe would be in the interest of our nation. Religion is worse than Indian hemp; it makes people go crazy and makes people not to think again. Religion is more than opium. It makes people to kill.

    Were you pleased with the roles religious leaders played in all of these? 

    What happened in the last elections was that APC was smarter than PDP in playing the religious card. Both parties played the religious card heavily. They were able to re-brand General Buhari from the way he had been known even four years ago. So they were able to put their hearts together.

    He brought his brain box and put it in APC to iron the whole thing. They did a very smart campaign and played a better job with the religious card.

    It was silently played in some sections of the north while some of the Christians were busy making noise about it. You won’t see the Muslim core North, you won’t see the Imams talking in papers vote for this. It was not so but here it was so because you will find out that the Muslims were highly well organised and I really commend them for that. The Christian community does not know how to move as one body under Christ to achieve what they want to achieve.

    What will be your advice to the incoming government?

    My advice for this incoming government is that they should make sure they deliver what they promised during campaigns. When I look at their package, I look at the area that they lay emphasis on being corruptions and that seemed to have struck a chord in an average Nigerians because there is corruption in this land. And so many Nigerians have now seen General Buhari as a symbol of fighting corruption.

    So hopes are high. The people are beginning to see that perhaps within six months corruption should be off from Nigeria. The first 100 days, there should be light everywhere but I think that as I speak as a leader and I want to plead with Nigerians to go and learn how to speak as leaders.

    If this government really means business, instead of just handling corruption from the top, there should be what I will call a socialisation progress – from the grassroots. In the village there is corruption, secondary school there is corruption, everywhere there is corruption. So there should be a team of think tank that should be quietly assembled and this team should be asked to produce a blueprint on how to fight corruption.

  • APC: Jonathan is plotting against smooth transition

    APC: Jonathan is plotting against smooth transition

    From the All Progressives Congress (APC), came yesterday a punchy reply to the Goodluck Jonathan administration’s accusation of running a parallel government.

    Instead, the party accused the government of:

    •plotting to hinder a smooth handover; and

    •blackmailing the incoming Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    President Jonathan complained on Wednesday about the terms of reference of the 19-man transition committee set up by the APC.

    The committee is to give an overview of some agencies, including Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    To the Jonathan administration, this is like running a parallel government. It kicked.

    “The incoming government should avoid creating a parallel government…the magnanimity of Mr. President should not be taken to be cowardice,” Minister of National Planning Suleiman Abubakar told reporters on Wednesday.

    The APC defended its position yesterday in a statement by its spokesman Lai Mohammed.

    It is, according to the APC, becoming apparent that the Jonathan administration will not co-operate with the incoming administration for a smoooth handover on May 29.

    In the statement issued in Abuja, the party also described as “an act of hostility and a patently-misplaced aggression” the “unnecessary vituperation against the incoming Buhari administration by the Jonathan government, ostensibly because of the terms of reference of the Buhari Transition Committee but in reality part of an orchestrated plot to sabotage the transition”.

    It rejected what it called the continued blackmail by the Jonathan Administration as a result of President Jonathan’s concession of defeat, wondering whether the concession, gracious as it was, has now become a shield for all wrong doings.

    ‘’We are sick and tired of being blackmailed by the Jonathanians. Gen. Buhari won the 28 March Presidential Elections fair and square, having satisfied both constitutional and other statutory requirements. We have no apology for our victory, and the concession of defeat – while it may have increased the political stock of President Jonathan – has by no means diminished the historic and emphatic victory of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress,’’ APC said.

    Justifying its statement that the Jonathan Administration is plotting to hinder a smooth transition of power, the party said while the outgoing government had earlier issued a memo to all ministries, departments and agencies to ensure their handover notes are ready

    by April 20th, the government has now reversed itself and said the handover notes will not be ready until May 14th.

    ‘’With the new date, the Buhari Transition Committee will have little or no time to take a thorough look at the handover notes or seek clarification on knotty issues, effectively handing it (Buhari Transition Committee) a fait accompli as far as the handover notes are concerned. This does not augur well for a smooth transition and gives the impression that the outgoing Administration is trying to hide something.

    ‘’By its dillydallying on the date for the readiness of the handover notes from the MDAs, the administration’s posturing that it is ready to hand over has been exposed as nothing but a smokescreen,’’ it said.

    APC described as illogical and strange the claim by the Jonathan Administration that the President-elect is trying to set up a parallel government simply because he has set up his own Transition Committee and given it terms of reference meant to guide the members on the

    discharge of their duties as members of that Committee, wondering how on earth those terms of reference have become the concern of the outgoing Federal Executive Council.

    ‘’In case the Federal Executive Council has forgotten, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress was declared the winner of the March 28th Presidential Election by INEC. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is therefore today the President-elect and the All Progressives Congress the incoming government. It is therefore illogical to accuse the

    President-elect and the incoming government of setting up a parallel government.

    ‘’It is either the outgoing Federal Executive Council has something to hide or is bent on sabotaging the incoming government. There can be no other reasons for the misplaced aggression that was exhibited in that ill-intentioned, unprovoked and vitriolic statement from the Jonathan government,’’ the party said.

    To put the matter beyond doubt, said the party, it decided to publish in full the terms of reference in question so that Nigerians can judge for themselves whether there is anything suggestive of intimidation or running a parallel government in the document.

    APC warned the “Jonathanians” not to overstretch the goodwill which the President has earned by his gracious concession even before INEC officially declared Gen. Buhari winner of the March 28th election, saying while it was momentous, it was not unprecedented in Africa, where power has changed hands peacefully between the ruling and opposition parties in several nations.

    Said the APC: ‘’Are they now saying that because the President conceded defeat, the incoming administration can no longer ask legitimate questions or seek clarifications that may arise from the handover notes?

    ‘’We will not surrender to any blackmail, subtle or otherwise. We shall ask questions and ask for explanations and clarifications whenever and wherever we deem such necessary. We cannot run a transparently honest government or fight corruption if we are prevented from asking legitimate questions and seeking clarifications from the outgoing government during the transition process. Let the Jonathan Administration not tie our hands behind our back just because he conceded defeat after losing an election.”