The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Goodluck Jonathan

  • U-17 World Cup Final: Mark leads delegation to cheer Eaglets

    U-17 World Cup Final: Mark leads delegation to cheer Eaglets

    To cheer Eaglets to victory in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup final against Mexico tomorrow at the United Arab Emirates, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday constituted a delegation headed by the Senate President, Senator David Mark to represent the Federal Government.

    Other members of the delegation, according to a statement by Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, include the Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji  Tanimu Turaki, the Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu, the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe and the Minister of State, FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide.

    The President charged the delegation to ensure that the Golden Eaglets receive all necessary support and motivation for victory.

    To this end, he told the delegation to reassure the Golden Eaglets and their handlers of his personal confidence and expectation that they will maintain their excellent track-record in this year’s Championship and crown their winning performances with another victory against the Mexicans tomorrow (today).

    He also conveyed to the Eaglets, through the delegation, the best wishes of all Nigerians for their victory and promised the team that together with all other patriotic Nigerians, within and outside the country, he will be cheering them on to victory during the match.

    He said he is looking forward to receiving them at the Presidential Villa and showing them the full appreciation of the nation when they return in triumph to Nigeria.

  • Jonathan undermining anti-corruption fight, says Balarabe Musa

    Former Kaduna state governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa has accused President Goodluck Jonathan of undermining the nation’s anti-corruption crusade by protecting the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah accused of  involvement in the N255 million bullet proof car purchase.

    Musa who spoke at a brief ceremony marking his 77th birthday at his Kaduna residence said that Jonathan’s trip to the Israel in company of the minister and the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) was a clear indication that the President was not interested in unraveling the mystery behind the vehicles, even though he has set up a committee to investigate the matter.
    Visibly disappointed, the former governor said that despite the allegations against the minister, the President took her to Israel in company of the National Security Adviser who was asked to be part of those to investigate the involvement of the minister in the armoured vehicle purchase.
    He said “we believe that this was done to pave way for negotiations to take place so that she can be left off the hook. Why should the President travel with her and the NSA. Could he not have gone with another person? Tafawa Balewa and other past leaders would not have done that.
    “Why should the President of a country fighting corruption behave in such a way to suggest a cover-up in this case involving Stella Oduah? Whoever appears to cover up a corrupt person is himself corruptible. This is suggestive of the fact that the government has practically insinuated that the fight against corruption is a hoarse”.
    The second republic governor however said that for the nation to get out of its present predicament, leaders must learn to pursue public interest rather than personal interest that has become the order of public service in the country.
    He said that rather than the system and leaders being based on public interest, it is currently based on self-interest.
    According to him,  in today’s Nigeria ” we are led by thieves, except for a few who are still honest”.
    He noted that anybody who is a councillor or legislator, governor or President ends up serving self and becoming the richest person in the constituency that elected him.
    “What I am saying is that the current President has the potentials of becoming the richest person in Nigeria when he leaves office even if he is the son of a grasscutter hunter.”

     

  • UN warns against illegal deportation of Nigerian refugees

    UN warns against illegal deportation of Nigerian refugees

    The United Nations refugee agency is warning countries against forcibly returning people to northeastern Nigeria, where the escalating violence could put their lives at risk. The UNHCR reports some 10,000 Nigerians have fled into neighboring Cameroon, Chad and Niger in recent months.

    The U.N. refugee agency says more than 8,000 of the Nigerians who have fled the escalating violence in their country have sought refuge in Cameroon.

    Spokesman Dan McNorton said the UNHCR is alarmed at reports that local officials attempted to forcibly return 111 people from Cameroon to Nigeria on October 5.

    “They were expelled from a village in the Far North region of Cameroon, to Adamawa state in Nigeria. During this incident, 15 people were killed and another seven wounded,” said McNorton. “The remaining 89 individuals immediately fled back to Cameroon and were detained. UNHCR is working closely with the government of Cameroon to assess whether there are people in this group in need of international protection.”

    Five months ago, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe after a surge of deadly attacks blamed on the Islamist radical group Boko Haram. The president dispatched more troops to the area, but the militants remain active and violence continues.

    The UNHCR says the violence is estimated to have displaced about 5,000 people within the northeastern region of Nigeria, but the number actually could be significantly higher.

    Spokesman McNorton said it is difficult to know the extent of displacement because the present dangers prevent his and other humanitarian agencies from accessing that area.

    “It is very, very difficult in that part of Nigeria and we are trying to do what we can to see what access we can. But, obviously, the safety of our staff and others who we work with is of paramount concern,” he said. “I think there are a number of factors, which, of course are interlinked in this region. We, and today with this return advisory, are underlying the importance of bordering countries, but also all states to ensure that their borders are kept open, and those fleeing conflict are given the safety and security that they need.”

  • ‘Oduahgate is acid test for Jonathan, EFCC’

    EDO State House of Assembly’s Majority Leader Phillip Shaibu has said the N255 million armoured cars for Aviation Minister Princess Stella Oduah is an acid test for the Goodluck Jonathan administration in its touted fight against corruption.

    The lawmaker spoke yesterday in Benin, the Edo State capital, on the controversy surrounding the two BMW cars.

    He urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to also beam its searchlight on the Ministries of Finance and Petroleum Resources.

    Shaibu said: “I want the EFCC and the House of Representatives to probe her. It is embarrassing to see that the airport she was busy inaugurating is leaking when it rains. That means the jobs were shoddy. So, the EFCC must investigate all the airports’ renovation contracts, because it is the same scam that has also extended to the purchase of the BMW cars. None of them is worth the amount. Our airport is in a mess because the amount quoted can build a new international airport, from available statistics.

    “If President Goodluck Jonathan wants to tell us that he is sincere, Oduah should be sacked and handed over for prosecution. That should be done in public. It is a test for Jonathan to show that he and his government are not corrupt. He should clear his name of the rumoured corruption going on under his watch.

    Shaibu feared that upright women in the society might disown the Aviation Minister for the “embarrassment” the armoured cars’ saga has caused.

    He said: “With due respect to the women of this country, I am one of the advocates for women occupying public offices, because I believe that since women are more prudent in home management if given responsibility they would carry out the function they put at home in public service. I don’t want to use Oduah as an example of what women are doing, because by the way she is going, I am sure the womenfolk would disown her soon.”

  • Senate summons Warri Refinery MD

    Senate summons Warri Refinery MD

    The Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) yesterday invited the Managing Director of Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company, Chief Paul Obelley, over the October 22 fire incident at the plant.

    The Warri Refinery boss was asked to appear before the committee with top management of the refinery on October 31 to explain the circumstances surrounding the fire incident at the refinery.

    Besides the MD is also expected “to give comprehensive details on the causes, level of facilities damage, fatality at the plant and efforts so far made to prevent further recurrence.”

    The committee is said to have decided to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the fire with a view to recommending prosecution of any person found culpable in the incident.

    The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed responsibility for the fire incident.

    A statement purportedly by MEND noted that Hurricane Exodus was intended to burn down the entire refinery.

     

     

    MEND allegedly said: “As long as President Goodluck Jonathan continues to rely on an unsustainable and fraudulent Niger Delta amnesty programme, peace and security will continue to elude his government in the region. Hurricane Exodus is on course!”

  • A harvest of corruption

    A harvest of corruption

    •Rather than abate, corruption festers under the Jonathan administration

    The controversy kicked off by the purchase of two armoured BMW cars for the Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, has brought to focus again the debate on President Goodluck Jonathan’s attitude to the battle against sleaze in the country. No sooner was he elected President than Dr. Jonathan announced to the world that he would tackle the monster with vigour.

    However, since he assumed power, fraud and dishonesty appear to have received fresh impetus. The first indication that the pledge to combat fraud could be cosmetic came to the fore as soon as the administration was inaugurated. Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua who was Jonathan’s predecessor was quick, without prodding, to make public the declaration of his assets. The constitution merely requires of him to fill the necessary forms with the Code of Conduct Bureau. However, Yar’Adua chose to challenge whoever had contrary knowledge of his assets to come out with it. It was an indication that he intended to live above board and a signal that whoever would not be open and transparent about his or her transaction should not bother to take up appointment under him. It was refreshingly different.

    But, Dr. Jonathan who was his deputy needed to be needled to accept the challenge of following in Yar’Adua’s footsteps. It was an early indication of what to expect if he became the Chief Executive of the Federation. When he mounted the saddle as an elected President on May 29, 2011, he threw away the Yar’Adua example and rather chose to hide behind the fact that public declaration of assets is not made mandatory by the constitution. He would not be part of creating tradition and convention on declaration of assets.

    We note that, recently, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) cried out that it was broke and may not be in position to prosecute the plethora of fraud cases in court, especially those involving high profile politicians. This could be a further indication that the President is only paying lip service to the war against corruption.

    Last year, the landscape was seized by the desire of Nigerians to rid the country of thieves of public fund funnelled through payment of oil subsidy. Activists, patriots and nationalists trooped out to call for non-removal of the so-called fuel subsidy until satisfactory account was given of all that had been paid and a proper audit of the accounts had been carried out. Till date, nothing has changed in the mode of receipting, accounting for and expending oil money. Recommendations of the Nuhu Ribadu and the Kalu Idika Kalu panels have been kept in the shelves.

    The government demonstrated utter insensitivity by keeping the minister superintending the ministry in place. Rather than lose face as a result of the activities unearthed in the various National Assembly probes, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke remains a superpower in the petroleum resources ministry. Not even the weighty allegation that about N2 billion had been frittered away on private jet shuttles in a land where stark, absolute poverty reigns would move the President to sack the minister. Rather, ministers mainly known to be loyal to those regarded as “rebel governors” in the ruling party were shoved out.

    The pension fund scandal has led nowhere. In the federal legislature, Farouk Lawan remains a member of the House of Representatives. While it may be argued that the matter is before the courts, a charismatic leader would have made sure that such an issue is not allowed to linger for too long. Under the Jonathan administration, it is not considered offensive to national psyche that a legislator against whom such a serious allegation has been made remains in office and contributes to national debates.

    As a result of these scandals, frauds and other corrupt practices, others are emboldened to toe the same line. The reigning philosophy is that all that is needed to hold high offices of the land is to be in the good books of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. During the tenancy of Dr. Jonathan in the portals of power, ex-militants not known to have requisite qualifications and experience have been handed the security of the coastal waters and the ports.

    We are not surprised that national assets and institutions continue to decay. Examples include the all-important Lagos-Ibadan and Lagos-Ore-Benin roads. The roads are very important to the social and economic life of the country and its citizens as they connect the commercial and most populous city to all parts of the country – North, East and West. Industrial goods are thus expensive and precious lives needlessly lost.

    The government, as it approaches the third year mark, should sit up and re-examine the mandate it was handed in 2011. More than most Nigerians, President Jonathan has been strikingly lucky with public offices. He is touted as the first doctorate degree holder to hold the office of the President and the only one so far to have held office as deputy governor, governor, vice president and acting president before assuming office.

    He has a duty to prove all critics wrong by working for the interest of the people and ensuring that justice is upheld in all cases. This is the only way to raise public standards and seal the leaking points in the public treasury.

  • NGO backs Jonathan on conference

    A NON-Governmental Organisation committed to the right of the ordinary citizens and less privileged members of the society, the Social Equality, Justice & Peace Organisation has praised the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration for initiating the national dialogue as a panacea for lasting peace.

    This position was made known to reporters in Lagos by Chief Amaechi Justine Nnoli, President and Founder Social Equality, Justice and Peace Organisation (SEJPO), while fielding questions from reporters on the proposed national dialogue and other national issues.

    According to him, the national dialogue is of more essence now than ever, citing various ethnic disturbances and related incidences such as the Boko Haram insurgency as one that urgently needs the attention of Nigerians.

    Sir Nnoli expressed happiness on the proposed dialogue givin that his organisation, has been canvassing for the dialogue for over five years now, and maintaining that those working against the initiative can best be described as anti- democratic.

    The NGO chief said that arbitrary assemblage of this multiple ethnic nationalities called Nigeria by the colonial masters is what gave rise to the challenges the country is facing presently.

  • Boko Haram onslaught on Yobe

    Boko Haram onslaught on Yobe

    In May 14, President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in the three North-east states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. The declaration took the nation by surprise. What followed was the popular expectation that normalcy and peace would swiftly return to these hot beds of the Boko Haram insurgency. This expectation was buoyed by the prompt and massive deployment of troops, including military hardware, air fire power and other war arsenal to the troubled area.

    The deployment of the troops attracted intense media publicity and support. This overwhelming support soon translated to the early military successes the troops recorded against the marauding terrorists. However, recent events in the areas under emergency rule, especially Yobe State, have made nonsense of the initial high expectations that greeted the military onslaught. Expectations have, no doubt, been severely dampened by the recent dastardly activities of the Boko Haram anarchists.

    Between last Thursday night and early Friday morning, insurgents launched a violent siege on selected security formations in the state. During the confrontation, the insurgents killed some soldiers, their wives and their children at a mini army barracks along Maiduguri Road, Damaturu, the state capital. The heavily armed insurgents also bombed the mini barracks; the Police Area Command; the Criminal Investigation Department; the Mobile Police Base; and an office in charge of environment along Guija Road, in the city.

    The bloody confrontation erupted following the arrest of two trucks belonging to a foremost industrialist from the northern part of the country at a military checkpoint. The drivers of the trucks were said to have told the security agents that a big bag in one of the trucks belonged to a very senior military officer and should not be searched. The drivers and their colleagues backed up their claim with a display of a memo purportedly from Defence Headquarters and signed by the said military officer that the bag should not be searched for whatever reason.

    But rather than being cowed by the drivers’ claim and the memo, the soldiers became more suspicious and emboldened. When the bags were later searched by the security agents, a large quantity of military camouflage uniforms, arms and ammunition were discovered in them. The trucks, with their lethal cargos, were subsequently impounded and taken to the Police Area Command, Guija Road, Damaturu, while the drivers and their passengers were also detained. The Boko Haram insurgents reacted by launching attacks on security formations in the state.

    Security operatives who were drafted to the scene succeeded in killing more than 50 of the insurgents. The military authorities immediately suspended movement throughout the state. Thereafter, the Special Force killed 13 other insurgents on their way to Maiduguri. All the 13 insurgents were believed to be Chadian nationals. This has indeed confirmed earlier speculations that terrorists from other African countries may have aligned forces with the Boko Haram terrorists to wage war on Nigeria.

    For some time now, there have been strong indications that Islamic terrorists from some North African countries are coordinating attacks against the military in the North-east. Security operatives were said to have come to this conclusion when they   discovered that many Arabs of Shuwa descent and fair-skinned people from Mali, Sudan, Mauritania, Algeria, Somalia and Niger were among those whose bodies were found after some of the recent encounters with the terrorists. The general feeling is that the terrorists, who still have several cells in the thick forests of the north-eastern part of the country, were among those   chased out of Mali   by the French and West African troops led by Nigeria. Their level of preparedness and the calibre of arms in their possession may have been responsible for the usual high casualty on the side of security agents.

    Last weekend’s bloody clash was the latest in the series of such confrontations between security agents and Boko Haram terrorists in Yobe State. On the night of September 29, Boko Haram insurgents attacked the hostels of the School of Agriculture, Gujba, murdering no fewer than 41 students in their sleep. That night, a large number of gunmen, armed with sophisticated rifles and improvised explosives, reportedly took part in the orgy of violence and bloodletting. Not satisfied with the high figure of precious lives they had snuffed out, the insurgents also set ablaze several of the college buildings, as they retreated from the dormitories.

    Before the gory incident in Gujba, seven secondary school students and two teachers were shot dead by gunmen in Damaturu, while, in July, Boko Haram militants threw explosives and sprayed gunfire into school dormitories, killing 41 students in the town of Mamudo in the state.

    The Boko Haram terrorists may have shifted their operations from Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, and now concentrate on Yobe State. The sect appears to have been pushed out of Maiduguri largely because of the efforts of a network of youthful informer-vigilantes fed up with the routine violence and ideology of the insurgents they grew up with. The network’s intimate knowledge of the community enables it to quickly recognize Boko Haram members and turn them over to security agents. This way, a good number of the insurgents have been turned over.

    Perhaps, realizing the importance of the group in the ongoing ‘war’ between the security agencies and the insurgents, Kashim Shettima, the State Governor, recruited the vigilantes for ‘training’ and pays them monthly stipends. A number of the recruits are repentant former Boko Haram members. This has obviously made it easier to correctly identify and apprehend the insurgents, to the extent that the vigilante group now calls itself the “Civilian JTF.” Therefore, the establishment of more vigilante groups in Yobe and Adamawa states could be a game-changer in the current effort by security agencies to uproot these terrorists from the north-eastern part of the country.

    At any rate, the government may have allowed the Boko Haram menace to fester for too long with the implication that the sect has now moved to a new stage of what may be a long-drawn guerrilla tactics in its war against the country. Obviously, this is not the kind of war that conventional soldiers are familiar with. Therefore, a new strategy is required to confront it. The terrorists appear to be more proactive in planning and executing attacks with the repeated and ugly consequence of security forces arriving after the damage has been done.

    The question now is: Do these ceaseless attacks by the insurgents suggest that the state of emergency has failed to achieve its objectives? It may be too early to say so. It would certainly be most unrealistic to expect the insurgency to end too soon following the military operations going on in the emergency areas. This is because the insurgency has festered for more than four years running. Besides, the terrain in which the terrorists are being confronted is very difficult and vast. And because it is an internal insurrection or conflict of a sort, I am sure the military are, wisely, being careful in the use of maximum force so as to limit collateral damage on the civilian population in the affected areas.

    One good thing, though, is that appreciable progress has been made in the area of crippling the capacity of the insurgents to operate beyond the North-East zone of the country. This is a departure from what the situation was before the advent of emergency rule when the insurgents made occasional incursions into such states as Niger, Kaduna, Kano and even Abuja, taking lives and destroying property in the process.

    What the recent hit-and-run attacks by the insurgents portend is that the battle against terrorism has entered a new phase with the likelihood of more devastating effect on civilians and other soft targets. That is why the military must go back to the drawing board and sharpen their intelligence-gathering capacity in order to nip the attacks in the bud. They can only achieve this by courting the local community. This is the only way they can win the confidence of the people who will in turn feel free to volunteer information on the movement and activities of the terrorists.

  • A charade of a pilgrimage

    SIR: Religion is supposed to be a private affair between man and his creator. In Nigeria, it has assumed a dimension that will rattle the German Philosopher Karl Marx. A pilgrimage in a decent clime is supposed to be a private affair at the expense of whosoever can afford it.

    The pilgrimage led by President Goodluck Jonathan with an entourage of seven governors, eight ministers including the embattled Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, three members of the National Assembly and some presidential aides all at taxpayers’ expense, is obscenity at its apogee.

    Must the name of God be so mocked! I was even surprised that the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)’s President, Ayo Oritsejafor was also in the presidential entourage.

    The GEJ government will probably go down in history as one of the most profligate in history. It has failed so many moral tests and has lost its nexus with the citizenry. The zenith of the insult to the collective intelligence of Nigerians was the presence of Princess Stella Oduah in the delegation. The propaganda being peddled in the press that GEJ snubbed her in Israel is most laughable! This is worse than the falsehood which Squealer peddled in the classic ‘Animal Farm.’

    The practice of squandering scarce public funds by public office holders in the name of pilgrimages should be totally condemned by well meaning Nigerians. GEJ should concentrate on tackling the hydra headed monster of corruption. It is not about seeking Jesus Christ in the Upper Room and where his body was buried. Jesus Christ is in every Nigerian and the President is supposed to inspire hope and not worsen their problems. God will not come down from the sky to solve problems. He uses people to accomplish his purposes. GEJ has the responsibility to salvage whatever is remaining of his administration’s credibility.

    By the way, wouldn’t the officials be entitled to estacode for this trip that has no direct impact in the lives of the common man? Isn’t this an indirect way of perpetrating corruption? What then is the use of extolling the external aspect of religion while neglecting the inside which is core?

    • Sola Ademiluyi

    Lagos

  • What is Dikko Disciplinary Committee up to?

    What is Dikko Disciplinary Committee up to?

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has set up a disciplinary committee headed by Second Republic Transport Minister Dr. Umaru Dikko. But many stakeholders believe that what the party needs is reconciliation and not sanctions. Assistant Editor GBADE OGUNWALE reports.

    Ailing 77-year-old Dr Umaru Dikko, the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Disciplinary Committee. His job is to investigate the allegations of indiscipline against party members and recommend the appropriate sanctions. The seven-member committee, which was inaugurated last week, is coming at a time the ruling party is desperate for peace and reconciliation with aggrieved and alienated members across the country. To make its job easier, the leadership of the PDP had exempted the seven “rebellious” governors, otherwise known as the G-7, from the committee’s brief.

    Also, leaders and members of the Abubakar Baraje faction, otherwise known as the New PDP, have also been excused from the committee. Their case is still pending before the Peace and Reconciliation Committee led by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. A peace meeting between the breakaway group and the camp of President Goodluck Jonathan, which was scheduled for October 7, was put on hold. No new date has been fixed for the meeting. With these exceptions, the scope of the Dikko Committee appears narrowed down to a handful of cases across the various geo-political zones.

    The states where the committee may have a job to do are Kwara, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Ekiti, Rivers, Kano, Adamawa, Bayelsa and Lagos. Only a few days ago, a faction in the Kwara State chapter had approached the national leadership for sanctions against members of the New PDP. Former Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki, his successor, Abdulfatah Ahmed and former Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje, are some of the leaders of the new PDP. A group led by the chairman of the Federal Character Commission, Professor Abdulraheem Oba, stormed the Abuja national secretariat, demanding for decisive action against Saraki and his loyalists. Specifically, the group sought to take over the party machinery from Saraki and his followers, describing them as “renegade members”. The PDP national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, to wield the big stick, the group said that Saraki and his group have lost relevance. A chieftain Alhaji Salman Alada, said certain individuals who believe that nothing happens in Kwara politics without them will be brought to shame.

    “There cannot be two masters in the ship of PDP. The era of indiscipline is gone. Kwara State PDP will remain with the mainstream PDP. We apoligise for whatever might have happened. The new PDP is not known to any law. We want you to put on ground a strong disciplinary action to restore sanity because, if left undone, a lot of damage would be done by these renegades. We urge you to take steps to restore sanity in Kwara. The new PDP, as far as we can recognise in Kwara, is a party that has been constituted by proclamation and it is unknown to any democratic ideas or principles. If the people promoting that party are doing so on the excuse that they are trying to entrench democracy within the parent party, that is the wrong way to go. We on this delegation urge you, Mr. Chairman, that the time is now; not tomorrow. You must put on ground your strong foot of discipline to restore sanity in Kwara PDP”. Apparently referring to Saraki, Alada added: “People don’t know the true state of affairs in Kwara. Once they see one person, they think it’s Kwara. With the backing of the leadership of the party, Kwara must remain in the mainstream of the PDP”. Professor Oba also implored the National Working Committee (NWC) to ensure that any party chieftain in Kwara State, who identified with the Baraje faction, is brought to book. According to the him the PDP under Tukur’s leadership should not condone acts of indiscipline typified by the actions of Saraki, Baraje, Governor Ahmed and others who walked out on the party to join the breakaway faction. Tukur was however, tactical in his response to the group’s demands. He enjoined the delegation to align with the national leadership in the search for peace and reconciliation. According to the chairman, the leadership of the party would continue to push for total reconciliation with estranged members. Tukur insisted that the party would always be guided by the principle of consensus building.

    He said: “We believe in reconciliation without confrontation; restoring the party’s dignity without revenge, and also to build the party based on equity and justice”. Also in the delegation were Presidential Adviser on Ethics Mrs. Sarah Jubril; Senator, Suleiman Ajadi; former Transport Minister, Isa Bio; Mr. John Dara; Bode Ojomu. But, if the party is to be guided by the principle of reconciliation and consensus building, as enunciated by the chairman, then, what role is expected of the Dikko committee? Again, there is s subsisting national reconciliation committee chaired by the Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson. The Dickson committee was put in place by the leadership of the party, with the backing of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The committee had met with the factions in many states, to address their grievances. But, while the Dickson committee has been summoning stakeholders for reconciliatory meetings, the leadership of the party appears to be taking steps that tend to aggravate the existing cleavages. For instance, while the peace committee was still working, the NWC, on September 16, dissolved the executive committee of the Kano State chapter. A caretaker committee was constituted to replace the dissolved executive. The dissolution came shortly after the party received Mohammed, son of the late maximum ruler, General Sani Abacha, back into the PDP. Alhaji Alhassan Kafayos was named as the chairman of the caretaker committee, while Mr. Andrew Musa was appointed secretary.

    They were immediately sworn-in by the National Legal Adviser, Mr. Victor Kwom. The National Organising Secretary Abubakar Mustapha, said other members of the committee would be appointed in Kano during the week. But the other members that were co-opted into the caretaker committee had been on war the path with Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso. Speaking at the inauguration, Tukur said the tenure of the dissolved exco had expired on August 15. According to him, the party observed the rules and provision of its constitution in setting up the caretaker committee. Tukur charged the committee members to ensure that they listen to the grievances of aggrieved members, with a view to addressing them. He told them that winning the Kano governorship election in 2015 is a task that must be accomplished.

    The committee was set up without any input from the Kano governor, lending credence to insinuations that the committee was a ploy to sideline Governor Kwankwaso in the running of the chapter. Speaking with journalists a few days after the committee was inaugurated, MohammedAbacha said he joined the PDP in 2010 and left the party for the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). He again left the CPC in 2010, owing to what he described as the lack of internal democracy in the CPC. Abacha added that he had held consultations with various PDP stakeholders, except the governor, who he promised to consult later. But the Baraje faction has never hidden it’s disdain for the peace efforts. According to the faction, Tukur is the obstacle to reconciliation.

    The National Publicity Secretary of the faction, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, accused Tukur of creating crises in the various chapters and making half- hearted moves at reconciliation. Eze said Tukur had frustrated all efforts being made by President Goodluck Jonathan and other leaders to end crises in the party.

    Eze said: “The latest of the belligerent actions by the Tukur faction is the ill-advised move to take over the structures in the states controlled by the governors loyal to Baraje’s leadership. Mr. President should not be deceived by some party leaders, who are making him believe that he can do without us.

    “Most of these leaders cannot, under a properly organised free and fair elections, win their wards. It is obvious that no presidential election in Nigeria can be won without states like Rivers, Kano, Sokoto, Adamawa, Kwara, Niger and Kebbi states, which are under our control. Check the past general elections and you will see that some of these media-created PDP leaders have no followers in their states at the moment, talk less of making any impact come 2015″.

    The faction however, commended Jonathan and other party leaders for seeking amicable resolution of the crises and appealed to them not to relent in their determination to achieve results. According to Eze, what the PDP needs is not a disciplinary committee. Rather, the party, he said, is in dire need of internal democracy. He insisted that all the cases of disagreement and alleged anti-party activities by members were borne out of frustrations arising from the culture of impunity by the PDP under Tukur’s watch.

    Eze added: “We are asking that internal democracy be allowed to thrive within the party and that Tukur and his undemocratic gang should not see the party as their personal property in which they can wake up any day and fire whoever they dreamt about in their sleep. We will no longer condone such undemocratic reasoning and acts. We are adamant on achieving our aim of restoring democratic normalcy within the PDP as envisaged by the founding fathers of the party. This is a battle to which we have committed ourselves and there is no going back, until undemocratic elements within our party are flushed out as their acts have done much harm and brought much shame to our great party”.

    There is not much for the Dikko committee to do. In his acceptance speech after inauguration, the frail-looking Dikko was hardly audible. His movement from the ground floor to the second floor, the venue of the ceremony, was a labourous one. He was aided to his seat and it took some efforts before he could lower his frail frame into the seat. Going by the precarious situation in the PDP today, the Dikko Committee may as well be a window dressing. Analysts are of the opinion that, with the fragile state of party, any attempt by its leadership to hand down sanctions to aggrieved members may deepen the discontent in the ruling party.