It was a political bombshell by any scale and for good measure, it is bound to keep reverberating in the polity until the next presidential election begins mid next year. And the bearer of the high-octane message is not one to shy from a political bout; in fact, it is almost his nature to get in the fray of such rows. Babangida Aliyu, governor of Niger state, has told the world that President Goodluck Jonathan signed a pact with some governors of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to serve only one term in office. Aliyu who is a governor from the PDP platform and chairman of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF) made this claim during an interview with a Kaduna-based radio station, Liberty FM, penultimate Saturday. Aliyu has raised a pithy point. This singular remark has the power to change the course of Nigeria’s history. That is how serious it is.
While the nation has been squirming under the seeming revelation, the Presidency has immediately denied the claim and of course denounced the bearer to boot. The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, responding, said, “President Jonathan did not sign any agreement with anybody to the best of my knowledge.” Gulak, living up to the status of the presidential hawk he is, would not let Aliyu go so easily. He introduced a diversionary twist to the story thus: “The alleged agreement only exists in the figment of the imagination of somebody with presidential ambition.” He also put a spin to it by reminding the governor that President Jonathan did not win in his Niger state in the last election.
As has already emerged going by the presidential adviser’s tone and manner of response, this serious issue that affects the number one office in the land and borders on the honour and integrity of the number one citizen would soon veer into the realm of political gamesmanship, chicanery and even attention- diverting buffoonery. But nothing, absolutely nothing, will obliterate the germane question of honour that is inherent in this.
For the purpose of clarity and posterity, some questions should be answered. Did a meeting of 20 out of 27 governors hold December 16, 2010 to discuss the issue under reference? Was it true that Jonathan’s assent to a one-term pact was required before the convening of the NEC meeting of the PDP? According to reports, President Jonathan described the governors as field commanders who should not be toyed with. Did the president say so?
It must be stated upfront that President Goodluck Jonathan has not made any official declaration to run for a second term in 2015. It is significant that no PDP governor has denied or affirmed the Aliyu allegation. The issues are that first, he emerged under a peculiar circumstance. Second, the all-important question of presidential honour and integrity cannot be vitiated.
President Jonathan is a child of circumstance having emerged as Acting President upon the demise of his boss, President Umaru Yar’Adua, in 2010. In a moment of national angst, the Senate had to concoct a special dispensation termed ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ to unction Jonathan onto the vacant seat and calm frayed nerves across sections of the polity. No sooner did Jonathan seize the reins of power than election time came. Would he run or would he not? Under the law and the constitution of the land, he was entitled to run but there were equally important ethical and political considerations that could not be ignored. His party, the PDP, has documented quota arrangement which he was privy to and which rendered him ineligible for the 2011 election. The nation was torn into two down the middle: he was the incumbent and his part of the country had been disadvantaged since independence but the North needed to complete its term in the prime office. The PDP bent its quota rules in favour of the incumbent, Jonathan. It was a bitter and hard-fought presidential primary in which everything allegedly was deployed including a bit of horse-trading, arm-twisting and even cash. It is under this circumstance that Jonathan wrung out a win.
It is not unlikely that in the heat of all this and the desperation to win his prize, he may have penned some pact. For sure, there were a series of nocturnal meetings especially with the governors of the North who were under an especial pressure from their people not to bargain away what seemed like their inalienable right. If there was such a pact, it would have been yet again, another special dispensation in favour of Jonathan. It indeed required an element of particular forbearance for the political bigwigs of the North to have allowed Jonathan jump the queue and assume the high office.
It is on this score that if perchance there was a pact – written or verbal – President Jonathan would do well to honour it regardless of how hurtful the proposition may seem. We state with vehemence that it is in the best interest of his person, the presidency, the polity, the values of a refined society and even the populace that he does not renege on such a pact. He should ignore the multitude of carpet-baggers, hawks and vultures egging on the president and dredging up reasons why he must run. The president must shun them and allow his better sense to prevail.
We want him to consider how the world will probably stand still that remarkable day, that historic moment when he would make that unforgettable speech telling us that, on his honour, he would not run a second term because he promised not to do so. May we also remind him that it is never how long you sit on the throne but the impact you bring to bear on it. Examples abound: Nelson Mandela served only one term yet he remains the greatest man alive today and there are Nigerian leaders alive today who were president for two terms and more yet they do not have much regard in Nigeria and are actually scorned among the community of great leaders.
Finally, greatness comes in different hues. Though a leader may not come in the mode of a great transformer and radical change agent, being honourable in dealing with his people, showing character in his actions and donning always the garb of the meek and humble would also earn such a leader his place in history. For Jonathan, history beckons.
