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Tag: Jonathan’s endorsement

  • Polls: Yoruba leaders reject Jonathan’s endorsement

    Polls: Yoruba leaders reject Jonathan’s endorsement

    Akinrinade, governors, others denounce interim govt plot

    Yoruba leaders have rejected the purported endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for second term by some leaders of Afenifere, the Southwest’s socio-political organisation.

    The leaders, who converged on the Parliament Building, Oyo State Secretariat, Ibadan, yesterday to present the common aspirations of the Yoruba nation for the future, also condemned Monday’s violence perpetrated by Oodua Peoples’ Congress (OPC) in Lagos.

    A faction of the Afenifere,  a forthnight ago, met in Akure, the Ondo State capital, to endorse Dr. Jonathan for a second term, saying he plans to restructure the country through his convocation of a national conference. Critics of this point of view insist that all Yoruba demands at the conference were turned down.

    In a tacit rejection of the endorsement, Yoruba Assembly Convener Gen. Alani Akinrinade, a one-time Chief of Defence Staff,  in his welcome address, enumerated the qualities of the leadership the Yoruba desired.

    He said: “We, the Yoruba are too sophisticated to follow one leader or adopt one political belief. What is required of us is to share a common developmental aspiration and values much more than what obtains now in the present Nigeria.

    “We cannot afford a leadership that is absent of developmental foresight, that lacks innovative thinking and is not capable of producing the right responses and answers to the challenges of multi ethnic and multi-cultural politics in the country.

    “The absence of imaginative leadership in Nigeria in developing the right responses to the Boko Haram insurgency and its terrorist plan to decimate the nation is one we must collectively confront.

    “For us Yoruba people, a Nigerian leader must be ready to make the necessary sacrifies and imbibe core value-laden attributes. The national leader that Yoruba people want and would support should subscribe to a body of beliefs based on our perennial and tested values of honour, dignity, integrity, industry, patriotism, which are encoded in the concept of Omoluabi.

    “The leadership the Yoruba want should be the body of men and women who are believers and are ready to live according to the tenets of Omoluabi and work for its continuous propagation and effectiveness. It is this embodiment of values that should guide us in the process of who we vote for in the 2015 general elections, not corrupted endorsements.

    “To achieve our demands, I call on all Yoruba people to ensure that we use our votes wisely during this 2015 general elections by voting for those who make good their promises and vote out those who falter. We must take this once-in-four-years opportunity and use our votes to successfully empower or reject individuals based on their performance, principles, values, developmental aspirations and good character.”

    On the OPC protest in Lagos, Gen. Akinrinade said: “The ugly Lagos example of Monday 16 March 2015 appeared an open threat to our space, a society that is naturally and cultural embracing whose receptive nature is now being abused. It was a further demonstration of a sponsored and organised violence with the intent and potential to attack and pollute our peoples’ values and democratic existence. This trend will continue, unless every federating unit is opportune to achieve its highest potential within the Nigerian nation without hindrance.”

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola said any Yoruba man who carries a gun to kill his fellow Yoruba is a bastard, because the Yoruba people signed an agreement on 23rd September 1896 not to fight each other anymore.

    “We should counsel our youth against violence and we should tell our leaders who are collecting money from desperate politicians to have a re-think because whatever bribe offered them will be exhausted one day.”

    Aregbesola added: “I don’t know why any reasonable Yoruba leader will ask us to vote for an inept and an incompetent government that has failed to rescue over 200 girls that were abducted almost a year ago.”

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi regretted that the Jonathan administration had relegated Yoruba to the background. He said of the first 50 positions in the country, Yoruba occupy only two.

    Ajimobi said now is the time for us to vote in a government that will protect our interest.

    The vice presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, thanked the Yoruba and Nigerians for enduring bad government in the past 16 years.

    Osinbajo said: Those in government also know that all is not well with the country and the people they govern.

    He urged Nigerians, particularly unemployed youths, to be resilient because there will be change on March 28.

    Afenifere deputy leader Senator Ayo Fasanmi advised Nigerians, particularly the Yoruba, to reject money being offered by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to entice them to vote for the party. He wondered why a government whose tenure would terminate in two months was still appointing ministers.

    Former Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi said true federalism and devolution of power were given priority in the APC manifesto. He advised the Yoruba to always stand up to fight for their rights.

    Fayemi said: “We should not turn ourselves into slaves or beggars all in the name of survival. The Yoruba are the leading light of the country; we should not relegate ourselves to renegades.”

    Former Osun State Governor Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola advised the Yoruba to always be their brothers’ keepers. He said our problem is rooted in political differences. We should not allow politics to divide us, he advised.

    Leader of Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) Hon Wale Oshun said the Yoruba had always been in the forefront of the struggle for true federalism and devolution of power.

    The Secretary-General of the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), Senator Tony Adefuye, said the Yoruba leaders promoting Jonathan are not protecting the interest of the race.

    According to Adefuye, the YUF, made up of Afenifere and others visited Jonathan twice on the marginalisation of Yoruba in appointments to federal positions. Jonathan never did anything to correct the anomalies, he said, adding: “what is the basis for endorsing him?”.

    Sen. Olabiyi Durojaiye advised the Yoruba to vote for the presidential candidate who would serve their interest.

  • ‘Jonathan’s endorsement has vindicated us’

    ‘Jonathan’s endorsement has vindicated us’

    The National Patron, Youth Wing and Secretary, Board of Trustees of the National Coalition for Jonathan and Sambo Presidency (NACOJSP), Dr. Benjamin Irikefe, said yesterday that the group had been vindicated by last week’s endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Irikefe, in a statement, hailed the PDP’s Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees, National Executive Committee and over 8,000 Goodluck support groups, which gave automatic tickets to the President.

    He said the endorsement has vindicated NACOJSP, which had stormed the PDP national secretariat on April 1 to demand an automatic ticket for Jonathan.

    The patron urged Jonathan to reciprocate the gesture by formally accepting the call and publicly declare his intention to seek a fresh mandate.

    Irikefe praised the Presidential Adviser on Political Matters, Prof. Rufail Alkali, for successfully organising and hosting over 8,000 Goodluck support groups, in Abuja.

  • Jonathan’s endorsement mockery of democracy, says APC

    Jonathan’s endorsement mockery of democracy, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as a mockery of democracy.

    In a statement in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the endorsement came as a great price to Nigerians, considering the deals struck to make President Jonathan the sole candidate.

    It said the parody of democracy that the endorsement represents has exposed the shameless hypocrisy of the PDP, which is ever so eager to accuse other parties of lacking in internal democracy.

    “Obviously, those fellows in the PDP have never heard of the saying that those who must come to equity must come with clean hands. PDP, where is your own internal democracy now that you have turned your party into a fiefdom controlled by one and only one person?

    “While endorsements are part and parcel of democracy, they are never done to the exclusion of other candidates. This is simply not democratic. When Barack Obama was endorsed by his party’s bigwigs to contest the US Presidency, the party never excluded Hillary Clinton from its primaries. This is how it is done,” APC said.

    The party said the price being paid for Jonathan’s endorsement by Nigeria was too heavy, considering that the PDP governors, who

    spearheaded the endorsement, had secured perpetual immunity from prosecution by anti-graft bodies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC);  automatic tickets for all first-term PDP governors, whether or not they performed, automatic tickets for all PDP governors running for the Senate, as well as free ride back to the upper chamber by Senate President David Mark.

    “It is now an Open Sesame for the PDP governors, who have no prying anti-corruption agencies watching over their shoulders. They can now simply see the commonwealth as an extension of their deep pockets. The endorsement is also a vote of approval for the proceeds of corruption that have been powering the noisy and outrageous Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN),” it said.

    APC accused President Jonathan of desecrating democracy because of his desperation for re-election, adding: “It is a cruel irony that a man who has benefited, more than anyone else, from this democracy has been the one who has been doing everything possible to undermine it.”

    The party said President Jonathan has also abandoned domestic issues while seeking international relevance, in a clear negation of the aphorism that charity begins at home.

    It added: “This President has basically abandoned governance. Unprecedented corruption is mounting, insecurity stalks the land and Nigerians grope in darkness as power generation has plummeted. This President has yet to tell Nigerians the full involvement of his government in the $9.3 million that was illegally ferried to South Africa on a private jet. This President has yet to tell Nigerians why he has continued to hobnob with a suspected sponsor of Boko Haram, who is supposed to be under a probe by his administration. Yet, he is eager to attend meetings with serious-minded leaders, who have done well for their own people.

    “Mr. President, it is only when you have achieved success domestically that you can parade yourself internationally. You cannot look good abroad if you look ugly at home.”

  • Rector crisis rages despite Jonathan’s endorsement

    Rector crisis rages despite Jonathan’s endorsement

    Oko in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State used to be a quiet and peaceful community. Not anymore. A sharp knife has severed the cord of unity and peace. The community has fallen apart.

    The awful situation resulted from the squabble between the traditional ruler of the kingdom Igwe (Prof.) Laz Ekwueme and his subjects over one of the members of the community, Prof. Godwin Onu who is the Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko.

    While the monarch and some of his subjects, including the town’s President-General, Ike Nwammuo, are fighting for the removal of the Rector, the youths of the community and some members of the executive of Oko Progressive Union (OPU), are against the professor’s ouster.

    In the circumstances, things are no longer at ease in the community of former Nigerian Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme who championed the establishment of the institution 22 years ago.

    Some members of the community have been at daggers-drawn with the management of the Polytechnic, which is being spearheaded by Igwe Ekwueme and Ike Nwammuo.

    The situation has sparked several protests from the youths led by Evangelist Hilary Tochukwu Ezeokafor.

    Those who favour his removal say the Rector is not qualified to be the head of the Polytechnic, because he studied Political Science which is not part of the curricula of polytechnics.

    Another complaint is that Onu allegedly instigated all the crises the community has witnessed since his assumption of office as the Rector, even as they further alleged that he induced the youths with money and impersonation of leaders of the community.

    They also maintained that, being the host community, they should know who heads the institution, insisting that the community should be represented in the institution’s governing council.

    They also accused Prof. Onu of harbouring enormous hatred and animosity for the community despite the support he enjoys from the people.

    More worrisome to the community is the alleged clandestine moves by the Rector to relocate the institution to his community, Ezira in Orumba South Local Government Area.

    Before now, the community and the institution had engaged in serious battles over Masquerade Week which resulted in heavy protests within and outside the school.

    During one of the protests on March 26, 2012, some students and youths of the community were injured.

    To ensure that Prof. Onu was removed as Rector of the institution, there have been several petitions to the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike and to the Presidency.

    However, the snag here is that the community is unaware that, as a result of the transformation of the institution under Onu’s leadership, Prof. Onu’s second four-year tenure had been signed by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The approval for his second tenure was in October, 2013 before the expiration of his first tenure on March 4, 2014.

    However, the National Legal Adviser of Oko Progressive Union (OPU), Chief Uchenna Okonkwo-Okom had maintained that “renewing his tenure before the expiration of his first is illegal, ultra vires and of no effect.”

    Speaking with reporters in his palace, Igwe Ekwueme said he had continued to receive threat messages from some groups to the effect that if anything goes wrong in Oko community, he would be arrested.

    He said though he had not been arrested by anybody, the harassments and intimidations from certain groups were embarrassing to his person.

    The monarch further said some of the security agencies had not seen him for over a year; he questioned the rationale behind their interest to see him now saying, “I’m afraid of this situation”.

    On whether Dr Alex Ekwueme is aware of the situation in Oko Polytechnic or in support of their agitation for the removal of the Rector, Igwe Ekwueme said the former Vice-President supports Prof. Onu’s removal.

    “Ekwueme is on the same page with the community. You know he is a humble man and he does not really throw his weight around,” he said.

    However, Igwe Ekwueme pleaded that the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, the Senator representing the zone and the member representing Orumba North and South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives to intervene on the matter.

    The youth leader, Evangelist Ezeokafor told our correspondent that the youth are disappointed in some people’s roles in the crisis.

    He said the Rector has not committed any crime that could warrant anybody to call for his removal, adding that “he had carried the community along since he assumed duty over four years ago.”

    He commended President Jonathan for endorsing the Rector’s second tenure, which, according to him, had made members of the community proud.

    “His massive infrastructural development in the school and the help he has rendered to Oko community, especially the youth, were unprecedented,” he said.

    The Public Relations Officer, Oko Progressive Union (OPU), Nwafor Jeremiah, said members of Oko community are not interested is renewing Prof. Onu’s tenure, but are interested in allowing the man to finish his work in Oko.

    He condemned the call by the traditional ruler and the President-General of OPU for Prof. Onu’s removal, adding that the executive of OPU would not support it.

    He emphasised that the community had not deliberated on Prof. Onu’s removal, saying, the monarch and his cohorts were on their own.

    Mr Sopuluchukwu Onwuka, a lawyer, who is the National Assistant Secretary of OPU, told our correspondent that the monarch’s selective judgment had ruined Oko community.

    Onwuka said Oko community has a constitution that guides it, adding that it stipulates the functions of the monarch and that of the union.

    The public relations officer of the institution, Mr. Obini Onuchukwu, described Prof. Ekwueme as a father figure, the mentor, a role model and the landlord in the community and therefore should allow the Rector to concentrate on the task of developing the institution.

    Noting that “call for his removal is borne out of politics and selfishness,” he added: “it is the idea of those falling angels who do not want the success of Oko community and the institution.”

    Onuchukwu reminded the monarch that the way he had been championing the removal of Prof. Onu may equally boomerang on him because he is the Chairman, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) Kaduna.

    He said: “I am disappointed in the calibre of people calling for the removal of the Rector. They do not know that the President had renewed his tenure for another four years.”

    On the Rector’s achievements, Onuchukwu said he has improved the academic standard of the institution as well as embarking on massive infrastructural development of the institution.

    Okonkwo-Okom said: “The community has concluded that continued stay of Prof. Onu as Rector, Federal Polytechnic, Oko does not augur well for the Polytechnic, will retard the pace of its development. His continued stay has been rejected by the entire staff, students and the host community. Therefore, his tenure should not be renewed but should be terminated forthwith.

    “All staff unions in the Polytechnic have vowed to continue their strike if Prof. Onu is allowed to return as Rector under whatever guise.

    “On our part, Oko community has resolved to occupy the Polytechnic if Prof. Onu returns and would not vacate the premises until he is removed.

    “He is notorious for engaging in excessive use of police might to enforce his unpopular policies and programmes. We hereby humbly notify the government that Oko community will not be prepared for the return of Prof. Onu unless he is prepared to shoot all of us to clear his way,”

    It was gathered that the bone of contention in the area is award of contracts to individuals.

    “Why should anybody seek for contracts from the institution? Since the Rector’s tenure, he has transformed the institution and anybody that comes in now should identify the area as institution of higher learning and not like a glorified secondary school,” the source said.

    The crisis between the community and the Federal Polytechnic Oko has become upsetting so much so that if the Federal Government, former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme and other stakeholders did not intervene, there may be much turmoil that may destabilise both the community and the institution.