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Tag: Lamido

  • Lamido competent to rule Nigeria – Obasanjo

    Lamido competent to rule Nigeria – Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday said Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, is competent to rule the country in 2015.

    The former president made the disclosure while answering questions from journalists during his one- day official visit to the state.

    He said Lamido’s background makes him competent to rule the country.

    “Going by Lamido’s background, performance and credibility, his competent and exposure, he can stand shoulder to shoulder with anybody in the country,” Obasanjo said.

    He continued: “if it is the wish of the people, it is okay. He did not tell me he is vying for the post, but being the wish of the people let’s wait and see.”

    “Based on his tracking his record would you say he is not competent?, He is competent, he can stand shoulder to shoulder with anyone in this nation.

    “Our hope is to produce future leaders who would grow up with one Nigeria in their mind. I mean those who are committed and patriotic.”

     

  • What did Lamido say wrong at the confab?

    What did Lamido say wrong at the confab?

    A national conference dedicated to renewal or reinforcement of territorial unity is not a wrong place for the Lamido and others with courage to ignore history of nationalities

    I have heard our people say that we need to openly and frankly discuss our problems and seek acceptable solutions instead of allowing them to fester and remain sources of perennial conflict…. The conference is open for us to table our thoughts and positions on issues, and make recommendations that will advance our togetherness….We cannot join hands together to build a collective vision if we continue to harbor negative biases and prejudices against ourselves….Over the coming weeks, you will be confronted with complex and emotive issues, strong views will be expressed by opposing sides and some disagreements will, in all likelihood, be intense—  President Goodluck Jonathan at the opening of the ongoing confab

    In the last few days, the Lamido of Adamawa has been reported as threatening to walk out of the conference and as boasting before delegates that in the event that Nigeria breaks up, he has a country to go to in the Republic of Cameroons. He assured his fellow delegates that Nigeria’s disintegration would give him an opportunity to rule over the larger part of his kingdom than the portion he currently presides over within Nigeria. For saying this, some delegates have fired at him with caustic words for not acting in consonance with the grandeur of his office and for mentioning the taboo word,break-up of Nigeria at a conference that had foresworn not to mention such a word of national embarrassment.

    Given the admonitions of President Jonathan at the conference, the Lamido has not done anything untoward or unwholesome. He has just expressed his feelings in an overtly emotive manner against the pedestrian or puerile behavior of delegates with opposing views to the rule to make 75% of votes the basis of majority decision.To people who are transitive carriers of culture, the Lamido of Adamawa said what is crucial at a conference designed to re-launch the country. Re-launching has to be preceded by deconstructing what needs to be repaired or transformed.

    Was the emir wrong in saying that his emirate extends beyond Nigeria into the Cameroons? Nigerian History101 makes this clear. Lamido is not unique in having pre-colonial kingdoms that extend today into other countries in Africa. The Ooni of Ife and the Alafin of Oyo make similar claims about Yoruba kingdoms in the Republics of Benin and Togo. Several Yoruba monarchs hold annual festivals and rituals that demonstrate the linkage. So can the Obong of Calabar make the kind of claim made by the Lamido. Nothing can prevent the Sultan of Sokoto or Ekanem of Kanuri from making similar claims. During ShehuShagari’s presidency, AlhajiShugaba was deported from Nigeria for not being a Nigerian but a citizen of Niger Republic. Political folklore during the era of military dictatorship even cited several military leaders as having their ancestry in Chad, Niger, Mali, and Sudan. Such is the character of most post-colonial African countries. The Akan of Ghana are the same as the Baoule of Cote d’Ivoire, just as the Hutus of Rwanda also extend into parts of the Republic of Congo. So do the Tswana and Sotho extend beyond the borders of Republic of South Africa.

    A national conference dedicated to renewal or reinforcement of territorial unity is not a wrong place for the Lamido and others with courage to ignore history of nationalities.To forget the pre-colonial history of Nigerian nationalities is tantamount todenialism or refusing to come to terms with reality.Denialism as a syndrome came to its head during the military era, when military rulers thought and believed that cultural amnesia would reinforce inter-ethnic unity in the country, the way it was believed, it had done in the colonial army bequeathed to Nigeria at independence by British colonial overlords.

    Many highly placed civilians (some of whom General Alani Akinrinademust have referred to during his contribution on President Jonathan’s opening speech as collaborators in the military’s schemes to de-federalize Nigeria) have also promoted denialism as a way of forestalling any attempt to deconstruct the Nigeria constructed by military dictators. It is this attitude that induced some delegates to re-affirm in response to the Lamidothat they came to the conference as Nigerians and not with any ethnic toga or stigma, as if it was not obvious to citizens that President Jonathan did not allow nomination of Ghanians or Beninoise to the conference.

    On the political level, denialism or burying one’s head in the sand like an ostrich in order not to confront the unpleasantness of one’s situation, had since 1966 led to categorizing issues for discussion at national conferences into No-go areas and May-enter zones. It is the continuation of this military vision of Nigeria that made it mandatory for the Okuroumu advisory group and President Jonathan himself to repeat the notion of No-go area for the ongoing conference. Nigerians are not allowed to discuss the endangerment of the unity that defines the country. Thus delegates must have been obeying their master’s voice by shrinking or freezing when the Lamido mentioned the fact that he has a country to return to, should this one collapse.

    In most countries that had to review their charter of union in the past, serious-minded people had avoided playing the ostrich with such activities. It must not be lost on delegates that there is always a need to break eggs in order to makeomelette. Saying what appears unpleasant to many delegates, as the Lamido of Adamawa had done, does not automatically kill the country’s unity. It shouldn’t if there is already a good reason for the country’s existence. On the contrary, it may end up enhancing it, particularly if delegates choose to remind Lamido and others with his sense of history that a rule that allows 26% or even 31% to annul the wishes of 74% or 69% is capable of further reinforcing the status quo that made the conference necessary in the first place. Accepting a rule that allows less than one-third of voters to rubbish the preference of more than two-thirds can undermine the unity of any country that practices democracy.Delegates need to emphasize that most Nigerians do not live along the border and would not have any other country to run to should this one disintegrate and that the wish of such people requires as much protection as that of Lamido, if Nigeria is to be sustainably united.

    Anyone that goes to a conference of this magnitude with morbid fear to speak his or her mind about what ails Nigeria should not have been there or would not have been there if nationalities had been allowed to elect their delegates. Nothing is likely to damage the unity of Nigeria the more than efforts to paper over the cracks by people with hidden agenda or occluded expectations from the opportunity to serve as delegate. As Nigerians love to say: “It is not over until it is over.” Should self-deception define the psychology of delegates, the desire for true federalism (as distinct from mere devolution of functions by a central government that arrogates supervisory authority over subnational governments) will continue to be a part of Nigeria’s political agenda and discourse, for as long as it takes and regardless of the number of conferences called to do so.

  • That Lamido’s threat to secede

    That Lamido’s threat to secede

    The ongoing Jonathan’s National Conference now in its third week is fast living up to expectation. As predicted by many, (if you like call them enemies of progress)the gathering is fast turning into a mere talk shop, an avenue to let off steam by delegates who most likely have a clearer vision of a better Nigeria but are left frustrated by lack of opportunities to actualize it.

    And their problem is compounded by the dos and don’ts of the Conference set by its convener: President Goodluck Jonathan. Nobody is expected or allowed to talk about Nigeria’s unity which the convener says is sacrosanct. All decisions must be reached by consensus or 75 per cent if the delegates had to vote to reach a decision.

    The Conference has been likened by some to the Biblical Tower of Babel as the delegates seem not to understand one another and in the ensuing bedlam at one of its sessions last week, the Lamido of Adamawa, one of several traditional rulers appointed as delegates, Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha dropped a bombshell and suddenly the seeming chaos stopped.

    The Lamido told the Conference and anybody else who cared to listen that the he and his people in the troubled north eastern part of Nigeria would be prepared to move across the border to Cameroon to join their kiths and kin in the larger Adamawa kingdom at the slightest sign of Nigeria’s disintegration, reminding some of those present that they would probably have nowhere to go if Nigeria ceases to be.

    He probably has a point there. The ancient kingdom of Adamawa spreads across north eastern Nigeria into Cameroon. Though the Lamido as head of the kingdom sits in Yola the capital (in Nigeria) the bulk of his subjects are actually Cameroonians and he probably comes from there as well. So, like a one-time governor of (Nigeria’s) Adamawa State (in the 3rd Republic) Saleh Michika once boasted, Alhaji Mustapha could just walk across the desert into Cameroon at the slightest opportunity, leaving behind whatever was left of a ‘disintegrated’ Nigeria and life for him and his people would continue ‘as if nothing had happened’.

    Call this a threat to secession and you would not be wrong but I would rather see it as a reminder that some people have little at stake in this country and are probably here because of what they can get out of this geographical expression called Nigeria, or better put, this British contraption called Nigeria.

    In the same vein, the Lamido’s comments during debate on the proposed rules of the Conference should be seen in my view as a confirmation of the fact that we are yet to forge a nation out of the people inhabiting this vast country called Nigeria.

    The threat to walk out of Nigeria by the Lamido, speaking for and on behalf of his people as I said earlier is not new. Governor Michika had said so in the past during one of Nigeria’s trying periods as we have now and nothing came out of it. And nothing came out of it simply because no one of Nigeria’s numerous ethnic nationalities seriously wants to leave the country, not necessarily because they would have nowhere to go but out of fear of what a fragmented Nigeria could look like in the context of the scramble for partition that would follow.

    Where would the borders of the Yoruba nation be if Nigeria should break up, River Niger in the North? After all that was the northern border of the sprawling Oyo Empire before the Fulani Jihadists invasion and there are still Yoruba indigenous to Lokoja immediately under the Niger to the south. And to the east Alaafin’s writ extended far into what is today’s Port Novo or Ajase in Benin Republic. Oyo Empire even shared border with Ghana.

    The Hausa/Fulani in the north can claim territories tied to religious and cultural affinities far deep into Chad, Niger and even west wards into Senegal and Mali. So how far or deep would the partition be? Wouldn’t Cameroon want to annex such States as Cross River and Akwa Ibom? The Ijaw would want to annex exclusively the south-south region and its resources if their current disposition to resource control and the Nigeria ‘nation’ is anything to go by and one can imagine the kind of civil war that is likely to take place as the other non-Ijaw try to assert their equality or seek their own nation. And to think Ndigbo would stand by watching with arms folded would be deluding oneself.

    So, it pays everybody for Nigeria to remain as one, the empty threats of the Lamido and his ilk notwithstanding. Disintegration is not the solution to our problem and as the Yoruba would say, cutting off the head is not the solution to or cure for headache. Everybody, every ethnic nationality in Nigeria would have a homestead to return to in case of disintegration, if the Lamido of Adamawa needed to be reminded. Staying together as one is because it is in our best interest, but if we don’t want to stay together again, then let us talk about it and agree on how best to part, but not under any threat. Not from the Lamido or any other person or group in Nigeria, whether from the north, east, west or south.

    But rather than condemn Alhaji Mustapha for his outburst, we should take the bull by its horns and discuss our unity. Why would someone or an ethnic nationality want to leave this ‘nation’? By talking about it at this conference or any other forum would not necessarily translate into disintegration, it could help us to understand each other better and assist in laying a more solid foundation for Nigeria.

    We all know the causes of our problems in this country and the solution but we lack the courage to implement the solution. We have a federation that cannot work the way it is skewed in favour of the central government. But because it is beneficial to some interests, the leadership would not make the necessary change. That is the crux of our problem; self centred leadership. And until we think Nigeria in everything we do, we would not get anywhere near solving our problems not even with this Conference or any other one.

    As for Alhaji Mustapha, the Lamido of Adamawa (worldwide) we should thank him for reminding us of our inadequacies, but he should be reminded that people like him, the privileged class, have contributed immensely to our problems as a country and they should repent and make restitution before nemesis catches up with them. Their day of judgment is around the corner; the generation that would rescue Nigeria from them has come, their time would soon be up.

  • Outrage over walk out threat

    Outrage over walk out threat

    The Lamido of Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Mustapha threatened to walk out of the on-going National conference if pushed to the wall.

    The statement did not go down well with some of the delegates. Sir Olaniwun Ajayi said he was not surprised by the threat. Mr. Ayo Opadokun reminded the monarch that his territory was in Nigeria on the magnanimity of the Nigerian people in the first place.

    Former Governor of Borno State Mohammed Goni believed that the traditional ruler could not have meant the statement the way it was perceived, Mrs. Daisy Danjuma urged Nigerians to be patient and await the outcome of the conference.

    Sir Ajayi, an elder statesman, who is representing the Southwest geo-political zone on the platform of socio-political/cultural and ethnic nationality groups, said he was not surprised by the pronouncement of the monarch.

    He said: “I am not particularly surprised because since 1947, until our independence, the northern leaders have always been threatening secession or walking out and the British people always begged them and giving them what they want.

    “For instance, the first general conference held in Ibadan in 1950, the North came with four demands and if not granted they would walk our.

    “The demands were parity of the membership of the House of Representatives with the South; that is, whatever bill they brought to the House they will win because the North controls the House.

    “Secondly, they want the revenue of the country to be shared on per capital basis, because they have been given the impression that they were more in number than the people of the South put together.

    “Three, they said the boundary between the North and the South should not be adjusted, that is Ilorin, Kabba and other towns, on that axis would continue to be part of the North.

    “Lastly, they want Lagos to cease to be part of Nigeria. Little, by little the North got all they demanded for, which became, the undoing of Nigeria because that was what led to the first military coup.

    “The reality is that, and which is very worrrisome, is the statement and then the attitude of the chairman, who failed to stop him making comments on a subject that was not on the table.

    “He was supposed to have ruled him out of order.

    “I think this as probably an agenda that could have been the result of series of meetings overnight or since we got here, otherwise. What he was saying and what he was allowed to say were not good, considering what we are here for.

    “I am highly disappointed by this, coming from a reputable former Chief Justice of Nigeria to have allowed the monarch to say what he said.”

    Opadokun said the statement was uncalled for, as Adamawa is in Nigeria on the magnanimity of the people of Nigerians.

    He said: “It’s an unfortunate statement because we should be talking about issues that bring us together and not the ones that separate us.

    “It’s even more unfortunate because his comment was not on what was on the debate as at that time. Even when the Chairman called him to order, he continued to make that damaging statement.

    “Saying that he has a place to go should the country disintegrate, he must be reminded that his living in Nigeria was at the instance of the good people of Nigeria, spearheaded by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who fought Cameroon to the United Nations.

    “I believe this conference is going to achieve the desired result for this country, but not at the expense of our rights to be happy staying together. In other words, we would not allow anyone to impose conditions on us.

    “We can persuade people, persuade ourselves because there is a lot of joy living together. But, if your coming together will cause some injustice, people will resist.”

    Goni believed Lamido could not have meant the statement the way it was perceived.

    According to him, the threat could be a reaction to the helplessness experienced by his subjects over security challenges and the seeming inability of Federal and state governments to stem the insurgencies.

    He also doubted that the threat would be carried out because to convince others would be impossible.

    His words: “I don’t think it is strongly meant because, in his view, he knew it can not be binding on other people. I want to believe that the statement was made as a result of pressure of the lingering security challenges being faced by the people of his area.

    “You know, this is a place where killings occur almost on daily basis and the frustration of seeing that government efforts have not been able to stop the killings.

    “In other words, I see it as just a statement made on the spur of the moment. I don’t think he meant it. Moreover, we have been together in this country and since the Constitution Conference of 1979, which I attended and subsequent ones, it has always been made clear that the unity of this country can not be compromised.

    “Moreover, even if he wants to stage a walkout, it won’t succeed because a consensus must be reached by the political leaders and others in his area of influence for that to be carried out.

    “In other words, the traditional ruler would have to convince political leaders and other state actors from the local government level in his area to the top and I don’t think that is easy.

    “That statement was just the voicing out of frustration of the challenges his community is facing and the seeming hopelessness of the situation.”

    To Mrs Danjuma, the statement is of no importance and should not be taken seriously.

    She said the statement was not binding on the conference and that rather than let tempers flare, people should wait for the outcome of the conference.

    “At the end of the day, we will come to a compromise, that is after everybody might have expressed their fears,” Mrs Danjuma said.

    Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, leader of Southeast delegation: “In the end, we have a united country that has decided not to break up, one that supports the structure of governance that support progress, fairness and justice.

    “That outburst, I will rather compartmentalise it to the Lamido and Adamawa State. First, I am disappointed that he was not able to hold his anger and I am sure he would regret it now.

    “I also don’t believe that he is saying in effect that he is Cameroonian, warning that if things really go bad, he has a place to run to”.

    On the 49-member committee to deliberate on the stalemate voting method.

    “Yes. I would rather put it this way that most of us here are those who ran the country to where we are today and it’s best for those people who ran the country aground, so to say, to correct themselves and ensure that we have a better country.

    “I have a strong believe, that at the end of the day, we will have a stronger and better country”.

    Femi Falana: “There are 492 delegates here, brought here from all walks of life and you must expect all manners of contributions. Including not so bright contributions.

    “The only unfortunate thing from the proceeding so far, is the tendency of the secretariat to recycle those who brought Nigeria to her knees considering the composition of the 49- member committee that has just been drawn up.

    “The same people of expired ideas, who have fixations about Nigeria. It’s not about the Nigerian youth or women, one can just imagine a committee of 49 people with only three women and no youth.

    “Anyway, as they are consulting, we are also consulting, so that we do not allow those whose ideas led Nigeria to her kneels to dictate the pace here. Enough is enough.

    “We are ready to listen to them. What are the criteria for picking them. You can’t pick people with regional ideas while people with pan Nigerian mandate are there. Many people are here to maintain and sustain the dangerous status quo but the majority of the committed delegates are anxious to have a new Nigeria on the basis of progressive ideas.

    “How do you ask those who led to the collapse to come and reorganise it. I expect people to be remorseful and when called to speak, decline and say let others talk but that is when someone can say his territory extends to Cameroon”.

  • Lamido signs appropriation bill

    Lamido signs appropriation bill

    Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido yesterday praised members of the House of Assembly for its “commitment toward uplifting the socio-economic status of residents.”

    The governor spoke when he signed the Appropriation Bill of N114.7 billion into law.

    Signing the bill at the Government House, Dutse, Lamido said the House demonstrated its care and concern in developing the state.

    “The legislature’s hardwork, support and understanding are the bedrock of moving Jigawa to the next level.

    “The people also deserve commendation for their support and cooperation in the last seven years,” he said.

    The governor said the state had recorded 85 per cent budget implementation since he assumed office in 2007, and pledged to ensure same this year.

    He said the evidence of his complete implementation of annual budgets was visible in the projects his administration had been executing.

  • Muazu to Amaechi, others: Come back to PDP

    Muazu to Amaechi, others: Come back to PDP

    The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu Muazu, has pleaded with the five governors and other party chieftains that defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to come back to the ruling party.

    The governors are – Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).

    Muazu made the appeal at the party secretariat in Abuja on Wednesday when the Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido paid him a courtesy visit.

    The party chairman said indeed, the immediate past leadership of the party offended many of the defectors through its actions and inactions, promising that their grievances would be addressed by the new leadership.

    Muazu hinted that his first task would be to set up a genuine reconciliation committee to address the grievances of members across the nation, observing that those that defected could not have done so just for the fond of it.

    He said, “We are going to look at the various events and actions that were taken in the recent past. Whatever injustice done to members would be corrected. We will apologise to those the party offended.”

    He pleaded with Lamido to help reach out to the five governors before the envisaged reconciliation committee comes on stream, saying that being a member of the “rebel” G-7 Governors, Lamido should be able to influence the five governors.

    Muazu pleaded with the five governors and other chieftains that left the party to reflect on what they had benefitted under the platform of the party, assuring that the PDP would not foist a culture of impunity under his watch.

    Speaking earlier, Lamido was unflattering in his comments on the leadership of the PDP under Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, saying Tukur’s era was divisive and vindictive.

    “I hold nothing against Alhaji Tukur because I respect him as my elder. But one cannot be happy seeing party members being suspended and chased away by the leadership.

    “The PDP failed under the last leadership. If Governors and National Assembly members were leaving and you said you were not worried, then you should know that something is wrong with you.

    “Many of our members were unjustly insulted, humiliated and abandoned by the immediate past leadership of the party. The G-7 Governors were made to feel unwanted, pained and traumatized,” Lamido said.

     

  • PDP crisis: Options before Lamido, Aliyu

    PDP crisis: Options before Lamido, Aliyu

    In the next few weeks, the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, and his Niger State counterpart, Dr. Babangida Muazu Aliyu, will make known their decision whether they will remain in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or pitch tent with the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this report, Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo, examines the options before the two governors and its pros and cons

    The nation’s polity appears revved for interesting developments in the next few weeks and months.

    From the unending crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the trouble-shooting efforts of the Presidency and the party leaders to curtail the situation, coupled with the determined efforts of leaders of the main opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) to consolidate on its recent political gains, politicians across all divides seem poised for a big battle ahead the 2015 general elections.

    Within the PDP, The Nation gathered top members of the party are anxiously awaiting the decisions of Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and his Niger State counterpart, Babangida Muazu Aliyu, to either remain in the party or defect to another political party.

    In the last few weeks, sources revealed that pressure, laced with subtle threats and blackmail, has been brought on the two governors by some powerful forces in government to dissuade them from leaving the PDP.

    While this scenario is playing out, there are also unconfirmed reports of attempts by majority of the governors’ supporters urging them to leave the PDP for the APC, whose leaders it was learnt, are seriously working underground to convince Lamido and Aliyu to join the party.

    Following the defection of the five PDP governors, Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara); Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano); Aliyu Wammako (Sokoto) and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers) to the APC, both Lamido and Aliyu declined to join their erstwhile colleagues in the nPDP/G7 to the APC, citing the need to explore further avenues to resolve their disagreements with the PDP leadership.

    But their hopes to find a common ground with their party appears dashed if developments within the party in the last two weeks are anything to go by.

    Presidency, PDP gives up on Lamido

    Barring any last minute change of plan, the Jigawa State helmsman is likely to defect from the PDP to the APC next month, according to sources close to him.

    A recent media report, quoting Lamido as having described PDP as a ‘dead and buried party,’ appears to be the final confirmation that he is on his way out of the party of which he is a founding member.

    A source quipped, “It is just a matter of weeks before Lamido leaves PDP. The minimum condition he gave to remain in PDP is the removal of the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. But now that the Presidency and the other PDP governors have decided to stick to Tukur, what is the point staying put in the party?”

    Feelers that Lamido could remain in PDP were heightened recently when majority of the PDP governors agreed with the Jigawa State governor’s call for Tukur to step aside. The Nation in fact gathered that many of the governors were allegedly in touch with Lamido assuring him that they were all in support of the ‘Tukur must go’ project.

    But the sudden volte face by his colleagues, who allegedly bowed to pressure from some powerful forces in the Presidency to back Tukur, proved the last straw that convinced Lamido that his time is up in the PDP.

    The embattled PDP National Chairman, according to impeccable sources, was alleged to have leveraged on his filial relationship with Mrs. Bola Shagaya, who is arguably the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan’s closest friend, to turn the tide in his favour. Shagaya’s son, Sheriff is married to Tukur’s daughter, Aisha.

    Recent newspaper reports allege that the First Lady, it was, who recently summoned some PDP governors and prevailed on them to support Tukur or face serious backlash from the Presidency. Shagaya was present in most of the meetings, sources told The Nation.

    Another factor alleged to have influenced Lamido is the veiled reference to him in the response letter of President Goodluck Jonathan to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

    In the letter, the President had accused a certain northern governor who is quite close to Obasanjo as having made an unsubstantiated allegation of corruption against a serving minister. Lamido, it was gathered, is riled that the President allegedly inferred in his letter that he was a liar who was intent on ridiculing his (Jonathan) administration.

    The issue of trust is also another major challenge that has made reconciliation between Lamido and the PDP quite a thorny issue. The Presidency is also worried by Lamido’s utterances and body language in recent times, and most importantly his closeness to ex-President Obasanjo, who is regarded as his political godfather.

    Sources disclosed that what is delaying Lamido’s decision to leave PDP is the urgent need to tidy up the legal loose ends in the case involving two of his sons who were sometimes ago arrested, detained but later released by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on money laundering charges.

    On fears being expressed in certain quarters that his sons’ cases could be used against him by the powers-that-be, the governor, according to sources is reportedly unperturbed. “His (Lamido) position is that he cannot be blackmailed and that the law court will be the final arbiter if his sons are eventually charged to court.”

    But for now, The Nation learnt that the outspoken governor is buoyed by the level of support he currently enjoys from both appointed and elected officials in his state, some of whom have already defected to the APC.

    Aliyu still foot dragging

    The case of Governor Aliyu presents a more complicated scenario.

    Indications have emerged that the former federal permanent secretary is yet to make up his mind on leaving PDP for another political party.

    His stance may have raised hopes in the Presidency and within the PDP leadership that the governor will not join his ‘comrades’ in the former nPDP in the APC.

    The politics of Niger State as it relates to who succeeds Aliyu in 2015 is said to be the major reason why Aliyu allegedly prefers to remain in PDP.

    Sources claim there is a disagreement among powerful stakeholders in the state and the governor over the latter’s likely successor.

    While the stakeholders are rooting for either Abubakar Bello, son of retired army officer and wealthy businessman, Col. Sani Bello, who is a member of the APC or Mohammed, eldest son of former military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, to succeed Aliyu, the governor is allegedly against any plan to foist his successor on him.

    But another source who spoke to The Nation disclosed that Aliyu’s delay in defecting to the APC was for a strategic reason after all.

    The governor, it is claimed, remains on the same page with his colleagues in the former G7, particularly on the issue of the return of the Presidency to the North in 2015.

    No doubt for the G2 governors, decision time looks sooner than later.

  • Presidency, Lamido at war over $250m bribery allegation

    Presidency, Lamido at war over $250m bribery allegation

    The Presidency yesterday disputed a claim by Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State that he informed President Goodluck Jonathan about a $250 million bribe allegedly collected by a serving minister.

    It rubbished the governor’s statement as irresponsible, false and mischievous.

    President Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said in a statement that Lamido’s statement was designed to “impugn the integrity of President Jonathan and cast aspersions on the seriousness of the administration to fight corruption in the country.”

    He said it was mischievous of the governor to say the President “refused to act on information that a serving minister recently collected a bribe of $250 million from an oil company.”

    Abati added:”The Presidency views the patently bogus allegation reportedly made by the Governor in a radio interview yesterday (Thursday) as an unacceptable and callous attempt to unjustly impugn the integrity of President Jonathan and cast aspersions on the seriousness of his Administration’s efforts to curb corruption.

    “The allegation and the claim by Alhaji Lamido that he informed President Jonathan of the acceptance of the huge bribe by an unnamed minister is absolutely without any foundation in fact or reality because no such communication has ever taken place between them.

    “We abhor Governor Lamido’s descent to the unscrupulous, reckless and thoughtless peddling of arrant falsehood in a puerile effort to score cheap political points against President Jonathan for personal and sectional political gains.

    The Presidency challenged Lamido to name the concerned minister and also provide concrete evidence of the bribe.

    “In the event that he is unable to do so, he should be prepared to offer an unreserved apology to the President and Nigerians for his unwarranted and unjust effort to denigrate, disparage and malign the President and the Federal Government.

    “While the Jonathan Presidency will continue to make corrupt public officials answerable for their actions, it will not succumb to harassment and blackmail by self-seeking politicians jostling for personal advantage.”

    Lamido is one of the G-7 governors who are the driving forces of rulig party’s splinter group-nPDP.

  • PDP a lifeless body – Nyako

    PDP a lifeless body – Nyako

    Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State on Thursday said the Peoples Democratic Party may be buried as a lifeless body because of the flagrant abuse of power by its national leadership.

    The governor made the disclosure in Dutse, Jigawa State, while fielding questions from journalists during his visit to the state governor, Sule Lamido.

    He said, “People leave even their religions for another and PDP is not a religion which means leaving it would not be regrettable.

    “There is no regret for us or be accused of deserting a dead body because to me I would not want to be buried with a dead body. So PDP is a dead party and if they feel expelling us from the party is what they desired, so be it.

    “The leadership of the party in Abuja has already given it a terrifying fatal upper-cut like in boxing and to leave a dead body of the already dead PDP is better than be buried with it.”

     

  • PDP crisis: Jonathan, Aliyu, Lamido, Nyako meet

    PDP crisis: Jonathan, Aliyu, Lamido, Nyako meet

    •Babangida, Ali also at Villa

    President Goodluck Jonathan was meeting last night with some of the aggrieved governors in a bid to end the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) crises.

    The meeting was ongoing at the First Lady’s conference room in the State House as at 10:30pm.

    Reporters were barred from the venue of the meeting, but it was gathered that Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Babangida Aliyu (Niger) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) were at the meeting.

    It could not be confirmed whether Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi was there, but a source said Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso could not attend because they were abroad on official assignments.

    The aggrieved governors on August 31 broke away to form the “New PDP” under the chairmanship of Kawu Baraje.

    Reporters monitored the movement of the governors’ vehicles from a distance of about 600 metres.

    Earlier in the day as part of the peace efforts, some elders of the party, including former Military President Ibrahim Babangida and former PDP Chairman Ahmadu Ali met yesterday with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.

    Other party leaders at the meeting could not be ascertained as at press time.

    The PDP faction led by Kawu Baraje emerged on August 31 when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and seven governors announced the splinter group after storming out of the mini-convention in Abuja.

    It could not be confirmed yesterday whether former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is the arrow head of the reconciliation move, attended the meeting held at House 7 in the State House.

    Reporters were eaqually barred from the venue of that meeting, which lasted for about one hour. They were also not briefed on the outcome. Besides, no statement was issued.

    The meeting was, however, said to be a preparatoryto last night’s meeting.

    Some governors were seen at the Presidential Villa before the meeting. They include Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) and Gabriel Suswam (Benue).