The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Opposition

  • Egypt opposition rejects dialogue

    Egypt opposition rejects dialogue

    Egyptian opposition leaders have rejected calls by President Mohammed Morsi to enter a national dialogue.

    Mr. Morsi, under fire for issuing a decree that gives him sweeping new powers, had invited all major political factions to a meeting on Saturday.

    But the opposition said the president had offered little in terms of concessions, criticising his refusal to delay a constitutional referendum.

    BBC says the announcement comes as Egypt is braced for another day of protests.

    Opposition demonstrators gathered in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, with some heading towards the presidential palace.

    Meanwhile thousands of supporters of President Morsi marched during the funerals of two men killed in clashes on Wednesday.

    The main opposition movement said on Friday it would not take part in Saturday’s talks.

    “The National Salvation Front is not taking part in the dialogue, that is the official stance,” spokesman Ahmed Said confirmed in a statement.

    Nobel Prize winner, Mohamed ElBaradei, the movement’s chief co-ordinator, posted a message on his Twitter account calling on political groups to shun all dialogue with Mr. Morsi.

     

  • Opposition parties ’ll unseat PDP in 2015, says Onu

    Opposition parties ’ll unseat PDP in 2015, says Onu

    Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu is the National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP). The former governor of old Abia State, in this interview with GBENGA OMOKHUNU, speaks on his plans for the party, which he admits is losing its grip as a major opposition party in Nigeria, and the plan by major opposition parties to unseat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 general elections by forging an alliance soon. He also appraises the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    What would you say was responsibly  for the party’s misfortune in recent elections?

    Honestly, there are so many reasons. One is that the ruling party Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wanted to impose on the nation a one-party system. For us in the ANPP, who used to be All Peoples Party (APP), we believe that if our party has not been very resilience, perhaps, we would have suffered even worse fate. Secondly, elections were not really free and fair, the result you get cannot be said to be a true reflection of the performance of various parties. So, all these contributed to the ANPP losing influence, the decline that we saw moving from controlling 9 states to 3, but we are very hopeful that the future belongs to ANPP and other opposition parties. We are really interested in working with other major opposition parties so that we can effect change for the good of our country.

    A former chairman, the late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, was accused of dining and wining with the PDP through the Government of National Unity (GNU). This has been described as the source of the party’s misfortune. How would you react to this?

    It was not a decision taken by him. The participation of ANPP in the Government of National Unity was a decision taken by the party as of that time. You are aware that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of ANPP has, also with other organs, agreed that we should discontinue and so, the party entered into the relationship, not the national chairman and also the party decided to come out of it. As the national chairman, I am just there to do the will of the party. Even though the constitution says I should give direction and so on, but I can only implement whatever is acceptable to majority of members of the party. The decision now is that we should disengage from the GNU and seek cooporation which could lead to merger, go into alliance with other major opposition political parties and that is what we are doing now.

    There are suggestions that you are not criticising this government enough, is this true?

    For me, wherever I go, people come to me, they are very happy with what we are doing and they encourage me. We have done a lot in the political arena. The problems in the system are so many and it will take time to effect change. Nigerian politics since independence has been centred on politics of personalities, but the ANPP is leading the way, to move away from the politics of personalities to politics of issues. That is, whatever the system will accept must be idea driven. And we have achieved a lot in that regard because you will find that before any matter comes up, we will give our own position and we always go beyond just criticizing, we give options. So, I think that is the correct thing because if you go into just criticizing for the sake of it, then you are not helping because we are also interested in our nation being a leading nation in the world and we believe that if we give options, in terms of how we can develop faster, then Nigerians will have more confidence in us and give us the opportunity to govern at the federal level.

    What are your plans for 2015?

    We are not interested in remaining as opposition party; we want to be in government. We want to be in position to help solve many of the problems confronting our nation and also we don’t like the word ‘capture’; we will win states and we appeal to the conscience, the wellbeing of our citizens and once they believe in us, which is exactly what we are doing now to make Nigerians trust the ANPP, once that trust is there then it will be easy for us to win future elections. We intend to control far more states than we were controlling now, but above all, to be able to produce the President of the country.

    Since you took over the leadership of the party, what steps have you taken to revive it?

    First, it is our responsibility to ensure that our nation grows stronger than it is now and that Nigerians are made happy, proud citizens of their country. Our nation can win the respect it deserves in the comity of nations. These are the things that have propelled our activities in the party. We have tried to keep to our constitution, we believe that the constitution of the party should be supreme and we also believe that we in the leadership must not be above our constitution. We have complied completely with the letters and the spirit of the constitution and that has helped us to instil discipline, maintain order in the party and ensure that every member of the party is protected.

    Are you saying that there is noticeable peace in the party now?

    Yes, all those over bearing actions of individuals that used to be the hallmark of the party are no longer allowed. That is why there is peace in the party. We have eliminated crisis and the movement away from the party has been considerable controlled; as a matter of fact, now we are receiving members from different states of the country. This is one area we have done very well. Since we came, you noticed that we supervise the last set of primary and our convention was ranked to be the very best, even contestants who lost did not complain. We do not have cases in the court or in the tribunal. And the party has been peaceful and quiet for two years. We are very happy but the secret is that we allowed internal democracy, we uphold the supremacy of our constitution and we will continue to do that because when you do that then you will be fair and just and fair to everybody. We have been asking those who left to come back, we have written letters to them telling them that look, the house you helped to build, you must come back to make sure that this house is kept in good order and most of them have been responding. We are very happy about the progress and we hope this will continue.

    How far has the party gone with the alliance plan?

    Actually, we are working very hard, a committee has been set up and that committee drew its members from all the major organs of the party and we believe that they are working. We at the leadership have also done a lot of ground work, we have met with the leadership of many of the major parties just to soften the ground, we are very hopeful that there will be success at the end of the day. The issue of who becomes the candidate of either a new party or one of the parties or an alliance is something that will come up in 2015, you cannot pre-determine now, but whomsoever the alliance of the new party present, we will be happy to support the person, our interest is to make sure that we win elections at the centre.

    Do you think party members couldagree to support Buhari considering the fact that he left ANPP to form CPC?

    We should not be discussing individuals now because this thing is still far away and when that decision will be taken, it will depend on the mood of the nation. But any person who is chosen, I am sure they will also participate in the adoption. I must tell you that I am encouraged by the level of support we have received from members, they are very supportive, and they also believe that those things that do not work in the past, we should not continue with them. I think it is on that basis that we anticipate that if we form a merger or have alliances that all these things will work very well.

    Many party members don’t agree with the choice of former governor of Borno State Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the new Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT). How was he picked?

    I have not been told this as national chairman. At the ANPP, we believe in zoning, so the position of chairman of BoT was zoned to the North East and we got a letter from the North East where all our key members recommended the current BoT chairman even though it is the BoT that by our constitution can select their own chairman. All the leaders in the North East made that selection and when we were inaugurating the Board of Trustees, there was only one candidate and that was Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff. So, if there were other candidates, there would have been an election. Those who are making this comment have not brought it up to me. They should also have provided an alternative so that those who don’t like him will decide to vote against him. He is just starting. All organs of the party are working, we are interested in winning elections and my responsibility is to ensure that I harness all resources in the party and to make sure that the party operates efficiently. Our interest is duly to the country, we believe that if our party is strong, then we will be in a position to provide an alternative platform to ensure that politics becomes competitive in the nation so that those in office will always know that if they don’t do well, they can be voted out and that is the reason we are going for this merger and alliance discussion.

    In terms of delivering democracy dividends, how would you rate the governors?

    A number of governors have done very well. We in the opposition parties are worried because we have a situation where we are getting so much revenue into the country, more than we have ever had before and yet we cannot implement our capital budget and we have cases of insecurity at the level we never had before, our infrastructure is decaying; look at the flood, the meteorologists warned that there will be so much rainfall this year and that there will be flooding, there was that warning, but I don’t know whether there was any decision taken in response to that warning. Cameroon, our neighbouring country, told us they are going to release water from their dam, these are things that good governance can help us resolve. There are a lot of problems; look at assessment from international organizations, even from Africa, now Nigeria is ranked among the least. We are worried and there is high level of unemployment, poverty level is rising, even our own government agencies are saying so and that is why we are asking Nigerians to give us a chance, if you have tried one political party for 13 years, we should try another. It will help promote good governance.

    If by tomorrow you find your BoT Chairman working against the interest of the party, what action will the party take?

    I doubt he will do so because all members of the party have personally told me that they are going to work in the interest of the party and I believe he will continue to be loyal to the party.

    How would you assess President Goodluck Jonathan, considering the general insecurity in the country?

    The situation is very disturbing. We also know that the security of lives and property is the most important responsibility of any government and it is in the constitution and we see how insecure people are across the country. A lot of problems are all over the country. There is the lack of implementation of the capital budget. Look at the issue of fuel scarcity; the idea of fuel scarcity is very disturbing to us. The position of our party is very clear that we need to repair our refineries. There is no reason refineries can work in other countries and they cannot work in Nigeria. If all our refineries are working, we should be in a position to meet virtually all the needs of our nation. If we refine here, it means we are also creating jobs and this means a lot of benefits because the workers will be paying tax to government and so revenue of government will also rise. Look at the issue of flood, government should take necessary steps that ought to have been taken. So, we are interested because we don’t want to see prices rise. Government should address the need of our farmers with urgency so that crops can be planted; we need to take remedial actions to address this issue.

    Where do you want to see ANPP as a party in years to come?

    ANPP is a great party of the future. We are talking to the entire major opposition parties. Our aim is merger and that is what our National Executive Committee (NEC) has mandated us to do. If we don’t get it, then we form an alliance. What we want to do is to be able to produce President of Nigeria, let Nigerians see that many of the problems confronting us can be solved. At times, I am not comfortable that problems we have since independence are still with us. Something is wrong. I believe whatever comes out of our discussion will do well for Nigeria.

     

  • ‘We welcome honest opposition in Ekiti’

    ‘We welcome honest opposition in Ekiti’

    Criticism,” a thinker once claimed, “makes one not to remain complacent,” noting: “You are growing when people criticise you.” This, to Adewale Adeoye, former CNN African Journalist of the Year, now Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Public Affairs to Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi, has been a major impetus for the administration..

    He made the position known in a chat with The Nation.

    Adeoye explained the government’s disposition to the opposition when his attention was drawn to the fact that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state had been accusing it of non-performance.

    His response: “Opposition drives us to improved performance in Ekiti. It will deepen democratic discourse if we have a viable and truthful opposition. In our case here, we have a rabid and blind opposition that always shoots before thinking of its target. They are lazy, they cannot do research; they just write and send statements to the media. They are a group of people who want political power for the sake of it. When Dr Fayemi was with world leaders in the US, they said he sneaked out of the country and was arrested for money laundering. Even in propaganda, there are rules.

    “When you consistently tell lies, you diminish the philosophy of opposition and reduce your political party to a group that acts only on base instinct. Ekiti deserves credible opposition, not the kind we have in the PDP. Unfortunately, the party suffers credibility crisis everywhere. Despite the colossal failure of the party in the South West, it is surprising that the party is not ashamed to come out and talk of political power. All they want is to ‘capture’ the South West, but they are not ready to labour for it. They want to use brute force and lies. This is not a good legacy for the democratic culture. But we are not impervious to constructive criticism.”

    Replying the few who would not see anything good in the performance of Dr. Fayemi after two years in the saddle, Adeoye said laughing: “Majority of the people can see and feel the amazing impacts of the government. When you want to build a house, you need a master plan, unlike past regimes which ruled by trial and error. Our master plan for the transformation of the state was the eight-point agenda. No aspect of governance is left untouched. One of the first steps was to lay the basis for transparency and fiscal responsibility in governance. That was responsible for the Freedom of Information Law in Ekiti, the first state to domesticate the law in West Africa. With that, you can now access any information you want on how the business of government is done. This is an enduring landmark, the best way to empower the people and make them relevant in the political and economic context. Over 100 schools are being renovated in one fell swoop. In the second phase, almost all the secondary schools in the state would have been touched. Within the framework of the limitations imposed by the Nigerian garrison structure, what we have in Ekiti and most states of the South West states is amazing.”

    Sharing with the public, more of Fayemi’s concrete achievements, he said: “They are legion. We are constructing five-kilometer roads in all the local government areas of the state. You must have seen the changing face of Ado-Ekiti, the upcoming street lights, the beautification and the reclamation of the floundering environmental heritage of Ekiti State. Most of the roads of the former regime did not last more than three to four years, now we are building them. That was what Chief Obafemi Awolowo thought us to do. The Ilawe-Igbara-Odo and Igbara-Odo-Ikere Roads, the Ado-Afao Road, the revival of the Ire Brick Industry, and the world-class Ikogosi Warm Water Tourist centre are among the projects.

    “Days back, the governor commissioned a world-class civic centre and there was the launching of the Samsung Engineering Centre, a conscious attempt to revive the dwindling fortunes of the artisan culture which is a key element in national economy. We also have the social security fund for the elderly and the free health programme for vulnerable groups. There are many more.”

    “The government appears to have challenges with workers and teachers in the state,” he was reminded. He responded sharply, saying: “Well, there is no irredeemable problem with teachers, or even the entire workforce. The governor is committed to improving the education sector from primary to secondary school in the state. Sometimes, people may ignorantly but honestly resist a new idea simply owing to lack of understanding or due to political influence from external forces.”

    “Some people may reject a policy that will benefit them when they take only an eye view of it. The few who object to the idea of the needs assessment and capacity building for Ekiti teachers may not immediately realize the damage such a decision will cause. The needs assessment, the governor has said it over time, will not lead to retrenchment. Several teachers have also taken the examination and to my knowledge, no one has been sacked. In all, the teaching profession is a formidable institution that Dr Fayemi will continue to cherish, being a teacher,” he added.

     

  • ACN has provided genuine opposition, says Senator

    ACN has provided genuine opposition, says Senator

    Senator Domingo Obende of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described the contribution of the opposition to national issues and development of the country at the National Assembly as vibrant.

    The Senator representing Edo North senatorial district on the platform of the ACN, who spoke to The Nation at the weekend, remarked that without meaningful opposition to put government on its toes the affairs of the countries would be tackled with ignominy and such countries would s uffer for it.

    He said: “National Assembly performance by ACN is fantastic; we have intelligent members there and our contribution has been impartial. If you check the contribution of all the members of the National Assembly, you will not see anybody going on party lines, we are one on national issues.”

    The senator noted that genuine opposition was expected to bring development and that in other advanced countries, opposition are even rewarded for their courage because it had led to stability and development.

    In his words: “I think genuine opposition is not just about opposing what is right or wrong. It is about opposing what is wrong and when you oppose it, you must proffer solution and it is your convincing projection that will bring about the understanding of the main ruling body”

    The senator who was on his way to Canada to attend the Inter-parliamentary Union explained that if the opposition was against a wrong decision, it must be prepared to give an option.

    “If the opposition is saying that this decision is not right, they are giving us an option of reasons so let come together and have a common ground. That is why a couple of things have been changing and of course in this seventh assembly. Everybody knows that the National Assembly is full with credible people who are prepared to take Nigeria to the next level.”

    On what to expect from the Inter-parliamentary Union, the senator remarked that it has to do with the regions. This according to him was the European Parliament which major interest was to galvanize legislative activities that would make impact on the affairs of Europe and other regions like the Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS).

    “The ECOWAS Parliament sends representatives and I am one of the people they have sent. There is supposed to be a new executive and this will include what they will do on the region. And of course everybody ought to go and study them and it is way of improving parliamentary activities.”

    “The parliament is expected be very energising and crossbreeding of ideas, this will make us to improve in our legislative function. It is about legislation, what is practicable internationally should be practised in Nigeria, in West Africa and it’s about improvement in legislative function and good governance.”

    Obende who gave kudos to the ACN legislators, explained that true federalism was the way out of the mirage of the problems confronting the country and solicited for more emphasis on this when the constitution was being reviewed.

    “True federalism is the real issue, in a federating state which says that whatever we do should be on equal terms must be reflected in the case of Nigeria. And if you check for instance when you go to the House of Representatives you see that some zone having the membership twice the number of some zones. I do not see any need for that, I believe that if you want us to distribute the liability and wealth of the country it should be evenly shared.”

    He stated that the issue of the Niger Delta could still be looked into because so much money is being made from the area to develop other parts of the country. “How well have we improved the lives of the people of the Niger Delta area? They cannot farm, they cannot fish, yet their roads are not good. Just imagine what is happening now in the flooding arena that we found ourselves, go to Niger Delta it is a terrible situation and there is nothing positively the government is doing about it.”

  • Opposition parties lack ideas, says Jonathan’s aide Okupe

    Opposition parties lack ideas, says Jonathan’s aide Okupe

    President Goodluck Jonathan has challenged opposition parties to come out with better ideas to his Transformation Agenda, if they have any.

    He spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe yesterday in Abuja.

    Okupe said he was compelled to explain a number of salient policy statements in the Independence Day broadcast of the President because of misconception by some members of the opposition parties.

    He said with the exception of the former Lagos State Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who offered nine points in the United States (US) recently, all other opposition politicians have never suggested alternative ways to solve the country’s problems.

    Okupe said Jonathan has achieved remarkable success in the electoral reforms and other national issues.

    “As with other sectors, some opposition politicians erroneously canvassed that the problem of Boko Haram was of such magnitude that would overwhelm the government. Even the Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Bisi Akande, joined the team of doubting Thomases when he recently stated that the problem of Nigeria will overwhelm President Jonathan.

    ‘’It is now obvious that this statement is blatantly untrue and not supported by facts on the ground. Action is being taken; it is not dramatised or advertised. The amount of technology acquired by the Army in the recent times is so enormous and that is why they are able to nip on the bud 70 to 80 per cent of bomb detonation attempts of the Boko Haram in the recent times.

    “The key component of the Transformation Agenda is to engender social trust, good governance, credible elections, accountability and transparency, rule of law and guarantee improved quality of life as the basis of the social contract between the government and the citizens.

    ‘’It is gratifying to note that today, elections in Nigeria are now nationally and internationally acclaimed to be free and fair

    Okupe said Jonathan’s effort in the non-oil sector has by July (2012) contributed N646.47 billion while non-mineral resources contributed about N178.92 billion or 27per cent to the GDP.

    He explained that the Federal Government’s share of the subsidy removal, is being re-invested responsibly in health care delivery, public transportation and infrastructural projects like the Benin-Shagamu road project costing about N65 billion.

    ‘’By December 2012 or January 2013, Nigeria will generate over 7000 megawatts of electricity and many communities will enjoy power supply of 16 hours per day and more. The days of lamentation therefore in the power sector will soon be over.

    Okupe said First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan is now hale and hearty.

    He said: ‘’Nigeria has gone through a lot of drama of deaths in the Villa beginning with Gen. Sani Abacha, who died there followed by the death of Stella Obasanjo and President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.

    ‘’But even if it is said that Patience is sick, what is expected of an average Nigerian is sympathy and prayer. For now, Patience is hale and hearty.”

  • Opposition parties kick against new Bauchi SIEC

    Opposition parties kick against new Bauchi SIEC

    Opposition parties in Bauchi state have kicked against the newly appointed members of the State Electoral Independent Commission (SIEC), claiming they are card-carrying members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The Bauchi chapters of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) last Friday unanimously rejected the reconstitution and composition of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC).

    Spokesman of the opposition, Alhaji Nasiru Darazo of the ACN told newsmen in Bauchi that the appointment of only card- carrying members of the PDP into the electoral body clearly exposes the intention of the government to rig and manipulate the forthcoming local government elections.

    He said the recent approval of the reconstitution of the state SIEC by the Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA) as requested by the executive arm of government in the state was fraudulent.

    The BAHA approved the appointment of Alhaji Abdulmumini Kundak as chairman of SIEC.

    Other members include Alhaji Yerima Misau, Alhaji Shu’aibu Galadima, Alhaji Maikano Baraya, Mr. Idris Madaki, Alhaji Idris Zakarai, Alhaji Ahmed Mu’azu and Alhaji Danlami Iaa Siyi.

    The opposition parties appealed to the state government to appoint neutral persons to the commission in the interest of fairness and fair play to create level- playing field for all.

    Darazo said: “For now, we have lost confidence in the ability of the state government to be fair to all of us.

    “We have no confidence in the present electoral body and we will soon meet to take a common position before the preparation for the election, but we lost confidence in the present SIEC in the state.”