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  • PDP’s diversionary statement on poll, by APC

    PDP’s diversionary statement on poll, by APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Anambra yesterday said the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) half-hearted statement on last Saturday’s poll was diversionary.

    APC’s Interim Publicity Secretary Okelo Madukaife said in a statement: “The comments credited to Olisa Metuh, PDP’s national publicity secretary, that APC knocks the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when it loses is diversionary.

    “In fact, it’s a manifestation of sycophancy to please Metuh’s superiors in the PDP caught in an intricate web of anti-party conduct and undue influence over INEC.

    “The fact that the position of the PDP, as expressed by Metuh, contradicts the one expressed by the PDP candidate, Mr. Tony Nwoye, who has called for the cancellation of the poll, is indicative that the national body may not have fully been behind its candidate.

    “Gladly, Metuh illustrated with Ondo State where his party fielded a candidate, but instead supported the Labour Party candidate, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, through the back door.

    ‘’Without meandering, the principle of PDP support, which short-changes its candidates, is the same for Anambra as it was in Ondo State, and the issue of coming third, fourth, fifth or sixth in a largely discredited poll does not take away the locus standi of a focused party to demand that all voters in Anambra State be allowed to vote in a free and fair election on a clean slate.

    “The needless political point that Metuh and his party – at the national level-wish to score is that only those, who have been awarded an undeserved first and second positions, in an election in which all indices point to failure can speak up on whether people should be allowed to vote or not.

    We disagree!

    “The admission of INEC that its officers have colluded in rigging, the confirmation of observers, local and foreign that the election was a failure and testimonies from the election confirms that the rigging plan, which PDP used to shortchange Ghali Umar Na’Aba in 2003 in favour of an All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate and Ifeanyi Ararume in Imo State in favour of Ohakim, a PPA candidate in Imo State’s 2007 election, may or may not necessarily work for the ‘messed-up’ (in Prof. Attahiru Jega’s words) election in Anambra State.

    “However, while the issue of sincere support by the PDP at the national level to its own candidate in the state remains its internal affair, what is true is that APC stands for the principle of one-man one-vote, which must count, and Anambra indigenes, who are qualified to vote, must be allowed to vote in a clean election.

    “Hence, it remains unacceptable to accommodate a widespread manipulation, using INEC officials, security agents, real and fake, who used every possible vice to blur the future of Anambra youths.

    “It becomes laughable when Metuh opens a new vista to the rigging plan of PDP when it chose to use security agents to arrest election observers in a neighbouring state, only to label them ‘APC thugs’. Yet, no charge is being pressed on the wonderful ‘tag-wearing thugs’, with large number of highly-educated women in their ranks.

    “By toeing this path, Metuh is the one trying to becloud a serious issue of illegitimacy of government to be thrown up in the 2004 to 2018 governorship tenure to naked propaganda, without content.

    “Were it not so, Metuh should have dealt with the INEC-assisted rigging in an Obosi hotel where policemen and soldiers declined to make an arrest; withdrawal of result sheets by INEC officials, which they had ‘mistakenly’ supplied; allowing results to be recorded on rough sheets or cardboard papers; use of fake policemen and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members; arrival of materials in predetermined councils at 2pm incomplete; orchestrated strike by NYSC presiding officers; placement of materials unmanned, among others.”

     

    “We note that silence is better than the statement so far credited to PDP and Metuh even in the interest of his party.

    “Once again, we restate our resolve to rescue their rights to choose their leader and run their state without being controlled.

    “APC urges the indigenes to disregard the mud-slinging from Metuh’s PDP and attend to the report of the manipulation in the 21 councils.”

     

  • PDP’s roiling crisis

    For quite some time now, the Nigerian political theatre has been embroiled in crises of unimaginable proportion. Every other day, new dimensions are added to the contentious issues. Surprisingly, most of these issues border on conflict of supremacy and arbitrary use of power through which many party faithful have been either emasculated or ignominiously shovelled out of the parties. Indications are rife that there is a gradual incursion of tyranny in the administration of the parties.

    The major culprit in this whole shenanigan is the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, a party that prides itself as the biggest party in Africa. As they say, rather jokingly, the bigger the head, the bigger the headache. In the first instance, many of our political parties are apparently nests provided for strange bed-fellows to cohabitate. That is probably why the struggle for supremacy and control of party machinery has assumed a war of survival on its own. In the ongoing war within the parties, there is a systematic annihilation of political opponents or those whose views are considered to be injurious to the interest of the few who have monopolised power. This has invariably led to what political scientists would refer to as democratic centralism.

    We are all aware of the nature of scheming and internecine war that have engulfed the PDP since Bamanga Tukur, its present chairman, took over the reign of leadership of the party in March 2012. It started like a fratricidal war among the members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party. With Olagunsoye Oyinlola, the secretary of the party, as the arrowhead of the dissenting group in the committee, Tukur was perpetually placed on his toes as the group perfected their strategy to unseat him. But for the moles within the NWC, by now, Tukur would have become history in the party hierarchy.

    Much later, the party’s NWC was dissolved and Oyinlola was removed as secretary. Rather than solve anything, the removal of Oyinlola and other officers who had become a thorn in Tukur’s flesh, further deepened the crisis in the party. The struggle for reform in the party later snowballed into a major conflagration last August, when some party leaders, led by some state governors, staged a walkout from the party’s national convention ground in Abuja.

    The insistence of the group on reforms within the PDP and its hierarchical structure has created a deadlock, which has remained unbroken for so long. Not only have the various reconciliation meetings even with President Goodluck Jonathan in attendance failed to yield any fruitful result, there appears to be the presence of a certain clique within the party that is opposed to any form of reconciliation with aggrieved members. The reason for this is the fear that such reconciliation may pose a threat to their present comfort zone in the party. Therefore, they are hell bent on maintaining the status quo.

    Several meetings, which attempted to resolve the two knotty issues involved in the whole saga, have yielded no tangible result. The issues are Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 election and the fate of Tukur as national chairman.  Going by the body language of the party’s hierarchy, the issue of Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 election appears to be cast in iron, meaning that it is a no-go area. In order to consolidate the hawks’ hold on the party machinery, Tukur has become a willing puppet used to perpetrate illegality and arbitrariness in the party. Unfortunately, his fate has always been hanging precariously in the balance.

    In recent times, the leaders of the breakaway faction, with seven state governors as point men, have come under severe emotional, psychological and even mental torture all over the place. The G7 governors are Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers, Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Rabiu Kwakwanso of Kano, Muritala Nyako of Adamawa, Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara and Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto.

    Lamido has come under intense security binoculars for some time now. Early this year, Aminu Sule Lamido, one of his sons, was held at the Aminu Kano International Airport over an allegation that he was trying to go out of the country with $50, 000 as against the $10, 000 allowed by law.  He was convicted on July 12, by a federal high court in Kano for money laundering. Last Thursday, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, again, arrested Aminu and Mustapha, another son of Lamido, over yet another allegation of money laundering.

    The story is the same for Amaechi of Rivers State, who has known no peace since the rumble in the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, erupted many months ago. The crisis in the NGF over the election of its President, which was believed to have been won by Amaechi, has seriously polarised the body into two factions. The one headed by Amaechi is believed to be the authentic NGF, while the other one led by Jonah Jang of Plateau State is a surrogate of the Presidency.

    The climax of this regime of terror unleashed on the group was the recent disruption of the governors’ meeting at the Kano State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja. The meeting was held to discuss their grievances against the PDP and how to marshal their points ahead of their planned meeting with Jonathan. That meeting may never see the light of the day anymore because a recent event has overtaken such consideration. On Wednesday, November 6, a Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja reinstated Oyinlola as the National Secretary of the PDP. The three-man panel, chaired by Justice Amiru Sanusi, upturned the January 11 judgment of the Federal High court, Abuja, which sacked Oyinlola.

    One would have thought that this judgement would provide a good opportunity for the party to resolve the intractable crisis that has engulfed it, but rather than find a solution to the crisis, some desperate elements within the party went ahead to suspend Oyinlola and others under flimsy excuses. This action has clearly vindicated those who are calling for reform in the party. Moreover, that decision has the potential of setting the judiciary against the party and its government because it is seen as a negation of Jonathan’s avowed commitment to the rule of law.

    The Presidency has since come under heat from some stakeholders in the government who felt that certain forces were exploiting the situation for their selfish motives. Some governors loyal to the President were said to have made contacts among themselves and with the President all through last week, expressing deep concerns that the leadership of the party scuttled the opportunity for peace presented by the Appeal Court verdict.

    The legal and ethical issues thrown up by the suspension order have also engaged the attention of stakeholders who are viewing, with concern, the legality of decisions being currently taken by the party with the sitting secretary whose appointment has been declared illegal by the court. This is why Tukur may have incurred the wrath of Jonathan over his latest handling of the moves to resolve the crisis in the party.  The Presidency is believed to be tinkering with the idea of directing the party leadership to reverse itself on the suspension issue.

    If that happens, then Tukur’s days are numbered as the President is said to be unhappy with the unilateral decision he took to suspend the party leaders, including Oyinlola, who have been reinstated to his post by the appellate court. The Presidency is worried that instead of the party creating and getting more followers and friends, the hierarchy is busy creating more enemies for the party and the Jonathan administration.

    So far, Tukur’s tenure as party leader has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. It has been dogged by series of arbitrary use of power, witch-hunting and indiscriminate removal of national officers and dissolution of party executives across the country. The suspension of Oyinlola is nothing but a deliberate ploy to circumvent the Court of Appeal judgement which recognised him as the National Secretary of PDP. By that action, the PDP has foreclosed the possibility of any reconciliation and portray itself as a lawless party.

  • ‘National conference is a diversionary strategy’

    ‘National conference is a diversionary strategy’

    Afenifere chieftain Senator Ayo Fasanmi was a member of the National Assembly in the First and Second Republics. He spoke with Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN on the proposed national conference, regional integration, presidential system and other partisan issues.

    Some Nigerians are of the view that the proposed National Con-ference is a dis-traction. What is your comment?

    They are right. You know the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Goodluck Jonathan symbolises is a sinking ship. Right now, the party is heading towards total disintegration. Jonathan is doing everything possible to ensure that it does not go under completely. Thus, he has embarked on a salvage operation for PDP, the before, Jonathan and his party were against the national conference. But they suddenly embraced it in order to engage people in discussing one thing or the other, so that they can have ample time to settle the crises within the party. Their strategy is to keep Nigerians talking and arguing and use the opportunity to mend fences in the PDP. To me,the planned conference is a diversionary strategy.

    I have my reservations about the whole process. What Nigerians particularly, we in the Afenifere are yearning for is a Sovereign National Conference that would address urgent national problems. It is unfortunate that the Fasoranti-led Afenifere is championing the national conference being planned by Jonathan to settle score with people that are against them.

    Are you surprised by the appearance of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) before the Presidential Planning Committee on National Conference?

    Not at all, I will personally advise that we should not boycott whatever conference they are planning. I remember in 1965, when the Action Group decided to boycott the federal election, it was counter- productive because it gave the opposition an edge. The opposition candidates were returned. For that bitter experience, we have resolved not to boycot any programme. I am happy the ARG is taking part and that it has submitted a paper stating our position on crucial national issues. Nevertheless, I have my reservations on the timing of the national conference. It is a strategy to buy time for the PDP to gain ground where it has lost. Jonathan is planning to elongate his tenure. We will not allow it. There must be a time lag. The conference should not spread to 2015. Jonathan is on his way out.

    The President has said that the conference report will be presented the National Assembly to give it legal backing. Is it necessary?

    You see, for Jonathan to say he will refer the report of the national conference to the National Assembly shows either he doesn’t understand what the conference is all about or he’s not serious about it. Like I said earlier, what we need is a Sovereign National Conference in which the people will have the final say on its report. The conference is expected among other things to produce a new constitution for the country, alloww us to decide whether all the ethnic nationalities still want to co-exist as a country and what kind of relationship do we want? The delegates should have unfettered freedom on all issues of national importance.There should be a plebiscite on the report because sovereign power belongs to the people. Jonathan’s planned conference is to distract the attention of the people from crucial problems like corruption, unemployment, insecurity of lives and property, education and health sectors that are in comatose.

    Observers say the President’s ambition to contest in 2015 is the root cause of the crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. As an elder statesman, will you advise President Jonathan to seek re-election?

    Jonathan should know how to quit when there is no ovation for him at all. In any civilised society, PDP should have been shown the way out. What are his achievements as President of the country? Corruption in government is getting worse by the day. A minister used public fund to buy bullet proof cars worth N255 million without approval and the President says he would set up an investigation panel to tell him what to do. Is it not funny that a President, who hired a minister, cannot take action against his aide that has tarnished the image of his administration? I am not surprised. We have heard cases of corruption involving those in government and they are getting away with them. Former governor of Delta State, James Ibori, could have got away with the public funds he stole while in office, if not for the British government. What of the fuel subsidy scandal involving relations of those in government and PDP promoters? What has Jonathan achieved in terms of security, mass unemployment, falling standard of education, the university lecturers have been on strike for four months without solutions.

    What is Jonathan coming back to do in 2015? Does he want to come back and continue looting? No way. By the grace of God, the PDP will be buried in 2015. The PDP is like a wheel barrow waiting for a train like the All Progressive Congress (APC) to crush it. When I heard that Jonathan went to Jerusalem, my prayer was that God will touch his heart, so that he would not destroy the country further.

    The other time Jonathan came up with the idea of centenary celebration. The question I keep asking is what are we celebrating-kidnapping, raping Boko Haram insurgency, oil theft, massive corruption, disrespect for the rule of law? It is unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this mess. It is very painful that Nigeria leads in anything that is negative in the world. I am sad to hear that Nigeria is one of the most corrupt and poverty-stricken nations.

    Why have you not been playing the role of Afenifere leader, since your election as the deputy leader?

    I thought at 88, I should hand over to young ones. We should give them a chance. They should be allowed to grow. They are very active and mentally alert. The young ones are doing it very well. The pride of a father is to see his children taking over part of his functions in his life time while he guides them from the rear. I am happy that the likes of Bisi Akande, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Segun Osoba, to mention a few, are not found wanting in this respect. They are up to the task.

    You are one of the few surviving disciples of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Would you say that your contemporaries still uphold Awo’s philosophy or they have waivered?

    I am almost alone. Most of my colleagues have gone, even though we may not be in the same party. All my friends in Osun have died. The APC interim chairman, Bisi Akande, got to know Chief Awolowo through me. And like Paul, the Apostle, Akande almost superceded me in his commitment to Awo’s philosophy. As a party man, he has excelled. So also are the young ones like Segun Osoba, a committed Awoist, and a great defender of Awo’s philosophy. He’s forthright and consistent. Then, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is in the fore front of the struggle to preserve the legacies of our great leader. Tinubu is brazing the trail of actualising Awo’s vision. Though my colleagues have passed on, but the young ones are doing well. They should continue to consult us.The struggle continues.

    How would you assess the performance of President Jonathan, after four years in office?

    He has not performed. If he had, we will not be talking of pervasive corruption, insecurity, mass unemployment, armed robbery, kidnapping and raping. That was why Chief Bisi A kande described him as kindergarten President because his government has no clues to the challenges facing the country. You can deceive people for some time, but not all the time. PDP is a collection of marauders. A party that can’t put its house in order has no right to rule. That is why things are getting worse in the country. Recklessness, impunity and disrespect for the rule of law are hallmarks of the Jonathan administration. No nation can prosper in such circumstance.

    Regional integration is one of the developmental strategies of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). How best do you think it can be achieved?

    The Southwest governors have started working towards achieving regional integration in the zone and they are doing well. They have embarked on projects that will enhance development in the region. For instance, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state is trying to construct a road that will connect Osun with Lagos and Oyo states to facilitate movements of goods and services across the geo-political zone. I think they are also planning to build rail lines that will cut across the region. All this will enhance economic activities. The Southwest and Osun, in particular, can feed the whole of Nigeria. But the problem is how to transport the food to the cities with convenience so that the farmers can get adequate reward for their labour. Awo did it before in the old Western Region when he turned the West into a pace setter in Nigeria.

    In Ekiti State, Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele and Goveror Fayemi are locked in a battle of political supremacy. As an indigene, what is your advice?

    Fayemi has been a fantastic governor in Ekiti state. He has transformed the state within three years. That explains the gale of endorsement for his second term. Every progressive element within and outside Ekiti State is saying he should be given another term to consolidate his achievements. Opeyemi has the right to aspire for governorship. But I am advising him to haste slowly. He must not allow the reputation he had built over the years to be destroyed by personal ambition. He must not allow forces outside the party to use him as an instrument of destabilisation.

    You are based in Oshogbo. How would you rate Governor Aregbesola?

    Aregbesola is a first class strategist, who holds aloft Awo’s legacy. He has rekindled Awo’s philosophy on education and other program-mes designed to make life abundance for the citizens of Osun. It is just like a Daniel comes to judgment. He is a wonderful young man. The greatest asset he has is a woman as his deputy, who is a pride to womanhood. He is doing very well. Osun has become a state of Omoluabi under Aregbe. Things are changing for good in Osun . People may have to experience certain inconveniences as a result of developmental projects going on across the state, but at the end of the day, they will smile.

    What of the governor of your home state, Ekiti?

    Governor Fayemi is an intellectual per se. He is committed to ideological solution to problems. He is committed and dedicated to the service of Ekiti State. His deputy is also an intellectual. Intellectualism, coupled with ideology, constitutes a veritable engine of socio-economic and political development.

    As a federal legislator in the First and Second Republics, which system of government do you prefer?

    In the First Republic, we operated parliamentary system and presidential system in the Second Republic. The presidential system is very expensive. Whatever that can be done to make it less prone to corruption and less expensive should be done. It pays much premium on service to the people and not promotion of self.

     

  • Understanding the Anambra election fiasco

    Understanding the Anambra election fiasco

    WHEN voters in Anambra State were called out on November 16 to cast ballots in deciding who should run the affairs of the state in executive capacity from March next year to 2018, expectations were high that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other agencies, bodies and officials involved had perfected the plans to advance the cause of democracy. It was the hope of all that Nigeria would be handed a rare gift that would make them glad. It was expected that, given the ostensible elaborate preparations for the elections, the results would be declared within 72 hours. Ninety-two hours after the poll, the commission is not in position to declare the full and final result. It remains debatable whether what was released by the returning officer, Prof James Epoke, was acceptable and within the contemplation of the extant electoral laws.

    Epoke had declared that results collated from most of the wards in the state showed the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) leading the pack, followed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) candidate in the second position and the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer in the third. He, however, held that the election could not be called as the results from about 208 polling units had been cancelled. He said until the figures from the units are collated, since collectively they are capable of returning more than 113,000 votes, a decision could not be taken on the winner.

    The electoral commission has rejected the call by candidates of the APC, PDP and Labour Party for an outright cancellation of the election, which they have dubbed a sham and the conduct of a fresh poll that would meet international standard. They said discrepancies, irregularities and malpractices were not restricted to the 208 polling units, 160 of which are in Idemili North alone. At the heart of the fraudulent poll was the electoral register. Could something be built on nothing? If the electoral roll has been shown to be invalid as some voters could not find their names on it, then how could the election be deemed valid? The PDP candidate, Mr. Tony Nwoye, who claimed that he and his father had seen their names on the register earlier dispatched to the parties, was unable to vote on Election Day? How could such injustice be remedied?

    The turn-out in a politically sophisticated state, such as Anambra, where there had been a vigorous campaign, was particularly poor. Only about 25 per cent of the registered voters came forth to perform their civic duty. Yet, the electoral commission claimed that the roll shrunk to 1.78 million men and women after it had been cleaned up. The logical conclusion, if the INEC claim is to be accepted, is that majority of those who wanted to vote had been prevented by the shoddy preparations.

    The reasonable and logical thing to do is cancel the election, restore power to the disenfranchised voters by ensuring that all eligible and willing voters are able to cast their ballots and bring credibility to the electoral process. It has been argued that the electoral laws empower the electoral commission to postpone elections in whole or in part. The commission, in coming up with this position, cites section 26 of the Electoral Act 2010. The relevant portion of the section reads:

    26. – (1) Where a date has been appointed for the holding of an election, and there is reason to believe that a serious breach of the peace is likely to occur if the Election is proceeded with on that date or it is impossible to conduct the Elections as a result of natural disasters or other emergencies, the Commission may postpone the election and shall in respect of the area, or areas concerned, appoint another date for the holding of the postponed election, provided that such reason for the postponement is cogent and verifiable.”

    The section, while allowing INEC, in exercise of its power to conduct election, to postpone where necessary, it also lays out or suggests conditions that would make that necessary. It is thus to be inferred that only when these conditions are met are the reasons deemed “cogent and verifiable.” The Act envisages that elections could be thus postponed when there is a likely breach of the peace, a natural disaster had occurred or there were some other such emergencies. In the Anambra case, the situation is quite different. The law did not envisage incompetence on the part of the commission as a reason to reschedule polling in parts of a state.

    Section 178 (4) of the constitution declares that, for the purpose of the governorship election, the entire state shall be regarded as one constituency. The question to ask is, at what point is a declaration of results of an election deemed to have been made if the state is one constituency? Is the governorship election one poll? If so, are the bits and pieces announced at the polling units, wards, and local government areas regarded as sacrosanct before the final declaration of the winner by the returning officer?

    For as long as the final result has not been collated and announced, INEC still has the power to administratively review the figures coming in, and where it has cause to believe that the cause of justice would be better advanced by a wholesale cancellation, it could go ahead.

    Such was the case in the false start of the general elections in April 2011. The National Assembly election had commenced in parts of the country and some polling units had made their declarations, yet, INEC went ahead to cancel the polls nationwide. Why were the results from the polling units that had been announced not sustained?

    Supplementary elections are unknown to the law as it stands today. And, more importantly, the spirit of the constitution could not have supported the validation of an election conducted on the basis on a flawed electoral register.

  • Anambra: Story of a bungled poll

    SIR: The recently conducted governorship poll in Anambra State could be likened to the story of a city blessed with an amazing beauty and fragrance but spiritually sick therefore making its descendants to be unsuccessful in their chosen career. As an observer in that election, my take is that the election could not be said to have passed the democratic test although relatively free. It was peaceful but not fair.

    It is imperative to state here that the people of Anambra state conducted themselves in a peaceful and an orderly manner during the election. Brigandage was jettisoned for serenity. No violence. Very peaceful. No uproar. Political thugs were sent into oblivon. Thuggery was caged. Gangsterism was rejected. Anambra people disgraced desperate politicians by not allowing them to have their usual way.

    Let me state unequivocally that the modus oparandi adopted by the electoral umpirewas a ruse. Voting materials were short in the areas where the candidates of the opposition parties – the ll Progressives Congress (APC) , Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were rooted and strong. Only the areas where the candidate of the ruling All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) was popular were adequately equipped and serviced with electoral materials.

    What a well concocted planned game! I make bold to aver that the election was scientifically and carefully rigged. The people of Anambra were the winners of the election while INEC officials were the villains. In Idemili North and South local government areas, less than 20% of voting materials were brought to the polling units. Many electoral officials absconded for reasons well known to them. The Professor Attahiru Jega- led INEC was a disappointment. While the people were ready for change and success, INEC remorsefully demonstrated failure.

    It is clear that worse days are ahead for Nigeria. I say without being hypocritical that democracy is in danger in Nigeria. Anambra people were ready for a free and fair election but INEC fumbled. The candidate of PDP, Comrade Tony Nwoye could not vote. His 75 years old father too could not vote. His Uncle, Chukwudi also could not vote. Their names surprisingly disappeared from the voters register.

     

    • Maxwell Adeyemi Adeleye,

    Magodo, Lagos.

     

  • Governor Suswan’s faux pas

    SIR: As chairman of the Needs Assessment Committee for Nigerian Universities, Governor Gabriel Suswan has full grasp of what is at stake as far as tertiary education in Nigeria is concerned. What is more, he has been a regular at negotiations between ASUU and the Federal Government and all the while, efforts at amicable resolution between both parties have failed repeatedly.

    However, it took the belated personal intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan’s meeting with the university lecturers to usher in what looks like a light at the end of a very long tunnel.

    But it appears that while Nigerians and indeed students who have been at the receiving end of the impasse await ASUU’s final decision, the Benue governor is not having any of it. He would rather sabotage reconciliatory efforts by casting aspersions on ASUU leadership.

    So it was that in an interview with ThisDay where the governor launched at the leadership of the union for politicizing the strike embarked upon by its members, claiming that ASUU was “determined that the Jonathan (PDP) government must be brought down…”

    The governor claimed the easiest way the union intends to dismantle the government was by “ensuring that every family is affected.” In his peculiar rationalization, he argued that “…they (ASUU) have no basis rather than playing politics with the strike and then holding the nation hostage and destroying the future of this country…”

    Pray, what could inflict any more pains on Nigerian families than the PDP-inspired economic sabotage? Granted that the consequences of the four-month hiatus in academic activities have been enormous, but it is nothing compared to the near-annihilation that Nigerians continue to suffer under the PDP hegemony.

    What is baffling is that by the governor’s illogic, what ASUU is doing amounts to a concerted effort to dismantle the present government, having already accused the leadership of the union of being infiltrated by opposition political parties. Merely reducing efforts towards rescuing Nigerian university system and education in general from well-document decay through better funding by the government to a fight against PDP or President Jonathan is the worst form of trivializing the importance of education. This is exactly what the governor is doing; expressing his distaste for better education for the ordinary Nigerian.

    To be sure, there is no law excluding members of ASUU or any Nigerian from belonging to political parties of choice or proscribing them from distinctive political leanings. For if the fear of opposition parties in ASUU would compel the Federal Government to implement an agreement it voluntarily entered and signed with university lecturers in 2009, the better. Ultimately, providing quality education is a paramount responsibility of government and to be alive to this constitutional responsibility, the government does not require, the nudging of the opposition, lecturers embarking on strike and being fought to a standstill.

    In a chest-thumbing moment of self-gratification, the governor reminded us how he slept for “just four days” in Benue out of three weeks “just to raise money for this need assessment.” Well done sir! We recognize your contributions and commitment to settling the dispute and the need to put education on the front burner. But the truth is that what will truly kick out any government and restore the bleak future of the nation is not ASUU strike; it is the exacting burden of hardship occasioned by alarming official graft being supervised by the PDP government.

     

    • Victor Mong

    Port Harcourt

     

  • ‘National Assembly should participate in National Conference’

    ‘National Assembly should participate in National Conference’

    Former chairman of Abia State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Archbishop Benson Ezemo, in this interview with GRACE OBIKE, explains why the National Assembly should participate in the proposed National Conference.

    wHAT is your position on the proposed National Dialogue ?

    My take on the National Dialogue is that it is timely. The President has formed a group that is going around the states and I think that it is time that we all come out in our different groups and talk to ourselves on the way forward.

    But the President said that there are some areas that will be no go areas… We need to talk to ourselves. There shouldn’t be any no go area. Our main focus should be the unity of this country and it should be respected.

    The National Assembly should be involved in the National Dialogue so that we don’t go back sending the same thing to them. The members should be involved in the issue so that there won’t be any opportunity for somebody to remove or add something else. They should be involved in the National Dialogue because they are Nigerians.

    Previous national conference have failed, is there any need for a new one?

    We should learn to speak good about the country because what we say is what we see. We should learn to have some levels of respect for the leadership of this country. We need to pray for the peace of the land. When you talk about the National Dialogue, I believe that Mr. President is a listening President. In my recent interviews, I said his election would be based on performance. He made promises and you can see how he performed. This man you are shouting at, asking him to set up a National Dialogue or whatever, the man came out and agreed to it. Now, some people are saying that we do not want the dialogue. It is not every leader that will listen to the people and do what they say. So, they should give it a chance.

    If you have something to present, you present it. Let’s talk to ourselves because where we were 50 years ago is not where we are right now. There is already a high demand for provision of roads and other infrastructure, with the corresponding increasing population.

    It’s like stocktaking. Anyone that does not take stock at the end of every period will just be moving around. For instance, I attended a unity school and it prickles my heart when we see our country going the way it is because unity schools. Those selected for unity schools was based on performance. People that did well from different states were brought together, to foster unity and that was what the founding father, General Yakubu Gowon had in mind. That a child is taken to another state at the secondary school stage and grows up in another environment.

    That is the kind of things that we should build upon. Things that will direct us and make this country strong. We should go beyond those things that will bring division like religion and tribalism. If we want to go beyond that, we should look for excellence because, in every state of the federation, there are people who are really good. We should bring out our first eleven. Let them go to the field.

    AS a matter of constitutional imperative, can the outcome of the dialogue go to the National Assembly for amendment?

    No, it shouldn’t be referred to them for any amendment. The point is that if they are involved in the debating like other people, they are part of it and there won’t be any need for them to remove anything. That means they have been involved in the process. But what is happening at the National Assembly calls for worry. Some people at the National Assembly are already saying there is no need for it. So, there is division at the National Assembly already on where the outcome of the dialogue should be sent to the National Assembly.

    If asked to present a memora-dum, what would propose?

    If I am asked to submit a memorandum to the conference, I will highlight the unity of this country because I went to a unity school. Religion was not one of the considerations, nor tribe, but the main consideration was that we were Nigerians. Those things that divide us are the areas that we need to put behind us and build on the things that unite us.

    In other words, I will be asking the federal government to review issues of federal character, the issue of zoning and other issues that negate excellence.

    Yes, the Federal Government will have to review issues that negate excellence. Let the first eleven from anywhere go out and contest or take positions. But when you begin to look for people that are not well qualified for certain positions, that is when you now consider some people based on tribe and other narrow interests.

    Some have called for the division of the country becuase the way it is run indicates that there is no unity…

    Our strength today is because we are Nigerians. I don’t think Nigeria is too tattered because our strength today as Nigerians is that we are one country. If we allow this country to divide, if you think that, because you have mineral resources or oil that you will be stronger than another state that has agriculture, you are telling a lie. If you now divide the oil rich states that maybe carved out of Nigeria, another tribe will say, this oil belongs to me and will keep fighting, so the good thing is that we are united now and there is strength in unity and that should be what we should guard jealously.

    Don’t you believe that we will be better as smaller units?

    I don’t believe that we will fare better as smaller units, nobody fares better as a smaller unit, you bring your strength and someone else brings his strength and we put it together. The only thing is that there are those basic things Nigerians have to look up to. If we have leaders that truly believe in this country, that will address the needs of the common man, that will provide selfless leadership, the better. If we have those who will first and foremost have the fear of God and ensure that people are not hungry, that will be a plus.

    The common Nigerian is not a greedy person that is why you don’t see people taking to the streets. The ordinary Nigeria looks up to having is basic need provided. That is why you can’t call out a Nigerian to the streets to stay for 48 or 24 hours. So, we just need a leader that will be selfless, one that will know that at the end of my tenure, I will be like any other person.

    So, we need basic education for our people at all levels. If this can be provided for Nigerians, there will be less talk about tribalism because it is the politicians that use these things for negotiations. When they negotiate, such things play dominant role in the talks.

    You have equally observed that Nigerians are not patriotic. What is responsble for this?

    In the aspect of Nigerians and their unpatriotic nature, this has to do with their background. You will employ somebody today, that has been looking for job for so many years, after securing the job, he starts looking for ways to defraud. You take your car to a mechanic and he charges you for things he did not do. He will be the same person to sit back and criticize the leadership. That is the same person who cannot deliver, he had the audacity to castigate his leaders.

    So, if as Nigerians we begin to say to ourselves, let me respect and place value on myself first as a Nigerian, then, we will begin to talk good about our leaders because we will now know that are all parts of the problems of this country.

    Has President Jonathan met the expectation of the people, since he came to office?

    The President is fulfilling his promises. He has made a lot of progress on power because for him to fulfil that promise on power, he had to unbundle Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). He brought direct investment into power sector. These people buying it are investors and they are there to ensure that there is constant power. They bided and assured Nigerians that they have the capacity.

    Mr. President is one man. He will not be the one to run the organisations but has done his part by providing a level playing field. He provides policy that will make those promises realisable and that is what any president is expected to do. Now, the people that bought the power plants should have an action plan to generate electricity as expected by the Federal Government that handed these things over to them.

    What will you say in terms of education?

    In terms of education, he met a lot of rots in the education sector. The infrastructure had decayed for long and you can’t expect the president to do it overnight. He has set up the right committee, with the right people and talking with ASUU to provide solutions.

    You said there are rots in the education system. For three years, he been there, for how long will he continue to plan?

    If you look at the budget, you will realise that the President has budgeted more towards the education sector than any government. He is the President and needs the support of everyone to achieve anything. The National Assembly should as well do their work. They should oversight properly, everybody should be involved, it’s not just Mr. President others should also should be involved to solve the rots in our educational sector. The solution to this problem is a collective effort.

     

     

  • Oyinlola: PDP’s journey to a stalemate

    Oyinlola: PDP’s journey to a stalemate

    The internal wrangling in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) assumed a confusing dimension with the November 6 judgment by the Court of Appeal, Abuja. The appellate court had, by the judgment, voided an earlier decision by the Federal High Court, Abuja, sacking former Osun State governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the party’s National Secretary.

    The confusion created by the latest judgment further polarised the party in view of the inability of its leadership to devise an ingeniously way of managing the situation that resulted from the judgment.

    While the pro-Oyinlola camp, comprising mainly those in the new PDP are insisting that the former Osun State governor should be allowed to resume office by virtue of the appellate court’s judgment, the leadership of the core PDP argued otherwise, thereby creating what appears a stalemate.

    With both camps sticking to their positions, the situation may persist until the Supreme Court decides the appeal now initiated by the Ogun State PDP against the November 6 judgment.

    The journey to this deadlock began last year with a dispute within the Ogun chapter of the party, between a camp controlled by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and another loyal to controversial businessman, Buruji Kashamu.

    With the help of the court, the Buruji Kashamu camp triumphed and took control of the party’s leadership, leading to its installation of an executive council (with Adebayo Dayo as chairman and Semiu Sodipo as secretary).

    While the Kashamu camp was in court, and despite an order by a Federal High Court in Lagos directing parties not to take any further steps, but await the outcome of a suit challenging the process adopted by the Ogun PDP in choosing its delegates for the then impending Southwest zonal congress, the Southwest leadership of the party proceeded to hold the congress in March, last year in Osogbo, Osun State.

    The congress produced many Obasanjo’s loyalists as the party’s national officers, including Oyinlola as National Secretary, Bode Mustapha as National Auditor and former Ekiti State governor, Segun Oni as Deputy National Chairman, Southwest.

    The Kashamu camp proceeded to challenge the conduct of the congress and urged the court to void it, a prayer the Federal High Court in Lagos granted. Also in another case, the court equally held that the Southwest congress was wrongly held.

    Armed with two judgments, the Dayo-led exco of Ogun PDP urged the court to proceed to sack those who became the party’s national officers by virtue of their nomination at the voided congress. Oyinlola immediately appealed the judgments before the Court of Appeal, Lagos. But surprisingly, the Bamanga Tukur-led national leadership of the party later withdrew the appeal initiated by Oyinlola in Lagos.

    Having found that the congress was wrongly held, the now sacked Justice Charles Achibong of the Federal High Court, Lagos proceeded to sack Mustapha and ordered his replacement by a nominee of the Dayo-led exco. In Abuja, a similar incident played out when on January 11, this year, Justice Abdulkadir Abdulkafarati of the Federal high Court, Abuja sacked Oyinlola.

    The plaintiffs in the suit in Abuja – Dayo and Sodipo (chairman and secretary of Ogun PDP) – had prayed the court to determine  “whether the candidacy of Oyinlola as a nominee of the South West Zonal Chapter of the PDP and his consequent election to the office of National Secretary at the National Convention in March 2012 were not invalid, null and void by reason of the order and judgments of the Federal High Court made respectively on April 27, 2012 in suit no FHC/L/CS/282/2012 and May 2, 2012 in suit no FHC/L/CS/347/2012 nullifying the South West zonal congress of March 2012 from which Oyinlola emerged or ought to have emerged?”

    Although Oyinlola and the PDP objected to the court hearing the case by challenging the plaintiffs’ locus standi, the court’s jurisdiction, and arguing that the issues raised were within the party’s internal affairs, Justice Abdulkafarati held in favour of the plaintiffs.

    Oyinlola appealed the decision at the Court of Appeal, Abuja; an appeal the appellate court decided on November 6 and voided the appellant’s earlier sack by the trial court.

    The Court of Appeal, Abuja held that the judgment which the Federal High Court, Lagos relied on to remove Oyinlola was not binding on him because he was not a party in the suit. It further held that the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, was null and void because Oyinlola was denied fair hearing in the suit the Lagos court relied on to sack him.

    The appellate court also held that the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, could not stand because the suit which led to the order was a multiplicity of action and therefore constituted an abuse of court process. It noted that the suit was the third one filed by the plaintiffs to enforce the judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which nullified the Southwest zonal congress.

    The court also observed that Oyinlola had already filed a motion for stay of the Lagos judgment at the Court of Appeal, Lagos, as at when the Dayo-led Ogun PDP exco filed the suit which culminated in the Justice Abdulkafarati’s judgment of January.

    In the appeal it filed at the Supreme Court on November 7, the Dayo-led Ogun PDP faulted the November 6 decision by the Court of Appeal, Abuja.

    The Ogun PDP, represented by Dayo and Sodipo, wants the apex court to sustain Oyinlola’s sack by reversing the judgment of the Court of Appeal on the ground that the appellate court erred in its decision. It has also prayed the apex court to stay execution of the Court of Appeal judgment pending the determination of its appeal.

    In a notice of appeal, the appellant raised four grounds of appeal. It argued that the appellate court erred in law when it overturned and set aside the January 11 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, sacking Oyinlola.

    It argued that the Court of Apeal failed, in its judgment, to realise that it lacked the jurisdiction to invalidate/nullify the order made by Justice Abdulkadir Abdulkafarati in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/282/2012 “when there was no appeal against that order before it.”

    The party contended that, in reaching its decision, the appellate court went on a voyage of discovery because there was no appeal or valid complaint against that order before it in the appeal.

    It argued that the order made by Justice Abdulkafarati was made within the disciplinary jurisdiction of the court in order to restore its ability to deal with the substantive issues raised in the case.

    The appellant stated that the order was also meant as a punishment for breach of its interlocutory order by respondents in the case, and in that context, was a final order in respect of which Oyinlola could have appealed as an interested party (even though not a party to the action) since the order tangentially affected his interests as a nominee of the invalid South West congress that was nullified by that order.

    It argued that “the Court of Appeal, Abuja went beyond the remit of its powers under the Constitution and the Court of Appeal Act when it decided to sit on appeal over the order made in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/282/2012 when the appeal filed against the said order had been withdrawn and struck out by the Lagos division of the court”.

    The appellant further contend that the appellate court misdirected itself on the facts when it found that there were other cases filed to enforce the order made in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/282/2012 and then proceeded to conclude that the suit decided by Justice Abdulkafarati was an abuse of process.

    To the appellant, the finding of the Court of Appeal was contrary to the evidence on the record before it and could only have been a product of speculation.

    The party argued that the appellate court erred in law when it held that the suit was an abuse of process. It contended that there was no evidence before the court that there were other actions brought between the same parties.

    The appellant also argued that the Court of Appeal erred in law when it found that Oyinlola had filed an application for stay of the order (made in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/282/2013) at Court of Appeal Lagos division when the suit to enforce the said order was filed and prosecuted.

    The party contended that the decision of the appellate court on that issue was “a perverse finding of fact as it was based on no evidence and was in fact contrary to the evidence admitted by the 1st defendant (Oyinlola) in the record before the Court of Appeal”.

     

  • Kogi APC gets exco

    Kogi APC gets exco

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State yesterday inaugurated its executive, with the former state Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, Mohammed Mabo Kazeem, emerging as interim committee chairman.

    The ceremony, which took place at the main hall of the Nigeria Union of Journalists Press Centre in Lokoja, the state capital, was performed by APC’s Deputy National Legal Adviser James Ocholi (SAN).

    Other officials are Isaac Ekpa (secretary); Patrick Daudu (treasurer); A J B. Ajibade (organising secretary) and Sadiq Abdullahi (publicity secretary).

    Kassim said Nigerians were tired of empty promises. “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has nothing to show since 1999 when it has held sway in the country.

    “The coming election would afford Nigerians another great opportunity to put an end to the injustice, maladministration and corruption that have become the hallmark of the present administration.”

     

  • Youths condemn Lamido’s sons’ arrest

    Youths condemn Lamido’s sons’ arrest

    Hundreds of youths yesterday marched on the streets of Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, to protest the arrest of Governor Sule Lamido’s sons.

    The protesters, under the aegis of the National Volunteers for Sule Lamido (NVFS), marched on the city and House of Assembly where they were received by the Speaker, Adamu Ahmed Sarawa.

    The group’s leader, Musa Gambo Guri, condemned the arrest and detention of Lamido’s sons by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and called for their release.

    Guri expressed their support for the governor and hailed his socio-economic performance in the state.

    He said: “The Lamido-led administration is the most transparent and accountable in the country. It is only Governor Lamido, who has achieved over 90 percent budget implementation in all his six years in office.

    “President Goodluck Jonathan witnessed these improvements when he visited the state to inaugurate projects and laid foundation of some others.”

    The group called on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman Bamanga Tukur to resign. It urged the Presidency to stop harassing and intimidating the Group of Seven Governors (G7).

    The Speaker assured the protesters that their message would be presented to the Assembly for deliberation.

    Sarawa said: “As you know the Assembly is not a one-man show, so your complaint would be presented to all the members during plenary.

    “The PDP is one family in this state and we will remain united under the able leadership of Governor Sule Lamido.”