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Tag: politics

  • Obaseki: Politics is not war

    Obaseki: Politics is not war

    •APC flagbearer challenges PDP to issue-based debate

    The flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC),  Godwin Obaseki, has cautioned the factional candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, to refrain from turning the campaigns into a media war.

    Obaseki, who spoke through his press secretary, Benjamin Atu, was reacting to a publication in which Ize-Iyamu attacked Governor Adams Oshiomhole for campaigning for his party’s candidate.

    The APC standard bearer emphasised the need for Ize-Iyamu to be focused and make the campaign issue-based.

    Obaseki said he is ready and capable to take anyone the opposition decides to put forward as it’s authentic candidate in any intellectual and progressive contest.

    He also challenged Ize-Iyamu to show Edo people his record in government.

    Obaseki said: “PDP is the old testament of Edo State, we are in the era of grace and APC has come to offer grace. As a new testament state, we are not going back to Egypt, the land of iniquity and godfatherism.

    “We, therefore, challenge any PDP leader in Edo State, who was proud of their reign in the state, to come out and publicly campaign for Ize-Iyamu or any other candidate that may also emerge from their factional primary this week.

    “The excellent performance of Governor Adams Oshiomhole has made the PDP in Edo State and other PDP states to lose sleep and that was why the governor of Delta and others sent their thugs, some of whom have already been arrested in their effort to participate in the ongoing voter’s registration in Edo.

    “APC is firm and unmovable, irrespective of the crafty preparation of the PDP”, the statement said.

  • The politics of electricity tariffs

    SIR: It is unfortunate and mischievous for the unions in the power sector to vent their spleen on the Distribution Companies (Discos) as the culprit for the poor electricity supply. The facts as the public  now knows is  that while  the Discos  can be taken  to  task on slow metering and  use  of  estimates  the same cannot be done on the main  issue  of  lack of  electricity and the existing poor  power  supply. The reason is that the Discos do not exist in a vacuum but are at the receiving end of a value chain in electricity generation and transmission. It follows therefore and therefrom that if the Discos do not  have kilowatts of electricity transmitted to them for distribution, their distribution capacity is denuded if not nonexistent. So how  come the power industry trade unions, the protector of workers’ rights, are deliberately portraying the Discos as exploiting the Nigerian masses with the new tariffs and  equating that with the highly explosive fuel price increase for which the workers union have called Nigerians out on strike, albeit unsuccessfully? The answer is obvious; Nigerians as I said before now know better and will not be led by the nose again by mischievous trade unions in any industry.

    Nigerians know that the discos  are owned by Nigerian investors  who bought them during the privatization exercise with their hard-earned money and that the distribution function in electricity is capital intensive and highly expensive  to deliver. They know that if the Discos deliver, our economy will rise from its present dormant and  comatose state and Nigerians will  have a better life. Nigerians also  know that electricity distribution is technology-driven and it will take  some time for those who have invested in it particularly the discos  to make any profit. We also know that as  with the  high prices  which  ushered in telecommunications when GSM phones  came in, the  high tariffs in electricity  already approved for the Discos by the Nigerian Electricity  Regulatory  Commission will also come down for  our overall enjoyment and general  satisfactory consumption of  electricity.

    It is therefore unnecessary for the trade unions, in their agitation for workers’ rights and benefits to  make the discos and the tariffs approved for them the scape goats  for poor electricity supply when Nigerians know the source of that. That  is definitely misleading and more  unpatriotic than the misleading  picture of exploitation that the unions have painted of the Discos on the new tariffs. It is like giving the dog a bad name in order to hang it and that is not what  the Discos or the Nigerian electricity consumers deserve especially  now  that Nigerians  are calling on government to stop vandalisation  of pipelines.

    The unions should channel their  efforts at making Nigerians have  electricity by asking government  to galvanise its power generation and transmission capabilities to  make the Discos perform and deliver. That way, Nigerians will  rally round when trade  unions call  them out on strike because they will  see that the unions know what they are saying especially on new electricity tariffs as well as the real reasons for poor electricity supply.

     

    • Sony Anaeto,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

  • Buhari and tragedy of politics

    Buhari and tragedy of politics

    “He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.”
    – Harry Emerson Fosdick.

    As things stand, Nigeria’s foundation is not only threatened with predictable consequences, its economy is also castrated. The masses are in total hardship, toiling and suffering; and it seems as if the spirit of Saul is pursuing our David! In this ‘fantastically corrupt’ country, demigods and untouchables in high places who once stole Nigeria blind are using Nigeria’s money to torment Nigeria. And it is as if their Cain is plotting to assassinate our Abel! Civil servants are living in avoidable stress and agony; and it’s as if the Pharaoh which knew Joseph has passed! Though we seek to behave as a country run by laws, there’s an increase in electricity tariff without any corresponding increase in its availability. As if to compound our woes, our intelligence system has become so weak that criminals’ propensity to succeed in their acts has increased. As such, rather than collaborate, our security agencies find it more convenient to compete for recognition and attention.

    A recently-released Livelihoods and Economic Recovery Assessment 2016 report on the North-east is not only revealingly disturbing, it is also symptomatic of a looming disaster unless urgent steps are taken to reset the button of Nigeria’s socio-economic situation. According to the report, unveiled by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with Oxfam Nigeria,”46 per cent of households in that part of the country borrow money to buy food; one economically active member of a household sustains 2.3 non-active members, while a majority of them do not have sufficient food supply”. It did not end there: “41 per cent rely on alternative health care, 21 per cent have migrated to other locations, while 20 per cent send their children out to work and beg. 11 per cent support a member with a mental or physical disability, while 21 per cent include, at least, one member with a chronic illness.”

    In another report, released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, inflation in April jumped to a nearly six-year high, shooting up from March’s 12.8% to 13.7%. Elsewhere, government’s promise of better days ahead has been likened to the promise of a fully-loaded duplex in a highbrow city centre to a poverty-stricken family, whose immediate need is food for the belly. This is the sorry state of our country and the story continues!

    Inadvertently or in-house, Nigeria has fallen on hard times and it’s time we reawakened our collective preparedness to confront the situation and chart a new way forward. Currently, the future gives very little hope for any meaningful change unless very concrete and urgent steps are taken to salvage the situation. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, politics in this part of the world is not only seen as the art of the possible, it’s also regarded as war by other means. Perhaps, it is the opposition’s somewhat better understanding of the texture of Nigeria’s politics that has catapulted it into presenting the ruling party as one of ‘pick and choose’; and its leaders as mere noisemakers unmeritorious of administering a country as vastly endowed as Nigeria.

    To the opposition, the race to 2019 started the very moment it lost the last presidential race. Which informs all manners of unethical tactics by bad actors and vulgar heroes to re-seek relevance in the consciousness of the people. From loungers’ incitement of the people with nauseous and unrhymed lyrics; to the shadow-chasing, noise-only wailing wailers’ peddling of half-truths and outright falsehoods against the Buhari-led administration, the tenuously stalemated opposition seems to be leaving no stone unturned in its desperation to recapture power. Unfortunately, however, it’s as if the ruling party is still in its first day in office, endlessly-yet-needlessly savouring the joy of victory. And that’s where the problem lies! Indeed, this is why this administration needs to increase its speed with unquestionable courage and uncommon amount of guts.

    Goodluck Jonathan’s government has died of its own free choice. May its carcass continue to find peace in its pieces! But then, how did we get here and why has Nigeria suddenly become an ‘until it happens again’ country, sanctifying the footprints of her conquerors? Why is our economy dollar-determined and why does it look as if the poor is being unnecessarily taxed in order to fund government’s stimulus packages? Taking the issue beyond our current cut, what can the president do about the Delilah at the door, waiting to betray Samson to the Philistines; and the crowd of pharaohs who, out of pure mischief and political miscalculations, is carousing the exigencies of intellectual acrobatics and deliberate distortions to cause disunity among Nigerians?

    To the best of my knowledge, Nigerians do not hate this government per se. Instead, it is because their expectations of the dividends of ‘Change’ are taking somehow too long to come to fruition. In like manner, it’s not that some notable achievements have not been recorded in the life of this administration. Rather, it’s because bad news travel fast! For instance, they are quick to insult our collective intelligence by accusing the president of courting Fulani herdsmen for ulterior intentions without mentioning that herders’ terrorism is a new phenomenon which neighbouring countries are also grappling with. They are also good at regaling us with moonlight tales on the parlous state of the economy without conceding that corruption as the mother of recession was actuated by the immediate past administration. The tragedy of our politics is that Nigeria is blessed with intelligent-but-value-starved political elite who thrives in throwing confusion into the midst of the electorate with a view to making them too oppressed to take intelligent decisions. I’ve had cause to ask Buhari’s traducers if Nigeria under Jonathan wouldn’t have collapsed but none, so far, has been able to supply satisfactory answers beyond their Israel’s quest to continue slaving in Egypt.

    Pain nourishes courage! But are the gods angry with Nigeria? No! The gods are not! Instead, at the end of the tunnel is the exhilaration of victory! After all, Buhari has with invincible determination and measureless vigor applied himself to the crisis of value, compounded by crisis of structure, currently threatening her sovereignty. Yes, there’s a wilderness! Yes, there’s a desert! From an analytical perspective, the God who created the garden also created the wilderness. But, if all we see is a desert without rivers of water, then, there is a problem!

    In any case, given the prevailing circumstances, is one year enough for the president to “dream the impossible dream, fight the unbeatable foe and reach the unreachable star”?

     

    • Komolafe writes in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.
  • Time APC played politics

    Time APC played politics

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari may be forthright, full of integrity and stubborn to causes he believes in, but he is hardly the exemplar of politics the office he occupies suggests or the electoral campaigns he had waged and the presidential election he had won. This is why he has seemed to run his presidency as a technocrat averse to the shenanigans of politics, and with the single-minded resolve of an army general scared of his image of resoluteness being sullied by the dribbles and feints politicians are accustomed to. Perhaps unknown to him, this has created a needless gap between his presidency and the people he is presiding over, whether it pertains to his anti-corruption war or fuel price hike. If the apparent disconnection is not to become a problem now or in the future, he must study the situation and find ways to narrow the widening divide.
    The ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), is even worse. Scalded by its misadventure over the legislative leadership elections in the National Assembly, it has appeared to lose interest completely in the convoluted politics of its fractious and seething members, many of whom have stuck wilfully and pugnaciously to the identities that preceded their party’s merger. Not only have they been unable to substantially influence the presidency, they have also been incompetent to consolidate the vibrancy and depth of politics that saw them catapulted into the presidency almost overnight. Since assuming office in May 2015, the APC has lost major elections, and displayed appalling slothfulness in projecting ennobling party principles, the kind it had theorised with gusto before the polls last year.
    On top of these lacunae is the disturbing impression the party’s leaders have given of their party and the relationship among themselves. If not to even themselves, then at least to the public, the APC seems little more than an abstraction and an enigma perching gingerly on a totem pole. If at all they are talking to themselves, perhaps they have managed to make it unduly and unproductively secretive. The presidency is perching somewhere, party executives are perching elsewhere, and party leaders are eyeing themselves warily, unsure what to say and how to say it. The party is not ennobling the presidency, and the presidency is not ennobling the party; and yet there are grave national issues that require the concentration of the party’s intellectual and emotional energies, and the urgent application of party panache and principles.
    If the party does not learn to play politics again the way it showed it was capable of doing before the 2015 polls, they will hang separately at the next polls, to paraphrase Mark Twain. They must consider themselves lucky indeed that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has proved unable to manage defeat, just as the APC has proved incompetent to manage victory. Had the former been less pigheaded about the calls by well-wishers for restructuring and reform, the APC would today be in more trouble than its delicate shoulders can carry. This column had stridently advised PDP to get its act together and offer Nigeria the quality opposition the country needs to weigh the policies and programmes of the ruling party. It has spurned advice. Today, this column is advising the APC to re-learn politics and play it with the suavity it demonstrated last year and the year before. Hopefully, they will take it in good faith.
    The first step the APC must take is to see the president as nothing more than the primus inter pares the constitution envisages him to be. It seems so far that both the party and the president’s kitchen cabinet venerate the president instead. This is absolutely unhelpful. This column had joined issues early enough with President Buhari on his kitchen cabinet, arguing that it did not seem to have been composed with the carefulness, spread and chutzpah required to surround the president with deep, dialectical, brave and questioning minds. Nor does it seem to this column that debate of any kind, or at least vigorous and stormy debate, is being encouraged at the Federal Executive Council (FEC). Members of the cabinet, this column fears, may be more preoccupied with deciphering the president’s body language or second-guessing him. This may be why the herdsmen problem has been allowed to fester, and why rather than find deep and subtle solutions to the crises in the Southeast and Niger Delta, the president has spoken truculently and impatiently of employing military might.
    This column, and perhaps many Nigerians, get the impression of a one-man presidency, with everything revolving around the president. But the people need to get the impression of a firm leader, a deep and reflective kitchen cabinet, a great, intellectual and questioning ministerial cabinet, and a forward-looking, innovative and adept ruling party. It is within the reach of President Buhari to summon these possibilities. It is only after these things have been done that the party can begin to play politics with the expectation of a great tomorrow and hope for delightful electoral outcomes in the years ahead.
    While it is true that President Buhari placed the corruption war and counterinsurgency operations in the Northeast at the top of his agenda during the presidential campaigns, it is also true that he won mainly because ex-president Goodluck Jonathan first lost the election. If the presidency and the APC are realistic about this order of things concerning their victory, they will recognise that it accounted for the reluctance of the electorate to really and significantly interrogate the APC/Buhari campaign pledges. The implication is that far beyond the two leading pledges of Boko Haram war and anti-corruption battles are a plethora of other issues that have equal existential germaneness to Nigeria’s quest for greatness and the abundant life.
    Curiously, the APC became lost after the elections, unable to galvanise itself or anyone for that matter. However, Nigerians need to begin to see APC in its resplendent flourish. It has fed the people the bread of affliction for the past few months; they need to see the party visualising a land flowing with milk and honey, and affecting policy pomp and circumstance that are uplifting, energising and revitalising. There must be news about the party — good news — and they must begin to create or produce their own stars, whether young, middle age or old. Critically too, it is time the president, his team and the party gave the people and their newspapers resonant headline news, not of corruption and Boko Haram, but of innovations, new programmes and policies, fresh economic vision, political restructuring or even tinkering, and social engineering, among many other things. These new ideas and programmes must trump the stale diet that has constipated the people and given fillip to foreign derogatory remarks.
    It is a scandal that the herdsmen crisis has been emasculated in the president’s ethnic background, as if he is not a product of a progressive political party, as if he has no thinking cabinet, as if the whole country is flummoxed by the mesmerising concept of change. Yet, the people had expected to hear their president and his party (which had swept nearly all of the North) to declaim upon the urgent issue of climate change in the positive sense of finding a solution to deforestation and grazing problems. Unfortunately, the president and his party unwisely allowed the discourse to be shaped and led in the wrong direction of grazing reserves and seized lands — a clearly wrong-headed and provocative panacea — when desertification can be arrested by inspiring and far-sighted environmental restoration schemes.
    If President Buhari and his APC cannot play politics the way it should be played, and they are too timid to ask for help; if they see governance in the narrow, imperial and retrogressive sense that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Service (DSS) are interpreting it — for they are beginning to equate dissent with treason –; and if they will continue to render politics in the dismal, joyless and depressing image of their recent uninteresting past, they should serve notice of their willingness to relinquish office in the next elections. Since the APC can’t pass muster and the PDP has proved pusillanimous in offering a credible and fighting opposition to the ruling party, perhaps it is time Nigerians began to contemplate their future outside the joyless dualism represented by the stifled and melancholic APC and the self-destructive and profligate PDP.

  • Yewa and politics of power shift

    Yewa and politics of power shift

    The people of Yewa Division, Ogun State, are stepping up their agitation for power shift, ahead of the next governorship election. Correspondent ERNEST NWOKOLO writes on how the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are responding to the clamour. 

    Ogun West stakeholders are intensifying their agitation for power shift, ahead of the next governorship election. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is likely to zone the slot to the old Egbado Division, as it did last year. In the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the clamour is more intense.

    Forty years ago, the Gateway State was created. It has produced four governors. None of them is from Yewa. The Ogun West Senatorial District comprise five local governments – Yewa South, Yewa North, Ipokia, Ado/Odo/Ota and Imeko-Afon.  The Egba produced former Governor Olusegun Osoba in the Third Republic and between 1999 and 2003. Governor Ibikunle Amosun is also from Egba. Second Republic Governor Olabisi Onabanjo was from Ijebu. Former Governor Gbenga Daniel hails from Ijebu.

    Before this dispensation, attempts were made by prominent Yewa indigenes to contest for the governorship. But, the moves were futile. In the Third Republic, foremost Yoruba scholar and one-time commissioner Prof. Afolabi Olabimtan and the late Dr. Tunji Otegbeye threw their hats into the ring. Otegbeye was defeated by Onabanjo at the primary of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in 1979. Olabimtan was defeated by Osoba in the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP). Yewa has not been a united division.

    In 2011, Gboyega Isiaka from Yewa wanted to be governor on the platform of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN). He failed. In that year, the retired soldier, Gen. Tunji Olurin, was the candidate of the PDP. He was defeated by Amosun of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Four years later, Isiaka’s ambition also crumbled in the PDP. Yewa Division is always more committed to the governorship aspirations of non-indigenes. The highest positions that have been occupied by Yewa were the deputy governor and the Speaker of the House of Assembly.  Alhaja Salmot Badru was the deputy governor in Daniel administration. Prince Suraj Adekunbi is the current Speaker.

    The Chief promoter of Olurin on the ticket of the PDP was former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The former president described him as the best man for the job. But, when Obasanjo visited Arepo for campaigns, he also described Amosun as a good man, urging the people to vote for him. PDP chieftains were confused. Olurin  was said to be trusted, experienced, credible and has a global exposure. But, there was division in Yewa over his ambition. Some wanted Isiaka. The acrimony polarised Yewa. The duo lost to Amosun, who enjoyed the unity and numerical strength of his Egba kinsmen.

    The mistake was repeated last year. Senator Akin Odunsi from Ogun West had dumped the APC for the Social Democratic Party (SDP). His ambition clashed with that of Isiaka. Again, there was division.  The Yewa people could not agree on a single candidate from the zone. Their disagreement was to Amosun’s advantage.

    The search for a Yewa son or daughter to succeed Amosun has begun quietly. But, the question is: who will the cap fit?

    Eyes are on Senator Olamilekan Adeola (Yayi), who hails from Ogun West. Sources said he has the blessing of top Southwest APC leaders. A source said that his popularity has been soaring as a party loyalist.

    According to the source, the power shift agenda was one of the issues discussed when Osoba retraced his steps to the APC. The eminent journalist, added the source, has not raise any eyebrow about the deal to zone the slot to Yewaland.

    A number of factors are responsible for why the leaders may have  zeroed in on Adeola. He has received some tutelage from the right quarters about the progressive politics of the Southwest. For eight years, he was a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly. He was a member of the House of Representatives for four years. He is also popular at home.

    On March 9, 2013, while serving as the House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Public Accounts, he was in Abeokuta, the state capital, as a guest speaker. The topic was “Infrastructure: The role of Public Accounts Committee in Good Governance.” The lecture was organised by the Abeokuta Country Club. Since then, eyes have been on him as Amosun’s successor, if power shifts to Yewa.

    Also, ahead of last year’s elections, Adeola showed interst in the Ogun West senatorial seat. He hit the ground running. He became a household name. He became the toast of all in yewa and Aworiland.

    In the course of creating awareness for his senatorial ambition, the convoys of his supporters ran into a turbulent political weather in Ilaro, the headquarters of Yewa South Local Government Area. In the ensuing violence by suspected thugs, his supporters were injured.

    Adeola was forced to beat a retreat. He went back to Lagos, emerging as a senator from Lagos West. But, his associates said that he will return to Ogun State in 2019.

    But, not many people know the exact community in Ogun West where he hails from. Many communities are claiming that the promising politician hails from them. There may be new challenges of acceptability too because nothing is constant in politics.

    The anticipated choice of Adeola may put the party and Amosun on a war path. Since 2011 when Amosun won the election first on the ticket of the ACN, and later, the APC, he has been working diligently to entrench himself as the godfather of the Egba politics, and by extension, that of the Ogun East and Ogun West, in the hope of using the numerical strength of the Egbas(Ogun Central) as a bargaining tool or an arbiter of political outcome outside Egbaland.

    Also, the governor’s political structure in Ogun APC, which nonetheless, is a carry-over from the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), is still intact, although there are grumblings among his followers.

    Sources close to Amosun said he would most likely want his right hand person from the Yewa to succeed him, instead of Adeola. The governor’s term will expire in 2019 and sources said that he will like to return to the Senate.

    The source said Amosun may have deliberately wanted to sideline Osoba, who is not the leader of the party. Given the Governor’s strong will, his close ties with President Muhammadu Buhari, dating back to the ANPP days, and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, his godfather from Owu, and because he won his second term without Osoba’s support, he may adopt ‘no surrender, no retreat’ approach in bid to anoint a successor.

    However, many believe that the reason Osoba was prodded by some party leaders to return to the APC is to checkmate Amosun, who may want to play the role of godfather in 2019.

    Since Osoba returned to the party, Amosun has embraced him publicly. But, there is no real renewal of contact. The reconciliation is not smooth. Amosun has not spoken on reconciliation. His media aide, Adejuwon Soyinka, merely said on phone: “There has always been a cordial relationship between the two leaders.” The aide decline to comment on reconciliation, saying that only the governor could speak for himself about it. He advised the media to refrain from speculations.

    He added: “The issue of the reconciliation is one area I can’t speak for the Governor. He is the only one that can speak for himself about it. We have to wait until he makes a public statement on it.

    “I will encourage us not to speculate. However, there is always a cordial relationship between Chief Osoba and the governor and he always embrace him whenever they meet in public functions.”

    In 2019, there may be a clash of interests. Succession may create a division in the APC. The loser, once again, may be Yewa.

    If the governorship is not zoned to Yewa, Ijebu will become its beneficiary. The zone produced Onabanjo. Since then, no governor has come from the area.

    Yewa monarchs have lent their voice to the agitation for power shift. The Olubara of Ibaraland, Oba Jacob Omolade, told Yewa indigenes at a meeting in Ilaro that it is their priority. He urged his people to unite, warning that other zones are not relenting in their bid to have the slot.

    Oba Omolade said the time has come for the Yewa people to occupy the  Oke-Mosan seat of power, adding that they should not allow the opportunity to slip away. He warned that a divided house cannot stand.

    The royal father said the traditional rulers in Yewa are behind the agitators for power shift. He charged his kinsmen to forge a united front.

    The monarch also suggested that  a committee of veteran politicians from Yewaland should be set up to resolve any dispute that may arise among those aspiring to contest the governorship in 2019. He said the committee

    will forestall a repeat of the aborted attempts of the past.

    Oba Omolade said: “The Yewa royal fathers have started working so that in 2019, the kind of crisis, division and disunity we experienced in 2011 would not occur again.

    “We tried our best then, but failed. But if we allow our elders(to decide), only one candidate would be presented. We are not talking about party. The Egba, the Remo and Ijebu are expecting us to do something. But when we are not united, how do we do that?,” Omolade said.

    The Paramount ruler of Yewaland and the Olu of Ilaro,  Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, also called on Yewa politicians to do a soul searching. He advised them forget the acrimony arising from their unsuccessful attempts to produce a governor in the past, chart the best way forward and focus on the task ahead of them, with the hope of breaking the jinx in 2019.

    The monarch added: “we should reflect more on what the future holds for us in Yewaland, almost 40 years after the creation of Ogun State. Let us forget about the past, and with optimism, positively look into the greatness ahead of our land. Where we are going as a division in Ogun State is more important than where we are coming from.”

    The indigenes and political actors have started heeding to the call for unity. Senator  Adeola Isiaka who has been a direct victim, of the Yewa’s lack of cohession, the Speaker Prince Adekunbi, and others have agreed to work in harmony for the success of Yewa 2019  agenda, regardless of which part of Yewa that person comes from.

  • Lack of internal democracy, money politics driving members from PDP —Nwuche

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Hon. Chibudom Nwuche, yesterday emphasized lack of internal democracy and high monetization of politics as the two major reasons driving members out of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to other parties.

    Nwuche, who is a former Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, said this at a seminar at the Nigerian Institute of Economic and Social Research (NISER), Ibadan yesterday.

    Speaking on the theme: “Party Primaries and the Quest for Accountability in Governance in Nigeria,” Nwuche said he was a victim of both factors which ultimately made him leave the party.

    According to him, while contesting as a senator in the last election, voters in his constituency wanted to vote for him in the primary but sensing that he could emerge as the party’s candidate, the party machinery worked against them by moving the primary to the Port-Harcourt state headquarters of the party where only those who were prepared to vote for the candidate preferred by the PDP were allowed to participate.

    Besides, Nwuche said he gathered reliably that huge sums of money exchanged hands in determining who emerged as candidates for the various elective positions. He said the flawed process made him decide to leave the party with his large followers.

    The former lawmaker emphasized that the experience has been the same for many high top political fliers who have left the party. He pointed out that the two factors were largely responsible for the decimation of the party as well as its defeat in the last general election.

  • Inconclusive politics

    The issue had rankled in the polity, but Common Sense advocate, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, nevertheless brought it on. He took the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the grinder for pending elections to fill six vacant seats in the Red Chamber. The senator, penultimate week, raised a point of order in the legislative chamber drawing his colleagues’ attention to the fact that Imo North, Anambra Central, Kogi East and the three senatorial constituencies in Rivers State were without representation in the Senate. He didn’t fail to observe that this was in violation of the Nigerian 1999 Constitution. Senator Bruce insinuated incompetence, or dysfunction, or both on the part of the electoral commission, and urged that the commission’s chairman be tasked to live up to his responsibility. Not without a hint of mockery, he noted that it took the whole of a week for INEC to conclude the recent election into area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). “It is a violation of the constitution because the people of these states have a right to have representation here…It is the responsibility of INEC to conclude these elections so that the people of these states can have representation here in the Senate,” he asserted.

    Senator Bruce may have concerned himself with vacant seats in the Senate, but there are as well a number of other constituencies in the country today where there are no elected representatives because elections were suspended or declared inconclusive by INEC. And the issue of elections not producing a winner at the first ballot has become a lightening rod lately used on the electoral commission, and a trend by which its overall efficiency is being assessed.

    Political as well as non-political interests have blamed INEC for the spate of inconclusive elections, which is seen as a function of its incompetence. Newspaper editorials cited “indecisiveness of the commission” as the real reason for the crisis that trailed the Kogi State governorship election in November, last year; and were unimpressed by “the litany of excuses by the commission following its inability to deliver clean polls” in the Bayelsa State governorship in December, last year, the River State constituency elections in March, this year, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) area council election in April. Politicians did not let the opportunity to make partisan capital out of the issue slip, as a zonal caucus of one of the two major parties in a communiqué last Thursday said it was putting on record “our dissatisfaction with the performance of the electoral body…as all elections so far superintended…have ended up inconclusive.”

    But it should be obvious that INEC does not choose to make elections inconclusive – there is no conceivable reason why it should. The activities of politicians and their surrogates compel such an outcome. When the electoral commission deploys personnel and materials for any election, it provides the maximum outlay required to see that election through at the first ballot, and there is no logical explanation why it should short-shrift on concluding the poll and declaring a winner. Elections fail to produce a winner without going into the supplementary phase simply because of malpractices, violence and other security breaches that warrant INEC to cancel or suspend voting in certain areas within the electoral constituency. And the rule that the commission has always applied is that where the difference in valid votes accruing to a leading contestant and the runner-up in an election is less than the number of registered voters in areas where elections had been cancelled or suspended, no winner would be returned until the affected voters have their say in a supplementary election.

    The current chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has been out lately to show that this rule is not only democratic in essence, but also prescribed by Nigeria’s electoral law. Speaking with journalists in Lagos late last week, he said: “In the discussions that I have listened to and in what I have read so far, I have not heard anyone accuse the commission of declaring elections inconclusive outside the provisions of the law – especially Sections 26 and 53 of the Electoral Act. Section 26 says that in the event of a threat to the elections – a threat of violence or natural disaster – INEC would have the power under the law to suspend the election and appoint another date when the situation is right to conduct the election. And Section 53 of the Electoral Act is even more specific: it says that where there is over-voting in any constituency, the results will be cancelled. And where votes involved in the cancelled poll may affect the overall result in the constituency, INEC should declare the election inconclusive and set another date to conduct the election. Our guidelines are drawn on the basis of the provisions of the Electoral Act.”

    I have always considered the recent spate of inconclusive elections a positive index of the quality of election management in our country, even if an unflattering commentary on the overall political culture in the land. And the reason is: with the sad reality of undue desperation by political actors in electoral contests, which encourages violence and malpractices like over-voting, inconclusive elections signpost an institutionalization of regulatory controls by INEC, and indicate that there is no easy pass for election manipulators both without and within the commission. We can’t have forgotten that there was a time in this country when the general perception of the electoral commission was that it returned election winners without regard to ballots duly cast by voters; and that it did not matter how many votes were tallied and how many more were outstanding, winners were announced anyway! Besides, elections were won by landslide margins such that outstanding votes, if there were any, were of no consequence.

    The INEC Chairman acknowledged this much last week when he told journalists: “Elections in Nigeria are getting better. They are not what they should be yet, but they are getting better, particularly with the introduction of technology in 2015. Votes are also counting today more than ever before. And political parties are getting stronger: we now have two strong political parties who field strong candidates. Winning by landslide is no longer the case, like when we had one dominant political party and weak opposition parties. Now we have two strong parties that are fielding strong candidates. The elections are getting better, the votes are counting, and the margins of victory are getting smaller.”

    Even then, elections would not be serially stalemated as we have witnessed lately but for incivility of political actors and their supporters. I was once in INEC and I know that nearly all instances of inconclusive elections under former Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, were in direct consequence of malpractices like thuggery, ballot snatching and over-voting. That was the case with Imo State governorship in 2011, Anambra State governorship in 2013, as well as governorship elections in Imo (again!), Abia and Taraba states in 2015. It was the same with Ilaje/Ese-Odo federal constituency election in Ondo State, April 2014; and I doubt that the Oguta constituency in Imo State yet has a representative in the state legislature owing to constituents’ propensity for violence and failure to give security guarantees. The current INEC Chairman, Professor Yakubu, confirmed last week that the electoral commission had observed that despite the present hype, recent elections produced winners at the first ballot in places where there was no disruption to the process, whereas they were inconclusive in all the places where violence was recorded.

    The real challenge of minimising the spate of inconclusive elections, in my view, is for political actors to realise that there is no longer an easy path to electoral victory other that convincing voters to voluntarily cast their ballots for policies and programmes on offer.

  • Comparative politics, leadership and security

    I am  very  much  in the mood  for comparative politics today  given  the myriad  of stories I  came across both locally and abroad  during  the week. I  have tried to look at the stories  from the leadership  perspective as well as from the grass root. I  have  also found   time  to muse from the realm  of security and its implications for those in the industry not only in terms of being in uniform and the braided hat but also those in the business of procuring arms and  ammunition both locally  and abroad . So  join me in my Odyssey  today.

    Let  me start  with the sickening news  from Abbottabad in Pakistan where  15 men have been charged with the murder of a16  year  old girl who  was allegedly beaten, poisoned and tied to a cart  and dragged on the ground  till she died on the orders of the elders of the village in which she lived. Her crime was that she  helped a couple  to elope which  was against the tradition of the place and  this was supposed to be an honor killing . Even  her mother has  been arrested because she had  the information that the elders were coming for the girl  buy did nothing to  alert or help her escape.

    The  second story is the lamentation  of a  Northern    body that  wondered    how   Nigerians expect the  herdsmen  to feed their over 20million cows that  have  to graze when they had  been driven  from the North  East  by  Boko  Haram  and  from the major North West  towns  and  cities by cattle  rustlers  and   all  Nigerians eat  meat  daily.   This  was supposed  to be a  defence  of the incursion of Fulani  herdsmen into the   farmlands     of the   Southern  part  of the country where they  have raped and killed and destroyed  the crops  of the  farmers in their  wake .In  addition a state governor on behalf of  the  Northern  Governors said  it was an insult to call the herdsmen  Fulani . The  third is the news   is  that Julius  Malema  the leader of the  Economic Freedom  Fighters in S Africa is  suspected  of instigating the army to topple  the government of S Africa  headed  by President Jacob  Zuma  who  was  heckled in Parliament  he presented the budget and opposition members were bundled physically  out of  Parliament in the ensuing confusion. One  Opposition member was quoted as saying that Zuma  had  been condemned  by the courts for misuse of public funds and should  not be asking for more money to misuse.

    .   This  was supposed  to be a  defence  of the incursion of Fulani  herdsmen into the   farmlands     of the   Southern  part  of the country where they  have raped and killed and destroyed  the crops  of the  farmers in their  wake .In  addition a state governor on behalf of  the  Northern  Governors said  it was an insult to call the herdsmen  Fulani . The  third is the news   is  that Julius  Malema  the leader of the  Economic Freedom  Fighters in S Africa is  suspected  of instigating the army to topple  the government of S Africa  headed  by President Jacob  Zuma  who  was  heckled in Parliament  he presented the budget and opposition members were bundled physically  out of  Parliament in the ensuing confusion . One  Opposition member was quoted as saying that Zuma  had  been condemned  by the courts for misuse of public funds and should  not be asking for more money to misuse  .

    The  fourth event was the reported reluctance of the highest  ranking elected Republican  Party official  Paul   Ryan , Speaker  of the US House  of  Representatives    and    two   former   Republican   Party   presidents  to endorse Donald  Trump , the only remaining   Republican  presidential  candidate for the  US  presidential  elections in  November  for  various  reasons we shall  discuss  later .

    It  is  obvious  that we  have a  delicious  dish of extraordinary events for analysis  in such way  that we can  learn  lessons  to  live peacefully  not only  locally but also globally  as the world has    indeed become a global  village  as  the modern saying goes. We  therefore  start  with  the Pakistan  horror story  on  the 16 year old girl  burnt to death on the orders  of the village elders . It  is barbaric  act that  can not  be ascribed  to the stone  age or  anytime  or  place of   human  existence. It  makes  a mockery  of the concept  of ethnocentrism which  allows any culture  to be respected  and for an individual  to flatter  his or herself   in thinking that his  or her culture  is the best .Incidentally  this same   village  Abbottabad  was where US  marines called  Seals kidnaped Bin  Laden ,the architect  of  9/11  and  the master  mind  of Al Qada .Except  of course the spelling of the two places are  the same. Even  then while  the capture of Bin  Laden  was the highpoint  of the Obama administration   fight   against  terrorism,  it  was a disgrace  to the proud Pakistani Military  and  nation  which had received enormous  amount from the US government as an incentive to locate Bin Laden  whose whereabout the Pakistani  army  had insisted it could  not find.  Till  the  Americans  located  the Al  Qada  leader  in  Abbottabad, near  a   military  academy  and carted  him away  to be buried at  sea.

    The  only silver lining,  albeit    lamentably     belated, on the cloudy horizon of the   murdered  16 year  old  Pakistani  girl  is that the assailants  have  been apprehended  together  with her mother and  they will be tried in court. The  lesson  to learn is that – Culture Matters – and  this  really  is the title  of a book which identifies progressive  cultures  that are forward looking, modern  and make  for human progress. As  well as Regressive  Cultures such  as  the one that  allowed horror in the name of honor  in  Pakistan this week . Such  cultures are backward looking, parochial and are averse  to change in their  environment and can  be quite  beastly  as  we  have  seen in this unfortunate case.

    In  the second event of  seeming indignation  by those insisting that the herdsmen must  be allowed to graze in the Southern part of  Nigerian, I think  such indignation is misplaced and  mischievous. It  is an insult  to the intelligence of  Nigerians generally to say that because we all eat  meat  we must allow cows to eat  what we plant  to  earn a living  and  feed  ourselves. Nigerians  are  not  Hindus  and Nigeria  is  not  India. This  sort  of attitude used  to defend  the actions of the herdsmen dislocates  the anger  of the governor who  said it was  and  insult to  call the herdsmen  Fulani .Such  a view  point is polemic , dangerous  and  divisive especially  on ethnic and religious lines .  We  should call a spade and  nip this problem in the bud before it consumes us. We  do  not need a Donald  Trump  in  our midst to tell us what he said  Hillary  Clinton and her boss the US president  could  not do . He  said  they  could not call IS   its  real  name of Islamic State until  it was too late . They  called it at first religious militancy  ,  then Islamic militancy  until  it started  creating borderless caliphates  and they now saw  it has  become the   beheading  monster IS. A  word  is enough  for the wise.

    In  the case  of Julius  Malema instigating a coup in S Africa, I do  not think that is going to happen even though the ruling party ANC  has accused him of treason . But  then the ANC is  sitting on a low  moral  ground and is tarnishing its own  record as a political party in terms of transparency, accountability ,and  collective  integrity . I believe  somewhere along  the line the Elders of the Party will come along to tell President Zuma  to vacate office to save  the  integrity  of the ANC. Just   like  they did to his predecessor Thabo  Mbeki who  they thought was behind  the corruption charges  against  Zuma who  was his Vice President  then . Now  the elders know  better because  the chicken  has come home to roost  for Zuma  on  corruption  charges and  the die  is  cast.

    The  fourth issue is that of  Speaker Paul Ryan refusing to endorse  his party’s  presidential  candidate Donald  Trump .  His  excuse was that the standard  bearer  of the party must respect  the standards of the  party . Which  is a  good  excuse except of course for  the simple fact  that that does not remove Donald  Trump as a presidential  nominee of the Republican  Party at  least for now or till election time . The  two  former presidents   that  have  refused  to endorse him are a father and his son, George  Bush Snr  and  George  Bush Jnr who  both fought wars in the Middle  East from  which  the US is paying a huge price in terms of credibility and integrity and  whose  policies were roundly condemned by Donald  Trump  in his recent foreign  policy speech . It  is a  clear  case  of sour  grapes and the two presidents should  be state man like  and sporting enough to admit  that the times have changed and  they should be  accommodating enough at  least to save their party  from  total  disintegration  or  disgrace if they do  not endorse its legally elected presidential nominee .Once  again  long  live  the Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria.

  • What politics has put asunder

    What politics has put asunder

    Some nine years ago, Edo State was on the march again—looking for Mr Governor. Adams Eric Aliyu Oshiomhole was the man. But when the electoral body made the returns from the polling booths, the verdict was shocking: People’s Democratic Party’s Oserheimen Osunbor was returned elected. Many shouted foul play, but since the oracle had spoken, Oshiomhole had no choice but to rely on the law to reclaim his mandate.

    After months of legal battles at the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, Osunbor’s election was declared a sham and nullified. Oshiomhole assumed office on November 12, 2008 after winning the appeal.

    Since a tree does not make a forest, Oshiomhole did not run the race alone. Dr. Pius Odubu was with him. As his running mate, he stood by his principal and together they took power from the usurper.

    For the first four years of their administration, these men worked together harmoniously. They were also willing to volunteer nice words about each other to whoever cared to ask or listen. It was thus not surprising that Oshiomhole rebuffed calls in some quarters to drop Odubu as his running mate in 2012.

    Together they repelled the federal forces bent on claiming Edo, the only Southsouth state in the hand of the then opposition party.

    Sadly, after some three years into their last tenure, Oshiomhole and Odubu now dance to different tunes. The music Oshiomhole likes sounds macabre to Odubu and vice versa. Their marriage, which appeared made in heaven, has broken down beyond repair. I can hear each of them saying like music star Tiwa Savage: “I am done”.

    Now, politics has put asunder what many thought God joined together and scary stories are coming out of Benin City. So bad is the situation that a party chieftain likened it to “ongoing madness that has become endemic”. We now hear of juju attack. We hear of gun attacks. We hear of a crisis in the House of Assembly, which is linked to the divorce between the comrade governor and his estranged deputy. We hear all kinds of things that are at variance with decency. The stories are the sort that makes one wonder and raises posers: What is the business of Oshiomhole, a former labour leader turned politician and Odubu, a respected intellectual and lawyer, with juju and guns? Why on earth are they at war? Is it all about the September 10 governorship election?

    Neither of them has spoken about what the bad blood is all about. But what is clear is that Odubu wants to be the next governor. Oshiomhole does not see in him a worthy successor. He believes he can not be better than a ‘spare tyre’. And for this, Edo is on edge and may become a gun republic if it is not curbed on time.

    Odubu, on Sunday, narrated what he dubbed his narrow escape from death the previous day. He said assassins attacked the venue of his meeting in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State. Those who attacked him, his campaign organisation claimed, were paid N1m to carry out the act. Odubu said he had to be shielded inside a hall to avoid “direct bullet contacts”.

    “At Auchi, the deputy governor and his team met with passionate, patriotic (and) huge number of delegates but no sooner had the meeting begun that gunmen opened fire outside the secretariat on both security men and members of the deputy governor’s entourage and delegates,” his campaign organisation said.

    The organisation also said the attack was “orchestrated directly at his person” and meant to  disrupt the aims of the campaign, adding that seven persons sustained varying degrees of injuries and received treatment at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH).

    The victims, according to a former Minority Whip in the House of Representatives, Mr. Samson Osagie, include a DSS operative, Patrick Amakiri; an escort police commander, Inspector Agge Felix; and a driver, Zibiri Yakubu.

    Osagie described the attack as an act of cowardice “perpetrated by those who dread a free, fair and credible democratic contest” and an attempt to compel Odubu to quit the race or be eliminated.

    “This, to us, is the height of naked display of cruelty, animosity, acrimony, intolerance, gross irresponsibility and man’s inhumanity to man,” Osagie fumed.

    For the state APC Publicity Secretary, Mr. Godwin Erhahon, the event of Saturday was “absolute madness”.

    Edo State Police Commissioner of Police Mr. Chris Ezike sees the incident as “clearly avoidable” in a civilised society.

    “2016 is a peaceful year and it’s all our prayer that it should bring peace to the people of Edo State and that is without prejudice to the incident of yesterday (Saturday). I have held that the incident of yesterday was clearly avoidable and should not have happened; it has no business happening.

    “And for the perpetrators, I have given the marching order that those named be arrested. Very luckily, a few names have been mentioned and they are not ghosts; so, the command is after them,” he said.

    Significantly, if anyone was in doubt that things had fallen apart between Odubu and his principal, Oshiomhole’s reaction to the gun drama put paid to such doubts.

    The governor, in a statement by his Commissioner of Information and Orientation, Prince Kassim Afegbua, described the claim as “untrue” and “hasty”. He said it was caused by thugs loyal to the deputy governor.

    Preliminary reports, said the governor, suggested that security details attached to his deputy fired the first shots to scare away party supporters, who kicked against the presence of the thugs in their area.

    Let me quote the statement so that it can be clear to all that Oshiomhole now sees his deputy as a liar: “It is instructive to note that the deputy governor was inside the secretariat building of the APC in company with the party chairman in the local government, Alhaji Umoru Akokhia, addressing the delegates while thugs, loyal to him, who had become unruly, fired gunshots at other APC loyalists, who were outside protesting against his visit.

    “It should be noted that among those who sustained injuries are APC loyalists, who are presently receiving medical attention in the hospital.

    “It is laughable that the Odubu Campaign Organisation will allege that the deputy governor, with a full compliments of security details, was shot at, yet no casualty was recorded on the other side and nobody apprehended.

    “Given the above scenario, we find it lousy for anyone to impute assassination theory as propounded by the Odubu Campaign Organisation, especially when investigations are still ongoing and the police are yet to submit their findings on the fracas.”

    Oshiomhole’s position has been corroborated by Akokhia, who told reporters at the Government House, Benin, that the gun attack might have been carried out by thugs that “Odubu brought”.

    He said: “Before the deputy governor came, there were boys around. I asked them what they came for. They said they came to see the deputy governor and I told them they were not invited and that they were not delegates. They said they were Odubu supporters. Anybody that said the attack was directed at the deputy is a liar. We were together inside my office.”

    He added that the reception for Odubu was interrupted by shouts of ‘Odubu, you don win; Odubu, na you we know’.

    This whole dirty dancing going on in Edo has reminded me of a piece or prophesy I came across earlier in the year, which suggested that a dark horse would replace Oshiomhole. The prophesy came from Dr Moshood Fayemiwo, who pastors a Texas-based non-denominational Christian centre.

    His words:  “I advised Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to look far and wide before endorsing his successor this year. A young man who nobody expects will change the face of Edo politics this year as the Sovereign Lord God Almighty sits on His Throne and superintends over all in heaven and earth and all that are in them. The next governor of Edo State is a Diasporan Nigerian known as Linus Idahosa. He has made a fortune for himself in the entertainment industry and his wife who we all know and beloved; Stephanie Okereke-Linus are young Nigerians coming to shake things up in Edo State.”

    My final take: I don’t care who succeeds Oshiomhole. But I care about the peace of this state. Nobody’s ambition is worth putting the state on edge for. In as much as the governor has a right to throw his weight behind a candidate of his choice, decency and the well-being of the state should not be sacrificed or toyed with. Not by the governor, not by Odubu and not by anybody.

  • Ayade’s politics with ethics

    One of the biggest campaign issues in the United States of America in the last one decade or so is about the fact that Washington is broken and badly in need of fixing. This is because the American politicians now view every policy or programme of government from the narrow prism of partisanship. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, has found it difficult to have any of his programmes or policies passed by the congress-controlled Republican Party.

    Sadly, this situation exists also in our clime, with politicians from the two leading political parties – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), acting more like enemies than compatriots, who must work together for the good of the country.

    However, like William Shakespeare said, there is always an exception to the general rule. That exception in Nigeria today appears to be the governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade.

    Since assuming office on May 29, 2015, Ayade has maintained a very warm, cordial and close relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The President is of the APC while the Governor is of the PDP.

    Indeed, it is on record that the first state visit embarked upon by the President after assuming office on May 29, 2015 was to Cross River State to flag-off the construction of a very ambitious project; the 260km superhighway and the Bakassi Deep Seaport. Ayade hopes that when these two projects are completed, the state’s dependence on federal allocation would be decoupled forever.

    Months after that President’s visit on that rainy day in October, 2015, the wife of the President was to also pay a visit to the state. She was in the state to flag off her social safety net initiative, “Project Future Assured” for the mother and newborns; launch Dr. Lynda Ayade’s  Mediatrix Development Foundation and also commission two health centres in Ikom.

    It bears mentioning that President Buhari’s visit to Cross River was preceded by that of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s visit to the state, a couple of months after being sworn in. As it stands, Cross River is among the few states, if not the only state visited by the President, the President’s wife and the Vice-President within the first year of their presidency.

    This harmony between the presidency and Cross River under Ayade’s watch has, however, caused his party, the PDP and some elements of the APC in his state considerable discomfort.  Understandably so, given that it is rare in this part of the world for politicians of opposing political parties to be on speaking terms, how much more having a very warm relationship. Yet it is this sort of collaboration we need if development must not continue to elude us as a people.

    For Ayade, governance takes primacy over politics once elections are over. He understands that history will only be kind to him on account of how he impacted on the lives of his people and not the many political battles he fought and won or lost. As such, he has been preoccupied with providing leadership to his people as his administration takes one progressive step after another towards the new horizon of prosperity and happiness which he promised at his inauguration in 2015 to bequeath.

    Armed with a prodigious intellect and business acumen, it is not lost on Ayade that for Cross River as a federating unit to actualize its ambition of transforming from a third world to a first world, it needs the support of the federal government.

    But it is not just for the sake of Cross River that Ayade is friends with the first family.

    Ayade’s campaign which saw him berth at the Government House in Calabar was anchored on the philosophy that politics must be guided by ethics; hence the slogan; Politics with Ethics.

    On this philosophy, the good in an individual must not be obstructed or blurred by politics. And that no individual should be denied the opportunity to contribute to the development of the society simply on account of the political party he or she belongs.

    He adores and respects the president for the principles he represents, the principles of honesty, hard work and love for country.

    In forming his cabinet, the governor cast his net far and wide. It matters not to him which political party an individual belongs to once he can identify capacity and ability to deliver.  This explains why for instance, the state chairman of Labour Party (LP), Austin Ibok is the special Adviser to the governor on Inter-Party Affairs.

    Within his PDP, he found accommodation for those who even worked against his emergence, first as the party’s gubernatorial candidate and later as governor. Through concrete actions and not just precepts, Ayade has shown that he is above politics of pettiness, hate and party lines. This is certainly a new approach to politics that should be encouraged.

    Washington will give anything to have a person with Ayade’s philosophical understanding emerge as its next president to unite a political class divided by party lines. Tellingly, Ayade’s relationship with the presidency has not in any way weakened the dominance of his party in the state.

    The recent re-run election into Yakurr II State Constituency, despite the governor’s absence from the state on a working visit to Europe, Asia and South America wooing investors, was won by the PDP in spite of the fact that most of APC’s leaders in the state come from the area.

    What this revealed was that Ayade has a persona that attracts and galvanizes one with a buy-in personality. He is a good husbandry of ideas and creativity. He is like a midwife who is ever ready to deliver the next generation into the world.