The Nation Newspaper

Tag: presidential

  • The 2015 presidential campaigns

    The front runners for the 2015 presidential election, no doubt, are President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressive Congress (APC). While President Jonathan is running on his record of performance in office, since 2009; General Buhari is running on the promise of change,for the better. For me, the presidential campaigns, have been very disappointing; since neither the incumbent president, who has had the chance, nor the major aspirant, who is asking for a chance, is promising Nigerians, the fundamental changes, necessary for the much sought after national rebirth.

    As many national and international commentators have correctly argued, Nigeria will only make little progress, if at all, unless there is a fundamental restructuring of the country, its systems and institutions. Knowing that we are a diverse people, it is also commonly agreed that Nigeria would be must effective, if it operates a true federal system of government. Interestingly, there is a groundswell of opinion that Nigeria currently operates more of a unitary system of government, than a federal system, and there is an urgent need for a change. So, I had wagered that the presidential debate, support and choices will be driven by demand for those fundamental changes, towards proper federalism for the much sought after national rebirth.

    This, regrettably, has not been the case. Rather, what we have is a presidential debate and campaign, without any fundamental promises to restructure the enablers for true federalism. In essence, what is driving the presidential debate, support and choices, is nothing more than mere parochial self and group interests. Strangely, even the chief proponentsfor a true federalism have been overtaken by the election fever, without their asking any of the candidates, to make commitment in this regard.

    Until recently, I recall that many of the state governors and foremost political actors across the parties, have been in the forefront for a statutory provision for state police. Indeed, many of the governors who had suffered various kinds of humiliation, owing to the federal government monopoly of the instrument of coercion, had openly canvased for state police, as the way out of that quagmire. Now that the presidential candidates are stumping around, canvassing for support, nobody is stringently demanding a commitment from the candidates, before extending the much sought after support. Indeed, nothing is heard again of that major fundamental of a federal system of government.

    Again, before the military intervention in politics, particularly its infamous Minerals Act of 1969, Nigeria ran a federal system of government, with strong regional economies; which paid tax to the federal government. Since that military misadventure in politics, Nigeria has ran a very dangerous mono-economy, such that currently, with global oil prices plummeting, Nigeria whose economy is dependent on oil resources, is despite the pretences, at the threshold of an economic collapse. Yet, in all the debate and campaign, none of the candidates has promised thatinevitable return to status quo, necessary for our national rebirth.

    I had also erroneously thought that the current fiscalchallenge, facing the state governors, following the dwindled resources from the so called federation account, would compel a rethink, and the galvanizing of national consensus, to amend that act, so that state governments can begin to exploit the natural resources that is in abundant in their states. Such untapped resources include coal, bitumen, zinc, iron ore, gold, and several other minerals across the country. For me, it is strange that state governors are excitedly campaigning for their preferred presidential candidates, without extracting from them, the promise to return ownership of these minerals to the states, or in the least, the regions.

    Another forgotten consensus for national rebirth, as far as the presidential campaign and debate is concerned, is the near general agreement that Nigeria should be restructured into a six-region federation, for greater efficiency. Strangely, some of the major proponents of that important move, have openly supported one of the presidential candidates, without asking their preferred candidate what is his position, with regards to this fundamental. So, while there is a general consensus that the cost of governance across the thirty-six states is unsustainable, none of the presidential candidates in their campaigns have told their enthusiastic supporters, where they stand in the debate.

    With the expanding war by the Boko Haram elements in the North-East, and the threat of war in the Niger Delta, should Jonathan loose, there is the possibility that the promises of jobs for the youths, will be mainly in the military and quasi militias.Let nobody be fooled, there is little or no economic activities across many states and regions, and that is the sub-set for the several crises that is threatening to consume our country. The result is the abundant human resources, wasting away, and easily converted to agents of nationalinstability. As the presidential candidates campaign across the country, nobody is seriously asking the candidates, how they would realistically spread economic activities, across the geo-political zones of the country.

    While nobody should take away from the campaigners their well-founded interest in theunbearable corruption, grave insecurity, poverty and mass unemployment, it is important to realise that without addressing the fundamental structures of the socio-political economy of the country, the promises cannot be fulfilled. For instance,how do you fight corruption undera criminal justice system that is afflicted by institutionally induced sabotage?Again, how do you fight insecurity and insurgency in a system fraught with systemic injustice, structurally unfair appropriation and/or re-distribution of the common resources?Indeed, how will the officials, whether elected or appointed, of a fundamentally unjust state, suddenly become purveyors of a fair economic activities that will eradicate poverty and create national wealth, across the country?

     

     

  • ’We ‘ll back presidential candidate with masses-oriented programmes’

    The  Conference of Southwest Political Parties (CSWPP) has said it would support the presidential candidate that put the interest of the masses on the front burner.

    At its meeting held in Ibadan,the Oyo State capital,the group expressed its readiness to back the best presidential candidate that would also promote national unity, tackle unemployment and revamp the nation’s economy.

    In a communique by its spokesman, Otunba Olu Alonge, the group said it has set up a seven-man committee led by Chief M. O. Ogunbodede to hold consultations with notable leaders in the zone to determine where the group would pitch its tent.

    The committee has two weeks to conclude its assignment and report back to the group, following which members of the public would be intimated through the media on its choice candidate in the Southwest zone.

    CSWPP said the conference would adequately consider the programmes of all the presidential candidates and ratify the best among them, who could uplift the southwest region in all aspects of life.

    It urged INEC to conduct an acceptable polls devoid of favouritism, while security operatives should shun partisanship to guarantee smooth conduct of the election.

  • ’We “ll back presidential candidate with masses-oriented programmes’

    ’We “ll back presidential candidate with masses-oriented programmes’

    The  Conference of Southwest Political Parties (CSWPP) has said it would support the presidential candidate that put the interest of the masses on the front burner.

    At its meeting held in Ibadan,the Oyo State capital,the conference expressed its readiness to back the best presidential candidate that would also promote national unity, tackle unemployment and revamp the nation’s economy.

    In a communique issued by the group’s spokesman, Otunba Olu Alonge said the group has set up a seven-man committee led by Chief M. O. Ogunbodede to hold consultations with notable leaders in the zone to determine where the group would pitch its tent.

    The committee has two weeks to conclude its assignment and report back to the group,following which members of the public would be intimated through the media on its choice candidate in the Southwest zone.

    CSWPP said the conference would adequately consider the programmes of all the presidential candidates and ratify the best among them, who could uplift the southwest region in all aspects of life.

    It urged INEC to conduct an acceptable polls devoid of favouritism, while security operatives should shun partisanship to guarantee smooth conduct of the election.

  • The Presidential declaration

    The fate of the nation hangs on what they do. Yet, they do nothing except what they do for themselves. I speak of the PDP leadership who organized the sad spectacle of President Jonathan’s declaration to seek re-nomination as his party’s standard bearer. I speak of the President himself. Usually I do not bother myself with internal PDP matters. How they cook their pot in their own kitchen is not my concern if only they would conduct government in the right way. However, sometimes what they do runs so contrary to the mood and reality of the nation that to remain mum to such an open insult to the national conscience would be tacit assent to the collective lunacy that has descended on these people.

    They have drunken and feasted to their own benefit so much so that they have become afflicted with an intemperate indifference to the nation. Narcissism has turned them mad. Their “great party” has turned into a greater flop. What may be a party to them is no party for the rest of us. It is hopeless pain.

    Shame on the leaders of this brazen cavalcade for seeking to bury what should be consecrated; double shame on them for doing this in broad daylight with the wry smile of arrogant corruption on their faces; triple shame on them for lifting up a man whose performance in office merits refusal not reward.

    The real trouble with these people is that they seem numb to the danger they have let fester. They have become so imperial that they are also imperious to the precarious state of things. They sit in the safe confines of Aso Villa comforted by the fluffy luxury of high office. That is their reality and their Nigeria.

    However, the rest of Nigeria must live in the world reality has bequeathed. For many of us, this means a world of war terror, vexing poverty or both. Day by day, mile by mile, Boko Haram claims more land and chews at our social fabric. Most recently, they invaded Mubi in Adamawa State. The army battalion deployed in Mubi laid down their weapons and fled even faster than the frightened civilian population.  Thousands and thousands of our brothers and sisters escaped the town with nothing more than what their hands, wheelbarrows and vehicles could carry.

    I am baffled that this president and his government can be so callous and nonchalant in the face of glowering danger. Perhaps they know something about Boko Haram that we don’t, something that renders harmless to them what seems so lethal to the rest of us.

    President Jonathan recently visited Chad. He was joined there by a known sponsor of Boko Haram whom he refuses to arrest or even interrogate. The reason given for the visit was to plow the ground for bilateral coordination with Chad concerning Boko Haram.  Peace talks commenced soon after. Government announced a cease-fire. We were later to find that the talks were a fraud. Boko Haram intensified their attacks.  The false ceasefire turned into a more terrible open fire. Boko Haram announced the Chibok girls have been permanently enslaved never to return home. More land fell under the terrorist banner. Boko Haram engineered the deadly bombings of schools and other public places.

    In the face of this onslaught what has the president done? Nothing, from what we can tell.  Before a fleeting mention was given in his declaration address, he had not directly and personally addressed the nation to reassure us about the Chibok girls or to explain his next steps in the face of the collapse of the fake negotiations. All he could muster in response to the Potiskum school bomb that killed over 40 children was a moment of silence before he gave his awkward declaration. In some ways, this is appropriate because this has been his policy.

    In the face of Boko Haram advances, the President has now taken to hiding behind the dumb rhetoric of his aides as they mouth the flimsiest of imaginable excuses for their boss.

    Their defences of the president are telling. They are not defending him by saying he has devoted himself to a better strategy. Their defences are intended to deflect us from what he refuses to do – he refuses to act as a fully engaged commander-in-chief.  Thus, they say silly things that no nation should give a failing leader the boot during wartime. However, they neglect to tell us that both the US and UK, the nations after which we model our system, have rejected leaders who failed to do the necessary during times of war. They also say other nations have battled terrorism for years such as the American’s fight against Al Qaeda in Iraq. What they neglect to tell us is that Iraq is 10,000 kilometres from America. If Al Qaeda tried to establish a foothold on American soil, it would be crushed before it started. But here, our government allows the evil gang to gain ground yet government changes neither military strategy or the hapless people tasked to implement it.

     We all should ask how this man spends his hours.  A person devotes his time, mind and energy to what is important to him.  From all I can see, the President spends the majority of his time in political caucuses determining how to share offices and allocate the spoils of government so that enough of his party’s governors and senators don’t rebel against his re-election bid.  These party members care nothing about the quality of his performance and he cares nothing about the quality of theirs. They dance the dance of thieves and embrace each other as liars do. The dirty bargains they make to hold office demonstrate their vision of government. It is an employment agency for the elite and a tax on the rest of the people.

    If the president took his function as commander in chief seriously, he would have nixed the festive announcement of his bid to return to office. At most, he would have made a sober and brief announcement then quickly go make to work. No crowds, no music, no banners. Just work and more of it.  That is what leaders do. No President splashes about in public gaiety while an invading force captures land and afflicts the people who are on it. If truly a commander-in-chief instead of reveller in chief, he would dedicate himself to making sure the armed forces have the fighting spirit and the right strategy to get the job done. He would visit the ministry of defence to inject the lazy building with energy and purpose.  He would assure that he got daily briefings. He would have asked for books and hired experts to verse him in counterinsurgency theory and practice.

    Instead, President Jonathan behaves as an absentee commander-in-chief. Worse, he behaves as if the insurgent challenge is in another nation. For instance, when was the last time he visited the front line to talk to the troops or to succour the displaced? To continue as we are is to invite failure and all that comes with it in an armed conflict. Why any president would want his name attached to such a dubious feat is beyond my powers of reasoning.

    Our president has been lacklustre and devoid of vision and purpose. What he lacks in lustre, vision and purpose, he compensates for in ambition and cunning. Jonathan has become adept at manipulating the levels of power to his partisan advantage. Yet, after six years in office, he has not learned how to be president of a nation. He has not learned how to face the awesome duties of his awesome seat. A leader can’t seek to enjoy the seat but ignore the burden that comes with it. Despite the fake applause that came with his announcement, even his supporters are troubled by one indisputable fact.  If he could not master the elements of office after six years, there is little that another four years will provide.  If he remains our man, then we remain in the deepest trouble.

  • Still on same-faith presidential ticket

    The media space has been dominated in recent times by comments from all shades of opinion regarding the desirability or otherwise of having a same-faith ticket by the leading opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) at the forthcoming general election.

    Though the leadership of the APC has not formally indicated what the joint ticket would look like, comments that have been generated so far can best be seen as a calculated and orchestrated blackmail strategy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in its attempt to feed Nigerians with the dangerous religious opium with regards to the deep-seated religious differences that exists in the country.

    Though, differences exist, we live in a clime where an issue that should ordinarily be restricted to the personal preference of the individual is now being elevated to national/official prominence.

    Looking through the comments also, anyone who is conversant with the prevailing political permutations in the country would readily agree that it is self-serving as they (the comments) are borne out more of pure mischief or to serve personal interests of those espousing the need to ensure religious balance the choice of personalities that would be given the ticket.

    It, however, gladdens my heart that the APC has become the viable alternative to the rudderless Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the voting populace is taking more than a passing interest in what is going on in the APC. The debate actually started with speculations in some quarters suggesting that the APC has made up its mind to field a Muhammadu Buhari/Bola Ahmed Tinubu ticket to challenge the incumbent government of Goodluck Jonathan next year.

    I mean those who have concluded that the ticket would not do the country any good is for reasons best known to them playing down the quality of the pair, just as they have sidetracked successful historical precedence in their warped analysis.

    What they only talk about is the fact that the ticket, if eventually it comes on board, will spell doom for the country owing to the current elite-induced mistrust that is currently being sown between the nation’s dominant faiths of Islam and Christianity.

    To those opposed to the Buhari/Tinubu ticket, the nation will burn as it would have shut out the adherents of Christian faith from the power loop at the centre, a situation they see as injurious to the nation’s fragile security.

    As stated earlier, the antecedents and the calibre of the eminent citizens involved must be considered before jumping onto the bandwagon of opposition to the ‘proposal’.

    Let me start by analyzing the personality of Buhari, who has had the misfortune of being profiled as a religious bigot. The Daura-born retired general is known to be a fair-minded individual who is known to treat non-adherents of Islamic faith compassionately. Most of his domestic aides are said to be Christians whom he had never prevented from practicing their faith despite being a staunch Muslim.

    It was told that Buhari as a general was approached by some Muslim adherents to grant Friday as work-free as did Christians faithful but turned down their request after he asked them to point to a verse in the Quran or the Hadith that enjoins Muslims not to work on Fridays. He told them that the Bible enjoined Christians not to work on Sundays. The vintage Buhari turned down the request when a cogent response was not forthcoming from his fellow Muslims.

    Buhari’s senses of probity and accountability in public service are too well documented for me to do a recall, but one will not fail to see the austere lifestyle of a former head of state, former petroleum minister, former military administrator and former chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).

    On the part of Tinubu, one will no doubt forget his sense of financial wizardry. In fact, it won’t be out of place to describe him as the architect of modern Lagos who laid the foundation, which his successor and protégé, Babatunde Raji Fashola is building upon.

    It is to Tinubu’s credit that the status of Lagos moved from being a dirty backward mega-slum to that of a thriving metropolis. When Tinubu came on board as the third elected chief executive of the state in 1999, the total internally generated revenue of the state was a meagre N600 million, and it is on record that before he left office, the internally generated revenue had peaked at over N8 billion monthly.

    With the quantum leap in the financial base came massive investment in economic infrastructure that is currently servicing the growth and development of the state, a feat that has been attested to by various international bodies.

    Aside from the personalities of the two, it is on record that the near-impossible task of forging the viable opposition that the APC has eventually turned out to be due largely to the efforts of these two gentlemen.

    For Tinubu, his ability to turn defeat into success is legendary. When the PDP won all but one of the six states in the South-west, he soon ensured that he reversed the trend by regaining the states back except for Ondo.

    For the two, an achievement that was never seen in the history of the country was brought to bear with the coming into being of the APC, a feat many thought was unattainable. To me, whoever works must profit from his labour, so it won’t be out of place for the two to pick the tickets of the party.

    Talking about precedence, it is on record that in the South-west, we have had occasions when the governors and their deputies belong to the same faith without anyone raising eye brow. Two examples readily come to mind. In the Second Republic, both Lateef Jakande and his deputy, Rafiu Jafojo were Muslims, yet the Christians did not pray that heaven should fall.

    Recently in Osun State, the immediate past administration was dominated by Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Erelu Olusola Obada both Christians and to the Muslims, there were no qualms.

    The challenges that confront us all in this country today are acute deficiencies in security, employment, power generation and infrastructure among many others. All of these indices of poverty and underdevelopment recognize neither ethnic nor religious boundaries. There are as much poor, hungry, homeless and hopeless Muslims as there are Christians.

    It is also true that the pockets of developmental efforts that we are seeing in some parts of the country, the roads, schools; the hospitals, etc. did not discriminate among beneficiaries.

    Those that are propagating the divisive schemes are mainly individuals seeking direct individual benefits for playing the religious card. If this is not so, let them come and tell us what good the combination of Jonathan and Sambo – one Christian and the other one Muslim – two uninspiring pretenders, has done us as Christians and Muslims and most importantly as Nigerians over the past years.

    What Nigerians crave for is leaders with proven capability and requisite experience to lead the country out of the morass it had been dragged to by an opportunistic cadre of decadent leadership.

    What should dominate our political conversation should be what the parties and their candidates are bringing to the table in terms of records of achievements and programme of action that would rescue the country from the dangerous precipice that it is currently heading.

     

    • Raji is the Special Adviser to the Governor of Lagos State on Information & Strategy.
  • APC and its presidential headache

    APC and its presidential headache

    The biggest challenge confronting the All Progressives Congress (APC) as it chooses it presidential flagbearer is not the number or quality of those who have put themselves forward.

    If anything, all with the exception of entrepreneur and newspaper publisher, Sam Nda-Iasiah, have some sort of experience at very high levels of government to brandish as qualification for seeking the top job.

    The real headache is that everyone of the aspirants has some form of baggage that the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) will gleefully exploit – diverting attention from Jonathan’s terrible record in office.

    Take former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari. He is ordinarily an electoral powerhouse. In 2011, he did the near impossible by garnering 12 million votes on the platform of a political party that was just a few months old. What that proved is that the sheer force of his personality could deliver irrespective of the platform on which he runs.

    But I have argued in the past that this very strength – in particular his cult-like following in the north, eventually became his Achilles Heel – as his strategists were misled into thinking he didn’t need an electoral leg down south to help him to power. In the end, he swept the north but was undone in the South-West when Jonathan won the zone with the exception of Osun State taken by Nuhu Ribadu then flying the flag of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

    Were he to emerge the candidate of APC, he would be running on a better structured platform with strength on both sides of the Niger. A strategy that targets that the votes haul from the North West, North East and South West – with small pickings elsewhere could put him within touching distance of a prize he has coveted all these years.

    The ruling PDP realise the potency of a Buhari candidacy and have begun undermining it even before it becomes reality – and there’s the rub for the APC. With the general on the ticket, the campaign will not be about Jonathan’s management of the economy or his failure to combat the raging insurgency in the North-East, it will be turned around to focus on the General’s record as a military head of state as well as his position on religious issues.

    We will be reminded that his regime authored the infamous Decree 4 which the military reined in Nigeria’s famously free-wheeling press. It wouldn’t matter that in 2015 voters are not being asked to elect a new military junta.

    The attempt to paint the khaki-clad Buhari of 1984 as the same as the agbada-wearing presidential aspirant of 2014 is one of the enduring lies of the emerging campaign. His opponents will not admit that as president he will not have the same powers he wielded 30 years ago. He cannot pass any budget or bill by fiat and would have to deal with a National Assembly whose complexity we cannot fathom now.

    As another ex-military ruler, General Olusegun Obasanjo, found out to his chagrin after his Third Term project bit the dust, there are times when this much-maligned body can prove to be an effective bulwark against would-be despots. There’s no reason to think that the constitution would be amended in 2015 to accommodate any autocratic streak in Buhari.

    Even his much-vaunted desire to stop corruption in its tracks could get a reality check in that same National Assembly. People forget that one of the first bills Obasanjo sent to the legislature in 1999 was a stern anti-corruption bill fashioned after similar laws in Singapore. But by the time Abuja lawmakers finished with it what was sent back to the then president was a limp and near-useless legislation whose impotence is confirmed by the depth of sleaze in the country 15 years after.

    Other issues that will come to dog a Buhari campaign will include the retroactive execution of the convicted drug pushers, the controversial clearance for 53 suitcases to be allowed into the country at a time when the country’s borders were shut to allow for currency reforms.

    We will be told not to forget that the General once professed a love for Sharia – so much so that he would have loved for it to apply throughout the country.

    And let’s not forget the incendiary comments made by the ex-CPC presidential candidate after it became clear that his ambitions had bitten the dust four years ago. His embittered supporters took to the streets to vent their frustration with fatal consequences for many National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members who had serviced as electoral officers for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    He may have distanced himself from the acts of violence, but his opponents would still seek to embarrass him and damage his candidacy on the altar of vicarious responsibility.

    This brings us to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Again, we are confronted with another political giant who through a series of wrong choices undercut his own relevance in national power calculations. We cannot forget in a hurry that at the end of Obasanjo’s first term Atiku controlled the PDP and the then president had to virtually go on bended knees to secure his backing and that of governors loyal to the then VP to clear the way for a second tenure.

    Frustrated out of the ruling party by Obasanjo, his ill-fated presidential run on the ACN ticket and his return to the party he had spurned and excoriated in the bitter days before the 2007 polls, and now his presence in APC, makes it all too easy for those who will paint a caricature of a desperate politician.

    Many acknowledge his virtues as a mobiliser who understands Nigerian politics. His deep pockets would make him an asset for a party like APC which could find itself challenged in the money stakes against the ruling party.

    Interestingly, in his campaigning so far, Atiku has tried to talk about issues and advance policy positions he would like to pursue as president. All that elevated politicking would disappear in a puff of smoke the moment he emerges APC candidate because the PDP, again constrained to shift attention away from Jonathan’s record, would dredge up the former Vice President’s many controversies.

    We would be reminded of the American Congressman William Jefferson’s saga as well as questions about Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and sundry matters. From now till Election Day, Atiku would be defending and explaining himself against real and imagined charges in the court of public opinion.

    I will not dwell much on Kano State Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Nda-Isaiah because whatever baggage they come with is linked to fact that their appeal is limited across the country. The PDP would be quite happy to dismiss them as provincial – never mind the fact that Jonathan and his erstwhile boss, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, could have been described in those terms at the point they assumed office in Aso Rock.

    Much of the handwringing within APC has focused on how much ammunition its aspirants have laid out for PDP attack dogs to play with.

    But this ignores the fact that Jonathan, the ruling party’s candidate, has baggage that would  finish off any candidate in different clime. Compared to his, United States President Barack Obama’s issues were child play, and yet American voters punished him and his party at last Tuesday’s congressional elections by handing power to the Republicans.

    If APC’s candidates have things they have to explain, then Jonathan finds himself in a similar quandary ten times over. On the economic front it is impossible to say that Nigerians are better off economically than they were in 2011. The recent collapse in power generation is an embarrassing enough statistic for a ruling party that has promised light since 1999, but only succeeded in delivering darkness.

    In the 70s the British Tory Party produced an electoral poster showing a serpentine queue of the unemployed waiting to be interviewed for a few job openings. The pay-off line was ‘Labour Isn’t Working.’ It was devastating. The inimitable Margaret Thatcher was swept into 10 Downing Street on the cusp of the landslide.

    Today, Jonathan’s stewardship in the area of unemployment can be captured just as succinctly with those photographs of an Abuja National Stadium packed to overflowing with desperate applicants seeking employment in the Nigerian Immigration Service.

    The exercise ultimately ended tragically with over 19 persons killed nationwide. Such is the contempt that the government has for public opinion that those like the Interior Minister, Abba Moro, who presided over that fiasco are sitting comfortably in their offices till date.

    To say that the administration has been scandal-scarred is to state the obvious. The nation still awaits the results of the forensic audit triggered by allegations made by the former Central Bank Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, that the NNPC had failed to remit billions of naira to the Federation Account.

    Petroleum Minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke and erstwhile Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, hugged the headlines for months over allegations of sleaze. While the former continues to fight to stop the House of Representatives from probing allegations that she spent a fortune hiring a private jet, the latter did the ‘needful’ by throwing in the towel when the heat became too much.

    But the government’s reputation totally went down the tubes with the botched attempt by its agents to smuggle $9.3 million into South Africa in a private jet in a bizarre arms shopping trip. While it was still trying to contain the first mess, it emerged that a second seizure had been made by the South Africans – bringing the total to $15 million.

    But perhaps the greatest failure of the Jonathan administration is its inability to end the insurgency in the North East. Today, the insurgents have carved out a caliphate the size of three states in that region. Those who predicted that country would break up in 2015 are inching closer to seeing that dire prophecy become reality.

    A break-up isn’t only when we are scattered in many pieces. Today’s reality is that unless the gains of the insurgents are quickly reversed the map of Nigeria handed to Jonathan in 2011 would be different from that he would hand to a successor next year.

    Today, Nigeria is more polarised along sectional and religious lines than at any time in its history. We are seeing a government and ruling party that has shown every readiness to use religion to divide the country in order to rule over it.

    Tragically, the diabolical efforts of the ruling party’s hacks have produced a situation where many voters have already made their decision on who they would vote for simply on account of his religious identification. That shows how much progress we are making.

    APC should stop searching for the perfect candidate. That creature doesn’t exist on the face of the earth. At any given time aspirants come with baggage. The answer is not to flee from a candidate because of baggage, but to see whether what he brings to the table is greater than his negatives.

    The party must decide whether a Buhari who’s a vote magnet up north should be dumped just because of his controversial past. Will it do better with a ‘safe’ candidate who doesn’t offend sensibilities but cannot galvanise the supporter base the way the General can? The same can be said about Atiku. Should he be passed over despite what he brings to the party just because opponents would call him names? It’s a no-brainer.

  • Buhari, Kwankwaso begin battle for APC presidential ticket

    Buhari, Kwankwaso begin battle for APC presidential ticket

    The bid for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential ticket got on the fast lane at weekend, with Senator Bukola Saraki pulling out of the race.

    The former Kwara State Governor said he would back a candidate that is acceptable to all party members. “I don’t think our party can afford too much internal racour going into the election,” the former Kwara State Governor said.

    Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has announced his interest in the race.  Gen. Muhammadu Buhari is set to join the race on Wednesday at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

    Gen. Buhari was at the Lagos State House in Marina to seek Governor Babatunde Fashola’s support for his ambition.

    He was accompanied by ex-Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva, ex-Minister Nasir El-Rufai and former Speaker Bello Masari.

    The attempt to get Kano State Governor  Rabiu Kwankwaso to step down for Gen. Buhari has failed.

    Supporters of the governor said he will announce his candidacy on October 28.

    Stakeholders tried to prevail on the governor to step down since both of them are from the Northwest zone, which has the highest voter population.

    According to the APC nomination of candidates time table, presidential aspirants are expected  to have obtained an expression of interest forms by October 19.

    The sale of the forms will open from next Monday till November 6. The aspirants will be screened between November 10 and 12. The candidate will be elected at its national convention on December 2.

    President Goodluck Jonathan has already been endorsed as the consensus candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), although some members of the party are silently grumbling about the close of space for others.

    Gen. Buhari’s supporters said at the weekend that the former leader remained the only Nigerian politician who has the courage and capacity to fight corruption.

    National Secretary of the Buhari Support Group Ibrahim Daud said the Buhari Support Group, an umbrella body of about 49 voluntary youth organisations, have mobilised five million Nigerians to attend Gen. Buhari declaration of interest on Wednesday.

    According to him, Buhari is the only candidate who can defeat the PDP and stop corruption. “That is why the corrupt cabal that has held sway since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 is bent on ensuring that Buhari does not emerge president.

    “They are only trying to protect their ill-gotten wealth to the detriment of the majority of Nigerians.  Hence they cook up all kinds of mendacities and campaigns of calumny to discredit Gen. Buhari and lower his estimation in the eyes of right-thinking members of the society.

    “At first, the antagonists of Nigeria’s national development concocted and fed Nigerians with the lie that Gen. Buhari was a religious bigot, who would convert Nigeria to an Islamic state if elected president.

    “Those that know the General intimately know that though he is a dedicated Muslim, he has no trace of religious or even ethnic bigotry. Gen. Buhari is one of the most munificent politicians of our time!

    “Now that the gambit of religion cannot work anymore, they are trying to use age as a criterion to discredit him. But it has come to public knowledge that all these tales being fabricated by his political opponents are only strategies employed to maintain their stranglehold on the people.

    “The 2015 presidential election shall be a political turning point for Nigeria, as the citizenry have become increasingly aware of the antics of the corrupt ruling class and other detractors and saboteurs of the nation.

    “This time, the gambit of religion, age or any other primordial sentiment will not deter the people from voting for Buhari in 2015. Even though we agree with the idea of generational change in leadership, we believe that only a mature politician like Buhari will be able to wrest power from the PDP, before sanitising the polity.

    “Gen. Buhari is the only presidential aspirant that can make a full declaration of his assets before taking office. He will also declare his assets upon leaving office, to enable the people to make candid evaluations of his stewardship.

    “We should bear in mind that massive unemployment, terrorism/insurgency, disease prevalence are all linked vicariously to high-profile corruption and impunity by the ruling class.

    “For Nigeria to make meaningful and steady progress, a mechanism must be put in place to tackle corruption and indiscipline, and this mechanism can only be driven by an incorruptible leader like Gen. Buhari.

    “This is because we have watched corruption in public places escalate steadily over the last 16 years that the PDP has been in power. We must effect the necessary leadership change now, to move Nigeria and indeed Nigerians out of the doldrums.

    “We can say affirmatively that the epoch-making declaration of General Buhari will witness the unprecedented attendance of not less than five (5) million passionate supporters of the General.”

    One of Kwankwaso’s Campaign Coordinators, Chief Olisaemeka Akamukali, said Kwakwanso planned to declare his presidential ambition on October 23.

    He said after a nationwide consultation with party leaders and other political stakeholders regarding the presidential election, the governor had decided to throw his hat in the ring.

    He hinted that the governor slowed down his campaign due to pressure to yield ground to Gen. Buhari, stressing that rather than ask the governor to step down, it is the former Head of State who should make way for a younger candidate – in line with the need for generational shift.

    He said: “In as much as we agree that Buhari is a man of integrity but you will also agree with me that age is not on his side. He is 73, going to 74 years and Ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar is close to 70 years old. But Kwakwanso will be 58 by October 21.”

    He explained that it was wrong for anybody to regard the governor as a “dark horse” in the contest, adding that Kwakwanso had long years of experience in politics, beginning from 1991 when he emerged as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

    He said: “Kwakwanso has long years of experience in politics. He has been a parliamentarian, a governor and two-time minister. When he contested the governorship election in Kano state and lost, he congratulated the winner and waited for eight years before staging a come-back.

    “The governor is a grassroots politician and one who tries to carry his followers along in his undertakings

    “Remember he was once a member of the Group of seven governors who protested the goings-on in his former party. I will not be surprised if many of them still in the PDP will want to support his aspiration to become president.”

    Akamukali added: “The issue of anointing candidates for elections has been rejected by the APC and that is why the party is insisting that there shall be transparent primaries. The fears of some of the aspirants may be due to the fact of their previous experience where they never face competitive primaries to emerge as party candidate.

    “That is why such people are pushing for consensus. The generality of the party is saying ‘no, let us do things differently from what the PDP are doing’. We must have a transparent primary.

    He maintained that the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, party’s national Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and Atiku were together in the SDP with the Kano State governor adding that Kwakwanso is still retaining the affinity he had with the political network.

  • Presidential choreography

    Beyond President Goodluck Jonathan’s unprecedented exclusive endorsement for re-election by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state governors, Board of Trustees and National Executive Committee, which has practically foreclosed the conventional Presidential Primary to choose a candidate, his choreographic skill and promotional ability were perhaps more strikingly exhibited  in the matter of the reported N10, 000 donated in support of his campaign by a certain Ezemagu Sunday Nnamadi, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

    Intriguingly, the portrait of this newsmaking donor described as “a young Nigerian” was unhelpfully indistinct. He appeared to belong to a shadowy world, without concrete details of his background. For instance, it would be interesting to know where he was schooled and what he studied, even where he was posted for his NYSC year.

    The presidency must have considered such clarifying pieces of information needless, not to say useless. All that mattered should be the celebrated donation, not the circumstances of the donor, the president’s communication handlers must have reasoned. This would explain why the statement on the gift issued by Jonathan’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati,  reportedly focused on his gratitude. Jonathan’s letter of thanks, according to Abati, said: “Your gracious gesture is particularly gratifying, coming as it does from one of our nation’s vibrant and gifted youth who are our successor generation and for whom our administration is unequivocally committed to providing the requisite environment to optimally realise their tremendous creative and productive potential.”

    The letter continued:” As I carry on with the task of positively transforming our country for its God-ordained greatness and prosperity, I will continue to count on the goodwill as well as the practical and prayerful support of patriots like you.”

    Realistically, the said donation, if not a publicity stunt, was a publicity opportunity that ought to be exploited maximally, but the issue is that it seemed suspiciously simulated, a possibility that speaks volumes about the capacity for creative orchestration in the presidential corridor. Is Jonathan projecting the idea that he does not have an intimidating war chest?  It is noteworthy how the letter of appreciation dripped with self-glorification. In particular, the suggestion of continuity was attractively dressed, or to put it in another fashion, the intention of extension was charmingly undressed.

    From the look of things, Jonathan could be dreaming of a day when the entire country would rise as one and crown him without opposition.  That dream is a grandiose delusion. But it would be unsurprising if the next episode in the long-running entertainment show featured enthusiastic sycophants begging him to agree to be the PDP presidential candidate in the 2015 general elections. Not that such a development would be entirely new, only that this time it may likely involve people kneeling before him and prostrating themselves before him in unbelievable submission.

    Add to this picture the reinforcing activities of the obsessive self-defined non-governmental organisation known as Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) which insists on an   incomprehensible objective: “the continuation of transformation by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ).”  What the group makes of the concept of “transformational government” remains a puzzle because the Jonathan administration has been anything but that. However, TAN’s promotional train is on course and its region-by-region approach is expected to climax in the federal capital, Abuja, on September 30.

    Also in the picture is the screening and evaluation of the various Jonathan support groups for the battle ahead. Instructively, Jonathan’s Political Adviser, Prof. Rufai Alkali, who coordinated the activities, said:  “As 2015 approaches, we note that the circumstances and fundamentals facing us are somewhat different. The opposition is different; the political landscape is different; the players are different and the issues are different.”   Alkali continued: “To address these issues, the reorganisation of the Goodluck Support Group (GSG) has become imperative. I have, therefore, decided to set up a special GSG reorganisation committee to study all issues concerning the organisation and propose a reorganisation structure that will allow us position for 2015.”

    Considering the scale of the preparation indicated by these developments, it is both puzzling and laughable that the character whose interest is being promoted by these actions continues to pretend that he may not be interested in a second term as president after all. In the light of all that is visible, Jonathan’s attitude is nothing short of self-deception, if he thinks that the people are in the dark. There is a certain reptilian sneakiness to his conduct.  What is he waiting for, particularly given all the signs that continue to betray his aspiration?

    But Jonathan would want observers to believe that this background, as persuasive as it is, may not be enough to make him interested in re-election. He seems determined not to be seen as desperate for a second term in office, which may be a reasonable projection; but it is impossible to hide his ambition. Indeed, in a telling irony, the harder he struggles to mask his aspiration, the more he gives himself away.

    Strikingly, when he appeared at his party’s September 20 “Southwest sensitisation rally,” he could not resist wearing that familiar mask of deception. In his speech on the occasion, he referred to the various endorsements and introduced a suspicious complication. He said: “I also have the right of refusal and I thank the party for giving me the opportunity.”

    The question is: Would he exercise this right and refuse?  Jonathan, perhaps unwittingly, but more likely not innocently, supplied the answer, albeit in a coded communication. He boasted about the establishment of a Presidential Jobs Board which would “create three million jobs in the next one year.” He reasoned:  “That means in a few years, we would solve the problem of unemployment.”  Then he added: “We continue to promise to transform Nigeria; make changes and never go back. We need all Nigerians to work with us. In the next few years, unemployment will continue to drop. We are totally committed to changing all sectors of the Nigerian economy.”

    Read between the lines. Does he sound like a man who would say “No”?  He must be self- deluded to imagine that his game of laboured suspense is beyond public comprehension. On the contrary, whatever game he is playing appears so cheap and degrading, not to say nauseating.

    Jonathan has proved to be a master choreographer, perhaps contradicting the view of his antagonists that he is clueless. When it comes to stage-managing for political success at any cost, he may be the ultimate power-hungry schemer.

  • APC presidential ticket: Kwankwaso woos Okorocha

    APC presidential ticket: Kwankwaso woos Okorocha

    In a bid to get the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso has sought the support of Imo State Governor and Chairman of the APC Governor’s Forum, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

    A delegation of the “Nigeria Project 2015” , the campaign organ of Kwankwaso, at the weekend visited Okorocha at the Government House in Owerri to get his support.

    Okorocha, who is also nursing a presidential ambition, was said to have received the delegation warmly, urging members of the APC in the state to support Kwankwaso’s ambition.

    He was said to have described him as one of the best presidential aspirants.

    Addressing reporters at the end of the meeting, the leader of the delegation and Kano State Commissioner for Information, Youth, Sports and Culture, Dr. Abubakar Nuhu Danburan, said the meeting was impressive and encouraging.

    He, however, noted that the governor told them that he was also nursing a presidential ambition, adding that they were impressed with his blunt response.

  • Race for APC presidential running mate begins

    Race for APC presidential running mate begins

    Even as the All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to pick its presidential candidate for the 2015 general elections, the race of who gets the running mate slot may have been narrowed down to three individuals from the South West and a South South governor barring any last minute change in calculations. Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo reports

    he next two months in the nation’s political arena promises to be action-packed as the two major political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), fine-tune last minute preparations to select their presidential candidates for the 2015 general elections.

    While it’s almost a fait accompli that President Goodluck Jonathan holds the ace as the most likely flag bearer of the PDP, the situation is completely different in the APC where about four aspirants are already being mentioned as serious aspirants ready to slug it out for the party’s presidential ticket.

    According to insiders, in the next few weeks, three of the aspirants, including former Head of State, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari (retd); former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar and Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, will formally announce their interests in the race.

    The candidature of these aspirants, who are all from the North, is being interpreted within the political circles as an unwritten policy of the major opposition party to zone its presidential ticket to the region, even as many party chieftains have severally denied this assertion.

    Regardless of who clinches the APC ticket, leaders of the party, according to sources, are also looking ahead to select a formidable running mate who will complement its candidate and in addition, somebody that is capable of mobilising votes in certain segments considered as critical in winning a presidential election.

    Some of the qualities being considered in the choice of a running mate, The Nation reliably learnt, include cognate experience in the public sector, religious balancing of the party’s ticket and a solid track record to mention but a few.

    Unconfirmed speculations have it that the Senator representing Ondo North in the National Assembly, Prof. Robert Ajayi Boroffice, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Prof. Yemi Osibajo and his former colleague in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Yemi Cardosso are strongly being considered by the party apparatchik for the slot.

    Boroffice leads the race

    Born on April 23, 1949, Senator Boroffice became a lecturer at the University of Ibadan in 1975, and was a Professor of Zoology at the Lagos State University (LASU) in 1986.

    He also held administrative positions at the Lagos State University including Head of Department, Dean of Faculty, and Chairman of the Committee of Deans.

    Boroffice was appointed Coordinating Director for Science in the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) in 1992. His main focus in this job was on biotechnology, Information and Communication Technology and Space Science and Technology.

    He reportedly played a central role in establishing the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).

    In 1999, Boroffice became the founding Director General of NASRDA, a post he held for 10 years. Under his leadership, NASRDA launched two satellites; a low orbit earth observations microsatellite (NigeriaSat-1) in 2003 and a communication satellite (NigcomSat-1) in 2007.

    He also laid the groundwork for the building of NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X, which were launched in August 2011 from Russia.

    In 2004, he was conferred the title of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

    In March 2011, Boroffice was given the 2011 Golden Merit Award in Space Science by the World Federation of Science Journalists.

    He was elected as Senator in 2011 on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) before he defected to the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which merged with two other parties to form the APC.

    Other factors working for him

    Beside his impressive academic and public service career, another factor allegedly working in Boroffice’s favour is the fact that he hails from Ondo State, which is one of the two states in the South-West that will not be under APC rule when the 2015 election takes place next year.

    Ondo is presently controlled by LP, while from October 20 this year; Ekiti State will be run by a PDP-led administration.

    With Boroffice, APC believes it will win the sympathy of the people of Ondo and Ekiti, which share almost the same political philosophy. “This way, what the party lost in the governorship elections in the two states will be regained through the presidential election,” said a source privy to the party’s game plan.

    His faith

    A member of the Foursquare Gospel Church, Boroffice is said to be a strong Christian with links with prominent leaders of the Christian community. This factor, sources say, will come in handy in the battle for votes in the 2015 elections.

    Cardosso in the frame

    Those rooting for Cardosso, a former Vice President at Citibank and former Executive Director at the defunct Citizens Bank, point to his public sector background where he distinguished himself creditably and sound knowledge of the economy.

    Profile in brief

    Cardoso runs an investment banking business, FBC Associates. He has over 15 years of banking experience with Chase, Citibank and Citizens International Bank.

    He was a Mason fellow at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. In 1999, he was appointed the first Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Lagos State.

    In this capacity, he championed the reform process creating awareness of the challenges of managing the world’s 6th largest mega city. He has forged working alliances with several donor agencies including World Bank, Clinton Foundation, the Department for International Development (DFID), and Swedish International Development Agency.

    The former banker currently sits on the Board of Directors of several companies, including Harvard’s Kennedy School (HKS) Alumni, Chevron Oil Plc, Sun International, Africa Policy Institute (API), a Massachusetts- based think tank.

    He is also the Chairman of Citibank’s Board Audit Committee and the Project Steering Committee of the World Bank’s Lagos Metropolitan Development and Governance Project (LMDGP). He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers in Nigeria.

    Cardoso holds a Bachelors degree in Finance and Accounting from Aston University, United Kingdom and a Masters degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.

    His drawback

    As attractive as his resume is, Cardosso’s lack of political experience is seen as a factor that may work against him.

    “He is not cut out for politics and also lacks what it takes to mobilise votes for a party,” said a source while analysing Cardosso’s major weakness.

    Osinbajo not keen

    In the last few weeks, the name of Professor Yemi Osinbajo has been mentioned as a possible running mate to whoever wins the APC presidential ticket. But sources close to him said he may not be keen on the appointment.

    However, those who tip him for the job say beside his enviable educational and professional pedigree, Osinbajo is also well respected within the Christendom. A pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of Nigeria (RCCG), Osinbajo is also well respected for what many call his unimpeachable integrity.

    A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Senior Partner in the law firm of Simmons Cooper Partners, his tertiary education was at the University of Lagos and the London School of Economics and Political Science obtaining the LLB and LLM degrees respectively.

    He was appointed Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in 1999 and reappointed for a second term in 2003. During the period of his public service, he commenced the Lagos State Justice Reform project.

    A prominent feature of that project was the establishment of the Directorate for Citizens’ Rights (DCR), which provides free legal services and legal representation to indigent citizens of the state.

    Prior to that appointment, he was the Head of Public Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos. Between 1988 and 1992, he was the Special Adviser to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    He also served as a staff member of the United Nations and Member of the United Nations Secretary General’s Committee of Experts on Conduct and Discipline of UN Peacekeeping personnel around the globe. He is currently an Ethics Advisor to the Ethics Committee of the African Development Bank (ADB) and is a non-Executive Director of Citibank.

    Osinbajo is Co-founder and Board Member, Convention on Business Integrity and the Justice Research Institute Ltd. He has also authored several law books.

    In 2007, Osinbajo and his wife, Oludolapo, the grand-daughter of late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, founded ‘The Orderly Society Trust’, a non- governmental organisation dedicated to the promotion of Christian ethics and orderliness.

    Other options before APC

    While the three aforementioned trio are from the South-West region, sources revealed that the APC is also considering the possibility of picking its running mate from the South-South geo-political zone.

    And the man considered the frontrunner for the slot is the Rivers State helmsman, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, who, since he defected to the APC last year, has proved a formidable foe for the ruling PDP both in his state and at the federal level.

    Time is fast ticking as the nation awaits, what from all indications, would be the most keenly contested presidential election ever.