President Goodluck Jonathan had more hurdles to scale in realising his
yet-to-be declared second term ambition than just clinching the
presidential ticket of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Lamido, who is speculated to be nursing a presidential ambition, while
fielding questions from journalists at the Jigawa State Government
House, Dutse, said the president would have to win the
2015presidential election to make his ambition a reality, irrespective
of the posturing by his supporters who are threatening others over his
re-election.
His counterpart in Niger State, Dr. Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, has also
said the North, which hasindicated interest to reclaim the presidency
in line with the PDP zoning policy, which was disrupted by the death
of the late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, would negotiate well to
protect its interestin the 2015 elections.
The scheming for the realisation of Jonathan's second term ambition is
at the root of the multifacetedcrises bedevilling the ruling party and
is considered as the major factor responsible for the leadership
crisis in the party, which has led to the resignation ofsome members
of the party's National Working Committee (NWC).
Efforts to reconstitute the NWC, with the plan to hold a special
national convention at which new NWC members will be elected, have
been stalled by a crisis of confidence among the party leaders.
Already, the list of Adamawa State delegates for theconvention is
causing ripples as the name of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar,
who vied for the party's ticket along with Jonathan in 2011, is
missingon the list.
On Jonathan's rumoured second term bid, the Jigawa State governor
warned that the continued agitation by elder statesman and Niger Delta
leader,Chief Edwin Clark, and ex-militant, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, that
the president must serve a second term violates the electoral tenets
of democracy.
He said: "If you are saying his party must give him the ticket, it is
okay. They can say so. But it doesn'tmean he is going to win the
election. But when you say he must win the election, then what are you
talking about?
"And this old man... in 2011, the name Edwin Clark,was not part of the
PDP vocabulary. But look at it today, it has become the main
vocabulary. And what is the qualification? Emotion and sentiments."
According to him, it is the electorate, and not ethnic chauvinists
that have the power to decide who rules.
He added: "When before the election somebody is saying 'our son must
serve a second term', while second term comes after election what you
are sayingis a factor of the election.
"But when you say he must win the election, why then do we have democracy?"
Lamido explained that considering his status in the society, Clark
should be circumspect when making public statements on Jonathan's
political future, stressing that the issue on ground is about politics
and the PDP and Clark had no contribution to the emergence of Jonathan
as president.
He said: "It is about politics and about PDP and he(Clark) had no
input in making the president. He met Jonathan as a finished product,
not as a raw material.
"That was why I said Edwin Clark was never part of the PDP vocabulary
in 2011. Was he? Absolutely not!"
He compared Clark and Dokubo's campaign to that of the late Chief Bola
Ige, Afenifere and the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which
hesaid were not involved in the pre-June 12, 1993 negotiations but
took the glory for championing the actualisation of the annulled
election.
"It is just like Bola Ige of blessed memory and others in Afenifere
and NADECO. When we talk about June 12, they were not anywhere near it
on June 11.
"That is my worry - that people don't reckon with history. People who
take advantage of a national effort and kind of appropriate it. Where
were they onJune 12?
"It is the same thing we are going through now. Asari Dokubo and
Clark, where were they in 2010? Where were they when PDP held its
primaries? Theywere not there. So they must not diminish Nigeria.
"It is true the Nigerian president must come from a tribe, a village
and a zone, but by the time you get there, you are absolutely a
Nigerian," he said.
He therefore noted that since Nigeria provided Clarkthe opportunities
and he has grown to the ripe old age of 86, he should also provide
younger Nigerians similar opportunities.
"Nigeria made him grow till 86 and secure; is he giving the same hopes
to younger Nigerians to be 80? Is he giving it to those who are 10
and 20 nowby his pronouncements?
"Is he giving them hope to be what he is to Nigeria,because Nigeria
made him. He was a minister," he noted.
On whether he would run for the presidency, Lamidosaid the occasion
was not ripe for such a decision.
"This country is applying democracy with idiosyncrasies and our own
peculiarities. That is not the turn of the person yet. It is the
Nigerian chemistry you have to look into, which has been hijacked by
people who manipulate it with differences.
"Today, if you go to somebody in the South-south, hewould say 'my son
is there, he must be!' It would not matter whether that man is killing
him. So, first and foremost, the Nigerian chemistry, is it
thoroughlyhealed?
The elite are they honest enough? The people, are they courageous
enough to do the right thing?" he asked rhetorically.
Also at the weekend, the Niger State governor, speaking on the
political future of the north, said the geopolitical zone would
negotiate properly with anyone who intends to be president in 2015 to
safeguard the region's interest.
According to Aliyu, who made the remarks during the inauguration of an
office complex for federal workers in Enagi, headquarters of Edati
Local Government Area of the state, the north will have to negotiate
in the interest of its people.
The governor, who denied advocating that only northerners should run
for the presidency in 2015, added that the zone was prepared to follow
whoever is duly elected president in the next election.
Aliyu warned those planning to introduce politics of religion in the
state to desist, as the state would not accept such a divisive
strategy.
"Here in Niger, we do not play politics of religion assuch attitude
would negate the development drive of the state and the country at
large," he added.
Meanwhile, Atiku may not vote at the special nationalconvention of the
PDP to elect NWC members, as his name was not on the list of delegates
that the state chapter of the PDP in his home state, Adamawa,
submitted to the Special National Convention Committee, chaired by
Prof. Jerry Gana.
The state chapter of the party has been mired in a crisis following a
power struggle that has pitted the party National Chairman, Alhaji
Bamanga Tukur, against the state governor, Admiral Murtala Nyako
(rtd).
The list of delegates from the state was signed by thefactional state
chairman, Joel Madaki, who is loyal to Tukur.
The list contains Nyako's name but it is different from the list of
delegates that attended the March 20,2012 national convention which
featured Atiku's name.
The PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), at a meeting on June 20,
2013 had directed that the delegates of the March 2012 should be the
same delegates for the special national convention.
The March 2012 delegates' list was signed by Kaugama Mijijinwa, who is
a Nyako loyalist, as state chairman. The new list signed by Madaki
also did not contain the name of Mijijinwa as a delegate.
The omission of Atiku's name came just as Gana has decided to move the
meetings of the convention committee to his private office in Wuse 2,
Abuja.
All meetings of any committee set up by the PDP NEC usually hold at
the national secretariat of the party, or the Legacy Building in
Maitama, which serves as an alternate office.
THISDAY gathered that the decision to move the meeting of the special
convention committee to Gana'soffice is as a result of the power
tussle between the committee and the party's NWC.
Though the party has tentatively slated August 20 forthe special
convention, information from the party secretariat showed that the
election might not hold in August.
Indeed, a new date for the special convention appears to be shrouded
in secrecy as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)told
THISDAY that no date had been communicatedto it on the convention.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told
THISDAY that the only letter before INEC was the one signed by Tukur
informingthe commission that the special convention had been put off.
The Electoral Act requires all political parties to givethe commission
21 days notice of their conventions or conferences. This is to enable
INEC monitor the convention.
Irrespective of this position, the PDP leadership has undertaken some
restructuring and directed directors at the party's national
secretariat to swap positions.
For instance, the former Director of Youths, Uche Igwe, who served for
15 months as special assistantto Tukur was last week named the
Director of Organisation and Mobilisation of the party.
The Directorate of Organisation and Mobilisation is the engine room of
the party during any election.
Igwe replaces Adewale Fatana who has been movedto the Research Directorate.
Also, the former acting Head of Research, Chinwe Nnorum, has been
appointed Director General of thePeoples Democratic Institute (PDI).
No comments:
Post a Comment