Guardian

THE Northern Elders’ Forum is a group of prominent Northern elders led by Alhaji Miatama Sule. It has made itself an important factor in several political decisions in the country since 1999. It was the first to suggest the idea of amnesty for the Boko Haram sect, and the Federal government concurred after foot-dragging for months.

Ahead of the 2015 general election, the group has consistently maintained that power must return to the North. Speaking to The Guardian, its spokesman, Prof Ango Abdullahi said Northern governors who are not ready to key into the 2015 Northern Presidency should prepare for the worst. He said the bottomline is that power must return to the North in 2015.

When reminded that some northern governors such as Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State have pulled out of the Northern Governors’ Forum in protest at the outcome of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum election, he said Yuguda can only stop attending the meeting but cannot pull out of the region because Bauchi is part of the North and he cannot take it away.

“We cannot continue like this, but as far as Nigerians allowed themselves to be manipulated along ethnic, tribal and religious lines, there is a price for them to pay and there is a limit of such price.

“As long as we continue to choose charlatans and incompetent leaders, the country will continue to suffer for it. If you listen to people like Tony Anenih, you will understand that what they want is to retain power and abuse it, but we cannot sit down and watch him,” Abdullahi said.

He said Nigerians haven seen at least 12 years of Southern presidency since 1999, with little or nothing to show for it.

“I was deeply involved in the negotiation and gentleman agreement of zoning between the Northern and Southern political leaders in PDP in 1999 that brought Chief Olusegun Obasanjo into power. Unfortunately, the same Obasanjo came out openly to deny zoning when it is convenient for him and President Jonathan. Where is Obasanjo today and where is Jonathan? Treachery and evil cannot triumph for so long,” he said.

On the performance of President Jonathan and 14 years of democracy, Abdullahi described Jonathan’s administration as the worst regime in Nigeria’s history.The Northern Elders’ Forum emphatically declared that the “administration is a disaster to the country.”

Abdullahi also condemned the 13 years of PDP administration, describing it as total failure. He said that the PDP administration is a failure and “has nothing to offer apart from the bloodbath Nigerians have experienced as a result of bad leadership. There is nothing to celebrate on May 29. There should be commiseration rather than celebration”.

He added: “The only solution to these years of misrule and bloodbath is to ensure that President Jonathan and his PDP are not re-elected in 2015”.

According to him, Jonathan will not win re-election based on his poor record of performance. He stressed: “We in the North are not going to support Jonathan in 2015 because he has done nothing for this country since he became president. Things have gone worse than they have ever been during the Jonathan administration.

“I don’t see how he can stand and win an election if you judge him in terms of the social, economic and political indices in the Nigerian environment where we are now. Things have gone from bad to worse since his coming,” he argued

He said it is too early to talk about 2015 now, but argued that President Jonathan and his kinsmen have not helped matters in that direction.

PDP Crises And The Gale Of Suspension

SINCE the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took over power in 1999 with the emergence of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as President on the party’s platform, the party has always been engulfed in a myriad of deep-rooted crises, mainly because of the selfish interest of members.

It has been the struggle for the soul of the party between the governors of the party and the President. It has never been about how to provide the teeming Nigerians with good governance and basic infrastructure as promised during campaign.

Almost two years to the 2015 general election, the party is at it again. At the centre of the present crisis in the party is President Jonathans’ 2015 ambition. Initially, the President denied any plan of seeking second term in office but recently, he said he would make his position known next year.

Even before making his position known, hiss foot soldiers within and outside the Presidency are already campaigning for his second term in office. The president’s body language and tactical support to the group which appears to be loyal to him in ongoing crisis in the party, leaves no one in doubt that he has already made up his mind to seek second term in office.

A source in the Presidency told The Guardian that the President made up his mind to contest second term immediately he was elected in 2011 general election.

“Since his election in 2011, he has been working with some forces in the party and some governors to perfect his second term bid. So, Nigerians should not be surprised with what is happening now. Besides, the President has the constitutional right to seek for second term in office,” the source said.

Now, it is a battle between governors and other party chieftains mainly from the North who are against the President’s second term ambition, and those who are in support of it and are seriously working for it.

Many believe that it is a major reason why the President is fighting Governor Amaechi through his proxies. No one knows when and how the battle will end before 2015.

As the crisis persists with the takeover of Obio/Akpor Council Area by security agents, the wheel of government is gradually being grounded in the state. With the alleged impeachment threat against Amaechi, the die is cast, as the state House of Assembly might not sit again as long as the crisis last.

Nigerians saw it in Ogun State during the administration of Gbenga Daniel. Besides, it has been suspension galore in the party. Less than two weeks after the party suspended, Amaechi, the Burutu Local Government Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State has suspended the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, and nine others over allegations of misconduct capable of breeding hatred and anti-party activities.

A statement signed by the Chairman of the PDP, Burutu LGA, Delta State, Pastor Ogeibiri, the Secretary of the PDP, and three others, after a meeting at the council headquarters of the party on Tuesday, said the decision to suspend Orubebe and his cohorts followed a petition received from concerned party men over their activities.

“After a hearing, preliminary to Section 21.4 of the constitution as amended, and by the virtue of the powers conferred on us, the working committee of the party via Section 21.4 of the same constitution, hereby place Elder Godsday Orubebe and nine cohorts on suspension.

“The suspension was triggered by series of allegations of misconduct likely to cause disrepute, hatred, contempt, anti-party activities. Orubebe and the affected nine others are hereby referred to the PDP disciplinary committee in Burutu Local Government for further investigations,” the statement said in part.

It would be recall that Chief Edwin Clark recently criticized Orubebe for nursing governorship ambition in 2015 in the state.

On Wednesday this week, the party leadership suspended Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State. The Guardian learnt that more governors, mainly from the North, will be suspended from the party in the days ahead as security report before the Presidency and the party leadership revealed that the affected governors have been hob-nobbing with the yet to be registered All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of 2015 to the detriment of the PDP.

A member of the NWC of the party leadership told The Guardian that President Jonathan has been advised by the party leadership to ensure that all the governors being identified as moles in the party should be shown the way out of the party in time so that the party will not be caught unawares in the 2015 general election.

According to the member, Wamakko has made an open comment condemning the formation of PDP Governors’ Forum and governor Godswill Akpabio’s leadership of Forum; insisting that there was only one Governors Forum which has Amaechi as its chairman.

“This was immediately after the formation of the PDP Governors’ Forum. When the party leadership queried Wamakko over the uncomplimentary remarks about the party, he refused to address the query.

Since then the party has been watching his activities and stand, the outcome of the recent election of the Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum was a pointer that he has been involved in anti-party.

2015: Anenih At It Again

Two years before the 2015 general election, the Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Tony Anenih who has bestrode the corridors of power like a colossus since the Second Republic, has proposed the party’s automatic ticket for President Jonathan, Governors and the National Assembly members. Many have described the proposal as anti-democratic, but those who know Anenih’s antecedents politically know that he meant his proposal.

Of all the 23 PDP governors, only three are on first terms, namely the governors of Gombe, Bayelsa and Kwara. The rest are on second term which means they cannot seek re-election. So, which automatic tickets are they going to get? Is it that of Senatorial seat? What happens to those occupying the seats on the party’s platform? Will they be pushed out without any ticket?

Expectedly, there might be crisis in the party in the days ahead which might likely overheat the polity. It would be recalled that in 2002, Anenih said that there was no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2003, and that all the PDP governors will get automatic tickets for second term in office. This was even before the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo declared for second term in office.

True to his to declaration, and against all odds posed by some PDP governors and then Vice President, Ahaji Atiku Abubakar, Obasanjo got the party’s ticket and won the 2003 general election with Anenih as his pointsman.

All the 20 PDP governors were given automatic second term tickets except Chinwoke Mbadinuju on Anambra State who was denied ticket to appease the new godfather of Anambra politics, Chief Chris Uba. So, Nigerians should brace up for Anenih’s exploits again in 2015.

Nigerian Governors’ Forum Crisis And Its Attendant Consequences

AS the pro-Jang and pro-Amaechi governors continue to hold unto their positions on the outcome of the recent Nigerian Governors’ Forum election, the wheel of governance and development across the states might grind to a halt before 2015. This is because the governors are now really neck-deep in the intrigues and scheming of 2015 general election. There will be consistent nocturnal meetings in Abuja and political sycophancy and loyalty will be the order of the day. Pro-Jonathan and anti-Jonathan governors will jostle for relevance.

The Northern governors and their Southern counterparts will slug it out to see who will have the upper hand at last. Billions of public fund will go down the drain.

APC Merger And Its Threat

CHIEFTAINS of the yet-to-be-registered All Progressive Congress (APC) such Gen. Mohammed Buhari (rtd), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and others, are already boasting that they will grab power from PDP, but they have not informed Nigerians what they will do with the power if they grab it.

They have been lashing at PDP and PDP has been responding. Even ex-militant, Asari Dokubo, Presidential Adviser on Amnesty Programme, Mr Kingsly Kuku, Chief Edwin Clark and others from South, have maintained that President Jonathan will run for eight years unless heavens will fall.