2015: Northern elders, youths endorse Jonathan

By Henry Umoru
ABUJA- AHEAD the 2015 Presidential election, Northern elders and youths yesterday stormed the National Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Abuja to endorse President Goodluck Jonathan for the exalted position, just as they pleaded with him to make himself available and vie.

The elders and youths came under the aegis of three groups, Northern Elders Forum,  North/South New Nigeria Forum, Fresh Air Continuity Group of North West and Northern PDP Youth.

The groups - led by a former Education Minister under the  late Gen Abacha's regime and former Presidential Aspirant of All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, Dr Dauda Birmah,  on a solidarity visit to the PDP national Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur - declared that the North would ever be grateful to the PDP led Government of President Jonathan for creating a conducive atmosphere that made the release of the former Chief Security Adviser to late Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha possible after over 14 years of incarceration.

They however hailed Jonathan over the release from prison of Major Hamza al-Mustapha, just as they promised to get most voters in the north, especially North West to support and vote for him.

Dauda Birma, said "Goodluck Jonathan's leadership has been rated as the best administration so far. With what Jonathan has done in Maiduguri, I can affirm that the city is now safer than most parts of the country".

According to him, Major Mustapha's release would not have been possible by the ordinary fiat of the court if not for the underground work of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and the consent of the executive of the President Jonathan led administration, adding that the Groups decided to come out openly to appreciate the exemplary leadership qualities of the President Jonathan since assumption of office which had been unprecedented in the anal of Nigeria.

He said they were also at the PDP National Secretariat to correct insinuations that the People of the  North especially the North- West Zone were against his  Presidential ambition come 2015, adding that the release of Major Al-Mustapha had further fuelled the supports of the North for the re election of President Jonathan come 2015.

The leaders of the three Groups, Hajia Nana Abdulkadri, Mallam Mohammed Omeri and Ibrahim Mohammed in their remarks expressed their appreciation for the release of the former CSO and acknowledged the roles of the leadership of the Party and the President and as  well dismissed the wrong notion that the  North in general was against the Presidential ambition of Dr Jonathan come 2015.

Responding, Alhaji Tukur said that it was a thing of joy for him for three different Groups to come at the same time to appreciate openly the achievements of the PDP led administration of President Jonathan at this point in time when wrong impressions were being created that all was not well in the country.

According to him, "to me, this is democracy in action, people will agree with you,people will also  disagree with you, we can not see things the same way at all times, when we see good things we should celebrate like these groups are doing now, celebrate good things, celebrate democracy, celebrate justice, don't be intimidated by others, this is your country, hold it firmly".

Our position on Rivers crisis - Presidency

BY HENRY UMORU
ABUJA— The Presidency yesterday declared that the crisis in Rivers State does not pose any threat to the nation’s democracy. It said Nigeria remains peaceful and cannot in any way be threatened by political developments in the State.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja yesterday, Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, said Rivers State is peaceful and calm with residents going about their activities under peaceful atmosphere.

The position of the Presidency on developments in Rivers State icame in spite of the lingering political logjam in the state that resulted in near-impeachment of the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Otelemaba Amachree and a free-for-all in the House penultimate week. The House Leader, Chidi Lloyd; and two other lawmakers — Michael Chinda and Martins Amahule sustained injuries during the fracas.



The Presidency also carpeted the five Northern governors who paid solidarity visit to Governor Rotimi Amaechi, saying they were more interested in political maneuvering and grandstanding at the expense of the well-being of the people in their states. It however commended another set of governors from the South West who paid a similar visit to Governor Amaechi for their statesmanlike advice to the governor towards finding a lasting solution to the political crisis.

Northern govs spreading fear

Okupe said: “We are compelled to react to the unfolding political drama emanating from recent activities of some governors from the Northern part concerning political developments in Rivers State. These political moves, which are clearly intended to create fear, despair and a sense of apprehension among the citizenry are grossly unfounded, misplaced and a deliberate over-sensationalization of the situation.

“We, therefore, wish to state as follows: Insinuations and statements suggesting that Rivers State is on fire are grossly unfounded. So far, as is evident to every discerning observer of political developments, the state is calm and peaceful. Residents of the state continue to go about their various businesses, religious, social and political activities under peaceful atmosphere. A key pointer to the prevailing peace in the state is the fact that Governor Amaechi, the Chief Executive and Chief Security Officer of the state, felt confident enough to travel to the United Kingdom on official assignment. It is doubtful he would have had the luxury of leaving the country if his state is in turmoil as is being canvassed.

“The situation in Rivers State is purely a localized political matter and has no dangerous or far-reaching consequences for the peace and security of the nation. Since our return to democratic rule in 1999, it is on record that not less than 12 states have witnessed incidents of attempted impeachment of speakers of houses of assembly in Nigeria and none has posed any threat to peace and security in the country even when our democracy was not this established.

“Developments in Rivers State do not pose any threat to our democracy. Our democracy remains robust, alive and well. In politics as in every sphere of human activity, different shades of opinion on issues are not uncommon within the polity but often get resolved either politically or through legal channels. It is, therefore, disingenuous for anyone to suggest that the political disagreement in Rivers State would imperil and ultimately derail our democracy.

The Ogun State example

“We recall that in Ogun State in 2010 after series of sustained fracas and attempts at impeachment and counter impeachment, the Inspector General of Police locked up the House of Assembly for several months. In all that time, nobody in the whole country suggested that the situation was a threat to our nascent democracy, and no state governor went on any solidarity visit.

“Nigeria is not in any way in disarray. As is the case in every country of the world, there may be conflicts of ideas and interests here and there, which in itself is the beauty of democracy and should not by any means be construed to mean that there is chaos in the country or that Nigeria is tilting towards anarchy as some people have claimed. Nigeria remains peaceful and is not and cannot in any way be threatened by political developments in Rivers State.

“It is clear that one of the most potent threats to our corporate existence and sovereignty since independence has been the Boko Haram insurgency. This menace has been confronted frontally with strong determination and focus, which has led to decisive action that has brought about the containment of the menace by the Nigerian military and other security agencies. Most reasonable Nigerians would have expected these governors to be deeply concerned and appreciative of the laudable efforts of the Federal Government, which has brought reprieve from fear as well as comfort and solace not only to the people of the affected areas but also to the entire nation and international community.

"Surprisingly, they appear to be more interested in political maneuvering and grandstanding at the expense of the well-being of the people in their states and the stability of the nation at large”.

The Nigeria Governors' Forum

The Presidency also argued that the issue of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) was like the political development in Rivers State which remains essentially an affair of the 36 state governors. According to it “the outcome of elections in the body is inconsequential to the orderly governance of the Nigerian state by the Presidency. The choice of who becomes leader of the body clearly has no significant ramification on the wider political calculation of who becomes President of the country as events in our recent history bear out.

"We note that the chairman of the NGF in 2011 was clearly at odds with the President. He contested and lost the party’s presidential primaries to the incumbent President of the country who went ahead to be elected President by the overwhelming majority of Nigerians. It is clear therefore that occupying the chairmanship of the NGF does not in any way confer any political influence or advantage as regards who becomes President of the country, neither will it be of any major political significance in the 2015 presidential race as is being bandied about erroneously."

On S-West govs

“We note with satisfaction and appreciation, the subsequent visit by five governors and two deputy governors including Governors Fayemi, Fashola, Aregbesola, Ajimobi and Amosun, who demonstrated high and commendable sense of patriotism and genuine concern for the nation, with very conciliatory disposition and statesmanlike advise to Governor Amaechi towards finding a lasting solution to the political disagreements between the governor and members of the state’s House of Assembly.

“We want to assure Nigerians that the Presidency is not involved in the dispute in Rivers State."

OBJ/Jonathan parley: President in crucial talks with Tukur, others

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Umoru Henry & Daud Olatunji
ABUJA— President Goodluck Jonathan, last night, met the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and major party stakeholders as a follow-up to the meeting he had with former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo weekend.

The meeting was aimed at resolving the grouses of senior members of the party. The confusion in the party has led to some Northern governors threatening to leave the party.

Govs to meet IBB, others

Meanwhile, five of the disaffected Northern governors are meeting today with two former heads of state, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Abdulsalami Abubakar as part of their consultations with statesmen on the alleged drift of the party. A meeting with General Theophilus Danjuma is also on the cards, it was learnt.

[caption id="attachment_402483" align="alignnone" width="412"] President Goodluck Jonathan (centre) inspecting parade during the Nigerian Army Day Celebration in Abuja On Saturday (6/7/13)[/caption]

Last night’s meeting which was in progress at press time came as a result of complaints by the former president and the fact that some of the party's big wigs were against the emergence of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

Former President Obasanjo and other stakeholders complained of the crises that have gripped the party since the emergence of Tukur as Chairman.

President Jonathan, it was learnt, used yesterday’s meeting as a feedback to party stakeholders on his meeting with the former president in Abeokuta on Saturday. Among those at the meeting yesterday were Tukur and members of the Professor Jerry Gana-led Special Convention Planning Committee.

The urgency of last night’s meeting, it was learnt, followed insinuations that the PDP could soon implode, especially in the North, given warnings from President Obasanjo that some Northern governors could soon be leaving the party.

Nyako to leave PDP this week

Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State, it is believed could in fact be leaving the PDP as early as this week upon a resolution reached by his associates last week to abandon the party upon alleged ill-treatment from the Tukur-led national leadership.

During the closed-door meeting with Jonathan in Abeokuta, the former president was reported to have expressed strong reservations on the drift of the party and the bare-knuckle tactics employed by Tukur and President Jonathan to deal with their opponents.

Following the meeting between Jonathan and Obasanjo, four Northern governors, who had in the past pledged not to support Jonathan for a second term, met with the former president. All four - Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa) are also close political associates of the former president.

The four governors who arrived Abeokuta on Friday, a night before Jonathan’s visit, it was learnt, opted out of a meeting with Jonathan and arrived Obasanjo’s residence only after Jonathan had departed.

Though the four governors met Obasanjo only after Jonathan had left, it was believed that they had earlier relayed to the president their misgivings through other channels.

One of the issues allegedly raised was the continuing onslaught against Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State since his re-election as chairman of Nigeria Governors' Forum, NGF.

The four governors, it was learnt, also conveyed to Obasanjo the hostility they received when three of them visited Amaechi last week during which they were pelted with stones by supporters of Nyesom Wike, the Minister of State for Education.

In his meeting with Jonathan, Obasanjo it was learnt, conveyed to him the agitation and misgivings of party stakeholders and the determination of some like Nyako to leave the party in the face of continuing antagonism by the national leadership.

Crisis in Adamawa

The party in Adamawa State has been in crisis since the emergence of Tukur as National Chairman with the party factionalised between supporters of Governor Nyako and others lined up behind Tukur.

Nyako was also reported to have told the former president of moves by Tukur to doctor the 2012 list of delegates in such a way that would remove Nyako’s supporters as delegates, thereby denying them a voice in the party.

Northern govs push for Presidency in 2015

The four governors who met Obasanjo, told him of their determination to push one of them (name withheld) for the presidential election in 2015.

Former President Obasanjo had in the run-up to the 2011 presidential election canvassed the election of Dr. Jonathan and reportedly brokered a deal between him and northern political stakeholders. However, Obasanjo is now believed to have distanced himself, following his shocking resignation as chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT).

what we are saying

By Bisi Lawrence
Notice was given earlier in the week that President Goodluck Jonathan would soon announce his interest in contesting the presidential ticket in 2015.

Well, I could have sworn he had already done that to the satisfaction, or dismay, of all his actual and perceived foes included, as well as his cronies and lickspittles. Or else what have all the upheavals and alarums been about?

The toe-to-toe stance between him and the Rivers State Governor, Amaechi, emerging from the grounding of the governor’s plane in Akure, was clear for all to see. It even overflowed to Governor Adams Oshiomhole in Edo State when his own chartered aircraft was suddenly not found airworthy, once the governor was on board.



It came to a head with the improper overt attempt to disrupt the Rivers State legislative assembly. The plan was not really to install a new leadership in the house, since no Nigerian, sane or irrational, would be expected to accept such a brutish and crude scenario offering of a “majority” of five over twice that number.

Of course, a nineteen-to-sixteen “minority” had earlier found accommodation in the President’s political mathematics. What are we talking about, what have we been talking about, if not the election of 2015?

The intrusion of Dame Patience Jonathan into the unsettled environment, for instance, could not have been set out to disabuse the mind of the people about what her husband is heading for. And though it may be considered only natural that any woman may be inclined to promote her husband’s fortunes, a President’s wife is not just any woman.

Even in the grip of the effort to aid her man’s ambition, she is bound to observe the limits of propriety in her involvement. Laying herself open to a charge of “excesses” in her behaviour would, at the least, be counter-productive.

We have had wives of politicians who were overt participants in politics in support of their husbands before now, like Madam Hannah Awolowo, whose decent reputation remained unsullied through the heat of the most searing campaign. This was clearly what Wole Soyinka was trying to bring close to those people who are steadily drifting away from shores of wisdom and good address.

While the problems of Rivers State are waiting to be resolved, it might all the same be worthwhile to note that the decision of the House of Representatives to take over the legislative duties of the Rivers State House of Assembly effectively dealt the State the blow of “emergency rule”.

It is to all intents and purposes of the same content with the situation in the three North-Eastern Sates, which are under de jure emergency rule.

The full exercise according to the law establishing democratic rule has been disrupted, though not to the degree that the planners of the Port Harcourt invasion might have wished. But the exercise of democratic freedom has been curtailed, and it irks me personally that a better way could not have been devised to retain the status quo.

The reactions of people all over the country have shown, however, that they know what democracy is, and that it is what they want. The invaders may suck into a respite at the moment congratulating themselves for their victory, but it is no more than a hollow victory which may sink to even becoming pyrrhic.

What is happening, though, calls for urgent correction lest the miscreants in this particular awful drama begin to feel they could wangle some kind of immunity to cover their gruesome actions. The situation grows more and more serious with each passing day.

Three days ago, a mob gathered to protest and disrupt the friendly visit of three governors of states to Amaechi, their counterpart. Things are coming to a fair turn when a Nigerian, let alone a governor, may not pay a courtesy call on a friend without getting harassed. Is that a dividend of democracy?

The National Assembly must come down and hard on all those had a hand in the attempt to capsize the craft of peace and good governance in Port Harcourt, for that was what existed there before the hooligans intervened.

And first, that is what should be tackled right away – the immediate restoration of the welfare of Rivers State in its entirety. Those who are in charge of security know what to do. And we are saying that they should do it. This situation must not be allowed to get worse, or it may not get better.

 re-visit the tenants’ law

The Lagos State Tenancy Bill was cultivated on a soil of prejudice. It was signed into law in August last year by the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola. It would not be surprising if it matured into a template for most of the other States because the history of development which holds Lagos bound to the aspirations of the other parts of the nation is still very vibrant in our life as a nation.

That is why one should take a good look at it especially in the way it relates the landlord and the tenant as different entities in the society..

The prejudice which nurtured the bill is somewhat universal. It is in the age-old distrust of the wealthy man who is known to be exploitative, powerful and usually the landlord. That notion derives its foundations from the days of serfs and their masters when the mighty routinely oppressed the weak. The masters were the land-owners, of course.

A lot has changed from those days. Human progress and social upheavals have narrowed the distance between the wealthy and the poor, especially in the exercise of individual rights. But it is not yet all square as could be garnered from the universal concepts of decent societies as attested to by Governor Fashola’s statements when he appended his signature to the bill.

“Let us remember,”  asserted the Governor, “that property owners are privileged when compared to tenants. This law seeks change like it is done in all decent societies by asking the privileged to sacrifice a little so that the underprivileged can have a survival chance”. Speaking further about the bill, His Excellency continued, “It seeks to protect the poor and the underprivileged. A society that cannot protect the underprivileged cannot protect the privileged. “

Ah, but it can, Your Excellency. In fact, it often does. But be it far from me to probe the philosophical depths of such a dictum against the assets of your erudition. In fact, the point I am straining myself to make is that a society that seeks to protect the underprivileged, had better also protect the privileged. Both sides are vulnerable, even if the privileged could stand much stronger unaided.

In fact, “the unprivileged” is a classification that tenants have outstripped, especially with the Tenancy Law, in Lagos State. They had committed a series of hurtful practices in the past, and even now, in the fulfilment of the bond that ties them to the landlords, i.e. the rent payment.

One of the measures that the landlords applied for the recovery of their dues in this regard was to demand payment for years in advance. Governor Fashola, with the background of an ancestral home in the Central Lagos precincts of Isalegangan, is of course, conversant with this predicament of landlords in receiving their rents. He referred to the frustrations of the recovery of a property from a tenant who has faulted and disappeared while keeping the property under lock and key.

And yes, that exists, but is no less as irksome as the recovery of the rents owed, which may be speaking to months of non-payment, by the time the property is recovered. The advance rent is also meant to address this problem. The bill does not touch this at all except where the tenant can be apprehended. And then it is the landlord who must bear the burden of going to the court and getting policemen.

The concession made for the benefit of tenants is indeed decent in several areas, but there must be an instrument which constrains them to be responsible.

For instance, a house that is locked for three months before any action can be taken to open it up for the benefit of the owner is definitely not too considerate to his own welfare, because the opening up is in fact, the beginning of his trails. But if the landlord already has some rents in advance, for instance, his loss becomes more bearable.

The official perception of the tenant as a weakling still toddling his way through a feudal terrain is, to say the least, non-operational. Many tenants know how to manipulate the law in their favour — in fact, many of them are bona fide lawyers (if you’ll excuse me) — and a legal instrument intentionally fashioned ab initio (pardon me again) with a bias in their direction, nimbly becomes a veritable weapon in their hands.

When we talk about sacrifices, we should also remember that the landlord must have made some sacrifice too, if only that of investment. The Tenant’ Bill ought to be re-visited, if only to make the landlord a part of the rest, and the tenant a partner of the landlord. Not all landlords are wolves, and not all tenants are innocent lambs.

Time out.

 

Jonathan’s privatisation and misuse of power

By Rotimi Fasan
EVIDENTLY President Goodluck Jonathan, as the Yoruba proverb goes, has eating his fill of his food  and is now actively looking for what will deflate his round belly.

In other words, trouble  sleep yanga go wake am. This is another example of weak breed leaders Nigeria routinely throws up; men heedless of the lessons of history and are therefore doomed to repeat it.

[caption id="attachment_402483" align="alignnone" width="412"] President Goodluck Jonathan (centre) inspecting parade during the Nigerian Army Day Celebration in Abuja On Saturday (6/7/13)[/caption]

His ambition to continue in office beyond 2015, a legitimate one if he so pleases, but without prejudice to the right of other people to the same office- Jonathan’s post-2015 ambition has blinded him to the necessity of recognising he does not hold the patent to the presidency.

But he is gradually going for broke, given the unfolding chaos in Rivers State where a minority of five legislators are bent on imposing their will on 27 others in their determination to oust the current speaker, Olelemaba Dan Amachree from office.

Nobody needs to be told that Nigerians would see the barely concealed hands of Jonathan behind the badly plotted drama in spite of his sneaking out to China on the eve of the event as if that was enough to conceal his involvement.

He has learnt from past masters like Obasanjo and Babangida the logic of flashing a good smile at those already marked for the guillotine.

It was only days before these lawmakers’ drama that Jonathan held Amaechi in warm embrace on a visit to Rivers State.

But Nigerians only need to recall his frosty relationship with Chibuike R. Amaechi, the State governor, to connect Jonathan, rightly or wrongly, with last week’s event in that state where police commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu and Nyesom Wike, Minister of State for Education, have with Abuja’s goading been taking on Amaechi.

Jonathan could claim Evans Bipi and his four accomplices are free agents exercising their democratic rights in seeking to oust Amachree but we are not fools as Doyin Okupe foolishly imagines by his disclaimer of Abuja’s involvement.

Jonathan wouldn’t be a Nigerian politician if he acted contrary to his present behaviour. His misuse and privatisation of power is much in character, a peculiar affliction of Nigerian politicians, including many of his present critics across the political spectrum.

Yet for his own sake and those of the likes of Chief Edwin Clark whose pronouncements sometimes imply Jonathan was born Nigerian president, we need to retrace Uncle Joe’s trajectory to Aso Villa.

And I do this by way of a long excerpt from a piece that first appeared here in the tail end of 2009, after President Yar’Adu’s fateful trip to Saudi Arabia. That piece was titled ‘The good in Jonathan’s luck’-

There’s, perhaps, nothing better than the destiny of a man who has thrust upon him what many struggle, kill or get killed, to get. A man like that would be the envy of his mates. Such is the story of Nigeria’s Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, who in the space of a few years since he became a politician seems to be living to the hilt the full meaning of his first name, Goodluck.

One cannot but emphasise the ‘good’ in VP Jonathan’s name, the truth being that not every luck is good. Some luck can be the very opposite of good, but that’s not the case of Goodluck Jonathan….

But it is a measure of the man’s loyalty or, perhaps, lack of confidence or colour or, indeed, all three that he was virtually railroaded into the substantive position of governor even when it had become clear that Alamieyeseigha had forfeited his claim to the office despite a disgraceful guard of honour mounted for him following his Alcatraz-like escape home. Goodluck Jonathan would have nothing to do with the position of governor of Bayelsa, he continued to prevaricate until it became impossible to pretend he couldn’t be governor in the absence of DSP.

His tenure thereafter did not witness any landmark achievement. As with his present position as Vice President, the only thing remarkable about his time as governor of Bayelsa, aside trying to prove loyal to Alamieyeseigha even in jail, was the complete lack of charisma or remarkable achievement.

But governor Jonathan became and not longer after that the race started for the 2007 presidential election. Several prominent politicians from the aggrieved Niger-Delta showed their interest, including Dr. Peter Odili and ‘fine boy’, Donald Duke. Given their closeness to the ultimate kingmaker then in Nigeria, the man who had the knife and the yam, President Obasanjo, many expected either of the two men, especially Odili, to clinch the prize as PDP presidential candidate.

But the wily farmer had something else up the folds of his agbada. And so it was that he sprung ‘Umooru’, Musa Yar’Adua, lately governor of another laidback state, Katsina, on Nigeria….Yar’Adua had neither indicated interest in the race nor was he one of the frontrunners. But Obasanjo knew best. And to complete the surprise mainly he and, maybe, a few other cultists in the PDP chose Goodluck Jonathan, just a few months before deputy governor of Bayelsa, as his running mate.

The unlikely pair from the PDP, both former school teachers, went on to win the race respectively for Nigerian President and Vice President in 2007. The administration had hardly been inaugurated when signs started showing that another good luck was in the corner for Jonathan, to wit, that he might sooner than later become Nigeria’s president.

The reason was no other than that from even the campaigns, candidate Umar Yar’Adua had, on account of his fragile health, shown remarkable incapacity for the position he was aspiring for. The campaigns had no sooner taken off than he was bundled off to Germany for medical attention. He has since been in and out of hospital several times, the latest being in Saudi Arabia.

With about 18 months left of their first term and the President again in hospital, many Nigerians, including the prominent and not-so-prominent have been calling for his resignation and attention has once more shifted on the man who is constitutionally positioned to take over in the event President Yar’Adua chooses to go take a deserved rest in order to fully take care of his health….the moment he chooses to leave the office on any of the grounds prescribed by the Constitution, the man to take over is his deputy and that happens to be Goodluck Jonathan...Should Jonathan then emerge president, it would be yet one more good in his luck. ‘’

Perhaps Jonathan’s waterloo, not his luck, is upon him. Let him who stands watch it!