Friday 17 April 2015

Spoils of Office: Arewa unravels

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By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
The political philosophy of one North had in the past been successfully used to browbeat the other parts of the country in the sharing of the spoils of electoral victory. Now the North is split into its components over the sharing of the latest spoil of victory.
The top hierarchy of the All Progressives Congress, APC had for long resolved that it would not count the chicken before they were hatched. It was a reasonable assumption as before the elections no one contemplated the level of victory that the party subsequently  harvested. With Hurricane Buhari having made landfall and swept the once dominant Peoples Democratic Party, PDP into near irrelevance, the APC is now set to determine the primary occupants of the top offices in the presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives.
With the president coming from the Northwest and the vice-president coming from the Southwest, the allocation of the next political offices in the order of protocol, the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and their deputies would have to be resolved among the four other contending geopolitical zones.
The matter has, however, been made a little bit easier by the fact that the Southeast and the South-South did not return any APC senator putting the two geopolitical zones out of contention on the issue of Senate President. One or two members of the House of Representatives were, however, returned from the two geopolitical zones on the ticket of the party. But given the lightness of the party’s victory in the two zones it would have to be a serious challenge for the two zones to be able to produce a presiding officer of the House.
It is thus not surprising that the North-Central and the Northeast have become the two major contending geopolitical zones battling for the office of Senate President.
Remarkably, both zones have the same number of senators; 14 apiece with equally very powerful contenders waiting on the wings to clinch the post.
Formidable contenders
•Buhari
•Buhari
Among the most formidable contenders are the incumbent Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and Senator Bukola Saraki, all from the North Central and from the Northeast are the likes of Senator Danjuma Goje and Senator Ahmad Lawan each of whom have their particular advantages and baggage that they could help or shoot down their aspirations.
Campaigners from the Northeast are pushing their zone on the basis that the North-Central Zone should be ruled out on the claim that the latter has held the position in the last eight years in the person of David Mark from Benue State. It is an argument that is bound to find resonance among many. However, that argument is bound to be challenged by those who claim that the commonality of culture and religion that makes it difficult to distinguish the people of the Northwest from those of the Northeast would be too hard for other geopolitical zones and cultures to swallow. It is an argument that would tend to push the argument in favour of the North-Central which even though part of the North, can claim a separate cultural identity in a way that the Northeast cannot do.
Besides, unlike before when the North-Central was a fertile ground for the PDP, the APC led by its leaders like Senators Akume and Saraki almost successfully engineered the disappearance of the PDP from the region and could as such boast of having a big hand in the victory of the party.
But coming down to the North-Central the perceived aspirants would have to settle among themselves and it would not be surprising if supporters of Saraki and Adamu tell those of Akume that Benue State has had its fair share of Senate Presidents from Senators Iyorchia Ayu, Ameh Ebute and now to David Mark’s record eight-year grip on the office.
But it is to Akume’s advantage that he is the present APC leader in the Senate, a position that puts him in good reckoning for consideration.
Besides the geopolitical considerations, party leaders are also expected to consider balancing the spoils among the four major political tendencies that joined forces to push the APC to electoral victory. The major forces were the three legacy parties, namely, the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP and the new Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP.
The CPC presently has the president in the person of General Muhammadu Buhari, the ACN has the vice-president, in the person of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo while the ANPP has its portion in the national chairmanship of the party as represented by Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. It is thus not surprising that the nPDP tendency consisting mostly of the five governors who left the PDP to join the APC in November 2013 would project the senators who came with them such as Senators Saraki, Goje and Abdullahi Adamu for the top position.
Given the determination of the North-Central to edge the Northeast out of the running for the Senate President, it is not surprising that a number of stakeholders from the Northeast are now grasping for the office of Secretary to the Government of the Federation. That itself is another argument as some from the Northeast are asserting that the zone’s aspiration for the slot of the SGF should not preclude it from canvassing for any of the four presiding officer positions in the National Assembly.
The stakeholders from the region are pushing the claim that the last time that a president from the Northwest was president, (Umaru Yar‘adua) that someone from the Northeast, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe was appointed as the SGF.
Despite suggestions that the position of SGF may have been zoned to Governor Chibuke Amaechi, the director-general of the campaign, some from the Northeast are already projecting candidates for the position, among whom is the famed bureaucrat, Ambassador Ahmad Jidda, the incumbent secretary to the Borno State Government.
In canvassing the aspiration for the SGF, the Save Borno Now, SABORN, affirmed that the position was of more relevance to the zone than the Senate presidency or speakership  of the House.
The group in a statement signed by Alhaji Kolo Maisandari and Bukar Tahir, as Chairman and Secretary respectively said: “We are not new to the politics of Borno, just as we are not new to the politics of the region. Recall that we were the first group to raise the alarm in 2010 that the then Borno governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, plans to foist his kid brother on the people of the State. When we raised the alarm then, many did not believe us. But events later vindicated us.
“We have carefully followed the debates in the newspapers, and we have also read the positions being canvassed by some APC chieftains from the North-East. Only recently, one of them said the position of the Senate President or that of the Speaker would help in rebuilding the region.
“But we beg to differ. If you are talking about rebuilding the North-East region, an SGF position would better serve that interest. And we think if the region is lobbying for that position, we don’t think it is too much. After the North-West, the North-East was another region in the North that gave the APC block votes. So compensating the region with that position will not be too much.
“Most importantly too, APC must avoid the mistake the PDP made, under the Jonathan’s administration, by not allowing technocrat to occupy the position. That position will be better managed by a technocrat.
“Recall that under late Yar’Adua as President, the position was also giving to the zone. So if you talk about history, there is a precedent, where we had a President from the North-West, and the SGF, from the North-East. So there is nothing unusual about our demand. We hope and pray our elders and politicians would listen and work hard, so as to ensure that the position does not elude us. And if when the party decides to listen to the voice of reason, we have a credible and well-experienced man from Borno, who fits the bill. He is Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda, a loyal party man, who is unarguably, the longest serving SSG, Secretary to State Government, SSG, in the entire country. He has occupied the position since 2005,” the group, added.
Battle Ground Zones
  • North central and North East have 14 senators each
  • North Central has always produced the Senate president but in Benue
  • North East has cultural similarity to Northwest
  • North East stakeholders want SGF

How Obasanjo destroyed PDP (1) (2)

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By Ochereome Nnanna
OUR people have a saying: “o na abu agbachaa oso a guo mile” – after the race you count the number of miles you covered. Now that the presidential race has been concluded, we can begin to ask ourselves what happened, why they happened and what they portend for our political system, democracy and good governance. A new party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and brand new president, General Muhammadu Buhari, are waiting to assume power at the centre, we can start asking those questions right now.
Obasanjo
Obasanjo
Why did the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lose the presidential and National Assembly elections? Why did the unthinkable happen, whereby the incumbent president, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, failed to get re-elected for a second term? Why has the erstwhile “largest party in Africa” shrunk to the “largest opposition in Nigeria”? Why did the PDP which, in its heydays in power and glory used to boast that it would rule for sixty years, lose out after only sixteen years? Why did PDP suddenly die in Northern Nigeria? Why is it waxing stronger in the South East and South-South while making a marked resurgence in the South West?
There is a quote I found very profound the moment it was invented. Ever since, each time I apply it to an unfolding situation, it always fits. In 2001, when former President Olusegun Obasanjo was trying to get rid of the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Umar Ghali Na’Abba, reportedly he told Obasanjo to his face: “Mr. President, look into the mirror. You will see the trouble with Nigeria there!” Obasanjo who ruled Nigeria for eight years with the PDPis the man who almost single-handedly destroyed the Party. Other factors that worked against the Party merely rode in the wake of his annihilating power.
The PDP was formed by the remnants of the political forces that were thrashed by General Muhammadu Buhari after he seized power in 1984. They had gathered to save Nigeria’s democracy from Abacha, who had intended to transmute into a civilian life president and become another Omar Al Bashir of Sudan or Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. They included Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Chief Solomon Lar, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Chief Bola Ige and others. Unfortunately, the military and the Northern political establishment decided to impose General Olusegun Obasanjo, who was in jail, on the party in order to assuage the hurt they inflicted on the Yorubas over their annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
When Obasanjo took over, he did not understand (nor care about) the mission and vision of that political movement. He could not institutionalise its ideals, manifestoes and programmes. Instead, he made it the hottest vehicle for achieving political power. One of the ways he achieved this was by ensuring that the burgeoning opposition parties such as the All People’s Party (APP) and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) never survived let alone thrived.
Obasanjo, in cahoots with General Ibrahim Babangida, sent moles such as the late Admiral Augustus Aikhomu and later on, Chief Don Etiebet, to emerge as National Chairmen of the APP, and after destroying that party, they returned to PDP. He enticed the pioneer National Chairman of the APP, Alhaji Mahmood Waziri, into what he called the “Government of National Unity” (GNU) in 1999, and the party became rudderless. Later, he did the same with the late Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, former National Chairman and later, running mate of General Buhari of the All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP). These were the methods he used to weaken the main opposition, ANPP.
The other opposition party and alliance partner of the APP, the Alliance for Democracy (AD),was not spared. Obasanjo, in his so-called 1999 GNU, invited Ige to become his Minister of Justice and Attorney General. But in December 2001, just when the political atmosphere towards 2003 was beginning to warm up and Ige was getting ready to revive the AD, he (Ige) was brutally murdered in the presence of his security details. Till date, the killers have never been identified and brought to book. It was one of the celebrated political murders of the Obasanjo era that he has yet to account for.
Obasanjo also infiltrated the ranks of the rather gullible leadership of the Yoruba Afenifere. He convinced them to support him and give him the home base he needed to assert his leadership in his Party. Afenifere fell for this bait, campaigned for Obasanjo and the PDP won the South West States in 2003, except Lagos, where Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu, who refused to go along with the plot, held sway. The AD and its Afenifere socio-cultural guardian later collapsed. Tinubu, a very astute and visionary politician, formed a new political party, the Action Congress (AC), which later became the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which, in turn, became the locomotive or lead facilitator of today’s victorious All Progressives Congress (APC).
Before I go on, let us briefly discuss the lessons of these political crosscurrents. If PDP, as currently embodied, wants to survive and bounce back soon, it MUST resist any offer of “Government of National Unity”. It is a poisoned chalice which Obasanjo used to kill the opposition and make the PDP a self-destructive monster. Its defeat at the just-concluded election could be the elixir it needs to repower and bounce back. But that can only happen if the party shuns the temporary lures of office and favours that the APC federal government might dangle in the name of a “unity” government.
PDP and long throat politics
Take it or leave it, the APC has won the election to operate the federal government for four years. It must be allowed so to do. It can then take the accolades and blames for its performance or non-performance. The APC Federal Government will be doing Nigerian a great disservice if it adopts the “monkey come chop banana”tricks Obasanjo used to emasculate the opposition between 1999 and 2007, and PDP will be the greater fools if they fall for the trick. They will rob themselves of the bounce-back impetus. If they yield to “long-throat” temptations, Nigeria will lose the PDP as the alternative to the APC and we will return to the evils days of a dominant one party system.
Having destroyed the opposition, Obasanjo, not having the benefit of the political tutoring of the original founding fathers of PDP, could not build a party based on anything. The PDP stood for nothing. There was no PDP way of running the economy, the social services, infrastructural development; in short no PDP way of governing. PDP became relevant only as the most viable party to contest and win elections. Those who lost elections in PDP went to other smaller parties to try their luck. Whether they succeeded or failed, they ultimately returned to the PDP. That was the ignominious fate that ambitious politicians like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar suffered.
One of the reasons that PDP collapsed in Northern Nigeria was that APC in 2014, became the party where people could run to and win elections, unlike before when there were no other alternatives. Certain factors led to the APC being seen as the new preferred party in Northern Nigeria. Invariably, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had a BIG hand in it! He did it by employing the chicken’s strategy. Our people say: “ihe okuko na erigh, ya abosaa”- whatever the chicken does not eat, it will scatter. See you on Thursday.