Symbol of Nigeria’s ruling party…disgruntled members opt out of the cover
President Goodluck Jonathan, Saturday, said that the 14-year-rule of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was a blessing to the Nigeria. In a speech to the Special National Convention of the ruling party, Jonathan hailed the numerous achievements in many sectors of the country including communication, power, education and transportation as milestone strides that only those in opposition have refused to acknowledge. In a rousing speech at the special event, the president described the task before the party as one that is “difficult, thankless but ultimately rewarding.”
But the speech did not stop six governors present at the occasion from walking out on other party faithful to form a parallel faction of the ruling party.
Before the president’s speech, senior party officials, including the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Obong Godswill Akpabio, had, in remarks at the Convention floor, reemphasized the need for unity and support for him. While noting what he described as the seeming grievances brewing among party men, Anenih, promised to work harder towards reconciliation. As if he anticipated the ensuing walk-out, Tukur called on the party faithful to be on the watch as he stated that the party’s troubles were far from over.
In his speech, Jonathan held that the PDP had since its ascension to power in 1999, recorded numerous successes in the different sectors of national life. He also subtly poked fun at the opposition, contending that the PDP had remained the same without changing identity, flag, or name. Apparently referring to the Lagos State government, he also said that the PDP governor would focus on tackling poverty and destitution rather than attacking destitute persons. He thanked members of the former National Executive Committee, NEC, of the party who resigned to make way for the election of members of the new NEC describing their action as in line with the party’s belief in the rule of law.
“They are patriotic party members unlike others who drag the party to unnecessary litigation. We commend them and promise that the party will reward them. We are here fellow delegates in obedience to due process. We are confident that all those who will be elected today into positions of responsibility entrusted with the mantle of leadership within the party will work diligently as one team. The party has provided a level playing field for all contestants to demonstrate their readiness for this call to service.”
The president recalled how the party has survived because of its tendency towards internal democracy:
“Of the three political parties registered in 1998, and I want you to listen, only PDP has retained its singular identify and core vision as a political movement till date while others have been imploded along the way or subsumed their identity in search of political direction and relevance. The PDP has remained a strong fortress of hope for our people but remained focused on building a greater Nigeria, one that can afford this generation and the generation to come better life,” he recalled
The President pointed out his party’s major achievements with the nationwide telephone penetration which, he said, improved from “400,000 in 1999 before the PDP came on board to over 120 million today. Our telecom sector has grown to be the biggest in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world providing jobs for millions of Nigerians and creating a new generation of successful entrepreneurs and industrialists.”
He also noted the progress in the banking industry which, he said, has flourished as well as did the education sector even as according to him, “critics never want to acknowledge”. In addition to what he claimed was the progressive revival of primary education, he said the country witnessed the construction of over 120 Almajiri primary schools and the establishment of nine federal universities across the country.
The President also had words for those who visit the federal capital but fail to acknowledge what he described as the state of the art road network leading into the city: “Our belief is that our critics don’t come into Abuja through our airport, (otherwise) they would see the airport road. If they drive round Abuja, they would have seen the outer lanes and others. We have changed the face of Abuja”, he said.
“Under the PDP government we have embarked on massive infrastructural development that all the geo-political zones are being linked up and people are acknowledging that driving across the country is now less painful. Though we are yet to get to where we want to, surely PDP will lead Nigeria to where we want to go.”
In apparent shot at the recent removal of some destitute persons from the All Progressive Congress, APC-controlled Lagos to Anambra State, Jonathan said:
“We recognise Nigeria as one indivisible entity, we deplore ethnic distrust among our great people. For we are one people under one umbrella in this republic. In the PDP, we fight against poverty not the poor. In the PDP, we attack destitution, not the destitute. In the PDP, we believe in the tenet of democracy and development. This is who we are. We must remain a party of national unity, we must insist on justice and equity. We must insist on defending Nigeria from those who threaten her in words and deeds. We are a nation in God’s hands and we must keep it so.”
But the Reuters news agency reported that seven Nigerian ruling party governors and a former presidential candidate formed a splinter group opposed to President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday, in the most explicit internal threat yet to his assumed bid to run for another term in office.
Nigeria’s ruling People’s Democratic Party has been in power since shortly after the end of military rule in 1998, but it is increasingly riven by internal squabbles, centred around Jonathan’s alleged intention to run again in 2015.
“We address you today as leaders of the PDP, who are worried by the increasing repression, restrictions of freedom of association, arbitrary suspension of members,” read the statement by seven governors and former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
“We consider it a sacred responsibility to save the PDP from the antics of a few desperadoes who … are bent on hijacking the party for selfish ends,” it added.
Many northerners say Jonathan’s running again would violate an unwritten rule within the PDP that power should rotate between the largely Muslim north and mostly Christian south every two terms.
But the president has also made powerful enemies elsewhere, including the governor of Rivers state Rotimi Amaechi, who is from Jonathan’s own oil producing Niger Delta region.
Amaechi was on the list of governors joining the “new” PDP, along with six other governors from northern states.
The open rebellion against Jonathan in his party could lead to more instability as the poll approaches. Violence, always high at election time, may worsen, as rivals use unemployed youth militia to settle scores.
It could also mean that Jonathan’s loyalists will be forced to use state funds to pay off rivals, draining the treasury in a pattern that often sees the country’s savings depleted and debt soar around election time.
In Nigeria’s federal system, governors are some of the most powerful officials in the country. Some control budgets bigger than many African countries, and their votes carry a great deal of weight in selecting presidential candidates.
Amaechi and Jonathan have been embroiled in a spat in the past few months, which worsened when Amaechi was elected head of the National Governors’ Forum grouping Nigeria’s 36 states.
Nineteen governors voted for Amaechi against the 16 who voted for Jonathan’s preferred choice.
.Additional reports from Reuters
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