Opposition parties and prominent lawyers on Sunday blasted President Goodluck Jonathan for recognising the Jonah Jang faction of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
The Action Congress of Nigeria, the
Congress for Progress Change as well as lawyers, including Prof. Itse
Sagay and Mallam Yusuf Ali condemned Jonathan’s action.
The governors had on May 24, 2013, held
an election, where the Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, got 19
votes to defeat his opponent, Mr. Jonah Jang of Plateau State, who
scored 16 votes.
But some governors, led by the Chairman
of the Peoples Democratic Party Governors’ Forum, Chief Godswill
Akpabio, had faulted the election, insisting that Amaechi’s term as the
NGF chairman had ended and chose to recognise the Plateau State
governor, thus splitting the NGF into factions.
Jang faction had on Friday visited Jonathan who recognised Jang as the chairman of the forum.
On Sunday, the ACN said the President’s action was a travesty of democracy.
The ACN, in a statement issued in
Osogbo, Osun State, on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the President’s ill-advised decision had shown
that he had little or no respect for democracy.
The party recalled that Jonathan’s
spokesman had in a statement the day after the NGF election said, “The
President has always shown a willingness to work harmoniously with any
leadership freely and independently chosen by the Governors Forum for
the collective progress and development of all sections of the country
and will continue to do so.
“…President Jonathan trusts that as true
democrats and respected national political leaders, members of the
Governors Forum will quickly resolve the issues and differences amongst
them which emerged yesterday (May 24th) and continue to contribute
effectively to national development as a strong, and progressive body.”
The ACN said, ‘’But it is now clear that
the Presidency’s statement is not worth the paper on which it is
written, that in the Nigerian Presidency, words do not carry their exact
meanings and that the spokesmen for the President speak for no one but
themselves.
“When viewed in the context of similar
deceitful statements by the presidency in the past, especially on the
health of the First Lady, one can see a growing pattern of a lying
presidency, a presidency that likes to hide behind one finger. This is
sad, because without credibility, a President cannot govern
successfully.”
On its part, the CPC said it was clear that Jonathan was behind the Jang group from the beginning.
The CPC spokesman, Fashakin, who spoke
with one of our correspondents, said the President did not believe that
Amaechi would help him in his second term ambition.
He said, “The deception did not travel
for too long. President Goodluck Jonathan’s endorsement of Jang as the
‘elected’ Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum has finally exposed
the source of the contrived crisis in the NGF.
“President Jonathan did not believe that the Rivers Governor’s re-election would be helpful to his own re-election bid in 2015.
“He plotted, using the platform of his
party to truncate Amaechi’s ambition. At first, a new platform for PDP
governors was birthed, with a fierce Jonathan-loyalist in charge!
“For any dispassionate and discerning
observer, this puerile predication of the anti-Amaechi group’s dissent
is laughable and utterly ludicrous.
“This anti-democratic stance should not
surprise anyone familiar with PDP’s brand of democracy. The split in
the NGF was the impetus needed by the leaders of PDP to unveil the plan
for ensuring distortion of the nation’s electoral process hereafter,” he
added.
He appealed to the international
community to take greater interest in Nigeria’s democracy which he
alleged was alien to the President’s brand of what he described as
“deleterious politics.”
Also, some senior lawyers on Sunday condemned the recognition of the Jang faction by the President.
The lawyers who spoke in separate
telephone interviews with our correspondent are Prof Itse Sagay, Chief
Mike Ahamba, Mallam Yusuf Ali and Chief Solo Akuma, all Senior Advocates
of Nigeria.
Sagay stressed that Amaechi faction was
the only legitimate faction of the NGF, and described the Jang-led group
as a “breakaway faction.”
He also faulted Jonathan’s support for the Jang faction.
Sagay said Jonathan did not act like a statesman.
“Everybody knows that there is only one legitimate faction of the NGF and that is the one led by Amaechi.
“For a President it is a big mistake, he
should not take sides. He should have worked with the chairman that was
elected, that is what a statesman President should do, instead he is
now leading those who are contesting against Amaechi.
“He has become a factional leader.”
Ali said the endorsement of the Jang
faction by the President did not come as a surprise, since the crisis in
the NGF was orchestrated by the presidency.
“It didn’t come to me as a surprise; it
was clear to all political watchers and observers that the disagreement
within the NGF was orchestrated by the presidency,” he said.
On his part, Ahamba described the controversy over the chairmanship of the NGF as “much ado about nothing.”
According to him, the NGF is unconstitutional, hence its leadership should be inconsequential.
But Ahamba expressed regrets that state governors could not hold a successful election.
He said, “He (Jonathan) can recognise
anybody he wants to recognise but as far as I am concerned all these
trouble about the NGF is much ado about nothing.
“That organisation has no constitutional locus in this country.
“Why we should spend so much time
fighting over the chairmanship of such a private body that has no place
in our constitution is a surprise to me.”
Akuma said the implication of Jonathan’s action was that he had decided to work with the Jang faction.
But the Presidency, through the Special
Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, on
Sunday justified the endorsement of the Jang faction.
He said the President did the right thing by recognising the man with the majority of followers.
Gulak, in an exclusive interview with
one of our correspondents, said contrary to the lies being fed the
nation, the Plateau State Governor won the NGF election with 21, out of
36 state governors, solidly behind him.
He said that aside from winning the
election, there was no provision for a second term in the constitution
of the NGF up until Amaechi concocted it.
He said, “Governor Jang did not lose the
NGF election, he won the election. Out of 35 state governors, 21 are
queuing behind him. These are mature and responsible people, they can’t
be behind him if he did not win.
“These opposition parties, be it ACN,
CPC or APC, don’t they know simple arithmetic? Jang has the majority
behind him and President Jonathan came out to recognise the man with the
majority.
“The facts are there. The governors are
not dead, they are alive. The President is doing the right thing by
standing behind Jang.
“By the way, there is no room for second
term in the NGF constitution until Amaechi concocted it. It is a shame,
leaders should be truthful.”
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Where did Gulad get his own results? Fake people
ReplyDeleteWhat S A ahmed gulak said is a lie o, how come former Govnr Bukola Saraki did two terms? is he nt 4rm d northern part of country? Nw on Amaech u nw knw that there is no space 4 dt in NGF constitution, What a liar SA to d president
ReplyDeletegulak shutup ur muth,u guys are painting lies on d wall for us,people av done dt b4 unda Abacha,wete are dey now? People av done dt wit Obj's 3rd term even d current BOT chairman but d truth is dt, Dey all FAIL! How do u think evil will win Good in dis country?Neva. Work with Govnr Amechi who clearly won d election period. Both Amechi n GEJ av right to contest,why fighting each other.why......
ReplyDeleteGulak or is it Gulag? has shamelessly confirmed that this Govt. has no plans of conducting anything resembling a "free & fair" election in 2015. Already, their Peoples Demolition (or is it Deception?) Party (P.D.P) is clearly jittery of a unified opposition platform to challenge its dubious dominance at the next General Election, and have therefore demonstrated phoney "Party supremacy" in the notorious P.D.P manner by scandalously recognizing an old looser as Chairman of the NGF. Little wonder the shoeless & clueless one is foolishly playing along! That is the mid-term scorecard!
ReplyDeleteFirst, he (Amaechi) was alleged to have rigged the election. Second, the PDP said they endorsed Jang, thus making him a chairman in a forum where there are Governors from other political parties. Third, according to the NGF so-called constitution, the chairmanship position is only for one tenure. What I'm seeing in all of these is nothing but confusion among those that are supposed to be Role-models. Even Jang, the self acclaimed man of God has involved himself in this show of shame. The President is the Chief of Lie in this case as it is obvious to Nigerians that he is a confusionist.
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