It started with a bang. In no time, its threat to the ruling party became glaring when five governors and 37 members of the House of Representatives joined its rank. Though they have not officially defected, 17 senators are also on their way to the All Progressives Congress (APC). This will make the party have 50 senators as against the Peoples Democratic Party’s 57. The heat is on the PDP, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU
In Saturday, the Save Rivers Movement (SRM) held a rally in Bori, the headquatres of Ogoniland, Rivers State. It all went well. No bullet was fired; no bomb was thrown; no thug vandalised vehicles. Policemen were around to provide security. Six days earlier, the group had planned a similar rally. Chairs were arranged; canopies set up; Channels Television set up its Outside Broadcasting Van (OBV) to broadcast the event live to its audience. Then the devil came down in form of political thugs. They were armed with guns and machetes. They shot at anything in sight. They destroyed vehicles, including the OBV. Many were injured.
At a previous rally by the group, Senator Magnus Abe, who chairs the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), was allegedly shot with a rubber bullet while trying to ask policemen not to disrupt the rally. He is still recuperating in London. Rallies by the Grassroots Democratic Initiative (GDI), an offshoot of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), are never disrupted. The patron of the group and Supervising Minister for Education, Nyesom Wike, was quoted as saying no policeman would stop its rallies. Yet, SRM’s rallies were regularly stopped on the excuse that the group did not obtain police permit, which Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Femi Falana described as alien to the constitution.
In the six days between the Bori rallies, a lot had happened. The All Progressives Congress (APC), of which the SRM is an offshoot, was saddened by the turn of events in Rivers State. After its interim National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja four days after the disrupted Bori rally, it expressed displeasure over the incident and some others. It thus instructed all its members in the National Assembly to block all executive bills, including the 2014 Appropriation Bill.
Addressing a news conference after the meeting, which lasted seven hours, the Interim Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, explained that the decision was because of acts of impunity by the Federal Government in Rivers State.
Mohammed said: “Any cursory observer of events in Rivers State since February 2013 would be left in no doubt as to the culture of lawlessness and impunity being promoted and supported by the Presidency and executed by the State Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu, who has become the de-facto military governor of Rivers State and the sole administrator of PDP in that state.
“In view of the joint resolutions of the National Assembly on Rivers State, and other constitutional breaches by the Presidency, the APC hereby directs its members in the National Assembly to block all legislative proposals, including the 2014 budget and confirmation of all nominees to military and civilian positions to public office, until the rule of law and constitutionalism is restored in Rivers State in particular, and Nigeria in general.”
The decision jolted the PDP. Its reaction was to tag the APC anti-people. The chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Dan Nwanyanwu, also toed the PDP line, accusing the leading opposition party of wanting to foist hardship on the people, a charge the APC denied, saying it was only out to ensure impunity is not stamped on the polity.
Analysts believe that the fruit of APC’s threat is already being felt. They say if not for the decision of the party, the Bori rally would have been disrupted by either the police or political thugs, with the police looking the other way. They faulted the anti-people label being hanged on the party by the PDP and the LP, citing instances where the Republicans in the U.S. blocked some moves of President Barack Obama. A ready example, they said, is the Obamacare, which the Republicans went to great extent to stop, arguing that it is all part of democracy.
The Republicans saw in Obama’s Affordable Care Act the single most unifying issue. Rank-and-file Republicans, especially those who are aligned with the Tea Party movement, despised the new health-care law. They devised strategies to delay, defund or in some other way disrupt the imminent implementation of the legislation.
Mohammed, in a statement yesterday, said the party was only asking that peace should be allowed in Rivers State, adding that critics are only ignorant of the workings of democracy.
He said: “These critics have rushed to judgement without even taking time to study the directive, without understanding that governance is about people, and without caring about the principles of fairness, justice and equity, and they should cover their faces in shame.
‘’We hereby reiterate the directive, which is a product of deep thinking and robust debate within our party’s NEC to save our democracy, and we commend our members in the National Assembly for their unequivocal support for our stand, and for understanding that filibustering or legislative non-cooperation are veritable tools of democracy.”
He said Nigerians, irrespective of their party leaning, who wish to stage a peaceful protest must be able to do so without the police looking away while hired thugs wreak havoc.
The impunity in Rivers made the Senate last Wednesday invite the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, to appear before it to give a situation report. Both arms of the National Assembly have condemned the recurring crisis in the state.
APC…The new power house
Really, the APC is redefining the polity. When it first emerged that key figures in the opposition parties were talking about the possibility of a merger ahead of the 2015 elections, not many gave them a chance. Past efforts had yielded no result. So, little chance was given to the talks. But when it looked like it was becoming real, spanner was thrown in the works, with at least two other organisations claiming the APC acronyms. Eventually, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) settled it and the APC, championed by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, became a reality.
The PDP described it as no threat. Its then chairman, Bamanga Tukur, said the party was still in charge. But its internal crises were snowballing. Seven of its governors were against the way Tukur was running the party. It became glaring when they walked out of a special National Convention and announced a splinter PDP, which became known as the New PDP. It did not take long before the New PDP decided to go with the APC. Of course, some members of the new PDP chose to stay back. Governors Babangida Aliyu and Sule Lamido chose to stay back. But Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and four others defected to the APC, making the number of states in the party’s grip to be 16. PDP has 18.
The defection of the governors also meant their loyalists in the National Assembly would follow suit. The House of Representatives members led the way, with 37 of them leaving in one day, making the APC the majority. Even with the APC losing three members, Aboho Benjamin (Benue) , Abiodun Akinlade (Ogun)and Opeyemi Bamidele (Ekiti), its majority is still assured. To many, Femi Gbajabiamila, Minority Leader in the House, is the defacto Majority Leader. A court order has stalled moves to take over control of the House.
The senators are expected to take the same step this week. 52 senators, spread across PDP and APC, last week wrote Senate President David Mark, advising him to either leave the constituents of the defecting senators to exercise the right of recall or allow the court to determine their fate. The Nation learnt that some senators will defect this week to bring APC’s membership to 50. PDP has 57. In the five-page letter, dated January 20, the senators also reminded Mark that since there is a case on defection in court, it will be prejudicial for the Senate President to declare the seats of any senator vacant. The letter followed alleged pressure on Mark to declare vacant the seats of some PDP senators, who switched camp to the APC. With 52 of 109 senators writing Mark, the power equation in the Senate has become delicate. The 52 senators urged Mark not to succumb to intimidation, which can jeopardise the country’s unity. They warned Mark against circumventing precedence in the Senate on similar matters.
Tough challenges ahead
Indications that this was going to be a tough year for the PDP emerged when last year did not end on a good note. Things may be worse this year if the opposition continues to grow at the pace it did in 2013. Some of the senators expected to join APC are Abe, Senator Bukola Saraki, who announced his membership of the APC through his New Year message, Senator Wilson Ake (Rivers West), Senator Shaba Lafiagi (Kwara North), Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central) , Senator Aisha Alhassan (Taraba North), Ali Ndume (Borno South), Ahmed Zannah (Borno Central) and Umaru Dahiru (Sokoto South). Others are Ibrahim Gobir (Sokoto East), Garba Mohammed (Kano Central), Isa Galaudu (Kebbi North) , Ahmed Alkali (Gombe North) and Hassan Barata (Adamawa South).
Saraki’s message announcing his APC membership reads : “Today, the consequences of the retrogressive and repressive policies of this PDP government by commission or omission has, inadvertently, created a broader space for the emergence of an effective opposition – a key ingredient of a vibrant democracy. A pointer to this is the conditions that have led to the near tsunami-like exodus from PDP to APC.
“I have always believed that our democracy must be built on a party politics of inclusiveness, politics that is embraced by all Nigerians – not some Nigerians. For some of us, it is non-negotiable that our politics must be one based on the rule of law, morality, the principles of public trust and fairness, and most importantly delivering policies that transform the lives of the people we serve.”
He said it was no longer viable to expect the barest minimum of fairness under the PDP. It became inexplicable, he said, to promote democracy within a party where principles must be entrenched.
“This is the premise on which some of us in 2013 left PDP and have since joined APC. This decision though hard was made inevitable by what we saw as the irreconcilable division in the PDP – a party that lacked any semblance of internal democracy; a party that acted with impunity; a party that did not deliver for the people and the country; and a party that threatened to return our country to authoritarianism. Our decision to leave was one borne out of the desire to say no to military democracy and say yes to representative democracy,” he said.
The senator added that with him and other concerned Nigerians defecting to APC, the dream of an effective opposition has been born in the country, heralding the hope of a new dawn on the Nigeria political terrain.
“As a result I believe the dream of an effective opposition has now been born and the hope of a new dawn of a better, fairer, and more prosperous Nigeria where the wealth of our nation is shared equitably with and for all now has the potential to become a reality.
“My hope is that we will have a vibrant opposition party capable of keeping the party in government accountable on behalf of the people of Nigeria. This I believe is the yearning of every well-meaning Nigerian; and I join them in the belief that Nigeria will be better in 2014 and beyond.
“However, I am also convinced that change will only happen if we collectively say no to leadership by selection, leadership by ethnic divide, authority by clannish identity and religious divide. This is what we must stand for. This must be the foundation on which a strong vibrant and fair democratic Nigeria can be realised.”
When the PDP crisis broke out, 26 senators backed the Kawu Baraje faction, which has now become part of the APC.
In a statement, they said: “By this decision that no doubt provides a soothing balm that will calm nerves in the party, you have written your names in gold and will be remembered in our political history as men that stood to save the party and Nigeria’s democracy.
“We heartily rejoice with our patriots and eminent Nigerians led by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar GCON, and the Governors of Kano State, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso, Aliyu Wammako, (Sokoto), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Muazu Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Abdul Fattah Ahmed (Kwara), and Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers), for the bold, swift and courageous step to reposition the People’s Democratic Party under a new leadership.”
Heavy voters’ states
Many of the states now in control of the APC, such as Lagos, Kano and Rivers, are voter-heavy states. Analysts see serious challenges ahead for President Goodluck Jonathan and his party. A member of the APC in Kaduna State, Hajiya Hafsat Mohammed Baba, told the Voice of America (VOA) that the people wanted change. “And that change, the way we see it, is inevitable. It is coming and it will come very soon…. Politics is a game of numbers and we are increasing by the day,” she said.
A political commentator, Abubakar Sufiyan Osa Idu Al Siddiq, also told the VOA: “Definitely, Peoples Democratic Party has never had it so bad because to be elected president of this country even if you have the majority of the votes, the law says that you must have 24 states out of 36, two-thirds of them.”
First time in the cold
Since the country’s voyage into the democratic terrain in 1999, the ruling party has always been in charge of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Even in the first and second Republics, the opposition never had control of any arm of the National Assembly. Now the tide is changing, to the benefit of the APC, which was formed last February following the merger of four opposition parties to challenge the PDP in the 2015 election. The next few months will sure be interesting, starting with the planned take-over of the leadership of the House by the APC, the defection of senators to the APC and other intrigues. And the man in the eye of the storm will be Jonathan, who moved from being vice-president to being the president in 2010 after his predecessor, Umaru Yar’Adua, died in office. He won the presidential election the following year. His road to a second term will surely be rough and tough. No wonder, the fear of APC has become the beginning of wisdom for the PDP.
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What will be will be, the purpose of God for this country will come to past not by APC power or PDP power nor gang up power, as we are praying for this country, the will of God will surely come to pass
ReplyDeleteThe nation belongs a strong member of the opposition party APC;so what do you expect them to say. The analysis is flawed because in the states mentioned for instance as aPc states lagos, rivers and kano the votes are going to be shared because in these states you have equal number of supporters for both parties. APC will not win in rivers despite ameachis shinanigans, lagosians are tired of apc and tinubus antics of imposition and corruption and kano will also be split. So back to square one for APC. lets see if they can tranfer all their newsapaper propaganda into real votes
ReplyDeletePlus when it comes to the shameless art of rigging compared to PDP they are learners.
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