Ibrahim Babangida on Tuesday spoke of the possibility of him quitting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) unless it adheres to the zoning principle, tacitly confirming media reports that he may defect to another party in his bid to return to Aso Rock, from where he stepped aside in August 1993.
Indeed, there will be vacancy in the Villa in 2011, insisted Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President now Presidential aspirant in the PDP.
Atiku asked Nigerians to discountenance claims to the contrary floated by former PDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Tony Anenih, whom he described as a political “dead duck” struggling for relevance.
Atiku issued a statement through his Campaign Organisation in Abuja in reaction to Anenih’s declaration in Benin that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2011.
He said Nigerians “should be wary of the utterances of Anenih” because “Sovereignty lies with the people and not with Anenih (who) does not have the mandate to speak on behalf of the people who are yet to cast their votes in the 2011 elections.”
He recalled that “No Vacancy” was the same battle cry Anenih used to win favour with the late Head of State, Sani Abacha; and former President Olusegun Obasanjo; and is now using it to support President Goodluck Jonathan to reclaim relevance.
The statement wondered how Anenih “who has no political space in his home state of Edo because of his widespread unpopularity,” can promise the Presidency to someone else.
It described Anenih as a drag on democracy, and countered that it is ridiculous for him to say that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock when Jonathan himself has pledged to conduct free and fair elections.
“If indeed, the Presidency is not vacant, then there is no reason to conduct a Presidential election in 2011 because the winner is already known, according to Anenih’s odd theory of democracy,” the statement said.
It warned Jonathan to distance himself from Anenih and his type or risk losing credibility in his promise of free and fair elections.
According to the statement, Anenih has no credibility in the political life of Nigeria because of his record.
Describing Anenih as “an unstable politician,” it recalled how he abandoned the late Moshood Abiola to his fate after Abacha took over as Head of State in November 1993.
“As the Chairman of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) on which platform Abiola contested the election, he (Anenih) chickened out rather than fighting like a man to defend Abiola’s mandate,” the Campaign noted.
“He was an opportunist who fixed an appointment for himself with the Abacha military regime while Abiola was languishing in jail.
“And while serving the Abacha administration, he became a major political consultant for the actualisation of Abacha’s self-succession agenda.
“He took his anti-democratic tendencies to a new low in justifying the hanging of the Ogoni activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight others when he granted an interview to the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in 1997 during the Commonwealth summit in Scotland.
“Anenih, who described himself as an observer during the interview because Nigeria was under suspension at the time, maintained that the Ogoni activists were duly convicted by the Abacha government.”
Atiku also accused Anenih of being the brain behind Obasanjo’s failed bid for life Presidency.
“It was the same Tony Anenih who declared that Aso Rock was not vacant because of the plan to cause massive rigging and destroy voter sovereignty. Outside rigging, for which he is a notorious expert, Anenih cannot win a vote anywhere.”
Atiku equally condemned Nigeria’s tepid response to the looming anarchy in Cote d’Ivoire.
He told reporters in Gombe that as Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Chairman and regional power, Nigeria should have called an emergency meeting to demand that the result of the election which gave victory to Allasanne Quattarra be respected.
“It is the electoral commission which conducts and releases results. The constitutional council cannot usurp the powers of the electoral commission. Its role is to confirm the results,” Atiku argued.
He called on Nigeria to provide leadership by ensuring that the winner of the election takes over as President, and urged the loser, Laurent Gbagbo, to accept defeat and to spare the war-fatigued Ivoireans another round of bloodletting.
Babangida, the former military President, is also critical of what is going on, particularly in the PDP.
He had denied mulling the idea of quitting the party in recent media interviews, and repeatedly vowed to stand by his agreement to back Atiku, who, the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) picked as Northern consensus aspirant to challenge Jonathan for the PDP ticket at the primaries in January.
Babangida said in a 1,606-word letter he addressed to PDP National Chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo, that the court judgement over zoning is clear enough that power should rotate between the North and the South.
He threatened that failure of the party to respect Article 7.2(c) of its constitution – now backed by judicial interpretation – could see him walking away from the umbrella in protest of the violation of the code.
On December 1, Justice L. H. Gummi, held that the PDP "has since conceived and agreed to the principle that the party shall zone key offices between the various groups of political interest. I do not think that the provisions of Art. 7.2(c) are capable of any other interpretation."
The Judge, nonetheless, said the PDP constitution does not specify what number of terms to be given to each region, and upheld the right of Jonathan to contest.
Babangida reminded Nwodo in the undated letter that “It is the duty of the judiciary to say what the law is. The judiciary has made its pronouncement. Our duty is to comply.
“That is the appeal which I now make to you – to comply with the provisions of the constitution of the party as interpreted by a court of competent jurisdiction.”
He reiterated that Jonathan is first and foremost a member of the party, and so his office as President does not preclude him from obeying the party’s constitution – a counter argument to claims, bandied about by Jonathan’s men, that no where in the world does the ruling party exclude an incumbent from running in an election in which he is eligible.
“If the party has become so helpless in the face of these gross violations of its own constitution by its officers and its highest elected representative, then many of us shall have no alternative but to reconsider our continued membership of the party,” the letter said.
“If, in the past, the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) had any doubts as to the meaning of the provisions of the relevant sections of the constitution relating to these matters, such doubts have now been resolved by the judgment of the High Court.
“It is clear from the said judgment that the provisions of the constitution are so clear as not to require the assistance of judicial interpretation in order to understand them."
“This is what the Judge said: ‘The contested phrase is that the ‘party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices.’
“Now, I do not think that there is any ambiguity in wordings of Article 7.2(c) to generate unnecessary controversy. It provides that in pursuance of the principles of equity, justice and fairness, ‘the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices.
“Taking the word ‘shall’ as used in 7.2(c) in context with the word ‘adhere’ it leaves no one in doubt that ‘shall’ in that context is a command imposing an obligation on the ‘executive committee’ to do or perform the following act which, if read in context, is enforcing the policy of zoning and rotation of public elective offices as well as offices of the party.
“I am unable to see any ambiguity in that article. The only conclusion I can come to after reading Art. 7.2(c) in context is that the constitution of the (PDP) does in fact envisage that the party shall adopt as a policy, the zoning and rotation of party and public elective offices.’
“In the light of the above, whatever doubts the (PDP NEC) may have had have now been removed. Every member of the party is required to comply with the provisions of the party constitution. And so is the President who is the leader of the party.
As great as the office of President is, we should never forget that it does not precede membership of the party. On the contrary, it is membership of the party that precedes the office of President so far as the President was not elected as an independent candidate.
“And so I urge the (NEC) of the party to enforce the constitution of the party in its totality in the forthcoming election. To do otherwise is to condone this attempt at a gross and deliberate violation of the constitution of the party.
“To do otherwise is tantamount to a declaration that the (NEC) of the party rejects the principles of equity, justice and fairness enshrined in the PDP constitution.
“It means that they reject the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices and that they are not prepared to enforce it in so far as it relates to the office of President.”
Indeed, there will be vacancy in the Villa in 2011, insisted Atiku Abubakar, the former Vice President now Presidential aspirant in the PDP.
Atiku asked Nigerians to discountenance claims to the contrary floated by former PDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Tony Anenih, whom he described as a political “dead duck” struggling for relevance.
Atiku issued a statement through his Campaign Organisation in Abuja in reaction to Anenih’s declaration in Benin that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2011.
He said Nigerians “should be wary of the utterances of Anenih” because “Sovereignty lies with the people and not with Anenih (who) does not have the mandate to speak on behalf of the people who are yet to cast their votes in the 2011 elections.”
He recalled that “No Vacancy” was the same battle cry Anenih used to win favour with the late Head of State, Sani Abacha; and former President Olusegun Obasanjo; and is now using it to support President Goodluck Jonathan to reclaim relevance.
The statement wondered how Anenih “who has no political space in his home state of Edo because of his widespread unpopularity,” can promise the Presidency to someone else.
It described Anenih as a drag on democracy, and countered that it is ridiculous for him to say that there is no vacancy in Aso Rock when Jonathan himself has pledged to conduct free and fair elections.
“If indeed, the Presidency is not vacant, then there is no reason to conduct a Presidential election in 2011 because the winner is already known, according to Anenih’s odd theory of democracy,” the statement said.
It warned Jonathan to distance himself from Anenih and his type or risk losing credibility in his promise of free and fair elections.
According to the statement, Anenih has no credibility in the political life of Nigeria because of his record.
Describing Anenih as “an unstable politician,” it recalled how he abandoned the late Moshood Abiola to his fate after Abacha took over as Head of State in November 1993.
“As the Chairman of the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) on which platform Abiola contested the election, he (Anenih) chickened out rather than fighting like a man to defend Abiola’s mandate,” the Campaign noted.
“He was an opportunist who fixed an appointment for himself with the Abacha military regime while Abiola was languishing in jail.
“And while serving the Abacha administration, he became a major political consultant for the actualisation of Abacha’s self-succession agenda.
“He took his anti-democratic tendencies to a new low in justifying the hanging of the Ogoni activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight others when he granted an interview to the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in 1997 during the Commonwealth summit in Scotland.
“Anenih, who described himself as an observer during the interview because Nigeria was under suspension at the time, maintained that the Ogoni activists were duly convicted by the Abacha government.”
Atiku also accused Anenih of being the brain behind Obasanjo’s failed bid for life Presidency.
“It was the same Tony Anenih who declared that Aso Rock was not vacant because of the plan to cause massive rigging and destroy voter sovereignty. Outside rigging, for which he is a notorious expert, Anenih cannot win a vote anywhere.”
Atiku equally condemned Nigeria’s tepid response to the looming anarchy in Cote d’Ivoire.
He told reporters in Gombe that as Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Chairman and regional power, Nigeria should have called an emergency meeting to demand that the result of the election which gave victory to Allasanne Quattarra be respected.
“It is the electoral commission which conducts and releases results. The constitutional council cannot usurp the powers of the electoral commission. Its role is to confirm the results,” Atiku argued.
He called on Nigeria to provide leadership by ensuring that the winner of the election takes over as President, and urged the loser, Laurent Gbagbo, to accept defeat and to spare the war-fatigued Ivoireans another round of bloodletting.
Babangida, the former military President, is also critical of what is going on, particularly in the PDP.
He had denied mulling the idea of quitting the party in recent media interviews, and repeatedly vowed to stand by his agreement to back Atiku, who, the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) picked as Northern consensus aspirant to challenge Jonathan for the PDP ticket at the primaries in January.
Babangida said in a 1,606-word letter he addressed to PDP National Chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo, that the court judgement over zoning is clear enough that power should rotate between the North and the South.
He threatened that failure of the party to respect Article 7.2(c) of its constitution – now backed by judicial interpretation – could see him walking away from the umbrella in protest of the violation of the code.
On December 1, Justice L. H. Gummi, held that the PDP "has since conceived and agreed to the principle that the party shall zone key offices between the various groups of political interest. I do not think that the provisions of Art. 7.2(c) are capable of any other interpretation."
The Judge, nonetheless, said the PDP constitution does not specify what number of terms to be given to each region, and upheld the right of Jonathan to contest.
Babangida reminded Nwodo in the undated letter that “It is the duty of the judiciary to say what the law is. The judiciary has made its pronouncement. Our duty is to comply.
“That is the appeal which I now make to you – to comply with the provisions of the constitution of the party as interpreted by a court of competent jurisdiction.”
He reiterated that Jonathan is first and foremost a member of the party, and so his office as President does not preclude him from obeying the party’s constitution – a counter argument to claims, bandied about by Jonathan’s men, that no where in the world does the ruling party exclude an incumbent from running in an election in which he is eligible.
“If the party has become so helpless in the face of these gross violations of its own constitution by its officers and its highest elected representative, then many of us shall have no alternative but to reconsider our continued membership of the party,” the letter said.
“If, in the past, the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) had any doubts as to the meaning of the provisions of the relevant sections of the constitution relating to these matters, such doubts have now been resolved by the judgment of the High Court.
“It is clear from the said judgment that the provisions of the constitution are so clear as not to require the assistance of judicial interpretation in order to understand them."
“This is what the Judge said: ‘The contested phrase is that the ‘party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices.’
“Now, I do not think that there is any ambiguity in wordings of Article 7.2(c) to generate unnecessary controversy. It provides that in pursuance of the principles of equity, justice and fairness, ‘the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices.
“Taking the word ‘shall’ as used in 7.2(c) in context with the word ‘adhere’ it leaves no one in doubt that ‘shall’ in that context is a command imposing an obligation on the ‘executive committee’ to do or perform the following act which, if read in context, is enforcing the policy of zoning and rotation of public elective offices as well as offices of the party.
“I am unable to see any ambiguity in that article. The only conclusion I can come to after reading Art. 7.2(c) in context is that the constitution of the (PDP) does in fact envisage that the party shall adopt as a policy, the zoning and rotation of party and public elective offices.’
“In the light of the above, whatever doubts the (PDP NEC) may have had have now been removed. Every member of the party is required to comply with the provisions of the party constitution. And so is the President who is the leader of the party.
As great as the office of President is, we should never forget that it does not precede membership of the party. On the contrary, it is membership of the party that precedes the office of President so far as the President was not elected as an independent candidate.
“And so I urge the (NEC) of the party to enforce the constitution of the party in its totality in the forthcoming election. To do otherwise is to condone this attempt at a gross and deliberate violation of the constitution of the party.
“To do otherwise is tantamount to a declaration that the (NEC) of the party rejects the principles of equity, justice and fairness enshrined in the PDP constitution.
“It means that they reject the policy of rotation and zoning of party and public elective offices and that they are not prepared to enforce it in so far as it relates to the office of President.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment