Nigeria News
NGF And The Defeat Of The Garrison Candidates
By Salihu Lukman
The election of Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, finally held on Friday, 24 May and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State emerged victorious. He polled 19 votes out of 35 and his opponent, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau, got 16 votes. The election result was significant not just for the NGF but for the nation’s democracy. One governor, Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State, was absent and did not vote. The election would have held since February but was postponed about twice.
Development around the NGF election is not so much about Amaechi, Jang or the NGF as an association but about the process of affirming the values that recognise producing winners and losers through acceptable processes. More important, it is about producing leaders through fair elections. The dramas and episodes around the emergence of PDP flag bearers for the election (from Governor Shema to Governor Yuguda and finally Jang) are issues that definitely reflected existing power configurations and the normal divisive strategies using regional boundaries, especially in PDP.
Important as personalities represented by Amaechi or Jang and organisations such as NGF are, it is the meaning and values associated with them that might have generated interest. Values not necessarily associated with partisan affiliations or ideological commitment but largely driven by current relationship with the presidency. Somehow, given the high interest of the leadership of the ruling PDP against Amaechi and the strategic move to mobilise (and perhaps intimidate) PDP governors against Amaechi, many would have expected that Amaechi will lose the election.
So far, what has happened over the years in the case of the NGF is that consultations have become regular, on monthly basis, and decisions taken were given some life. Successive leaders of NGF, from former governors Abdullahi Adamu, Victor Attah and Bukola Saraki to the current tenure of Amaechi, all made their contributions. Through these leaders, NGF gradually evolved and it is still being shaped by so many factors. The interests around the 24 May election of Amaechi have produced additional factors in shaping the process of the development of Nigeria’s democracy. There are basically two interests that have developed and become very formidably antagonistic to each other. It is President Jonathan and PDP leadership on the one hand against the state governors represented by Amaechi on the other. The interests have broken party lines. How did this happen?
This may perhaps be as a result of two fundamental factors. The first is that NGF being an association of mainly state governors is an association of equals. The second is that, although they (governors) may have come together to form NGF without clear understanding of their potentials, challenges of responding to authoritarian orientation of the presidency, which was inherited after years of military rule, come with enormous financial challenges, and over time, activities of NGF since its formation have created very high consciousness among governors about the capacity of state governments, acting as a collective, to neutralise or contest issues with the federal government, represented by the presidency
One of the reasons that made the NGF elections very interesting was the strong interest of President Jonathan in getting Amaechi out of the NGF. Largely on account of perhaps the role of Amaechi as NGF Chairman in providing leadership to governors which resulted in situations where the governors contested some issues with the federal government, President Jonathan wanted Amaechi out of NGF by all means. Some of the issues that pitched the NGF against the presidency include the Sovereign Wealth Fund, campaign for constitutional review to reduce powers of federal government in favour of states, review of revenue allocation formula, etc.
In some ways, the fact of the consciousness by governors about their capacity as a collective to contest issues with the presidency is not something that can be nullified through even the defeat of Amaechi. Assuming Amaechi had lost the election, it would have just been a matter of time before any person taking over the position of NGF Chairman finds himself in opposition to some positions of the President. For instance, will Jang or anyone on the side of PDP support the presidency on matters of discretionary declaration of oil revenue bearing in mind that what they get from the Federation Account is a function of what is declared, which often is less than actual receipt? Will Jang or anyone tolerate unilateral policy initiative from the federal government that will result in committing state governments to expend resources?
These are issues that in so many respects conferred undue powers and privileges to the federal government over states on matters of controlling resources and revenue therefrom. They are matters that are at the heart of national efforts to redefine the orientation of our federalism. There may be the temptation to dismiss these issues with reference to the performance of the Governors, especially in regard to problems of lack of accountability and mismanagement of resources in our state governments. This no doubt does not invalidate the principles that democratic leadership is driven by the needs of members determined through processes of consultation.
We may disagree with the specification of what any category of people would define as their needs. The fact remains that members of organisations should have the right to determine what they want and it is a normal, healthy democratic requirement which should proliferate on a national scale to guarantee national democratic order. Apart from the needs of members, the right to dissent is also an important attribute of democracy. Unfortunately, this, too, is continually being trampled upon.
Being a member of PDP, Amaechi’s candidature is in itself clearly an act of dissent; if you like, rebellion against his own party. Together with Amaechi in this rebellion would be all PDP governors who supported and voted for him. From the result of the election, there are clearly eight PDP governors, Amaechi inclusive. On the other side is also the fact that two so-called opposition governors, Peter Obi of Anambra and Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo, have joined PDP in the anti-Amaechi presidency plot.
What this means is that the presidency is gradually facilitating a process of restructuring Nigeria into a bipartisan political orientation based on PDP and anti-PDP divide. From the NGF election, it is a divide in which there are many in today’s PDP that are anti-PDP. They include certainly the eight PDP governors that are on Amaechi’s side. Obi and Mimiko who are today not direct members of PDP are aligned to PDP and it will only be a matter of time before they take their rightful places inside PDP.
Given the contemporary political reality of Nigeria whereby citizens are just fed up with the ruling PDP and all the governance crisis it has produced, any rebellion against PDP may be popular. Beyond rebellion however, there is the fact that the Ameachi rebellion against PDP has all the attributes of being well organised. The fact of the All Progressive Congress, APC, governors being united may have definitely played a role. However, more significant was the mobilisational capacity of the anti-PDP rebellion in NGF having succeeded to win the support of eight PDP governors. It demonstrated the fact that with organisation, the powerful and mighty can be defeated and the people can take charge of their destiny.
Nigerians may have their individual opinion. What is very instructive with the events around the 24 May NGF election of Amaechi was that an election held and Amaechi was declared the winner. In so many ways, it was a victory against President Goodluck Jonathan and a victory against PDP. The interesting thing was that, acting perhaps under the instruction of President Jonathan, Governor Godswill Akpabio as Chairman of so-called PDP Governors Forum convened another meeting at Akwa Ibom House shortly after and declared that it was Governor Jang that was elected and circulated some purported results showing that 19 governors had elected Jang. Interestingly, among the 19 governors that were alleged to have elected Jang was the Yobe governor who was absent at the 24 May meeting where the election held.
It is not so much that the result of the election is being contested but the manner of contest which seeks to basically generate confusion and in the process create legitimacy crisis for the second tenure of Governor Rotimi Amaechi as the Chairman of NGF. One would ordinarily expect that the governors under Akpabio would seek to redress all grievances from the 24 May election through due process.
Due process could have meant that they make demands which may include asking for another meeting to review the conduct of the elections. And given that they are claiming to have 19 governors on their side, it would have been a comfortable majority that could have given them the confidence to even move for the removal of Amaechi at the next meeting. The second option would have required that they seek legal intervention through the courts. There is the third option of sanctioning Amaechi and all PDP governors that may have acted contrary to party decisions. This may result in dismissal of all PDP governors that are on the side of Amaechi from the party.
The only explanation to justify the position taken by the Akpabio-led group of governors would have been a reflection of their weakness, which would have signalled inability to get any of the three scenarios highlighted. Since the PDP through the presidency is in control of security agencies, any confusion may translate into influencing the conduct of security operatives in favour of the Akpabio/Jang group and to that extent therefore, coercing structures of the NGF, especially the secretariat, to compromise its loyalty to the Amaechi leadership. This will be in tandem with what can be described as garrison mentality that has been driving our democracy since 1999 whereby the position of the President must reign supreme and all party functionaries must subordinate themselves to that. In some ways, this means that the President must win every election in which he/she has interest. Supremacy of members or sovereignty of the people is at best a cliché for those who are interested.
The concern now is not so much that there is an election that was contested and has produced the defeat of the candidate promoted by the PDP and presidency. The main challenge is that the response to the defeat by both the defeated candidate, Jang, and perhaps the ruling PDP is to create confusion that may lead to the dismantling of the NGF as an organisation. The implication of this is that it will give the federal government and the presidency unfettered and uncontested power to govern the country, including trespassing into matters that are constitutionally reserve for states.
This is going to be very inimical to our democratic development as a nation for two reasons. First, it would mean that all organisations in the country must exist at the pleasure of the PDP and presidency. Secondly, should the current approach to orchestrate confusion and delegitimise the NGF succeed, it would mean that any attempt to unseat President Goddluck using constitutional means can be greeted with similar response in 2015. It was the strategy that Laurent Gbagbo employed in 2010 in Cote d’Ivoire following his defeat by Hassan Ouattara which led to months of crisis resulting in loss of lives and property. The international community had to intervene to restore sanity and affirm the sanctity of the 2010 elections.
The lesson therefore is that, with the Presidency and PDP being in the driving seat in the unfolding leadership drama in NGF, it may as well be a prelude of what to expect in 2015 should Nigerians decide to vote out PDP and President Jonathan out of office. The possible response of both PDP and President Jonathan may be to refuse to accept the result and declare himself the winner of the election as opposed to whatever INEC may return. One will hope that this will be a complete wrong scenario. However, it is no doubt a possible scenario.
Against the background of warmongering noise of some militant groups from Niger Delta warning the nation about the consequence of not returning Jonathan for a second tenure in 2015, this may be a way to say that Jonathan will rule Nigeria for a second term with or without the votes of Nigerians. The capacity of Nigerian governors under the NGF to affirm the sanctity of their choice of leadership therefore is the first test of whether as a people, Nigerians can begin to send the right signal to PDP and President Jonathan. That signal should in unmistakable terms resoundingly highlight that all leaders must be elected through constitutional means.
It is also instructive that the victory of Amaechi reflects some political engineering that recognises the need to mobilise across ethnic, religious and regional lines. In fact, what is very attractive with respect to development around the NGF’s 24 May election is that divisions are not influenced rigidly by our old primordial lines. What this means is that moving towards 2015, the defeat of PDP may only be possible through strong mobilisation across all ethnic groups, religions and regions.
For our APC, given the central role of our governors in the NGF’s 24 May election of Amaechi, to what extent will this experience help to prepare our merging parties for the rollout of APC? There may be the temptation to over-celebrate. The truth is that APC leaders just need to recognise that Amaechi’s victory is just a reflection of the strength of mobilisation. The message to APC therefore, is if APC is to be taken seriously as a party coming with strong potential to defeat PDP, it must come with a strong membership mobilisation strategy!
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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: PM News
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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
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