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Sunday 15 March 2015

When PDP Governors Stormed Lagos for Jonathan

March 10, PDP governors bombarded Lagos to canvass votes for the second-term venture of President Goodluck Jonathan; the event, which held at the Eko Hotel and Suites, started two-and-half hours behind schedule. Said to be an interactive session between the governors and a select audience of top media editors/columnists, it, however, turned out an all-comers’ affair as veterans and chief executives rubbed shoulders with their reporters and photographers. 
Going by the printed programme of events, civil society organisations were also a part of the melee; any time, any day, those ones alone are a crowd on their own. To cap it all, at least, three television stations covered the event live. Since I was invited for an interactive session, I burned the midnight candle preparing for one; no puns intended since electricity, epileptic at the best of times, has worsened in recent times. 

What I would have asked or told the PDP governors will be topic for another day, God willing. Giving support to the governors at the event were the Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo (power was taken at least six times during the event); Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina; and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim. 
Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum/governor of Akwa Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, set the ball rolling when he asked for a minute’s silence for those he called the martyrs of Nigeria’s democracy; he mentioned MKO Abiola; his wife, Kudirat; and General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. Akpabio’s speech can be summarised thus: The future of the Nigerian people is secured under the PDP and Jonathan is the man to lead us to the El-Dorado of our dream. He abhorred military coups and chided coup-makers; said PDP abhors corruption as well as what he described as the politicisation of corruption and the maltreatment of those accused of corrupt acts before veering into Muhammadu Buhari and Attahiru Jega bashing. He expressed his dislike for what Buhari, as military Head of State, did to the politicians accused of corruption, but stated that unlike others, he had no grouse with Buhari’s age, but “with the age of his ideas.” Jega’s INEC, he said, could not have been ready for the elections last month, if it tested card readers for the first time three weeks after. Good point! He also echoed familiar complaints about PVCs.
“Chief Servant” Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State/chairman, Northern Governors’ Forum, spoke next in defence of the allegation that PDP’s 16 years’ in power had been a waste. He also denied speculations that the PDP governors were in Lagos to negotiate to leave the PDP for APC or form a new party, to which someone seated close to me retorted: “...which would have been more honourable!” Aliyu said had the elections been held as earlier scheduled, it would have been contentious. I agree, based on what we later came to know about INEC’s tardy preparations. Not to be outdone about Buhari bashing, the “Chief Servant” said if Buhari won the coming election, he would be a stooge who would only do one term and the North would, thus, be short-changed. I disagree! So they said that Obasanjo would be stooge to IBB, Abdulsalami and the others who rail-road him into office; same with Umaru Yar’Adua that Obasanjo single-handedly imposed; same also with the incumbent Jonathan; but each of them wasted no time to shake off godfathers. It was also said that Obasanjo signed a one-term agreement with IBB and the North; but he did two terms and even attempted a third. Jonathan’s current bid had been dogged by the one-term controversy and Aliyu was leader of those who shouted that from the roof-top. I remember him say the one-term agreement signed by Jonathan was in the custody of Governor Sule Lamido. Incidentally, both Aliyu and Lamido, today, are backing Jonathan for second term.
Lamido spoke next and was personal all through: APC is a contraption, an assemblage of PDP rejects; those who defected from the PDP because “they were crushed for others to emerge” also have had others “crushed for them to emerge”; and Buhari worked with General Sani Abacha and never spoke against corruption. That one was dead on target; how Buhari could have been chummy with Abacha beats my imagination. Is corruption a Nigerian phenomenon? Lamido said it is! Bala James Ngilari, governor of Adamawa, restricted himself to the Boko Haram insurgency whacking his state; PDP, he said, did not create the problem and Jonathan has done a lot to crush the insurgency. Within weeks, his state, he said, would be rid of Boko Haram. He added politics when he said had Borno (an APC state) cooperated enough with federal authorities, much more would have been achieved in that axis as well. He, however, drew tears from many eyes when he described the horrors Boko Haram left in Michika. I recall having been in Michika; it is the home town of my brother and friend, Geneneral Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd).
Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti State, was called to the microphone and the whole hall erupted; and truly, the enfant terrible did not disappoint. He entertained the audience non-stop, but it is doubtful if that is what PDP needs at this crucial point in time. It was Buhari bashing all the way: certificates, age, mortality etc. Fayose unwisely derided old age; not sparing his own mother whom he said was 74. Buhari is 73. And I began to wonder: At 120 years, scriptures record that Moses’ eyes were not dim and Caleb, at 80 years, yearned to go to war. Would Obafemi Awolowo have been too old to positively impact Nigeria had he won the 1979 or 1983 elections? Revered Pastor E. A. Adeboye is 73; the other day, Fayose was pictured prostrating before some Deeper Life pastors; the Deeper Life General Superintendent, W. F. Kumuyi, is older than Adeboye. To the best of my knowledge, none of them is wearing pampers and their thinking faculties have not in any way been impaired nor has their output diminished. Pastor Sadella died at over 100 years still very active. Yet, there had been cases of 40 or 50-something-year-olds who, struck by disasters, wore pampers and or lost control of their thinking faculties. Old age is not the sole determinant. Be careful! Theatrics such as Fayose’s entertain, but they may end up burning bridges instead of erecting them.
Three other governors spoke afterwards: Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), and Jonah Jang (Plateau). Imoke admonished us to focus on issues concerning the youth (to build stability), rather than over-flog issues of corruption and insecurity. Military governments, he said, were more corrupt than their civilian counterparts. True or false? He also did his own bit of APC and Buhari bashing, describing the opposition party as the fiefdoms of individuals, unlike the PDP where no one is indispensable. I was relieved to hear him say PDP is not afraid of INEC’s card readers. My thinking is that any problem associated with the card reader ought to be what the Yoruba describe as “heaven will fall...” Mimiko impressed me most because he focused more on issues and tried the most to sell Jonathan without wasting valuable time and effort on APC/Buhari. He commended the quality of on-going work on the Lagos/Ibadan expressway; I agree, but how will the measly N11 billion allocated to the Federal Ministry of Works in the 2015 budget affect the pace of work? He said the price of rice (representing foodstuffs generally, I suppose) was stable last December; something close to that, but last Wednesday when my wife went to the Oke-Odo market in Lagos, a basket of tomatoes, which sold for N5,000 a week earlier, had jumped up to N9,000. Mimiko said power would stabilise in a future very soon, based on the amount of work Jonathan has done: As a pastor, my training is always to keep hope alive! But many voters are not waiting for the future, but are making up their minds right now on account of the deplorable state of power supply all over the land. The governor also talked of “intangibles,” such as Jonathan respecting the hierarchical order of the judiciary and independence of the legislature. Yes, he has tried, but the new Inspector-General of Police nearly ruined that for him. Jonathan has not gagged the press; yes, but the military under the ruse of security tried to sneak in through the back door by seizing newspaper distribution vans, not long ago. Our elections have been more credible under Jonathan; yes, but the Ekiti video has, unfortunately, raised doubts in many minds. Mimiko teed off with the constitutional conference, whose 600 recommendations he said Jonathan had promised to implement, if re-elected. I am unapologetically for restructuring any day, but Mimiko should respond point-by-point to the viewpoint of respected lawyer and social crusader, Femi Falana, that every agenda of the South-West was defeated at the national conference. Falana was a member of the confab.    
Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau spoke next. He is (was?) factional leader of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, but none of his colleagues, except Mimiko, who referred to him as “my chairman,” recognised him as such. If you remember that Mimiko was actually “elected” deputy to Jang by their own faction of the NGF, you will appreciate the enduring chemistry between both. Jang suffered a slight embarrassment at the event: with his reading glasses on, he could not read a text message sent to his phone, which he wanted to share with the audience on INEC’s “insincerity” over the deployment of card readers, to which the audience screamed “old age, old age” (a reference to Fayose’s unsparing castigation of Buhari’s old age). Akpabio had to come to his rescue. Jang was yet to get his own PVC, which means if the situation persists, he may not only be unable to vote for Jonathan, but also be unable to vote for himself. He is a senatorial candidate in the election.
I came away from the event with the impression that many of the governors thought the media was biased against Jonathan. Bold-face statements apart, it also appeared to me they were not sitting pretty with the coming election. I gleaned from side-talks the feeling that were the elections held last month, APC would have trounced PDP by a wide margin, but that the spirited efforts of the ruling party since the postponement, with all hands being on the deck, has appreciably narrowed the gap. That, for sure, will not be everyone’s reading all over the country.
Finally, Akpabio announced lunch at the end of the event and said the governors would join their guests in the restaurant – but none of them showed up. That, surely, is not the hallmark of a good host; neither can it promote good media/PDP relationship.    

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