Jonathan asks PDP to compile ministerial nominees list
There
are indications that President Goodluck Jonathan had directed the
Bamanga Tukur faction of the Peoples Democratic Party to compile names
of its members for ministerial positions.
A member of the National Working Committee of the faction, who made this known to The PUNCH in Abuja on Sunday, said the directive was already being complied with.
Jonathan, in his first major cabinet shake-up since his inauguration on May 29, 2011, had on Wednesday sacked nine ministers.
The sacked ministers were Prof.
Ruqayyatu Rufai (Education), Okon Ewa-Bassey (Science and
Technology), Olugbenga Ashiru (Foreign Affairs), Hadiza Mailafia
(Environment), Shamsudeen Usman (National Planning),and Ama Pepple
(Housing, Lands and Urban Development).
Also affected were Olusola
Obada(Defence), and her counterparts in the Agriculture Ministry,
Alhaji Bukar Tijani, and Power, Zainab Kuchi.
The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran
Maku, had explained that the sacking of the ministers had no political
undertone but there were reports that it was fallout of the crisis in
the PDP.
The PDP was factionalised on August 31 when seven of its governors formed a faction, known as New PDP.
The NWC member, who pleaded anonymity,
said, “The President has directed the party to suggest names for the
vacant ministerial slots. We have already asked our state chapters to
send their nominees to us. As I talk to you, we are waiting for their
nominees.”
It was gathered that in states governed
by the seven governors in the New PDP, politicians loyal to the
President, would nominate candidates for vacant slots.
In Rivers State, where Pepple lost her
job, party chieftains, including the Deputy National Chairman of the
Tuku-led faction, Uche Secondus and the Minister of State for
Education, Nyesom Wike, would play a role in getting her replacement.
In the South-West, there are two vacancies because of the removal of Ashiru and Obada.
It was gathered that chieftains of the
PDP, Chief Olabode George and a financier of the party, Chief Buruji
Kasamu, were expected to nominate candidates for the zone.
In Kaduna State, the southern part of the state would fill the vacancy created by the sack of Mailafia.
In Niger State, it was learnt that a
former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and an ex-Minister of
Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, might nominate an indigene of the state
to replace Kuchi.
It was also gathered that, to fill the
vacant ministerial slots, governors that were loyal to the President had
been directed to nominate candidates, if there were vacancies in their
states.
The PUNCH learnt that the Akwa
Ibom State Governor, Obong Godswill Akpabio, would nominate a chieftain
of the party in the state to replace Ewa-Bassey, a native of the state.
When asked to comment on the
development, the PDP National Publicity Secreary, Chief Olish Metuh,
said, “That is not important. It is the President that will choose
whoever he wants to work with him to achieve his transformation agenda.”
The Special Adviser to the President on
National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi, had on Friday said
Jonathan was still consulting on the appointment of new ministers.
She had said, “He is still consulting.
He will present the list to the National Assembly as soon as he
concludes his consultations.”
Meanwhile, investigations on Sunday revealed that security reports were mostly responsible for the sack of the ministers.
A Presidency source told one of our
correspondents that following the crisis in the PDP, the Presidency
could no longer trust the affected ministers.
The source said, “The ministers were
nailed by security reports. Their telephone lines were bugged and they
were being monitored for at least four months. It was discovered that
they were no longer sincere with Mr. President, especially since the
internal crises in PDP erupted.
“Go and find out, no sincere government
or President will tolerate a minister whose loyalty is in doubt. In the
case of the affected ministers, they were having divided loyalties.
First, to their state governors or the godfathers who nominated them and
secondly to Mr. President.
“But by their functions, their loyalty
to the President should be total and so the best option is to shop for
people with committed loyalty and not divided loyalty. This should be a
serious lesson to any public servant; divided loyalty is never
tolerated anywhere in the world.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the
President’s Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Gulak,
prooved abortive as he could not be reached through his mobile
telephone.
A civil rights organisation, the Anti-Corruption Network, has, however, described the sacking of the ministers as vindictive.
The Executive Secretary of the group and
former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, in an
interview with one of our correspondents, linked the sacking to the
crisis in the PDP.
He said, “The sacking of the ministers
is vindictive, petty and political. It shows that President Jonathan,
like I have always said, condones, romances and promotes corruption. He
spared all the corrupt thieves in his government, including those who
are still busy enjoying their loots.
“The sacking of these ministers is a
cowardly reaction. The former Minister of Education was a nominee of
the Jigawa State Governor. The ex-minister of National Planning is
from Kano State and it is because Jonathan wants to appoint a strong
politician who will fight Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso in Kano State.”
Today
a great protest is taking place in the Catallan region of Spain.
According to the polls, 52 per cent of the people from that region wish
to break off from Spain and to establish a new European sovereign state.
Later this year, the people of Scotland are having their own referendum to determine whether or not they will stay in the United Kingdom and, again, from the polls, it is very clear that the majority of Scots wish to have their own new sovereign state and that the Scottish Nationalist Party enjoys massive support. Nobody in either Spain or the United Kingdom has insulted those people or labelled them as ‘’ethnic jingoists’’ or ‘’primitive tribalists’’ for wanting to break off from the greater whole and establish their own country.
This
is because everyone respects the right of the various ethnic groups and
nationalities within their wider nation to exercise their right of
self-determination which is an integral and fundamental aspect of
international law. Exercising that right does not turn them into
villains and does not make them any less patriotic than their
compatriots who do not share their views. It just means that they have a
different perspective and that they believe, as many believed before
Malaysia and Singapore broke up, that the interests of their various
peoples are better served when and if they go their separate ways.
They opted to be friendly neighbours rather than to be compelled to remain within the same territory against their collective will. As we in Nigeria approach the 100-year anniversary of our 1914 Lugardian amalglamation and, as the 2015 elections are fast approaching with both the northern region and the south-south zone desperate to take or to hold on to power at any cost respectively, we need to begin to ask ourselves some basic and fundamental questions about our future. For example, is our interest better served by remaining as one nation or is it time for those nationalities that wish to leave the federation in a peaceful and orderly way, as a result of a legitimate and honest referendum, be alllowed to go?
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
If the breaking up of larger countries into smaller and more viable ones is good enough for India (which broke into three), the Sudan (which broke into two), Czekhoslovakia (which broke into two), Yugoslavia (which broke into 5), the Soviet Union (which broke into 15) and numerous other countries over the years, why is it not good enough for us? Again, why should those that believe that Nigeria ought to break up be subjected to so much suspicion, ridicule, contempt and insults from those that do not share their views?
Some of the questions that need to be answered are as follows- firstly, is our union working? Secondly, is our marriage a good one and is it a happy one as well? Are we satisfied with what has essentially become a country that has been turned into nothing more than (with apologies to Chief Bode George) ‘’Turn by Turn Nigeria?’’ where each ethnic group simply looks forward to enjoying its time to control the federation and all the nation’s resources from an all powerful centre? Are we not meant to be far more than this? Is this what the founding fathers of our nation envisaged?
More than anything else the recent igbo/yoruba debate over the issue of the status of Lagos state and the deportation of a handful of igbo destitute back to the east has proved to me that we as a people are very different from one another and that our interests may be better served if we are no longer bound together as one. I dare to voice this opinion even though many Yoruba share it but will not say so publiclly.
Is it not time for us to begin to accept the bitter truth that our marriage is uncomfortable and unhappy and that it may not have been made in heaven or ordained by God? Is it not clear that each region or each nationality ought to be able to develop at its own pace? Is it not time for us to have a confederation of nationalities in Nigeria and to restructure the country drastically to give maximum autonomy to the various regions and nationalities or indeed is it not time to just break up and go our separate ways?
DIFFERENCES Many may disagree but one thing that I believe that we can at least agree on is that perhaps it is time for us to be courageous enough to begin to talk about these issues openly and debate them. We must not sweep our differences under the carpet and ignore them as if they do not exist but instead we must find the courage and muster the resolve to acknowledge them and understand them. As far as I am concerned, this is the challenge of our time and these are the questions that need to be answered.
Whatever happens in 2015 and whoever wins, whether it be a northerner or Goodluck Jonathan of the south-south, I see blood on the horizon and I see disaster approaching. Stark promises from notable players such as ‘’there will be bloodshed if Goodluck is not re-elected’’ do not help and are not encouraging. There are equally strident and bellicose murmurings from the other side as well and some have threatened that if there is a repeat performance of the massive rigging that the North witnessed in the presidential election of 2011 anywhere in the country in 2015, ’’Nigeria will burn’’ whilst another key player said that ‘’both the dog and the baboon shall be soaked in blood’’.
2015 AS KEG OF GUN POWDER
These words must be taken very seriously indeed and they reflect the thinking and mindset of millions of people from both sides of the political and regional divide. Worste still, whether we like to admit it or not, religion has now become a major factor in our politics with Christians being told in their churches that it is their solemn duty to support a Christian presidential candidate and Muslims being told in their mosques that it is theirs to support a Muslim. We are sitting on a keg of gunpowder and, in my view, 2015 really will be the year of make or break for Nigeria. Sadly, in my humble opinion, it is far closer to ‘’break’’ than it is to ’’make’’.
If we wish to avoid the road to Kigali, we must change our mindset and make the necessary concessions that we need to make. We must begin to think outside of the box and be far more innovative and adventurous. For example, why is it a must in the minds of some that the PDP must field a Christian as it’s presidential candidate and why are some in the APC of the view that the party must field a northern Muslim as its own?
These hard and fast fixed positions are most unhelpful and the right thing and proper thing to do is to completely discard them and attempt to find a presidential candidate that is a Nigerian before being a northerner, a southerner, a Christian or a Muslim. And thankfully there are quite a few of such people around in the new generation if only the system will be far-sighted and enlightened enough to allow them to emerge and run. Failing that we must open up the space now and consider the unpleasant assertion that the premium that a united Nigeria attracts may not be worth paying simply because we are getting nothing but failure after failure and sorrow after sorrow as our consistent return.
I do not have all the answers and neither do I claim that I do. Indeed I may well be wrong which is why I would be interested in hearing the views of others and particularly those from the younger generation who may see things very differently. Whichever way it goes and regardless of what we all think, let us not allow this debate to be driven by the uninformed or ignorance, pettiness, hate and acrimony. Let us not insult one another or act as if any tribe or nationality are a collection of angels whilst others are nothing but demons. Let us join issues and exchange ideas in a civil, restrained and decent manner without hurling insults at one another or allowing our emotions to becloud our thinking.
At the end of the day, we all want the same thing- namely, to put in place a system that is in the best interest of the Nigerian people and to empower a new leadership that will allow them to achieve their full potentials? That is the objective and that alone. Over to you.
*Fani Kayode was a Minister of Aviation
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/nigeria-to-break-or-not-to-break/#sthash.6poQubQo.dpuf
Later this year, the people of Scotland are having their own referendum to determine whether or not they will stay in the United Kingdom and, again, from the polls, it is very clear that the majority of Scots wish to have their own new sovereign state and that the Scottish Nationalist Party enjoys massive support. Nobody in either Spain or the United Kingdom has insulted those people or labelled them as ‘’ethnic jingoists’’ or ‘’primitive tribalists’’ for wanting to break off from the greater whole and establish their own country.
Fani-Kayode
They opted to be friendly neighbours rather than to be compelled to remain within the same territory against their collective will. As we in Nigeria approach the 100-year anniversary of our 1914 Lugardian amalglamation and, as the 2015 elections are fast approaching with both the northern region and the south-south zone desperate to take or to hold on to power at any cost respectively, we need to begin to ask ourselves some basic and fundamental questions about our future. For example, is our interest better served by remaining as one nation or is it time for those nationalities that wish to leave the federation in a peaceful and orderly way, as a result of a legitimate and honest referendum, be alllowed to go?
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
If the breaking up of larger countries into smaller and more viable ones is good enough for India (which broke into three), the Sudan (which broke into two), Czekhoslovakia (which broke into two), Yugoslavia (which broke into 5), the Soviet Union (which broke into 15) and numerous other countries over the years, why is it not good enough for us? Again, why should those that believe that Nigeria ought to break up be subjected to so much suspicion, ridicule, contempt and insults from those that do not share their views?
Some of the questions that need to be answered are as follows- firstly, is our union working? Secondly, is our marriage a good one and is it a happy one as well? Are we satisfied with what has essentially become a country that has been turned into nothing more than (with apologies to Chief Bode George) ‘’Turn by Turn Nigeria?’’ where each ethnic group simply looks forward to enjoying its time to control the federation and all the nation’s resources from an all powerful centre? Are we not meant to be far more than this? Is this what the founding fathers of our nation envisaged?
More than anything else the recent igbo/yoruba debate over the issue of the status of Lagos state and the deportation of a handful of igbo destitute back to the east has proved to me that we as a people are very different from one another and that our interests may be better served if we are no longer bound together as one. I dare to voice this opinion even though many Yoruba share it but will not say so publiclly.
Is it not time for us to begin to accept the bitter truth that our marriage is uncomfortable and unhappy and that it may not have been made in heaven or ordained by God? Is it not clear that each region or each nationality ought to be able to develop at its own pace? Is it not time for us to have a confederation of nationalities in Nigeria and to restructure the country drastically to give maximum autonomy to the various regions and nationalities or indeed is it not time to just break up and go our separate ways?
DIFFERENCES Many may disagree but one thing that I believe that we can at least agree on is that perhaps it is time for us to be courageous enough to begin to talk about these issues openly and debate them. We must not sweep our differences under the carpet and ignore them as if they do not exist but instead we must find the courage and muster the resolve to acknowledge them and understand them. As far as I am concerned, this is the challenge of our time and these are the questions that need to be answered.
Whatever happens in 2015 and whoever wins, whether it be a northerner or Goodluck Jonathan of the south-south, I see blood on the horizon and I see disaster approaching. Stark promises from notable players such as ‘’there will be bloodshed if Goodluck is not re-elected’’ do not help and are not encouraging. There are equally strident and bellicose murmurings from the other side as well and some have threatened that if there is a repeat performance of the massive rigging that the North witnessed in the presidential election of 2011 anywhere in the country in 2015, ’’Nigeria will burn’’ whilst another key player said that ‘’both the dog and the baboon shall be soaked in blood’’.
2015 AS KEG OF GUN POWDER
These words must be taken very seriously indeed and they reflect the thinking and mindset of millions of people from both sides of the political and regional divide. Worste still, whether we like to admit it or not, religion has now become a major factor in our politics with Christians being told in their churches that it is their solemn duty to support a Christian presidential candidate and Muslims being told in their mosques that it is theirs to support a Muslim. We are sitting on a keg of gunpowder and, in my view, 2015 really will be the year of make or break for Nigeria. Sadly, in my humble opinion, it is far closer to ‘’break’’ than it is to ’’make’’.
If we wish to avoid the road to Kigali, we must change our mindset and make the necessary concessions that we need to make. We must begin to think outside of the box and be far more innovative and adventurous. For example, why is it a must in the minds of some that the PDP must field a Christian as it’s presidential candidate and why are some in the APC of the view that the party must field a northern Muslim as its own?
These hard and fast fixed positions are most unhelpful and the right thing and proper thing to do is to completely discard them and attempt to find a presidential candidate that is a Nigerian before being a northerner, a southerner, a Christian or a Muslim. And thankfully there are quite a few of such people around in the new generation if only the system will be far-sighted and enlightened enough to allow them to emerge and run. Failing that we must open up the space now and consider the unpleasant assertion that the premium that a united Nigeria attracts may not be worth paying simply because we are getting nothing but failure after failure and sorrow after sorrow as our consistent return.
I do not have all the answers and neither do I claim that I do. Indeed I may well be wrong which is why I would be interested in hearing the views of others and particularly those from the younger generation who may see things very differently. Whichever way it goes and regardless of what we all think, let us not allow this debate to be driven by the uninformed or ignorance, pettiness, hate and acrimony. Let us not insult one another or act as if any tribe or nationality are a collection of angels whilst others are nothing but demons. Let us join issues and exchange ideas in a civil, restrained and decent manner without hurling insults at one another or allowing our emotions to becloud our thinking.
At the end of the day, we all want the same thing- namely, to put in place a system that is in the best interest of the Nigerian people and to empower a new leadership that will allow them to achieve their full potentials? That is the objective and that alone. Over to you.
*Fani Kayode was a Minister of Aviation
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/09/nigeria-to-break-or-not-to-break/#sthash.6poQubQo.dpuf
There
are indications that President Goodluck Jonathan had directed the
Bamanga Tukur faction of the Peoples Democratic Party to compile names
of its members for ministerial positions.
A member of the National Working Committee of the faction, who made this known to The PUNCH in Abuja on Sunday, said the directive was already being complied with.
Jonathan, in his first major cabinet shake-up since his inauguration on May 29, 2011, had on Wednesday sacked nine ministers.
The sacked ministers were Prof.
Ruqayyatu Rufai (Education), Okon Ewa-Bassey (Science and
Technology), Olugbenga Ashiru (Foreign Affairs), Hadiza Mailafia
(Environment), Shamsudeen Usman (National Planning),and Ama Pepple
(Housing, Lands and Urban Development).
Also affected were Olusola
Obada(Defence), and her counterparts in the Agriculture Ministry,
Alhaji Bukar Tijani, and Power, Zainab Kuchi.
The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran
Maku, had explained that the sacking of the ministers had no political
undertone but there were reports that it was fallout of the crisis in
the PDP.
The PDP was factionalised on August 31 when seven of its governors formed a faction, known as New PDP.
The NWC member, who pleaded anonymity,
said, “The President has directed the party to suggest names for the
vacant ministerial slots. We have already asked our state chapters to
send their nominees to us. As I talk to you, we are waiting for their
nominees.”
It was gathered that in states governed
by the seven governors in the New PDP, politicians loyal to the
President, would nominate candidates for vacant slots.
In Rivers State, where Pepple lost her
job, party chieftains, including the Deputy National Chairman of the
Tuku-led faction, Uche Secondus and the Minister of State for
Education, Nyesom Wike, would play a role in getting her replacement.
In the South-West, there are two vacancies because of the removal of Ashiru and Obada.
It was gathered that chieftains of the
PDP, Chief Olabode George and a financier of the party, Chief Buruji
Kasamu, were expected to nominate candidates for the zone.
In Kaduna State, the southern part of the state would fill the vacancy created by the sack of Mailafia.
In Niger State, it was learnt that a
former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and an ex-Minister of
Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, might nominate an indigene of the state
to replace Kuchi.
It was also gathered that, to fill the
vacant ministerial slots, governors that were loyal to the President had
been directed to nominate candidates, if there were vacancies in their
states.
The PUNCH learnt that the Akwa
Ibom State Governor, Obong Godswill Akpabio, would nominate a chieftain
of the party in the state to replace Ewa-Bassey, a native of the state.
When asked to comment on the
development, the PDP National Publicity Secreary, Chief Olish Metuh,
said, “That is not important. It is the President that will choose
whoever he wants to work with him to achieve his transformation agenda.”
The Special Adviser to the President on
National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi, had on Friday said
Jonathan was still consulting on the appointment of new ministers.
She had said, “He is still consulting.
He will present the list to the National Assembly as soon as he
concludes his consultations.”
Meanwhile, investigations on Sunday revealed that security reports were mostly responsible for the sack of the ministers.
A Presidency source told one of our
correspondents that following the crisis in the PDP, the Presidency
could no longer trust the affected ministers.
The source said, “The ministers were
nailed by security reports. Their telephone lines were bugged and they
were being monitored for at least four months. It was discovered that
they were no longer sincere with Mr. President, especially since the
internal crises in PDP erupted.
“Go and find out, no sincere government
or President will tolerate a minister whose loyalty is in doubt. In the
case of the affected ministers, they were having divided loyalties.
First, to their state governors or the godfathers who nominated them and
secondly to Mr. President.
“But by their functions, their loyalty
to the President should be total and so the best option is to shop for
people with committed loyalty and not divided loyalty. This should be a
serious lesson to any public servant; divided loyalty is never
tolerated anywhere in the world.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the
President’s Special Adviser on Political Affairs, Mr. Ahmed Gulak,
prooved abortive as he could not be reached through his mobile
telephone.
A civil rights organisation, the Anti-Corruption Network, has, however, described the sacking of the ministers as vindictive.
The Executive Secretary of the group and
former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, in an
interview with one of our correspondents, linked the sacking to the
crisis in the PDP.
He said, “The sacking of the ministers
is vindictive, petty and political. It shows that President Jonathan,
like I have always said, condones, romances and promotes corruption. He
spared all the corrupt thieves in his government, including those who
are still busy enjoying their loots.
“The sacking of these ministers is a
cowardly reaction. The former Minister of Education was a nominee of
the Jigawa State Governor. The ex-minister of National Planning is
from Kano State and it is because Jonathan wants to appoint a strong
politician who will fight Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso in Kano State.”
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