ABUJA- FORMER Federal Commissioner for Information for Information and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the alleged castigation and harassment of the people of the Niger Delta and for the maintenance of peace and stability in the region.
Edwin Clark
In the letter dated January 22, 2016, Chief Clark specifically asked President Buhari to investigate the humiliation of Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), the proposed scrapping of the Maritime University in Okerenkoko, Warri South West Local Government, Delta State established by former President Goodluck Jonathan and refund of the money already released for the project as disclosed by the Minister of Transportation, Chiibuike Rotimi Amaechi when he appeared before Senate Committee on Marine Transport, headed by Senator Ahmed Sani.
The elder statesman advised President Buhari to be wary of some persons around him who may be misinforming him and creating problems for him. He said that the Niger Delta region lays the golden egg, yet goes through humiliation and harassment by the government, adding that except for one or two persons, no Niger Delta person or any one from Ijaw land owns an oil bloc, as they were being controlled by other people from other regions.
Chief Clark who condemned the renewed blowing up of major oil and gas pipelines by militants in the Niger Delta region of the country, urged the president to bring to book all the culprits even as he said that Tompolo, a civilized Nigerian can never be part of the renewed bombing of the pipes. He said, “I totally condemn the vandalisation of oil and gas pipelines and will give you 100 per cent support for whatever action you take to bring the culprits to book. It is with heavy heart that I decided to take record of pipeline vandalisations that have taken place within the last two years.”
Below are excerpts from the open letter, dated October 26, 2015, by Chief Edwin Clark, replying former Special Adviser on Media to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Reuben Abati, and other critics over his recent comments on the former president.
Edwin Clark
ORDINARILY at my age and position in life, I should not have to justify myself in a press controversy on my voluntary decision to quit partisan politics particularly when this personal and well intended act has come under unfair politicization of persons of mediocre temperament. For a couple of days now, I have been more bemused than angry by the not-so-funny, but, predictably, negative ingenuity of Nigerians, aided by an equally incredulous media, to create unpleasant things out of nothing. It has been a circus of those convinced that they have found a peg to hang their own, disloyalty, failure, shallowness and hatred unto, a ball to kick around, over my statement, not for the first time, that I was quitting partisan politics and my statement about former President Goodluck Jonathan, for reasons so obvious that I cannot understand what the orgy of self-flagellation is all about.
I still believe that former President Jonathan performed creditably well in various areas. I am very proud of him and so are millions of other Nigerians. He was good in so many areas, and did many good things for this nation. He resuscitated the railway system that was comatose for several decades; he engineered a robust economy for this nation; he fought against Polio and Ebola; maternal and child health; he did much for the power sector upon which President Muhammadu Buhari is now building; he tarred more roads than any of his predecessors; he turned agriculture to agro-business, a multibillion dollar business; he built the Almajiri schools in the Northern parts of this country; he established new federal universities across this nation; he allowed for free speech across this nation, and did not mind when he was criticised or, even, abused; people were not arbitrarily locked up in jail or prison, as he truly respected the rule of law; he signed the Freedom of Information Bill into law, which was not done by his predecessors; he modernised the aviation sector; he convoked a National Conference that brought Nigerians together and proffered recommendations on how to better bind Nigerians together as one; he sanitised the electoral system of this country, unlike what we had before him, when elections results were announced without actually voting, when ballot snatching were rampant and common place, he brought transparency into the electoral process, when people could vote and the votes actually openly counted without violence. Today he stands as the first African president to concede an election to an opponent, even before the final counts. There are many more achievements to his record, but because of time and space let me end here for now. These are all lasting legacies that he has left behind. He has certainly set a precedent for others to follow.
But no human being is perfect; only God is perfect. Therefore, to mention an area of former President Jonathan’s inaction may not be out of place. Every leader in this world has their fault. President Jonathan cannot be an exception. As the late British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan observed in his autobiography, politicians do not regret their mistakes because they can always explain themselves; but they never forgive themselves for opportunities they have lost. For instance, President Barrack Obama of United States of America is frequently attacked for not having the political will to deal with Israel over the Palestinian question.
This does not mean that he lacks the capacity to take action against Israel effectively or to deal with the affairs of the United States of America or that he lacks integrity. Several years ago, the entire Western world was being accused of lacking political will to deal with Apartheid South Africa. This did not mean any inaction of the Western countries by the rest of the world. It only means that President Obama and the statesmen of the western world had other considerations in their minds in the interest of their countries.
In keeping with my character I cannot say in private what I cannot say in the public. I do not therefore, reject or disown Jonathan as my beloved political son.
My open support for former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
My support for President Goodluck Jonathan predates his presidency. It dates back to the period when he was the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. So for people who are thinking that I only knew Dr. Jonathan when he became the President or that I was one of his hangers on, I think there will be need to give them a little information. My relevance and leadership of my people as an elder statesman and a critical stakeholder in this Nigeria project far pre-dates Dr. Jonathan’s public life and presidency. I have been relevant in politics and I have served my people honestly and creditably well. I became very close to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan when he was Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. I was present in London when the late former Governor of Bayelsa State, the Governor General of the Ijaw Nation, Chief D.S.P. Alamieyeseigha (may his soul rest in perfect peace), was arrested in London on the prompting of the Nigerian government under President Olusegun Obasanjo because of his hatred for Chief Alamieyeseigha. I had to cancel my flight to Nigeria at the London Airport when the news of the arrest of Chief Alamieyeseigha was conveyed to me by Ambassador Pereware from Paris. I went with a few well-meaning Nigerians to Essex where we had been informed that he was kept, but could not find him. We went to a few other places before we were able to locate where he was. I remained in London for one week with him to put in place machineries for his bail. I recall the large-heartedness of Lady Ann Iyoha who brought out the title deed of her property in London to secure his bail and also the magnanimity of another woman from Amasoma, the home town of Chief Alamiyeseigha in Bayelsa State.
When I returned to Nigeria, I went to Bayelsa State to meet with stakeholders to see that a peaceful transition of power take place whereby Dr. Jonathan who was the then Deputy Governor became the governor. Ambassador Godknows Igali became the Secretary to the State Government.
Of course, I openly supported President Jonathan not only as my son but also as the first person to emerge from the minorities of the Niger Delta as the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I had no choice but to support him and I have no regrets. My support is total and unyielding. If most of President Jonathan’s close associates and political leaders exhibited such support, by espousing all his achievements, rather than the pretence and betrayal they were engaged in, the story today would have been different.
It will be recalled that I had on several occasions openly criticised the former President in the press and in my statements for actions or inactions which were damaging to the President’s image while he was in office. When the President failed to check the excesses of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, which included his undue interference with the activities of the EFCC, I did not fail to speak my mind openly in opposition to the President. When the President did not deliver on his promise to complete the construction of the East-West Road, I did not fail to speak my mind openly.
I even told him publicly that he should not leave the South South people poorer than he met them. When the Governors Forum appeared to arrogate to itself powers that infringed upon those of the President in the Constitution of Nigeria with impunity, I did not fail to criticise. The press conferences and open letters I wrote which were carried and published by the various media houses are there to confirm this claim. However, with all these, my support for him was and still is total and unshakeable.
My relationship with Jonathan was not based on material gains
It is indeed most disingenuous to insinuate that my relationship with former President Jonathan was based on what benefits accrued to me. Far from the truth as I never benefited any material thing from President Jonathan in all his six years of President. With all modesty, I am at this age contented. I state publicly therefore, that I never sought nor obtained any contract, oil block, oil lifting allocation or financial gratification from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) during his years of administration.
Similarly, I never solicited for appointments or special placements for any of my children or relations in any government or private concern on account of my relationship with President Jonathan. It is, therefore, ludicrous and totally ill-motived for these wicked and mischievous persons to sell to the public that my decision portends a plan to seek any special favours from President Muhammadu Buhari and his government, or to protect those gains which I acquired from President Jonathan’s government which never existed.
On the contrary, my public service in this country which spans over 60 years had given me the opportunity to seek the political, social and economic development of my people and Nigeria in general. I remain committed more than ever before to the economic, political and social emancipation of the people of the Niger Delta, South South, the entire minorities and the development and unity of this great nation. This was even contained in the congratulatory letter which I wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari, dated 3rd April, 2015.
My retirement from partisan politics
I am fast approaching 90 years and had been in active politics for over 60 years. It came to me as a shock that misguided persons are trying to lose their senses over my decision to quit active partisan politics.
I was in the Niger Delta Congress (NDC), with the late sage Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye and late His Excellency, Chief Melford Okilo between 1955 and 1959. I was in Mid West Front (MWF). I was in the National Congress for Nigerian Citizens, NCNC. I was Secretary of the Zikist Vanguard, London in 1962. I served in General Yakubu Gowon’s cabinet as Minister of Information with late General Murtala Mohammed as Minister of Commerce, General Olusegun Obasanjo as Minister of Works, Alhaji Shehu Shagari as Minister of Finance. Today, three of these persons have become Presidents of Nigeria. Apart from Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, the others are no longer in active politics.
I was a member of the National Party of Nigeria, NPN. I recall with heavy heart that most of the people with whom I played politics are either dead or have become politically inactive. Some of them are Makama Bida of Niger State, Maitama Sule of Kano State, K. O. Mbadiwe of Imo State, Fani Kayode, Tanko Yakassai, Dr. Ibrahim Tahil of Bauchi State, Adamu Ciroma of Yobe State, Alhaji Ali Monguno of Borno State, A. M. A. Akinloye, T. O. S. Benson, Dr. Okezie of Imo State, M. T. Mbu of Cross River State, His Royal Majesty the Olubadan of Ibadan, just to mention a few. Not too long ago, I found myself attending a PDP caucus meeting in Warri with young men who are grand children of my political colleagues. Today, I sometimes move in a wheelchair. I had intimated former President Jonathan that once the elections were over and he was sworn into office for the second term, I will leave partisan politics and retire to my village.
Thus, I recalled earlier receiving a request by a group with the rather uplifting name of “Think Nigeria First Initiative” (TNFI), for a courtesy call on me and to make me their Grand Patron. The name alone sent sensations of kindred spirit through me and I readily accepted. I responded, enthusiastically, naturally. It was in that context that I said that myself at the age of nearly 89 years, and having carried my passions of similar ideals with theirs for over 60 years, had decided that my energies needed a paradigm restructuring. This same position I had declared at Akure, Ondo State, on the 24th of August, 2015, at the meeting of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, SNPA, of which, by God’s grace, I am one of the Leaders.
I wish to refer here to the crude and unpolished language used by Dr. Reuben Abati against me that I would have still been a PDP card-carrying member if former President Jonathan had won the election. I do not know the background of Dr. Abati but for him to lie and devilishly imagine that I should have remained a PDP card-carrying member if President Jonathan won the election is satanic.
No reader of The Guardian Newspaper, particularly its Sunday edition, will easily forget the frequently provocative columns by Dr. Reuben Abati. As the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the newspaper and syndicated columnist, Abati had a freehand to write whatever he liked in his column and could also influence other news items. I do not recall any favourable remark made by Abati all those years when he was the Chairman of the Editorial Board and syndicated columnist about the former President His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and the First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan.
If I recall correctly, they were always the butt of ridicule by Dr. Reuben Abati. In fact, he became so notorious and a fearless critic of former President Jonathan and his wife in The Guardian Newspaper that I had to draw the attention of my cousin, the proprietor of The Guardian Newspaper to his excesses. These vitriolic attacks on former President Jonathan and his wife only stopped when he was appointed the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity by the former President.
On his appointment, Aso Rock activities and Jonathan’s achievements were not sold to the people of Nigeria. Reuben Abati will recall the number of times when I called his attention to how he was being negligent of his duty as the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity by not defending President Jonathan against some of the scurrilous attacks against him and also by not promoting his image and the well-known achievements of his administration. My advice that a Publicity Committee made up of eminent journalists be put in place in Aso Rock and that media proprietors and senior journalists should be invited to Aso Rock were jettisoned by Abati.
Dr. Reuben Abati has risen to the defence of his last employer too late. He owes the former President apologies for his (Reuben Abati’s) failure to perform while in office. I should not be used as a scapegoat. I love Goodluck Jonathan and Goodluck Jonathan loves me.
I repeat again that I will like Dr. Abati to find out from his former boss whether I did not intimate him of my intention that I will leave active politics sometime in 2015 and return to my village after Dr. Jonathan’s re-election as the President of Nigeria. It would be recalled that only two weeks ago, the former PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, retired from partisan politics while celebrating his 80th Birthday. Although he is much younger than me, Reuben Abati and his likes did not feel offended. I repeat here again that I am very proud of my family background which has produced some of the most illustrious Nigerians and that I do not shift ground or change position. I still regard former President Jonathan as my son. Since the change of government, we have been in close communication on the telephone and Jonathan has visited me over four times.
When I pointed to the former President Jonathan that most of those who surrounded him were not loyal, sincere or patriotic but mere opportunists. It is, therefore, unfair and unjust for Reuben Abati and others to accuse me for saying things against former President Jonathan while he is no longer in office. It is even more shameful that Dr. Abati who claims to be a cultured Yoruba man, a people who have great respect for elders, to go on this wild macabre dance to insinuate and say outright lies against an elder statesman of my age and standing. Unknown to him, more Nigerians know me as a person of strong principles and ideals than he and his likes can imagine. This is why their attacks on me have exposed them to more ridicules in the eyes of most Nigerians, than they would have ever imagined.
I have tried delaying the writing of this piece in the honest expectation that someone probably misquoted Chief E.K. Clark, when he reportedly publicly disowned former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Dr Reuben Abati
I had hoped that our dear father, E.K. Clark, would issue a counter statement and say the usual things politicians say: “they quoted me out of context!” “Jonathan is my son”. That has not happened; rather, some other Ijaw voices, including one Joseph Evah, have come to the defence of the old man, to join hands in rubbishing a man they once defended to the hilt and used as a bargaining chip for the Ijaw interest in the larger Nigerian geo-politics.
If President Jonathan had returned to power on May 29, 2015, these same persons would have remained in the corridors of power, displaying all forms of ethnic triumphalism.
It is the reason in case they do not realize it, why the existent power blocs that consider themselves most fit to rule, continue to believe that those whose ancestors never ran empires can never be trusted with power, hence they can only be admitted as other people’s agents or as merchants of their own interests which may even be defined for them as is deemed convenient. Mercantilism may bring profit, but in power politics, it destroys integrity and compromises otherwise sacred values.
President Jonathan being publicly condemned by his own Ijaw brothers, particularly those who were once staunch supporters of his government further serves the purpose of exposing the limits of the politics of proximity. Politics in Africa is driven by this particular factor; it is at the root of all the other evils: prebendalism, clientelism and what Matthew Kukah has famously described as the “myownisation of power.”
It is both positive and negative, but obviously, more of the latter than the former. It is considered positive only when it is beneficial to all parties concerned, and when the template changes, the ground also shifts. As in that song, the solid rock of proximity is soon replaced by shifting sands. Old worship becomes new opportunism. And the observant public is left confounded.
Edwin Clark
Chief E.K. Clark? Who would ever think, Chief E.K. Clark would publicly disown President Jonathan? He says Jonathan was a weak President. At what point did he come to that realization? Yet, throughout the five years (not six, please) of the Jonathan Presidency, he spoke loudly against anyone who opposed the President.
He was so combative he was once quoted as suggesting that Nigeria could have problems if Jonathan was not allowed to return to office. Today, he is the one helping President Jonathan’s successor to quench the fires. He always openly said President Jonathan is “his son.”
Today, he is not just turning against his own son, he is telling the world his son as President lacked the political will to fight corruption. He has also accused his son of being too much of a gentleman. Really? Gentlemanliness would be considered honourable in refined circles. Is Pa E.K. Clark recommending something else in order to prove that he is no longer a politician but a statesman as he says?
As someone who was a member of the Jonathan administration, and who interacted often with the old man, I can only say that I am shocked. This is the equivalent of the old man deleting President Jonathan’s phone number and ensuring that calls from his phone no longer ring at the Jonathan end.
During the Jonathan years, Chief E. K. Clark was arguably the most vocal Ijaw leader defending the government. He called the President “my son,” and both father and son remained in constant touch.
There is something about having the President’s ears in a Presidential system, elevated to the level of a fetish in the clientelist Nigerian political system. Persons in the corridors of power who have the President’s ear- be they cook, valet, in-laws, wife, cousin, former school mates, priests, or whatever, enjoy special privileges.
They have access to the President and they can whisper into his ears. That’s all they have as power: the power to whisper and run a whispering campaign that can translate into opportunities or losses for those outside that informal power loop around every Presidency, that tends to be really influential.
Every President must beware of those persons who come around calling them “Daddy”, “Uncle”, na my brother dey there”, “my son”, “our in-law”- emotional blackmailers relying on old connections. They are courted, patronized and given more attention and honour than they deserve by those looking for access to the President or government.
Even when the power and authority of the whispering exploiters of the politics of proximity is contrived, they go out of their way to exaggerate it. They acquire so much from being seen to be in a position to make things happen.
President Jonathan
Chief E. K. Clark had the President’s ears. He had unfettered access to his son. He was invited to most state events. And he looked out for the man he called “my son”, in whom he was well pleased. Chief Clark’s energy level in the service of the Jonathan administration was impressive. Fearless and outspoken, he deployed his enormous talents in the service of the Jonathan government. If a press statement was tame, he drew attention to it and urged a more robust defence of “your boss.”
If any invective from the APC was overlooked, he urged prompt rebuttal. If the party was tardy in defending “his son”, he weighed in.
If anyone had accused the President of lacking “the political will to fight corruption” at that time, he, E.K. Clark, would have called a press conference to draw attention to the Jonathan administration’s institutional reforms and preventive measures, his commitment to electoral integrity to check political corruption, and the hundreds of convictions secured by both the ICPC and EFCC under his son’s watch.
So prominent and influential was he, that ministers, political jobbers etc etc trooped to his house to pay homage.
In due course, those who opposed President Jonathan did not spare Chief E. K. Clark either. He was accused of making inflammatory and unstatesman-like statements. An old war-horse, nobody could intimidate him. He was not President Olusegun Obasanjo’s fan in particular. He believed Obasanjo wanted to sabotage his son, and he wanted Obasanjo put in his place. Beneath all of that, was an unmistaken rivalry between the two old men, seeking to control the levers of Nigerian politics.
Every President probably needs a strong, passionate ally like Chief E. K. Clark. But what happened? What went wrong? Don’t get me wrong. I am not necessarily saying that the Ijaw leader should have remained loyal to and defend Goodluck Jonathan because they are both Ijaws, patriotism definitely could be stronger than ethnic affinities, nonetheless that E. K. Clark tale about leaving politics and becoming a statesman is nothing but sheer crap.
If Jonathan had returned to office, he would still be a card-carrying member of the PDP and the “father of the President” and we would still have been hearing that famous phrase, “my son”. Chief E. K. Clark, five months after, has practically told the world that President Buhari is better than “his own son”.
It is the worst form of humiliation that President Jonathan has received since he left office. It is also the finest compliment that President Buhari has received since he assumed office. The timing is also auspicious: just when the public is beginning to worry about the direction of the Buhari government, E. K. Clark shows up to lend a hand of support and endorsement.
Only one phrase was missing in his statement, and it should have been added: “my son, Buhari.” It probably won’t be too long before we hear the old man saying “I am a statesman, Buhari is my son.” I can imagine President Obasanjo grinning with delight.
If he really wants to be kind, he could invite E.K. Clark to his home in Ota or Abeokuta to come and do the needful by publicly tearing his PDP membership card and join him in that exclusive club of Nigerian statesmen!
The only problem with that club these days is that you can become a member by just saying so or by retiring from partisan politics. We are more or less being told that there are no statesmen in any of the political parties.
It is not funny. Julius Ceasar asked Brutus in one of the famous lines in written literature: “Et tu Brutus?” President Jonathan should ask Chief E. K. Clark: “Et tu Papa?” To which the father will probably tell the son: “Ces’t la vie, mon cher garcon.” And really, that is life.
In the face of other considerations, loyalties vanish; synergies collapse. The wisdom of the tribe is overturned; the politics of proximity dissolves; loyalties remain in a perpetual process of construction. Thus, individual interests and transactions drive the political game in Nigeria, with time and context as key determinants.
These are teachable moments for President Jonathan. Power attracts men and women like bees to nectar, the state of powerlessness ends as a journey to the island of loneliness.
However, the greatest defender of our work in office is not our ethnic “fathers and “brothers” but rather our legacy. The real loss is that President Jonathan’s heroism, his messianic sacrifice in the face of defeat, is being swept under the carpet and his own brothers who used to say that the Ijaws are driven by a principle of “one for all and all for another”, have become agent-architects of his pain.
The Ijaw platform having seemingly been de-centered, Chief E.K. Clark and others are seeking assimilation in the new power structure. It is a telling reconstruction of the politics of proximity and mimicry.
Chief E.K. Clark once defended the rights of ethnic minorities to aspire to the highest offices in the land, his latest declaration about his son reaffirms the existing stereotype at the heart of Nigeria’s hegemonic politics.
The same hegemons and their agents whom Clark used to fight furiously will no doubt find him eminently quotable now that he has proclaimed that it is wrong to be a “gentleman”, and that his son lacks “the political will to fight corruption”. There is more to this than we may ever know.
Chief Clark can insist from now till 2019, that he has spoken as a statesman and as a matter of principle. His re-alignment, is curious nonetheless.
ASABA – EX-MILITANTS under the auspices of Niger Delta Liberation Force, NDLF, Thursday, took a swipe at former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, who, Wednesday, deserted the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and accused ex-President Goodluck Jonathan of lacking the political will to fight corruption, saying the elder statesman should shut up.
Edwin Clark
Spokesman of the group, “Captain” Mark Anthony, in a statement, said, “Chief Edwin Clark has no moral justification to condemn former President Goodluck Jonathan by saying that GEJ lacked political will to fight corruption. We are surprised at the unguarded comments from a man who called himself elder statesman.”
“Clark was part of the rot in GEJ administration, he should keep quiet and allow other Nigerians to judge GEJ stewardship.
“We see Clark’s statement against GEJ as the height of betrayal and backstabbing to find favour with the current administration. President Muhammadu Buhari should be warned to be distant himself from persons like Clark if he wants to end well,” the group said.
It added, “We support the ongoing anti-graft war and urge Buhari to extend the searchlight to people like Clark, who are fabulously rich rich. EFCC should track the various bank accounts of Clark and others, who do not hold formal government offices and known open businesses, but are stupendously wealthy”
“We urge Buhari to be impartial in his anti-graft war to bring all looters to book to create a new hope for the future generation of Nigeria,” NDLF asserted.
The Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has said ex-President Goodluck Jonathan lacked the will power to fight corruption.
Edwin Clark
The elder statesman, who spoke when he hosted the Think Nigeria First Initiative Group, who visited him at his Asokoro home in Abuja, said President Jonathan meant well for the country but lacked the will power to tackle corrupt politicians.
He said: “Jonathan is a gentleman. He is too gentle. Drivers under his administration are now living in palatial buildings. In advanced countries, when you are living above your means, people query you. This is not so in Nigeria. Former governors and lawmakers are asking for immunity.
“Jonathan meant well for this country, but the will power to fight corruption was not there.
“In an ideal society, when a man who earns N20,000 as salary and all of a sudden, he acquires something that is worth N100,000, he should be questioned. But in Nigeria, immunity has covered those that should be questioned.
“This is not the kind of country we want. Being a gentleman is not enough to govern this country.”
Clark announced his retirement from politics. He said he had quit the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and would not join the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He said despite announcing his retirement from politics, he would not stop criticising injustice.
Clark, a well-known supporter of former President Jonathan, hailed President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war.
He said: “I’m a true Nigerian. I have Muslims in my house, although I’m a Christian. Boko Haram is a problem for all of us and we must fight it.”
The elder statesman, who reiterated his support for Buhari’s quest to fight corruption, urged people to support him.
According to Clark, “it is not everything done by the opponent that is wrong. I will therefore support the policies that are good for the country because Nigeria belongs to all of us.
“We should support Buhari, particularly in his determination to eradicate corruption. For eight years, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo legalised corruption. Yet, he’s talking about corruption. If your brother was arrested, did he give you money? If your sister was arrested for corruption, did she give you money?
“Nobody should distract President Buhari from fighting corruption. People should stop talking about sectional or selective justice.”
He advised those yet to recover from the loss of the general election to forget their defeat and support the present administration to move the nation forward.
A former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has said he has left the Peoples Democratic Party.
Clark, who was a staunch supporter of former President Goodluck Jonathan, however said he would not joint the governing party, the All Progressives Congress.
The Ijaw leader said this in Abuja on Wednesday when a group, Think Nigeria First Initiative, paid him a courtesy visit at his Abuja residence.
It was however not clear if Clark quit the party because of the defeat suffered by Jonathan during the presidential election.
Southern leaders under the auspices of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly (SNP), on Tuesday, slammed President Muhammadu Buhari over what they described as his lopsided appointments and selective fight against corruption.
Edwin Clark
Speaking at the meeting of the elders council held in Akure, the Ondo state capital, the SNP led by Elder statesman & former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, although expressed support for President Buhari’s fight against corruption, but kicked against being selective.
Leaders of the council who also joined Chief Clark at the meeting were Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on 2014 National Conference, Senator Femi Okorounmu; leader of the Southwest Delegation, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Gbonigi; former Vice President, Alex Ekuweme; A third Republic Senator, Ngoji Denton-West; former Minister of Transport and Aviation, Chief Ebenezer Babatope; Prof Ikechukwu Madubuike, Kunle Olajide and former military Administrator of Akwa Ibom State, Ndongesit Ekang.
Others were Senator Tony Adefuye, former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Prof Olu Agbi among others.
Speaking at the meeting, Chief Clark said: “The resolve of President Buhari’s administration to wage a decisive war against corruption which is essential to put Nigeria on the global map of business friendly nations that will earn the country prosperity is a most welcome development.
“However, it is important to state that the dialectics of corruption, as pervasive as diverse, require a holistic fight to tame its pervading scourge. Thus, it must not be seen to be selective and limited to some perceived political enemies and foes to score cheap political points.
“For Nigeria to succeed in the war to eliminate the cancerous spread of this malaise, all those who contributed in one way or another to ruin the prospects of a great country like Nigeria and have brought us to this despicable position should be made to account for their actions.
“It is only when the battle against corruption is genuinely and seriously fought without fear of favour that endearing legacies of a transformed country could bequeathed to future generations.”
Clark added that “As Nigerians, we are all equal without regard to race, creed and tribe. It is therefore my candid appeal to President Buhari to live his priceless mantra ‘I belong to everybody, but I belong to nobody’ in the manner, that the affairs of state are conducted, regardless of who gave him 95 percent votes and 5 percent of votes.”
In his submission, Rev. Gbonigi appealed to the president to be total and non-selective in the fight against corruption, going after corrupt persons in all the political parties, unsparing even his closest political associates.
The former Bishop of the Akure Anglican Diocese pointed out that justice and rule of law must reign supreme if the fight against corruption must be won.
On appointment of Buhari’s team, Bishop Gbonigi appealed that the President should ensure that ”no section of the country is marginalized in appointments and sighting of development projects. Elections are over and President Buhari is now the President over all Nigeria and Nigerians. No section of the country should be over patronized at the expense of others. It is therefore our sincere hope that the lopsidedness in the appointment made by Mr President to date is not an indication of the trend of future appointments.”
Bishop Gbonigi also condemned a “situation where the President, Senate President, the Speaker and Chief Justice of Nigeria are all from the North is not acceptable. The south is not subservient to the North and the situation in which only the deputies are zoned to the south is not acceptable.
Similarly, former Vice President, Alex Ekuweme who spoke for the South-East through Prof. Ikechukwu Madubuike, affirmed that the ongoing anti-graft war of President Buhari must be holistic and not selective.
The Ex-Vice President also called for the restructuring of the country in line with true federalism.
On his part, Ndongesit Ekang, who spoke for the South-South said except appointments are balanced, achievement will be minimal.
Ekang recommended that the fight against corruption should go round the three tiers of government, adding that politicizing the fight against corruption is a disservice to the country.
Governor Olusegun Mimiko called for the implementation of the 2014 National conference saying that the total restructuring of the country will bring “us to the Nigeria of our dreams,” adding that “it will be a disaster to confine the report of the conference to the the dustbin of history.”
ABUJA—FORMER Federal Commissioner for Information and South South leader, Chief Edwin Clark yesterday raised alarm over the level of corruption in the country and the economic crunch which have all combined to stagnate the progress of Nigeria over the years.
Edwin Clark
He warned that if President Muhammadu Buhari fails to deal severely with those who ruined Nigeria over the years, Nigeria as a country would sink.
In a six-page letter to President Buhari which was read to journalists yesterday at his Asokoro residence, Abuja, Chief Clark urged him to as a matter of urgency appoint a new Chairman for the Amnesty Programme as a replacement for the immediate past Chairman of the programme, Chief Kingsley Kuku, adding that he would be a sad man if the Amnesty programme fails.
According to the Elder statesman, the President should know what it means to Nigeria as a country to have peace in the Niger Delta, just as he stressed that quick appointment of a new Chairman even in acting capacity would help stop the imminent disintegration of the programme that has kept
the peace in the Niger Delta.
The Ijaw leader said that the vacuum already created following the absence of Kuku’s successor was creating tension and if not managed immediately, it would lead to that era when the activities of the militants in the creeks, contributed to crude oil fall to about 7,000 barrel per day, compared to the present situation of 2.5 million barrel per day, adding that the problem with the programme at the moment, was lack of an authority to operate the account of the programme.
According to him, “the economy of the country and the eradication of corruption which has become systematic and endemic that has stagnated the progress of this country over the years and the culprit if not severely dealt with will sink the country. We, therefore, pray the Almighty God that these discussions will materialise and achieve the desired result.
“Secondly, I now respectfully wish to bring to the attention of Mr. President the imminent danger facing the Amnesty programme. It would be recalled, that the former chairman of Amnesty programme and Adviser to Mr. President on Niger Delta Affairs, Chief Kingsley Kuku has since vacated his office as a result of change of government, but unfortunately, he has not been replaced by an appointee even in acting capacity by Mr. President, and as a result, the whole programme for now, is without leadership, and no one has the authority to operate the account of the Amnesty programme.”
A former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has once again canvassed support for President Muhamadu Buhari.
Edwin Clark
He described the President as being capable of leading the country; therefore, he should be supported by all Nigerians.
Clark, who was one of the staunch supporters of former President Goodluck Jonathan, spoke in Abuja on Wednesday at his residence when he received a group, known as Probity Ambassadors Organisation of Nigeria.
He said though he was among those who campaigned against the emergence of the President during the election, Clark said since Nigerians voted for him (Buhari), the President must be supported in order to enable him succeed in the task ahead.
The foremost Ijaw leader added that the way former President Jonathan conceded defeat had also made the task of running the country easier for the President.
Clark said, “I have congratulated President Buhari and today, he is our President. He’s not the President of a section of the country.
“Buhari is fit for the job and he’s capable of leading us. We will support him.
“Campaigns are over and a winner has emerged. We must come together after the election and give our support to the President.
“The loser of the election, who had all the powers to do and undo, came out to congratulate the President.
“That action of the former President is the best thing that has happened in this country.”
He said that former President Jonathan took that action of congratulating President Buhari because of his love for the country.
“You can only be the President of the country when it is intact. All of us must join hands together to support President Buhari,” he added.
He asked those who might not agree with the President to wait until 2019, when elections would be held again.
He said, “This is when there will be another opportunity for election.
“Then Nigerians would determine if the President has done well or not. Democracy has come to stay in the country.”
He asked Nigerians to learn from the attitude exhibited by the people of the United Kingdom, who he said had forgotten about their last election which was held in May.
Clark said, “Members of both the Conservatives and the Labour Party are living together in peace now as if nothing had happened.”
He also said that those who thought he would die because his party, the Peoples Democratic Party and former President Jonathan lost the election, were short-sighted.
He said that as an elder statesman, he was bound to support whoever wins the election to lead the nation.
A former Federal Commissioner for Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has said it is wrong for anyone to think that he would die because President Goodluck Jonathan lost the March 28 presidential election.
Clark, who was one of the supporters of the President, spoke with journalists on Friday in Abuja.
He said some people had been going round with rumours that he collapsed when he heard about the outcome of the presidential election.
It will be recalled that the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), defeated Jonathan, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate in the election.
Clark, who said he was travelling to London on Friday night, said he decided to speak with journalists before the rumour mongers would go to the market again and say that he had been flown abroad in air ambulance.
The Ijaw National leader wondered why some people could be thinking he would die when he was not the one that contested election.
He said even the President that stood for the election had conceded defeat and congratulated Buhari.
He said, “I am here today to tell you that I am not dead. Or am I dead? In every election, there would be winners and losers. The same thing happened during the last presidential election.
“I am alive. Today, I won’t talk about what happened before, during and after the election. That will come another day.
“I am talking to you now because I am travelling tomorrow and some people will go into the streets and say I was carried into air ambulance.
“President Jonathan that contested election had congratulated the winner and the whole world acclaimed him for conceding defeat.
“Jonathan was the one who contested election, I didn’t. So, why should I die.”
In this piece, OLALEKAN ADETAYO and eniola akinkuotu write on the influential personalities that will be largely affected by President Goodluck Jonathan’s exit
That President Goodluck Jonathan lost the March 28 presidential election is no longer news. Although he has been in the saddle for about six years, he has not been leading the country alone. By virtue of being very close to the President, there are men and women who have been wielding huge influence on his Presidency.
Mrs. Patience Jonathan | credits: kenetomagazine.blogspot.com
It is therefore no gainsaying that Jonathan did not lose this election alone. These people calling the shots from their various comfort zones are also losers in their own right. Who are these President’s men and women?
Mrs. Patience Jonathan
Mrs. Patience Jonathan is the wife of the President. Like wives of Presidents before her, she runs the Office of the First Lady with glamour despite the fact that the office is not recognised in the nation’s constitution. So powerful is the woman who prefers to be called Mama Peace that she was also elected the President of the African First Ladies Mission, a body of wives of Presidents across the continent. She also founded a non-governmental organisation, Women for Change, which has the mandate of empowering women nationwide.
Edwin Clark
The influence she wields cannot be measured. Her hands seem to be on everything. She is believed to be the unseen hand behind the travail of a former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, which denied him a second term ticket. The former governor was made uncomfortable in the Peoples Democratic Party until he left to join the All Progressives congress.
They replaced Sylva with Governor Seriake Dickson. The current governor tried hard to please the President’s wife to the extent that she was made a Permanent Secretary in the state. The honeymoon, however, did not last. Dickson also ran into troubled water with the woman who is said to have pencilled down the Special Assistant to the President on Domestic Matters, Dr. Wariponmowei Dudafa, as the next governor. She has since resigned her appointment from the state job.
Alison Madueke
It is also a known fact the problem between the President and Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State which forced the governor out of the PDP started with a disagreement he had with Mrs. Jonathan over the demolition of some houses in Okrika, the ancestral home of the President’s wife.
To get something in this government, you must be in the good books of Mrs. Jonathan. That is why government officials and their spouses bow and tremble before her.
Senator Pius Anyim
Anyim is the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. By virtue of his position, he is a big man (not about his stature) in the cabinet. He coordinates the activities of ministers.
Ngozi Okonjo Iweala
Because of his closeness to the President, the former President of the Senate wields huge influence. He was accused of providing cover for the former Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah, when she was facing fire over the two bulletproof BMW cars bought for her. To avoid journalists, Oduah was on many occasions driven out of the Presidential Villa after weekly Federal Executive Council meetings in Anyim’s official car.
He is also alleged to have a hand in the crisis rocking the state chapter of the PDP in his home state, Ebonyi. The state governor, Martin Elechi, had claimed that Anyim was the brain behind the impeachment process initiated against him by some members of the state House of Assembly.
His camp was accused of foisting the state Deputy Governor, Dave Umahi, on the people as the PDP governorship candidate in the April 11 governorship election at a time when Elechi was rooting for a former Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu. The situation has forced many PDP stakeholders in the state to be working for the Labour Party.
Diezani Alison-Madueke
Alison-Madueke is the Minister of Petroleum Resources. To say that she is one of the most influential ministers in Jonathan’s cabinet is an understatement. She is very powerful. She is one of the few ministers who are driven straight into the forecourt of the President’s office through the Service Chiefs’ Gate. Others always walk a distance of about 300metres from where their official cars are parked to the President’s office.
The minister was recently elected the first female President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Three weeks after, she was also appointed the first female President of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
So powerful is she that she dragged the House of Representatives to court to stop the House from probing her for allegedly spending N10bn on the charter and maintenance of a jet for unofficial purposes. The Presidency remained quiet over the issue.
Alison-Madueke is no doubt a super minister in Jonathan’s cabinet.
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Okonjo-Iweala is the Minister of Finance. Jonathan elevated her slightly below the Vice-President when he named her the Coordinating Minister for the Economy.
During a typical FEC meeting, ministers mill around the woman because of the kind of influence she wields in the cabinet. They consult her before presenting any memo to the council since they would need money to finance them.
Many Nigerians call Okonjo-Iweala the nation’s de facto Prime Minister.
Governor Godswill Akpabio
Akpabio is the Akwa Ibom State Governor. He is also the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum. Without any fear of contradiction, he can be said to be the closest governor to the President.
The governor supports Jonathan to a fault. The PDP Governors’ Forum that he chairs was formed to solely drum support for Jonathan in the face of continued friction between the Presidency and the Rotimi Amaechi-led Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
He is also one of the governors who formed the parallel NGF being led by Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State. In supporting Jonathan vehemently, however, Akpabio had unknowingly been enlisting more enemies for the President.
Chief Edwin Clark
Clark is not a government official but he wields the influence that is more than what a government official can do. He sees and carries himself like the President’s father.
The residence of the First Republic Minister of Information is like Mecca. Those in search of government jobs or contracts visit him regularly while government officials who want to remain in the President’s good book also lay siege to Clark’s house.
He is one of those who held the belief that Jonathan must be re-elected or we should all forget about what is called Nigeria.
Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu
Mu’azu is the National Chairman of the PDP. Popularly called “the game changer,” Muazu took over the office when the PDP governors moved against the then chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
By virtue of that position, the former governor of Bauchi State is very influential in and outside the government. He has inputs in many of government’s decisions.
With his party losing control of the Federal Government as well as its waning popularity in Bauchi, Mu’azu may be idle politically for the next four years.
Tompolo
For former Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo, otherwise known as Tompolo, power will not remain the same after May 29 when Buhari takes over government.
In 2009, he was declared the most wanted man in Nigeria by the Joint Task Force for allegedly killing 11 soldiers but his story has since changed following the amnesty he received from President Umaru Yar’Adua and his closeness to Jonathan.
So powerful is the ex-militant that not only did he ensure that his younger brother was made a local government chairman in Delta State, he reportedly nominated the current Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Ziadeke Akpobolokemi.
NIMASA awarded a N15bn contract to Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, a firm widely believed to be owned by Tompolo, to supply 20 vessels for the use of the nation’s military authorities to secure the waterways.
So powerful he is that he even stopped the President from going to Delta State to inaugurate the Export Processing Zone following a misunderstanding with Itsekiri leaders. He reportedly influenced Jonathan to sack a Minister of Transport, Yusuf Suleiman, following a disagreement.
With Jonathan’s imminent exit from Aso Rock, Tompolo’s influence will definitely decline.
Senator David Mark
Although he has made history by becoming the first senator to win a fifth term, Mark’s influence will wane in the 8th National Assembly.
Mark, who is also the nation’s longest serving Senate president, cannot retain his seat since the All Progressives Congress now controls the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly. At best, Mark can be made the minority leader.
Mark made life easy for Jonathan throughout the President’s tenure and defended the President even to a fault. He came under fire recently when he reportedly manipulated the screening process that ensured Senator Musiliu Obanikoro − who was accused of rigging the Ekiti State governorship election − was confirmed a minister.
Besides getting Obanikoro confirmed, Mark has never blocked any of Jonathan’s ministerial nominations.
Last year, he convinced his colleagues not to pass a vote of no confidence in Jonathan over the President’s failure to curb insecurity. In November last year, he foiled a move by some senators to impeach Jonathan.
In return, Jonathan gave him several benefits including the nomination of some ministers in his cabinet.
Jonathan’s defeat and the waning power of the PDP in the senate has certainly relegated Mark to the background.
Chief Tony Anenih
Anenih is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP. He took over from former President Olusegun Obasanjo who resigned from office because of some anomalies he noticed in the running of the party.
The former Minister of Works who hails from the South-South, the same geopolitical zone with the President, has never hidden his support for Jonathan.
Long ago, it was Anenih who first said it publicly that the President should be given an offer of first refusal as far as the party’s presidential candidacy is concerned.
ABUJA- AHEAD of the Presidential and general elections slated for March 28 and April 11, Former Federal Commissioner for Information and South South leader, Chief Edwin Clark claimed yesterday that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and its Presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan have already won the election.
Speaking yesterday at his Asokoro residence, Abuja when he received Youth Enlightenment Solution YES led by Ambassador Paulina Maimekere, Members of the National Association of You Win Awardee led by its President, Nwaigwe Tonia; Ex- Councillors Association of Nigeria, among others separately, Chief Clark who drew an analogy of light and dark, which he symbolises President Jonathan and the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, retd, warned that Nigeria cannot afford to move from light to darkness.
The Elder Statesman who reiterated that the APC was a party of corrupt leaders that have nothing good to offer the nation, described President Jonathan as God sent to Nigeria, even as he stressed that if re-elected, the country will continue to enjoy peace, stability, unity and development.
Chief Clark who stressed that no body can stop President Jonathan from winning the election, as nobody an intimidate the PDP and Jonathan, vowed that the ruling party will not succumb to blackmail, adding that no amount of abuses will mean anything to the President.
According to him, ” we have already won the election, nobody can stop us, nobody can intimidate us, we shall never succumb to blackmail. If you re -elect Jonathan as President for second term, there will continue to be peace, stability and there will be no intimidation. Jonathan is a man sent by God, humble. No amount of abuses will mean anything to him.
“He will not take those abusing him serious. Jonathan is the most abused President by people of bad character. People saying that Jonathan cannot fight corruption are the most corrupt. Buhari cannot fight corruption. He said bank borrowed him to buy form, what he is spending today, is he borrowed by bank also?
“Those funding his campaign are corrupt and they have cases to answer in court. Let them answer that they are not corrupt, they cannot. Whoever want to abuse should look at himself first.
“They are not qualify to rule Nigeria. They lie about, raise uneccessary alarm. Buhari became head of state through a coup. He stole 2.8m dollars when he was Petroleum Minister. Buhari was to be probed for the loss of that money. But before the probe will start Buhari staged a coup. Locked up Shagari, Ekwueme in kirikiri. Every of their leader is a corrupt person. A corrupt leader cannot probe corrupt members”.
He reiterated that Buhari was surrounding himself with corrupt people who are having cases to answer.
Earlier the leader of Youth Enlightenment Solution YES, Ambassador Paulina Maimekere who explained that they visited Clark to show their solidarity to President Goodluck Jonathan, stressed that the group has about six million members and that members of the group would begin an aggressive campaign in all the six geo-political zones for the re-election of Jonathan.
She said, “Having sat down and thought of the achievements of President Jonathan, the over six million members of this group have resolved to support the re-election bid of Jonathan.
“We are going to engage in the last minute campaign to change whatever deceptive impression the opposition may have created in the minds of Nigerians.”
Also speaking, the National Association of You Win Awardee led by its President, Nwaigwe Tonia disclosed that for three years, 3,900 Nigerians have so far benefited from the You Win programme by President Jonathan where one million grant and not loan was given, just as she said that the programme has been able to produce wonderful entrepreneurs who would replace the likes of Aliko Dangote, others tomorrow.
According to her, their emergence was as a result of transparency, devoid of godfathers, godmothers, among others.
A Former Federal Commissioner of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, has said that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has lost focus.
Edwin Clark
He called on President Goodluck Jonathan to re-organise the anti-graft agency for effective discharge of its duty.
Clark spoke while addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday.
The Ijaw leader said the anti-graft body had lost focus of prosecuting corrupt officials but now go after those involved in cyber and petty crimes.
Clark spoke against the background of the claim by the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) that his fight against corruption would start on May 29, 2015 if he wins the March 28 election.
Asked whether he was calling for the removal of the EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, Clark said “anything can happen” during re-organisation.
Clark said, “APC is not qualified to fight corruption contrary to what Buhari had said during his campaign.
“Buhari has always anchored his campaign promises on two planks: to wipe out insecurity and corruption. With the renewed offensive against the terrorists leading to the killing and dislodgement of the Boko Haran anarchists, the first campaign plank of Buhari has been given a technical knock-out by Jonathan and the world is witnessing the reclaiming of all territories hitherto held by Boko Haram.
“This leaves him on a one-legged platform. Again on the remaining plank; corruption, Buhari himself got jittery and gave himself another technical knock-out when he said he would not probe past leaders. With this development, Buhari has conceded that he has nothing more to offer the good people of this country.
“I am puzzled to hear Buhari say that whoever has been indicted of corruption between 1999 and the time of his swearing-in would be pardoned. According to him, like a village sports man, he will draw a line, anybody who involves himself in corruption after he assumes office on May 29, 2015 will face the music, while no matter how corrupt a person has been before then, he or she would be asked to go and sin no more.
“One wonders if Buhari knows what the law says about corruption. The declaration of Buhari clearly shows that he and his co-travellers in APC are bare-face liars, hypocrites, dishonest, insincere and lack integrity simply because they want power and are bent on pursuing it to psychotic level.
“What is Buhari really afraid of? Why is he promising a blanket pardon to all corrupt office holders before the election? Is that his new selling point? Supposing it was possible for Buhari to win election which is not, can he start the fight against corruption with himself and his APC cohorts since most of them are already standing trial in court?”
The Ijaw leader added that allegations of corruption against some prominent leaders of APC were within the knowledge of the anti-graft agencies but were not being investigated.”
Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, Ijaw leader, is the convener of the South-South Peoples Assembly and co-convener of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, SNPA.
In this interview, the former Federal Commissioner for Information and senator bares his mind on the general elections slated for March 28 and April 11, why Nigerians must vote for President Goodluck Jonathan, INEC and its National Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, how Senator Ifeanyi Okowa emerged as the PDP governorship candidate for Delta State, among other national issues.
EXCERPTS:
Edwin Clark
2015 elections have been fixed for March 28 and April 11 respectively. How prepared are we as Nigerians?
This question should be taken in two parts. How prepared is INEC? How prepared are the people of Nigeria? Well, I think Nigerians are prepared for the elections if all the materials are provided by INEC. A situation whereby we do not have PVCs for about 23million Nigerians particularly in Lagos and other places, that is not good enough.
INEC has made it difficult for people to have voter cards. They are discriminating against certain areas where they think Jonathan has support.
How do you describe a situation whereby Lagos State, the most sophisticated and educated state in this country, has not been able to secure up to 50% of voter cards compared to Borno, a war ravaged area where the people have left their homes and non-indigenes have deserted but which has 80% voter cards? Let INEC explain that situation.
That is the reason the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, SNPA , addressed a press conference to let the world know that at a meeting between some INEC officials and northern leaders, they decided that where Jonathan has strong base, they should be very strict in registering people.
And we alleged at that conference that some northern leaders collected money from some governors who parted with N167,000,000 and that has helped the northern leaders to secure 150 laptops for each state of the North. They gave them to some INEC officials to use to have double registration, to increase the registration in the North. Why did Jega not allow similar things to happen in the South?
But apart from these irregularities, in the PVCs distribution, INEC is not ready for the polls. For instance, producing the PVCs, INEC awarded the contract to a local contractor from Kano and they decided to produce this material in Abuja. We have the video, the photographs of that mini-factory, where they were producing the PVCs.
But when they couldn’t cope, they decided to contract it out to a company in China. And, as we are talking, some of the PVCs have not arrived. Some arrived Lagos sea port two weeks ago. So what we are saying is that Jega was not ready; one, he has not been able to start the training of about 700,000 ad- hoc staff all over the country. If he has started in some places, majority of the areas have not been covered.
And having regard to the technology involved in PVC, the card readers are not ready. The few that are ready have manufacturing defect, some of them are not functioning and they have not been tested to see whether they can do the job for which they were acquired.
So against the back drop of all these, what do you suggest?
The elections would be held.
What about Jega?
Jega should go. We believe he should go not only because of inefficiency; we believe he is working with some northern leaders to declare a northern presidential candidate the winner of the March 28 election, that’s Buhari. And to do that, he is not thinking about the success of the election of that day. If there is confusion, he will still declare Buhari the winner and say any aggrieved person should go to court.
The northern leaders are alleged to have boasted that they had set up a committee to liaise with the judiciary, northern judges in order to give them favourable judgment. And they have employed 34 lawyers 14 of which are Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN. In fact, they have started going to court. So everything we said in our press conference has come to pass. They have started taking Jonathan to court that he is not qualified. The number of SANs prosecuting that case shows clearly that it is no ordinary person that took President Jonathan to court. It is being done between the APC and the northern leaders.
After the press conference by the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, what next ?
Jega is not indispensable, he is just first among equals. There are about 13 national commissioners in INEC. If Jega has lost the people’s confidence to conduct election, any one of the others can be made to act to oversee the elections on March 28 and April 11. We are not running away from the elections despite all the intrigues.
Even if President Goodluck Jonathan who appointed him refuses to remove him, the elections should still hold?
They should hold. We will watch him.
And you will believe him?
We will not believe him, but we will see what will happen. If we say without Jega the elections would not hold, they will say we want elongation of tenure which Jonathan is not contemplating. But we have asked that he should go.
And if the President does not want to remove him, he should have the honour and feeling that he is no longer wanted by the people of Nigeria to conduct free, fair and credible elections.
We have the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, and the PDP presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan. How which has become international.
There are comments from some quarters that some supporters of President Jonathan are overheating the polity with threats and, for this reason, a former Minister of Defence, General Theophilous Danjuma, called for the arrest of Tompolo, Dokubo-Asari, among others. What is your perspective?
My comment is very simple. It is true that anybody who makes a statement to threaten the very existence of our country should be condemned. I have always maintained this statement.
More than a year now, when Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to Mr President, and Dokubo Asari were alleged to have made such statements, the House of Representatives passed a motion that these two men should be arrested by the Inspector General of Police and tried. There was nothing wrong about that motion.
But what I said is that it should be total, don’t be selective. Others in the North have made similar statements. Lawal Kaita said there will be no Nigeria if there is no northern president in 2015 and somebody who said that he would declare war, which of the statements is stronger?
If you declare war like the Biafran war and Nigeria is fighting, Nigeria will still be there. But if you say there will be no Nigeria if a northern president is not installed in 2015, which statement is stronger? Buhari himself said that if a northern president is not elected, Nigeria will become Somalia. Others said they will make Nigeria ungovernable for Jonathan, Atiku said so.
All I am saying is that anybody who has made such statements, be he a minister, be he an ordinary man, he should be arrested and tried. Don’t say only Dokubo-Asari, Kingsley Kuku and Tompolo should be tried. When you make provocative statements and there is a reaction to such provocative statements, people should not be selective.
All I said, I have high respect for T.Y. Danjuma, he is one of the persons who have been helping this government. But it was not fair for him to refer to these two people alone, when he knows that some of the utterances of his colleagues and northerners who have been governors, ministers, vice presidents were equally provocative.
Last month, you called on the PDP to expel former President Olusegun Obasanjo but the party did not heed your advice. Now he has dumped the party by tearing his membership card. How do you react to this development?
You asked me earlier whether some of the party leaders surrounding Jonathan are not contributing to some of the problems that people alleged have been committed and I said yes. Some of them were with Obasanjo, past governors; some ministers who were appointed by Obasanjo during his tenure see nothing wrong with Obasanjo. They continue to beg him when they know that the man has taken a position against the PDP. When people like us criticize Obasanjo, they say we are controversial, that we heat up the polity.
Today, Obasanjo has told them; he did not only dump them, he told the public, ‘here is your membership, take it’, and he tore it into pieces. Is that action normal? But it is now clear to the PDP men, leaders who were protecting Obasanjo when I called that he should be expelled. They said that there was no reason for me to say that. But now it has happened, it is now clear.
As far as I am concerned, Obasanjo has been engaging in anti-party activities and should have been expelled since then. Immediately he resigned the chairmanship of the BoT, he engaged in anti-party issues.
Will his leaving affect the PDP?
It will not. The man, even in his ward, PDP could not win election in 2011. Nobody takes notice of him politically in Ogun State not to talk of Nigeria. In fact, his going will strengthen the party.
In Delta State, before the primaries, we were hearing of endorsement of Obuh, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan was going to the Senate to replace Senator James Manager, in fact, Okowa was not in the reckoning. But at the end of the day, the governor dropped his senatorial ambition, Obuh did not get it, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa is now the PDP candidate. As a father, what role did you play?
As a father, I contributed to the peaceful primary elections that took place in Delta. When the governor was said to be supporting Obuh, on two occasions, I invited him and he said he was not supporting Obuh. Yet he was the one providing everything for Obuh. I asked him, ‘I learnt Obuh has been your Permanent Secretary for the past 10years’, he said yes. ‘But it is not fair for you to push aside all the politicians, some of them were Obuh’s bosses when they were commissioners. It is not fair for you to do that, Obuh is not a politician’; he continued to say no, he was not. Until the last two days, to the primaries he came to me to accept that he was the one promoting Obuh, but I said ‘we cannot take Obuh’.
The next thing he did was that he went home, met with the Urhobo Progressive Union, UPU, to present a candidate and he told me personally that the candidate they produced was Mr David Edevbie. That after he went to the northern senatorial zone which refused to take Obuh, he decided to move down, that was why he asked for an Urhobo candidate. And he thought it should be Mr David Edevbie , who was James Ibori’s Commissioner for Finance, he was Ibori’s nominee to Umaru Yar’Adua’s cabinet as Principal Secretary.
So when we saw that the governor had left Obuh and he was now trying to divide the place by going to take a candidate that we were not expecting, I decided to team up with Okowa because we had agreed that the governorship should go to the north senatorial zone to give everybody a fair opportunity. That is why I supported Okowa. But we have now settled.
All the governorship aspirants at the time have now taken it that way and they are working together, except some that have gone to contest elections as senatorial candidates in other parties. Otherwise everything went very well.
But I must comment on one thing, Uduaghan was responsible for the peaceful and democratically conducted primary. He phoned me that every aspirant was going to get his ward or his local government and there was not going to be a winner takes all. Every aspirant was given the opportunity to retain his ward and his local government and, for that, I must commend him.
Nigerians are going to the polls; Nigerians will decide on March 28, that is the main election. What message do you have for Nigerians especially against the back drop of the peace accord signed by the presidential candidates. And even after the peace accord, we have been having some cases of attacks especially on the convoy of Mr President. What message do you have for Nigerians, for the parties, for the two parties, the presidential candidates? And is Jonathan winning the election?
Jonathan will triumph, he will sail through based on his record of performance, achievements. Jonathan has the qualities, he has performed, he has built schools, built universities which nobody else did. The number of federal universities established by Jonathan surpassed the number of federal universities established by all the rulers of this country since 1960 put together.
The railway was abandoned throughout the period. People no longer travel by rail. In the past, when I was the commissioner, I used to follow my governor travelling by rail to Gusau in Zamfara State, to Maiduguri, to Kano. But it is Jonathan who has now refurbished and re-established the railway lines and people are now travelling.
Agriculture, today, fertiliser is supplied at a cheap rate, no middlemen again. Farmers now get fertilizer at very cheap price.
On power, people may say Jonathan has not improved in the generation, that is not true. After Obasanjo had spent billions of Naira to resuscitate the power sector and failed, Jonathan had a master plan and he was able to privatize what we used to call NEPA and various companies took up the distribution and generation of power.
No government had the courage to privatize the power sector in this country. Give him some time, but people are very impatient. I believe these companies will perform and government continues to seek foreign assistance for power to improve.
If you are talking about corruption, we have looked into records, statistics; there are more conviction of corrupt persons in Jonathan’s government than they were in previous governments, including Obasanjo’s government. It is not enough to say ‘I will detain you, I will do this’, perhaps corruption has now taken a turn for the worse and you need new ways to fight corruption and Jonathan is doing it.
So I believe Nigerians should be patient, they should assess the various candidates who have done what for Nigeria, what does that person offer for Nigeria? And my advice to the voters is that they should not vote on sentiment, they should not cast their votes on religious or ethnic basis.
Look at the man, is he the man who will rule Nigeria, who will take Nigeria forward? Not the man who will return you to darkness, who will not practice democracy, who remains what he was before.
Two, Nigerians should realise that we have no any other country to go to, we all are Nigerians and we have a duty to remain as one country. Politicians will come and go, but Nigeria will remain. If there is no Nigeria, then you have no way to contest elections. You cannot be president where there is no Nigeria. So we should emphasize what will bring Nigeria as a united country, a Nigeria which is free from ethnicity, free from religious bigotry. Nigeria will not break, nothing will happen to Nigeria come March 28 and April 11.
do you look at these two individuals?
In what way?
Generally, by telling Nigerians who they are.
Without being biased, Jonathan has been a deputy governor in a democratic system of government. He has been governor of Bayelsa State in a democratic set up and he was prepared to contest to be re-elected as a governor of Bayelsa State. He became Vice President to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He contested elections in 2011 and he was elected by the people of this country.
So he has always been qualified and he has always been part of a democratic system. He is a very well educated Nigerian, he has a good background, he has a Ph.D. He is humble; he is a man who respects the feelings of others. How many journalists have gone to prison since Jonathan took over? How many of them have been arrested? Jonathan is the most abused President in this country, but he doesn’t care; he is going on with the job. He has done a lot for the people of this country.
For instance, I have just received an Almajiri delegation; they came to show their appreciation to Jonathan. These were young boys moving around in the North begging for money and food. None of the northern rulers ever thought of their welfare, but Jonathan established 120 schools for them. Jonathan has given northerners 12 universities, nobody has done it before. Jonathan cares for the unity of this country and he believes in the democratic system.
Whereas the other man, Gen. Buhari, contested elections in 2003, Nigerians rejected him; he contested elections in 2007, Nigerians rejected him; he contested election with Jonathan in 2011, Nigerians rejected him. What change is he now bringing to Nigeria?
This is a man who is not well educated, Nigeria is a sophisticated country. It is true he was a general in the army, but the Constitution of Nigeria says you must have a minimum of school certificate. Buhari hasn’t got it.
The first time, he swore to an affidavit. That affidavit says his credentials are with the army where he served and the army said they did not have it. The next thing we saw was a testimonial from Katsina Government College, showing the number of subjects Buhari was to take. Thereafter, we saw a statement of result with the picture of Buhari in his old age, which cannot be said to have been taken at the time that statement of result was said to have been issued. To show again that INEC is working with APC, the same man went and submitted his documents to INEC when the date of receiving the documents had elapsed. How did he submit them? Why should INEC accept them from him? That is another area we believe constitutes the continuation of the conspiracy to force out Jonathan.
Buhari is not a democrat. I was asked the question if Obasanjo, a soldier, a general, could become President for eight years; I said Obasanjo is a democratic. In 1979, he voluntarily handed over to a civilian government under Shehu Shagari. And it was the same Gen. Buhari who overthrew Shehu Shagari and locked the second republic politicians up. When did he become a democrat?
One of the things the main opposition party (APC) said they want to change is that they want to fight corruption. What is your take?
Who is going to fight corruption?
The APC people or Obasanjo? They only pay lip service to fighting corruption.
Buhari himself is not clean. What is corruption? Malpractices, parading questionable certificates, swearing to false affidavit, they are all part of corruption. And in the 1970s when Buhari was federal commissioner for petroleum, about $2.8billion oil money went missing. It was later discovered that this amount was paid into a British bank where it yielded about N400million interest, nobody knows where that money is. Buhari said he did not know about it.
Yet they accuse Jonathan of being corrupt. Does Jonathan know the type of corruption going on in this country? Buhari could not account for $2.8billion paid into a British bank.
Secondly, he was appointed by Abacha as the Chairman of PTF. My own brother, Prof. J.P. Clark, was a member. In fact only, Prof. J.P. Clark and Buhari are still living members of PTF. Buhari brought his brother-in-law as a consultant and later handed over the entire administration of PTF to him and others. They had the authority to execute all projects. At the end of it all, they left and Obasanjo dissolved the board and removed all of them.
Then Obasanjo set up a Commission of Enquiry to probe the PTF and the report, which has just been published by some newspapers, shows that N25billion could not be accounted for by Buhari and those who administered the place. Yet Obasanjo came out to say the only thing he found against him was that instead of building roads and houses, he was busy buying mosquito nets with PTF money.
There are insinuations from some quarters that what may not work well for President Jonathan is the fact that some people around him, even the party itself, the people around him and then decisions taken in the past, even at the party level, the National Working Committee, NWC, especially issues like Bamanga Tukur and five governors leaving and they could not manage the issue and the governors forum election issue where 17 was more than 19.
I am a member of PDP, but I am not in the leadership of the party. Like every other party in Nigeria, they also have their problems. I agree to a certain extent that some of the people who are in the PDP leadership have not done their job properly. For instance, the National Chairman was praising Obasanjo last week, saying nothing was wrong with Obasanjo, that he was a true party leader, that he would not say that he is not supporting Jonathan, that it is not true that he was supporting Buhari.
Some of these leaders in PDP were Obasanjo’s men. So they see nothing wrong with Obasanjo. Some of them have double loyalty. But the party must go on; you have good people and you have bad people. But the PDP has continued, from 1999 to this day, to rule this country.
Whereas APC is a parchment of all sorts of things with the sole aim of removing Jonathan from office and installing a northern president, Buhari. If Buhari is not there, there is no APC. Buhari is the only thing that put them together and their sole aim is to secure power for the North, that’s all.
The issue of Boko Haram is another issue some people are saying Mr President did not handle well. Critics say Mr President abandoned the North- east to insurgents. Do you agree?
I do not. Boko Haram started about 2002. It was in 2003 to 2009 that it spread from Bauchi to Gombe, then to Yobe and finally to Borno and so many people have been killed during that period. In 2009 when Jonathan was the Vice President, there was trouble between Boko Haram and the security forces and, as a result, their leader, Yusuf, was killed. At that time, Umaru Yar’Adua was still in government, that was 2009. When Jonathan took over, he started to attack them. But some northern leaders, including Buhari, said they should not be fought by Jonathan, he should leave them alone. There are documents to that effect, that government should negotiate with Boko Haram. Jonathan appointed a committee, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Special Duties, Alhaji Kabiru Tanimu Turaki, SAN, that went round the whole of the North and Boko Haram asked for a representative because the people were faceless. Boko Haram nominated Gen. Buhari to represent it. Thereafter, even though Gen. Buhari did not accept the offer, he continued to encourage them.
Jonathan told Nigerians and the whole world that the military he inherited was not properly equipped. Nyako accused him of genocide, asking why should he fight Boko Haram. Nyako, a former governor of Adamawa State, Obasanjo’s henchman and Gen. Buhari’s colleague, said Jonathan was carrying out genocide against northerners.
And some of the northern governors went to Washington to criticize Jonathan, claiming he was waging war against northerners, and that is one of the reasons the American government is not willing to sell arms to the Nigerian government because they said he was just killing people.
Jonathan has done his best. Now, the president has secured arms, weapons and they will soon settle the problem of Boko Haram.
Chief Edwin Kiagbodo
Clark, Ijaw leader, is
the convener of the South-South Peoples Assembly and co-convener of the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, SNPA.
In this interview, the former Federal Commissioner for Information and senator bares his mind on the general elections slated for March 28 and April 11, why Nigerians must vote for President Goodluck Jonathan, INEC and its National Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, how Senator Ifeanyi Okowa emerged as the PDP governorship candidate for Delta State, among other national issues.
EXCERPTS:
2015 elections have been fixed for March 28 and April 11 respectively. How prepared are we as Nigerians?
This question should be taken in two parts. How prepared is INEC? How prepared are the people of Nigeria? Well, I think Nigerians are prepared for the elections if all the materials are provided by INEC. A situation whereby we do not have PVCs for about 23million Nigerians particularly in Lagos and other places, that is not good enough.
INEC has made it difficult for people to have voter cards. They are discriminating against certain areas where they think Jonathan has support.
How do you describe a situation whereby Lagos State, the most sophisticated and educated state in this country, has not been able to secure up to 50% of voter cards compared to Borno, a war ravaged area where the people have left their homes and non-indigenes have deserted but which has 80% voter cards? Let INEC explain that situation.
That is the reason the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, SNPA , addressed a press conference to let the world know that at a meeting between some INEC officials and northern leaders, they decided that where Jonathan has strong base, they should be very strict in registering people.
And we alleged at that conference that some northern leaders collected money from some governors who parted with N167,000,000 and that has helped the northern leaders to secure 150 laptops for each state of the North. They gave them to some INEC officials to use to have double registration, to increase the registration in the North. Why did Jega not allow similar things to happen in the South?
But apart from these irregularities, in the PVCs distribution, INEC is not ready for the polls. For instance, producing the PVCs, INEC awarded the contract to a local contractor from Kano and they decided to produce this material in Abuja. We have the video, the photographs of that mini-factory, where they were producing the PVCs.
But when they couldn’t cope, they decided to contract it out to a company in China. And, as we are talking, some of the PVCs have not arrived. Some arrived Lagos sea port two weeks ago. So what we are saying is that Jega was not ready; one, he has not been able to start the training of about 700,000 ad- hoc staff all over the country. If he has started in some places, majority of the areas have not been covered.
And having regard to the technology involved in PVC, the card readers are not ready. The few that are ready have manufacturing defect, some of them are not functioning and they have not been tested to see whether they can do the job for which they were acquired.
So against the back drop of all these, what do you suggest?
The elections would be held.
What about Jega?
Jega should go. We believe he should go not only because of inefficiency; we believe he is working with some northern leaders to declare a northern presidential candidate the winner of the March 28 election, that’s Buhari. And to do that, he is not thinking about the success of the election of that day. If there is confusion, he will still declare Buhari the winner and say any aggrieved person should go to court.
The northern leaders are alleged to have boasted that they had set up a committee to liaise with the judiciary, northern judges in order to give them favourable judgment. And they have employed 34 lawyers 14 of which are Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN. In fact, they have started going to court. So everything we said in our press conference has come to pass. They have started taking Jonathan to court that he is not qualified. The number of SANs prosecuting that case shows clearly that it is no ordinary person that took President Jonathan to court. It is being done between the APC and the northern leaders.
After the press conference by the Southern Nigeria Peoples Assembly, what next ?
Jega is not indispensable, he is just first among equals. There are about 13 national commissioners in INEC. If Jega has lost the people’s confidence to conduct election, any one of the others can be made to act to oversee the elections on March 28 and April 11. We are not running away from the elections despite all the intrigues.
Even if President Goodluck Jonathan who appointed him refuses to remove him, the elections should still hold?
They should hold. We will watch him.
And you will believe him?
We will not believe him, but we will see what will happen. If we say without Jega the elections would not hold, they will say we want elongation of tenure which Jonathan is not contemplating. But we have asked that he should go.
And if the President does not want to remove him, he should have the honour and feeling that he is no longer wanted by the people of Nigeria to conduct free, fair and credible elections.
We have the APC presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, and the PDP presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan. How which has become international.
There are comments from some quarters that some supporters of President Jonathan are overheating the polity with threats and, for this reason, a former Minister of Defence, General Theophilous Danjuma, called for the arrest of Tompolo, Dokubo-Asari, among others. What is your perspective?
My comment is very simple. It is true that anybody who makes a statement to threaten the very existence of our country should be condemned. I have always maintained this statement.
More than a year now, when Kingsley Kuku, Special Adviser to Mr President, and Dokubo Asari were alleged to have made such statements, the House of Representatives passed a motion that these two men should be arrested by the Inspector General of Police and tried. There was nothing wrong about that motion.
But what I said is that it should be total, don’t be selective. Others in the North have made similar statements. Lawal Kaita said there will be no Nigeria if there is no northern president in 2015 and somebody who said that he would declare war, which of the statements is stronger?
If you declare war like the Biafran war and Nigeria is fighting, Nigeria will still be there. But if you say there will be no Nigeria if a northern president is not installed in 2015, which statement is stronger? Buhari himself said that if a northern president is not elected, Nigeria will become Somalia. Others said they will make Nigeria ungovernable for Jonathan, Atiku said so.
All I am saying is that anybody who has made such statements, be he a minister, be he an ordinary man, he should be arrested and tried. Don’t say only Dokubo-Asari, Kingsley Kuku and Tompolo should be tried. When you make provocative statements and there is a reaction to such provocative statements, people should not be selective.
All I said, I have high respect for T.Y. Danjuma, he is one of the persons who have been helping this government. But it was not fair for him to refer to these two people alone, when he knows that some of the utterances of his colleagues and northerners who have been governors, ministers, vice presidents were equally provocative.
Last month, you called on the PDP to expel former President Olusegun Obasanjo but the party did not heed your advice. Now he has dumped the party by tearing his membership card. How do you react to this development?
You asked me earlier whether some of the party leaders surrounding Jonathan are not contributing to some of the problems that people alleged have been committed and I said yes. Some of them were with Obasanjo, past governors; some ministers who were appointed by Obasanjo during his tenure see nothing wrong with Obasanjo. They continue to beg him when they know that the man has taken a position against the PDP. When people like us criticize Obasanjo, they say we are controversial, that we heat up the polity.
Today, Obasanjo has told them; he did not only dump them, he told the public, ‘here is your membership, take it’, and he tore it into pieces. Is that action normal? But it is now clear to the PDP men, leaders who were protecting Obasanjo when I called that he should be expelled. They said that there was no reason for me to say that. But now it has happened, it is now clear.
As far as I am concerned, Obasanjo has been engaging in anti-party activities and should have been expelled since then. Immediately he resigned the chairmanship of the BoT, he engaged in anti-party issues.
Will his leaving affect the PDP?
It will not. The man, even in his ward, PDP could not win election in 2011. Nobody takes notice of him politically in Ogun State not to talk of Nigeria. In fact, his going will strengthen the party.
In Delta State, before the primaries, we were hearing of endorsement of Obuh, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan was going to the Senate to replace Senator James Manager, in fact, Okowa was not in the reckoning. But at the end of the day, the governor dropped his senatorial ambition, Obuh did not get it, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa is now the PDP candidate. As a father, what role did you play?
As a father, I contributed to the peaceful primary elections that took place in Delta. When the governor was said to be supporting Obuh, on two occasions, I invited him and he said he was not supporting Obuh. Yet he was the one providing everything for Obuh. I asked him, ‘I learnt Obuh has been your Permanent Secretary for the past 10years’, he said yes. ‘But it is not fair for you to push aside all the politicians, some of them were Obuh’s bosses when they were commissioners. It is not fair for you to do that, Obuh is not a politician’; he continued to say no, he was not. Until the last two days, to the primaries he came to me to accept that he was the one promoting Obuh, but I said ‘we cannot take Obuh’.
The next thing he did was that he went home, met with the Urhobo Progress Union, UPU, to present a candidate and he told me personally that the candidate they produced was Mr David Edevbie. That after he went to the northern senatorial zone which refused to take Obuh, he decided to move down, that was why he asked for an Urhobo candidate. And he thought it should be Mr David Edevbie , who was James Ibori’s Commissioner for Finance, he was Ibori’s nominee to Umaru Yar’Adua’s cabinet as Principal Secretary.
So when we saw that the governor had left Obuh and he was now trying to divide the place by going to take a candidate that we were not expecting, I decided to team up with Okowa because we had agreed that the governorship should go to the north senatorial zone to give everybody a fair opportunity. That is why I supported Okowa. But we have now settled.
All the governorship aspirants at the time have now taken it that way and they are working together, except some that have gone to contest elections as senatorial candidates in other parties. Otherwise everything went very well.
But I must comment on one thing, Uduaghan was responsible for the peaceful and democratically conducted primary. He phoned me that every aspirant was going to get his ward or his local government and there was not going to be a winner takes all. Every aspirant was given the opportunity to retain his ward and his local government and, for that, I must commend him.
Nigerians are going to the polls; Nigerians will decide on March 28, that is the main election. What message do you have for Nigerians especially against the back drop of the peace accord signed by the presidential candidates. And even after the peace accord, we have been having some cases of attacks especially on the convoy of Mr President. What message do you have for Nigerians, for the parties, for the two parties, the presidential candidates? And is Jonathan winning the election?
Jonathan will triumph, he will sail through based on his record of performance, achievements. Jonathan has the qualities, he has performed, he has built schools, built universities which nobody else did. The number of federal universities established by Jonathan surpassed the number of federal universities established by all the rulers of this country since 1960 put together.
The railway was abandoned throughout the period. People no longer travel by rail. In the past, when I was the commissioner, I used to follow my governor travelling by rail to Gusau in Zamfara State, to Maiduguri, to Kano. But it is Jonathan who has now refurbished and re-established the railway lines and people are now travelling.
Agriculture, today, fertiliser is supplied at a cheap rate, no middlemen again. Farmers now get fertilizer at very cheap price.
On power, people may say Jonathan has not improved in the generation, that is not true. After Obasanjo had spent billions of Naira to resuscitate the power sector and failed, Jonathan had a master plan and he was able to privatize what we used to call NEPA and various companies took up the distribution and generation of power.
No government had the courage to privatize the power sector in this country. Give him some time, but people are very impatient. I believe these companies will perform and government continues to seek foreign assistance for power to improve.
If you are talking about corruption, we have looked into records, statistics; there are more conviction of corrupt persons in Jonathan’s government than they were in previous governments, including Obasanjo’s government. It is not enough to say ‘I will detain you, I will do this’, perhaps corruption has now taken a turn for the worse and you need new ways to fight corruption and Jonathan is doing it.
So I believe Nigerians should be patient, they should assess the various candidates who have done what for Nigeria, what does that person offer for Nigeria? And my advice to the voters is that they should not vote on sentiment, they should not cast their votes on religious or ethnic basis.
Look at the man, is he the man who will rule Nigeria, who will take Nigeria forward? Not the man who will return you to darkness, who will not practice democracy, who remains what he was before.
Two, Nigerians should realise that we have no any other country to go to, we all are Nigerians and we have a duty to remain as one country. Politicians will come and go, but Nigeria will remain. If there is no Nigeria, then you have no way to contest elections. You cannot be president where there is no Nigeria. So we should emphasize what will bring Nigeria as a united country, a Nigeria which is free from ethnicity, free from religious bigotry. Nigeria will not break, nothing will happen to Nigeria come March 28 and April 11.
