Declare now, S’South govs, leaders urge Jonathan

Written by The Punch Tuesday, 27 July 2010

STAKEHOLDERS in the South-South, including five governors and leaders, on Monday rose from a summit in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, with a call on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare for the 2011 presidential race “without further delay.”

The stakeholders, who unanimously endorsed the President’s candidature at the summit, therefore, appealed to the five other geo-political zones in the country to support Jonathan when he eventually declares for presidency.

They said, “The summit hereby unanimously calls on President Jonathan to openly declare his interest in the 2011 presidential election without further delay, and to run the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“We assure the President of the total and undiluted support of the entire South-South. We call on all other geo-political zones, organisations, communities and constituencies to support this quest to deepen, widen and consolidate democracy by supporting Jonathan.”

The delegates added that they believed in the “incontrovertible position of the 1999 Constitution that gave full rights to Jonathan, above all other considerations, to aspire to the position of President at the 2011 elections, particularly, as the zone, in spite of its enormous contributions to Nigeria‘s Gross Domestic Product, was yet to produce a President or Head of State in the 50 years that the country has been in existence as a sovereign state.”

The meeting was attended by all the five Peoples Democratic Party governors in the South-South — Mr. Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Chief Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Chief Timipreye Sylva (Bayelsa) and Mr. Liyel Imoke (Cross River).

The only non-PDP governor in the zone, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole of the Action Congress, was not in attendance.

In his welcome address, Imoke, who heads the South-South Governors Forum, said the summit was convened in order to bring all stakeholders in the zone together to deliberate on issues affecting them.

Imoke explained that it would be easier to discuss current trends in politics, including the political future of the zone through the meeting.

He also said the choice of Port Harcourt as the venue of the summit was predicated on its acknowledgment as the capital of the South-South.

“What we intend to do is to discuss issues in terms of the way forward for the South-South zone and the country,” the governor said.

A former Minister of Information, Chief Edwin Clark, who also spoke at the summit, lamented that other zones in the country had in the past taken advantage of the South-South because its people never spoke with one voice.

He, therefore, urged the South-South people to be united and to join hands to tackle their common problems.

Clark pointed out that the South-South would have produced a President in the past if not for “unnecessary manoeuvres that denied it the opportunity to occupy.”

Clark maintained that zoning by the PDP ended in 1999.

Also, a former Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees and ex-Minister of Works, Chief Tony Anenih, pointed out that the South-South had been a political ally of the North.

He argued that now was the time for the North to reciprocate South-South’s support.

Explaining that the South-South was seeking for the position of the President because it had a credible material in Jonathan and not because of its oil producing status.

The former Minister of Works also called on the Federal Government to provide funds for the Independent National Electoral Commission and to give it more time to conduct free and fair elections in 2011.

In his own address a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Matthew Mbu, noted that the dynamics of politics favoured the outspoken and not the dumb.

Mbu urged the people of the zone to speak out in favour of a South-South presidency and advised them not to be ashamed of persuading other parts of the country to support Jonathan.

Apart from the elders and governors, who spoke glowing in support Jonathan’s candidacy, Senator Florence Ita-Giwa; a former Minister of Defence, Gen. Godwin Abbe; as well as two-ex Presidents of the Nigerian Bar Association - Chief O.C.J. Okocha and Prof. B.I. Ijeoma - also urged the zone to encourage Jonathan to contest the forthcoming election.

In the communique that was read at the end of the meeting , the governors and leaders also pledged to work assiduously in unison with other zones in the country to ensure the country remained one.

They said, “This is the time to collectively transcend primordial sentiments and dispositions in the conversations on national affairs in order to build strong, viable and democratic blocks for peace and progress.”

The delegates also commended the contributions of the late President, Umaru Yar‘Adua, at entrenching due process, rule of law, fight against corruption and the restoration of peace to the Niger Delta, through the Amnesty Programme; reforms in the power and energy sectors, as well as electoral reforms.

They resolved to support the winning team of Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo in their quest to take the reform agenda to a logical conclusion.

They said, “We believe in President Jonathan‘s resolve to give Nigeria credible electoral reforms, which he began by appointing a world-acclaimed social crusader and defender of equity, honesty and integrity, Prof. Attahiru Jega, as the country‘s new Chairman of the INEC and call on all Nigerians to support the amended constitution.

“The power sector reform agenda of the President; his crusade against corruption; the historic achievement in the improvement in our foreign reserve earnings; and his endless practical efforts at ensuring peace and security of all Nigerians, at home and in the Diaspora is worthy of commendation.”

The statement issued at the end of the meeting was read by the Chairman of the Communiqué Drafting Committee, Prof. Julius Iheovbere.

A mild drama, however, ensued during the drafting of the statement as a delegate, Mr. N.O. Nyenke, accused the Iheovbere-led committee of not allowing any person from Edo State to endorse the communiqué.

Nyenke argued that since the state was part of the South-South, it was necessary for a leader from there (Edo) to be part of the signatories of the communiqué.

He suggested that Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, appended his signature to the statement.

Reacting to Nyenke’s observation, Iheovbere said that the summit was a PDP affair. But Imoke interjected, saying that the resolutions in the communiqué were not restricted to the governors.

Imoke described the content of the communiqué as the decision of the people of the South-South irrespective of political party affiliations.