Northern Summit Wants Four More Years for Jonathan

Written by This Day Friday, 16 July 2010

A new dimension has been added to the debate on President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged 2011 presidential aspiration and the contentious zoning of the presidency to the North.

A group of Northern leaders and politicians led by former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman Chief Solomon Lar yesterday rose from its Northern Political Summit with a resolution that the President’s alleged plan to contest the 2011 presidential poll should be seen as a continuation of his joint presidential ticket with late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua till 2015.

As such, according to the leaders, the death of President Yar’Adua does not invalidate the joint ticket which won the 2007 presidential election.

But the summit’s resolution provided another opportunity for engagement by the pro and anti-zoning elements in the North: the group of Northern leaders canvassing the retention of zoning for the 2011 election has restated the reasons for its support of zoning and power rotation.

The group coming under the aegis of Northern Leaders Forum has former military President Ibrahim Babangida and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar among others as members.

In a 12-point statement released in Abuja by Mallam Bashir Ibrahim Yusuf, the forum argued that the retention of the PDP zoning arrangement is the guarantee for the stability of the country and assurance that all ethnic groups in the country, including ethnic minorities, will have a fair share of power.

Expectedly, the Kaduna summit by the Lar group believed to be pro-Jonathan was boycotted by prominent Northern politicians like Babangida, Atiku,General Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, General Yakubu Gowon, former President Shehu Shagari, General Aliyu Gusau, General Abdusalami Abubakar and former Senate President Iyorchia Ayu among others.

Reading the communiqué of the summit, which took place at the Conference Hall of Kaduna International Trade Fair, the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Prof. Jerry Gana, the Northern political summit said the Yar’Adua/Jonathan joint presidential ticket in 2007 is still valid.

The communiqué said: “The Presidency of Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua and President Goodluck Jonathan is an inseparable ticket and therefore the demise of one does not invalidate the privileges of the remaining beneficiary or the ticket.

“The summit proceeded to call on the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as follows: to allow the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution to guide the conduct and the guidelines and regulations for the presidential primaries to elect our presidential candidate.

“In the circumstances, the most viable option is to ensure indeed that the conduct of the presidential primaries that the best candidate as already expressed by the gathering is given the opportunity to run for the office of the President.”

Equally in the communiqué, the leaders expressed their strong desire for a credible election and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission and its new Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to ensure adequate preparation for credible and transparent 2011 election.

In this regard, they called on the Federal Government to ensure an early release of funds to INEC for the 2011 election.
The summit noted the backwardness of the North in the area of economic development and resolved to hold a Northern economic summit to address the underdevelopment of the region.

Earlier in his speech, one of the Co-Chairman of the summit, Lar, said zoning was adopted in 1999 by the party as a temporal measure to address the circumstances of June 12, 1993, stating, “as one of the founding fathers of the PDP, I remember clearly the basic considerations behind zoning and the interim nature of its application. Zoning was never meant to be a permanent feature of our democracy.”

Another co-chairman, Ambassador Hassan Adamu (Wakinlin Adamawa), said for the sake of unity and stability of Nigeria , the North should allow other parts of the country to contest the presidential election.

Adamu said the North should develop an agenda for the next president, whoever he is, explaining that in a democratic setting, dialogue and superior argument should be supreme.

His views were adopted by the third co-chairman, Ambassador Shehu Malami, who also said newspaper report that quoted him as saying the 2011 general election should be shifted is incorrect.

He said that his major concern is that the North should be developed, saying, “Our purpose is that the North should be developed and spearhead whatever is necessary for the peace and unity of Nigeria .”

Gana in his opening address said zoning was adopted by PDP to address the crisis that followed the annulment of the June 12, 1993 election, stating that, “so far, this policy has worked fairly well to stabilize our polity and to straighten our democracy.”
But he said the death of President Yar’Adua was beyond human control, which generated a network of weighty matters arising thereof.

Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa in his welcome address said the meeting should look beyond one parameter with regards to power sharing and power rotation in Nigeria .

Yakowa said: “Whatever we would do should be in the contest of the constitution which is supreme over all other arrangements that would be made or might have been made at some points.

“Many countries of the world are fast reviewing their positions with a view to being first class player in the globalization arrangement, where the dreams of late Martin Luther King of looking forward to some day of being in a nation, where his little children would be judged by the content of their character and not the colour of their skin.”

The North-central zone said in a position presented by former PDP Chairman, Chief Barnabas Gemade, that Yar’Adua’s death should by no means invalidate the joint ticket given to the Yar’Adua/Jonathan presidency, as the demise of one should not affect the other.

In this regard, he said the Yar’Adua/Jonathan ticket is subsisting till 2015 as the death of Yar’Adua does not stop Jonathan from enjoying the benefit of the ticket.

Also, the North-east position read by Alhaji Kaulaha Aliyu, a member of PDP Board of Trustees, said with the ascendancy of President Jonathan should go beyond 2011 and called on PDP to internally resolve the zoning crisis.

Senator Ibrahim Ida who spoke for the North-west went philosophical, saying power belongs to God and He alone gives power to whosoever He wants.

He cautioned against people dissipating energy on the issue of zoning, quoting Benjamin Isreal who once said, “What we did not expect really happens, as everything belongs to God”.

The summit was attended by former Kogi State Governor Abubakar Audu, former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja Minister of State Solomon Ewuga, former Sport Minister Damishi Sango, FCT Minister Bala Mohammed and Minister of State for Information Labaran Maku who moderated the occasion.

Minister of Water Resources Obadiah Ando, former Minister of State (Heatlth) Gabriel Aduku, former Chief of Army Staff General Ishaya Bamaiyi, former Chief of Army Staff General Salihu Ibrahim, former Minister of Industry Fidelis Tapgun, former Plateau Governor Joshua Dariye, Senator Abubakar Sodangi, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Salisu Buhari, Senator John Washpam, Senator Isaiah Balat, Senator Paul Wampana, Senator Iya Abubakar, Chief Mike Aaondakaa, Sarah Jubril, Ibrahim Kashim Imma, Ambassador Bugudu Hirse, General Lawrence Onoja, Col. Bala Mande, Senator Wail Jebril among others also attended the summit.

The statement by the Ayu group listed 25 prominent political leaders including Babangida, Atiku, Ayu, Ciroma, former PDP Chairman Audu Ogbeh and Alhaji Bello Kirfi as members of the forum.

They marshaled arguments in favour of the retention of zoning and warned that its abandonment could have significant consequences for the stability of the polity because it has been embraced in all levels of government.

While arguing that its mission is not to stop President Jonathan from contesting the 2011 elections as it is being portrayed, the forum posits that it is out to safeguard “the system of equity and fairness, which will give all Nigerians a sense of belonging.

“It is our view that the system of zoning and rotation will secure every Nigerian the opportunity to access political power and thus engender peaceful coexistence of the various components of the country,” the group said.

While noting that the demand for zoning emanated from the Southern part of the country prior to 1999, the forum said it was regrettable that the nation is sliding back to its pre-1999 situation whereby a deliberate and dangerous propaganda is being deployed to confuse Nigerians about which section of the country can produce the nation’s next president.

“This was an issue, which has long been resolved, leading to the emergence of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Umaru Musa ‘Yar’adua in 1999 and 2007 respectively. Some of us have played a key role in ensuring that a Southerner has emerged President of Nigeria in 1999. We did this, not just as Northerners, but more importantly, as Nigerians who remain convinced that the only way to stabilize this country is to continue to give and take.”

On the argument that zoning is not provided for in the 1999 Constitution, the forum argues there is no section of the constitution that outlaws zoning and rotation.

“There is also no provision in that constitution that prevents political leaders from going into special arrangements to share power, ensure equity and stabilize the polity. We also believe that every segment of Nigeria is endowed with qualified and competent leaders able to face the challenge of providing high quality service at different levels of public life,” the group said.