10 Northern Governors Move to Back Jonathan

Written by This Day Tuesday, 27 July 2010

Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting of the 19 Northern Governors, the wave of support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s alleged 2011 presidential aspiration in the North is on the upswing, though he has not officially declared his interest in the race.

THISDAY checks revealed that no fewer than 10 of the region's 16 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors are now rooting for the President to contest next year.

But thousands of Northern youths under the aegis of Coalition of Northern Youth Groups and Associations insisting on zoning have converged on Kaduna for a mass rally tomorrow against any attempt by the 19 Northern governors to trade off the zoning agreement in exchange for their selfish political gains.

The governors are expected to meet at the Government House, Kaduna to deliberate further or possibly take a position on the raging controversy over the zoning of the presidency between the North and South.
During their meeting last month in Kaduna , the governors had resolved to further consult stakeholders in their various states over the matter.

THISDAY, however, found out that while some Northern political leaders are openly canvassing the retention of the PDP zoning of presidency to the North, some of the region’s governors are rooting for Jonathan to contest the 2011 poll.
Governors known to be proffering support for Jonathan’s alleged ambition are Jonah Jang (Plateau), Isa Yuguda (Bauchi), Danbaba Suntai (Taraba), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Patrick Yakowa (Kaduna), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina) and Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto). Others are Ibrahim Idris, Saidu Dakingari (Kebbi) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa).
THISDAY could not clearly figure out where Governors Akwe Doma (Nasarawa), Danjuma Goje (Gombe), Bukola Saraki (Kwara) and Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi (Zamfara) stand on the issue.

But the only PDP governor from the region to publicly declare his opposition to Jonathan’s presidential ambition is Dr. Babangida Aliyu of Niger State .
Aliyu who is also the chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum has thrown his weight behind the presidential aspiration of former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida. 

However, the three All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) Governors Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano, Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe and Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno have made it clear they have nothing to do with the zoning arrangement, saying zoning is a PDP affair.
They also said they would not be drawn into the debate on whether to support Jonathan or not.
Other Northern governors are said to be watching the situation and probably waiting for the President to make his decision to contest known before they could declare their stand.

Information available to THISDAY showed that most or virtually all the PDP governors seeking re-election in the North are in support of the President, ostensibly to clear the way for them to return to power next year.
Sources said both Goje and Saraki are yet to make up their mind because they are believed to be weighing the options, whether to also throw their hats into the ring for the presidential race or support Jonathan.

Efforts by THISDAY to confirm the real position of the governors on the issue were unsuccessful last night.
Shinkafi, on his part, has in the last few weeks given contradictory views on zoning. Speaking with journalists at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos , the governor was quoted as saying that zoning promotes mediocrity.

However, few days later, in a statement made available to reporters in Gusau, Shinkafi said he was in support of calls to open up the political space “and allowing everybody, including General Ibrahim Babangida, to contest.”
But various pro-Jonathan groups have swooped on the North, canvassing support for their principal and as well urging him to contest next year's poll.

Among the leading politicians from the region to proffer support for Jonathan is a staunch loyalist of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Hassan Zurmi, whose New Nigerian Forum is reaching out to woo support for the President.

Zurmi told THISDAY in an interview that Jonathan's candidature, if it becomes a reality, "will not be difficult to sell in the North."
"This is because the whole noise about zoning is coming from the same people who were in power in the past but did nothing for the region. The ordinary people are suffering while others are reaping from their sweat. Rather than insist on producing the next president, the North should support the President based on some conditions, like improving roads, healthcare delivery system and the economic potential of the region," Zurmi added.

THISDAY learnt that the youth groups with members drawn from the various states in the North arrived Kaduna at the weekend for the rally to drum up support for zoning and to mount pressure on the governors to insist on the agreement.
The Co-ordinator of the coalition, Barrister Ibrahim Waya, in an exclusive interview with THISDAY yesterday in Kaduna said Northern youths were worried about the ongoing campaigns against the zoning of the presidency after the south had taken its turn for 8 years.

He said “the idea behind the mass rally is to drum up support for the principle of zoning” because “we have not forgotten that there is a subsisting agreement of the zoning of the presidency to the North in 2011”.
Waya maintained that there was no reason why midway through the agreement, some people would be saying  it should be breached, stressing that as politicians, “we feel it is very very bad and we are setting a bad precedence to the younger generation of politicians who are looking up to us as leaders”.

According to him, the youths are seriously disturbed and deeply concerned that people who are supposed to be role models reached an agreement but they are now turning round to say it should be discarded.
He said: “This rally is to caution northern governors not to trade off subsisting agreement in exchange for their continuity in office. This is something we find seriously unacceptable. It doesn’t matter which part of the North the president may emerge, but we want power retained in the North.

“By 2015, the North will have completed its circle of 8 years and they can make the election free for all if they decide to discard zoning. At least by then, the two sides would have had their turn of the zoning arrangement.
“We have done this rally in Katsina, we have done it in Minna, Maiduguri, Bauchi and now will do it in Kaduna on Tuesday until these governors realized that they owe a responsibility to the people of the North who voted for them to make sure that the subsisting zoning agreement is upheld.

“We do not have any candidate that we are supporting, our concern is that power should return to the North in accordance with the zoning agreement. We have a galaxy of youths who are capable of leading this country; any of them can be picked.

“All Northerners will decide who will be the presidential candidate in 2011, but what we are seriously insisting on is that the zoning agreement should not be discarded and the Northern governors who are likely to be our last bastion of hope at the moment should not sacrifice the political destiny of the north in the name of discarding zoning.

“You cannot give Obasanjo 8 years and give the north 4 years. In fact we have not had a term right now as we speak. It is the Yar’Adua/Jonathan ticket that the incumbent president is trying to complete. So let the North be allowed to complete its turn for the sake of fairness and unity.”