Politics

National Confab: Matters Arising

Published

13 years ago

November 4, 2013

There is truly hardly any
misgiving regarding the need to have a dialogue, a national dialogue, in order to decide how Nigeria should be governed. In fact, Nigerians are really itching to talk about their future as many agree that th country is inching towards failure in terms of governance, equitable distribution of the nation’s resources, rule of law and other sundry issues.
What is, however, doubtful is the genuine purpose of the dialogue and whether at the end of the day it can truly pass for the type of national conference that a truly democratic mind anticipates. For instance, would the talk lead to the resolution of the nagging issues that are believed to be creating friction in the polity?
Such issues as true federalism, resource control, state police, rotational presidency, federal character or even the outright disintegration of the country, which some have suggested as the most reasonable way to go for the country given its highly multi-lingual nature.
Or would it, in the words of William Shakespeare, be full of sound and fury but hardly signifying anything meaningful to the common man as previous ones? These are the questions that require urgent answers before delegates from all shades of views about Nigeria converge for the national dialogue which President Goodluck Jonathan surprisingly promised during his Independence Day address as part of events marking the country’s 53rd anniversary.
In the speech, President Jonathan announced the formation of an advisory committee to steer the process leading to the conference, which he has momentarily christened “National Dialogue”. The committee is headed by a chieftain of the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, and a Second Republic Senator, Femi Okurounmu, while a former Political Adviser to the President, Akilu Sani Ndabawa, is secretary.
Other members of the committee include: former Nigeria Ambassador to the United States (U.S.), Professor George Obiozor; respected constitutional lawyer, Professor Ben Nwabueze (who declined the appointment citing age as reason); Senator Khairat Gwadabe, Senator Timothy Adudu, Col. Tony Nyiam (rtd.), Professor Funke Adebayo, Dr. Mairo Ahmed Amshi, Dr. Abubakar Sadiq , Dauda Birma, Buhari Bello and Tony Uranta.
Inaugurating the members, President Jonathan noted: “Fellow Nigerians, our administration has taken cognisance of suggestions over the years by well-meaning Nigerians on the need for a national dialogue on the future of our beloved country. When there are issues that constantly stoke tension and bring about friction, it makes perfect sense for the interested parties to come together to discuss.
“In demonstration of my avowed belief in the positive power of dialogue in charting the way forward, I have decided to set up an advisory committee whose mandate is to establish the modalities for a national dialogue or conference. The committee will also design a framework and come up with recommendations as to the form, structure and mechanism of the process.
The full membership of the committee will be announced shortly. I expect its report to be ready in one month, following which the nation will be briefed on the nomenclature, structure and modalities of the dialogue.”
The President’s decision to convoke a National Conference or Sovereign National Conference (whichever he finally settles for) is a remarkable departure from his earlier stance. This is because he was one of the opponents of such conference on the ground that the National Assembly remains the valid representative of the people because, as he noted, the members were elected to discuss on behalf of their people.
This is the crux of the matter. It has also been, from all indications, the only reason for the unnecessarily prolonged dilly-dallying of the presidency on the issue of not only naming, but also making the proposed conference sovereign. The situation is not made any easier by the position of many within the corridors of power who have vowed to ensure that the word “sovereign” is never included in the conference.
One of them is Senate President, David Mark, who recently said “I’ll crush the bid to add ‘sovereignty’ to the National Conference”. In 2001, when pressed on the issue of the virtues of convening a sovereign national conference, President Olusegun Obasanjo unequivocally said something similar: “I cannot surrender the sovereignty that was given to me by the Nigerian people”.
As it stands, while the North is vehemently opposed to a sovereign national conference, the South, East and a majority of the West are clamouring for it. Some northern Governors have, in fact, been reported to refuse to send people from their State to “any conference”, while some leaders from the area have started singing war songs to counter calls for national conference.
Also, pundits from the North have not ceased to argue that “our constitution is not the problem. It is the people that use the constitution that needs to be upgraded”. It is therefore not surprising that just as President Jonathan was announcing that the final destination of the outcome of the conference is the National Assembly, spokesman for the most authoritative socio-cultural organization in the North, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), stated its stand unequivocally:
“The ACF does not believe that the problem with Nigeria is the structure of the country or the pattern of governance … for now, we do not have any position to present to them (the Advisory Committee) because we did not ask for a conference in the first place”, a statement quoted the leadership of the ACF.
The seeming indifference of the North over what has become a desperate quest by a majority of the parts that constitute the Nigerian state, and the almost sarcastic confidence with which the leadership of the ACF states its stand is an apparent indication of their knowledge that without cooperation from the northern members in the National Assembly, there can be no two-thirds to alter a single sentence in the current constitution, no matter the number of conferences.
Is this the reason behind the current rigmarole of sending the outcome of the proposed conference to the National Assembly for vetting? If this is true, as it obviously seem, then the rest of the country is, to say the least, endangered. This is because if the reverse was the case in the call for the sovereign national conference, the decision would have been made easily, probably with little thought about its implications on the rest of the country.
This explains why key stakeholders in the country have expressed the belief that the current proposed national conference will end up in the waste bin as previous ones because like President Obasanjo, the Presidency and National Assembly would not want to surrender the sovereignty that was given to them by the Nigerian people, since that is the implication of a “sovereign” national conference.
In the words of the former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Professor Ango Abdullahi, “a sovereign national conference will create a new level playing field for Nigerians to decide their future.
“In doing so, everyone, including the President, governors, and lawmakers at national and state council levels must vacate their offices and allow for a truly sovereign national conference to take over the running of the country”.
The extent to which this can be achieved remains to be seen.

President Goodluck Jonathan (middle), Vice-President Namadi Sambo (4th right) with members of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue after their inauguration in Abuja , recently. Photo: NAN

Politics

Parties’ Deregistration: How Justice Lifu Overruled Appeal Court Justices

Published

24 hours ago

June 17, 2026

The Tide

Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday brushed aside the order of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which ordered him to stay proceedings in a suit that sought deregistration of the African Democratic Party (ADC), Accord Party and three others.
The Court of Appeal in a unanimous decision of a panel of three Justices had on May 22, 2026 directed the Federal High Court Judge not to proceed with the suit until an appeal pending before them and filed by Accord Party is resolved.
In a Certified True Copy Enrol Order of the Superior Court, Justices Mohammed Danjuma, Adebukola Banjoko and Oyejoju Oyewumi asked the lower Court Judge to stay proceedings until all issues on the appeal filed by the Accord Party were resolved
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State had, through the Accord Party, applied to justice Lifu to join him as a defendant in the deregistration legal battle instituted by a group of former legislators.
The contention of the Osun State governor was that he had a stake in the Accord Party, being the platform he was seeking re-election in the August 15 gubernatorial poll in the state.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu on April 27 ruled against the Osun State governor, rejecting his request to be joined in the suit to defend his own position and interest.
Not satisfied with the Federal High Court decision, the Osun State governor, through his lawyer, Musibau Adetunbi (SAN), moved to the Court of Appeal in Abuja where he challenged the Justice Lifu decision to refuse to allow him join the suit.
After listening to the argument canvassed, especially that he has interest to protect as Accord Party gubernatorial candidate for Osun State governorship election, the three Justices of the Court of Appeal, unanimously directed Justice Lifu to allow them look into the grievances of the governor.
In specific terms, the Court of Appeal Justices directed Justice Lifu not to proceed further with the matter and fixed October 27 to determine the interlocutory appeal of the appellant.
However, when the certified enroll order and notice of appeal were served on Justice Peter Lifu by Mr Adetunbi (SAN), the judge rejected it on the ground that it was a ploy to arrest his judgment in the matter.
Although the judge had adjourned his judgment delivery in the matter indefinitely, he finally made a dramatic turn around on Monday and proceeded to deliver the judgment that has now proscribed the five political parties.

Politics

ADC: Okonkwo Rejects Amaechi As Presidential Running Mate, Withdraws Support

Published

24 hours ago

June 17, 2026

The Tide

Actor turned politician, Mr Kenneth Okonkwo, has rejected the choice of former Rivers State Governor, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, as the running mate to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a statement on Monday, Mallam Bolaji Abdulllahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, announced the party’s choice of Mr Amaechi.
However in a statement, Mr Okonkwo said that the choice of Mr Amaechi from the South South strengthens the continued marginalization of people from the South East.
According to the former spokesperson of the Labour Party, any arrangement that would not factor a person from the South East either as president or vice president in the party is anti-Igbo.
He contended that Chief Raph Nwosu, who founded the ADC in 2005 and willingly surrendered it’s leadership to Senator David Mark did not do so to entrench Igbo marginalization in the party.
The former actor said: “I heard from the social media that ADC has picked its vice presidential candidate from the South-South. If this is true, it is unfortunate, as this will continue the crude marginalisation of the South-East.
“This geo-political zone has neither produced a president or vice president since 1999. To deny the South-East the opportunity to produce the president or vice president in the ADC in 2027, will amount to perpetuating the marginalisation.
“The ADC was founded by Ralphs Nwosu from the South-East in 2005. He made the sacrifice to give up the party in 2025 for the coalition to usher in a better Nigeria. He couldn’t have made that sacrifice to marginalise his own people.
“I did not join the coalition to assist in marginalisation of my own people further. I am of the opinion that if we made a sacrifice to give up the national chairman and the president, it will amount to unpardonable injustice to deny us the vice president in 2027.
“I joined politics to fight for a better Nigeria where no region, geo-political zone, or person will be marginalised.
“The only favour I asked Atiku Abubakar, who openly declared that he is the pathway to the presidency of the South-East, is to show it by choosing someone from the South-East to be his vice.
“If it is confirmed that he has chosen a candidate from the South-South, I wish him well. I am not favourably disposed to campaigning for any presidential ticket that does not have a person of South-East origin as president or vice in 2027”

Politics

2027: Tinubu’s Projects Give APC Edge In South East – Yilwatda

Published

24 hours ago

June 17, 2026

The Tide

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda, on Monday said that the numerous projects being executed by President Bola Tinubu across the states in the southeast will give him upper hand over other presidential candidates during next year’s general elections.
Prof. Yilwatda stated this at the Abakaliki Township Stadium during a mega rally organized by the Ebonyi State government and Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, during which President Tinubu and other APC candidates for the 2027 general elections were adopted.
According to the APC National Chairman, no President had done for the southeast region what President Tinubu has done for them and expressed the confidence that the president would not only win in Ebonyi State but in the entire South East.
Prof. Yilwatda also used the occasion to address growing insinuations in some quarters that Ebonyi State had been conceded to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Dismissing the claim, Prof. Yilwatda said the state would not allow the PDP to win any position in the forthcoming general election.
“We will return President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Francis Nwifuru as Governor of Ebonyi State in 2027.
“We want to return all APC senators, members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates in 2027.
“Nobody has conceded Ebonyi to the PDP. Therefore, there is no vacancy in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi PDP has no place, and there is no vacancy at all in the Government House come 2027,” the APC National Chairman declared.
He commended the people of the state for their support for President Tinubu and urged them to re-elect him in the next presidential election in appreciation of what he has done for the state and the entire South-East through infrastructural transformation and human capital development.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, who also spoke at the event, said the state had no other presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections apart from President Tinubu.

He declared that Ebonyi remained a stronghold of the APC and vowed that the party would deliver the President in the state.

Gov. Nwifuru said President Tinubu had shown exceptional commitment to the state and deserved total support for appointing Senator Umahi as Minister of Works, a role he said Senator Umahi had performed creditably.

“Ebonyi has no other presidential candidate apart from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we will return him in the presidential election.

“We are standing here today to tell the whole world, especially those using the President’s name to orchestrate division and confusion in this great state, that we have only one party, and that is the APC.

“This statement became necessary because some people are going around claiming they have discussed with Mr President and that he has handed Ebonyi over to the PDP. They are also saying that Chief Nyesom Wike is their leader and that Wike said the President has given Ebonyi to him.

“Ebonyi is not for sale. We are restraining ourselves because the people are with us. Nobody should push us because we have what it takes to confront anyone trying to destabilise us.

“We want to tell Mr President that he has earned our votes. He gave us what we had never had in Eastern Nigeria — the office of the Minister of Works. And this Minister of Works is not sitting idle; he is working,” he stated.

Senator Umahi, in his remarks, said President Tinubu had done what no other President had done for Ebonyi State and the entire South-East by executing numerous projects across the state and the region.

“Ebonyi State is a one-party state under Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done a lot, not just for Ebonyi State but for the entire South-East and other geopolitical zones,” he said.