Politics
Mixed Reactions Greet Jonathan’s Dissolution Of FEC
In a similar vein, some Nigerians living in North America have cautioned Acting President against recycling old politicians when appointing new ministers.
They said the country’s executive arm of government needed the services of patriotic Nigerians to steer the ship of state to political stability and economic prosperity.
For many the dissolution of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last Wednesday did not come as a rude shock. A lot of notable Nigerians had anticipated few weeks after he was confirmed as Acting President that Dr Goodluck Jonathan would dissolve the cabinet. But he didn’t.
So on Wednesday when Dr. Jonathan took the bold step to sack the divisive FEC, a lot of people hailed it as “long overdue”. The Acting President had few days after assuming power reshuffled the cabinet.
Prior to the action, the FEC had displayed nonchalance to the yearning of Nigerians for a decisive action to fill the vacuum left by over three months absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua recuperating at a Saudi Hospital.
The same indecisive attitude had overtaken the FEC in the past three weeks since Dr Jonathan assumed powers as Acting President. But with the divisive cabinet now finally dissolved notable Nigerians believe the coast is now clear for Jonathan to mount the ruddership of the country.
Speaking on the development, former Governor of Old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa said that the action was in furtherance of constitutionalism. “We support his action”, he declared, “our concern with the Acting President is constitutionalism. We are supporting him based on the constitution to enable him perform.
He however, pointed out that the cabinet dissolution was completely a PDP affair and the acting president must get their support and also needs the support of the National Assembly.
On his part, Executive Director of Human Rights Monitor told The Tide On Sunday that the Acting President has the constitutional right to effect changes in the administration to give it a direction and a focus.
“All his actions are deemed to have the powers of the substantive president and since the donor has not complained yet. But if the substantive president resumed office and disapproved of the dissolution, he can reverse the decision based on public interest”, Okoye said.
On the other hand, he stressed that the action was long overdue because of, “the obvious divisions, distrust, mistrust and lack of fidelity”, while some of the Ministers had lost direction and needed the sack.
The activist cautioned Jonathan against the use and recycling of what he described as the old brigade.
The Action Congress (AC) in Kaduna also said that the dissolution was a welcome development. Speaking, its publicity secretary Mohammed Soba, told reporters that it was a welcome development, as the dissolved cabinet tended to be divided and owed their loyalty to ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua rather than the nation.
Former security adviser to erstwhile Governor of Rivers State, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe told The Tide On Sunday in a telephone chat that the action is belated.
Said Chief Sara-Igbe, “What he has done is the right thing to do. The Acting President is supposed to have dissolved the cabinet for long ago”.
Chief Sara-Igbe said the action would allow the Acting President to take control of the system and therefore called on Dr. Jonathan to appoint trusted and capable hands in the new cabinet.
Asked what caliber of persons that should make up the new cabinet, the former Rivers State Security Adviser remarked, “He should appoint technocrats and most importantly the new cabinet should be a mixture of radicals and technocrats to move the country forward”.
Similarly, a Senior Lecturer in the Political Science Department of the Rivers State University of Education, Dr Godwin Dappa submitted that the dissolution “is an evolution for better political stability in Nigeria”.
For Dr. Dappa, the Acting President’s action would break the backbone of the cabal responsible for destabilising the polity, since after President Yar’Adua took ill last year.
The lecturer, who is also United Nations special envoy to Dafur declared, “I see some of those appointed in the Acting President’s Advisory Council to be potential ministers”.
He added that there was nothing wrong with picking some of the President advisers from the advisory committee, since some of them are capable and trusted hands.
In a similar vein, some Nigerians living in North America have cautioned Acting President against recycling old politicians when appointing new ministers.
They said the country’s executive arm of government needed the services of patriotic Nigerians to steer the ship of state to political stability and economic prosperity.
Prof. Mobolaji Aluko, President of Nigerian Democratic Movement, a United States based pro-democracy group said he was curious about reports that the Acting President planned to return 20 former ministers.
“I’am not sure what the new strategy of the Acting President would be, but I would be surprised if he should sack 42 ministers and bring back 20. It would then not be a cabinet dissolution but a reshuffle,” he said.
Visiting Professor at the City University of New York, Ms Adanma Eze declared, “Nigeria needs a new set of people that are presentable on the global stage”.
She called on the Acting President to give more women the opportunity to serve in the new cabinet, in the spirit of the growing global trend, which recommends active women participation in governance.
Also the leader of Niger Delta Indigenes in Ghana, Rev. Selepere Appreala has described Jonathan’s action as being in the right track to develop the nation by choosing those who will work with him and deliver the nation.
Rev. Apprenla who is also the Head Pastor of Image of God Church Ghana, said it is left for the Acting President to nominate through the National Assembly those who would work with him and be loyal.
He urged Dr Jonathan to appoint technocrats who would work with him and protect the nation’s interest.
Rev. Appreala who hails from Bayelsa State have lived in Ghana for 10 years also said the Acting President is a knowledgeable man that would do every thing to ensure the unity of he nation, as he urged that he should not fail the nation by not reforming the electoral process.
He called on him to sack Chief Maurice Iwu and appoint a man with vision and international and national credibility and integrity.
According to him, “the Acting President should urgently re-address the issue of developing the nation and also addressing the post amnesty programme that would put a stop to the violence in the region.”
Rev. Appreala however said there should be re-organisation in the NNPC and also address the imbalance in the top managements of the petroleum sector.
It would be recalled that Nigeria’s Acting President Goodluck Jonathan had last Wednesday dissolved the country’s cabinet.
Dr. Jonathan became Acting President in February amid the continuing illness of President Umaru Yar’Adua.
President Yar’Adua went to Saudi Arabia for treatment in November last year and despite returning to Nigeria recently, has not been seen in public.
The dissolved cabinet was appointed by President Yar’Adua and the Acting President is working to stamp his own authority by asserting and exercising his powers.
The Tide source reports that Prof. Akinoso was elected alongside 38 other executive members of the party at the congress held on Saturday.
Other executive members are Dr Abiola Olaonipekun, who emerged as Secretary, Alhaja Latifah Latifu, Women Leader and Mr A. Adeleke, elected as Youth Leader.
It was learnt that the congress, which took place at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Oke Ado in Ibadan, was attended by representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Police, other security agencies and prominent members of the party.
The election was supervised by electoral committee members, among whom were Prince Diran Odeyemi, who served as Chairman, Hon. Awoniyi Tolulope, Mr Babatunde Gbadamosi, Queen Stepheine Oyechere, Alhaji Yusuf Abidakun, Mr Olumide Aguda and Dr Phillips Adeniyi, who served as Secretary.
Prof. Akinoso, in his inaugural address, urged members of the party to set aside intra-party differences.
He advised them to concentrate their resources on the promotion of the party, saying, “The primary responsibilities of party executive members are to coordinate party activities, ensure harmony among members, and ensure party victory during general elections.
“Our immediate assignments are to key into INEC released 2027 general election time-tables. As directed by the National Caretaker Committee of PDP, our party e-membership registration starts next week. We must be fully involved and do a membership drive.
“A political party is only relevant and benefits its members if it wins the election. This is our goal. We should set aside intra-party differences; concentrate our resources towards the promotion of the party. We will make necessary consultations and dialogue to actualise this”.
President Tinubu disclosed this during an interfaith breaking of fast with senior journalists and media executives at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Saturday.
He also disclosed that his administration had opened up on the principles of true federalism to the extent that local governments now get direct allocation from the Federal Government.
“There’s no morning that I ever leave my house without going through the newspapers. It’s an addiction. I read all of you.
“It might not be in full detail, but headline, the one that would hit me and the ones that won’t.
“At the beginning of this administration, I was just a little bit stubborn, looking at opportunities to correct things and make life more easier for the downtrodden.
“We’ve opened up the principle of federalism to the extent that local governments are now getting their money, but how they use it is in your hands. So, don’t bombard me alone,” President Tinubu said.
The ruling party said the ADC had turned criticism of the APC-led administration into its operating manifesto instead of presenting concrete solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges.
In a statement issued on Saturday by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mr Felix Morka, the party dismissed the ADC’s interpretation of a report presented at a policy dialogue organised by Agora Policy which suggested that the country’s poverty rate had risen from 49 per cent to 63 per cent.
Mr Morka said the opposition party’s reaction to the report as a “damning verdict” on the government’s economic policies reflected either ignorance of economic realities or deliberate political mischief.
“The African Democratic Congress’ attempt to spin a recent report presented at the Agora Policy dialogue indicating a rise of poverty rate of 63 per cent from 49 per cent as a damning verdict on this administration’s economic policies speaks either to its shocking ignorance of economic policy or its wilful blindness to the justification for, and transformative impacts of, ongoing economic reforms,” he said.
The APC spokesman noted that the report itself recognised the necessity of reforms aimed at correcting long-standing structural distortions in the economy.
According to him, the ADC had failed to present any credible alternative policy direction for Nigerians.
“Clearly, the ADC does not recognise itself as a political party. The ADC has not articulated a single alternative policy position or prescription of benefit to Nigerians. Condemning the APC and its policies has become its operating manifesto,” Mr Morka said.
He explained that major economic decisions taken by President Bola Tinubu, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of multiple foreign exchange windows, were necessary steps to rescue the country’s economy from collapse.
Mr Morka said the subsidy regime had for years placed a heavy burden on public finances, consuming trillions of naira annually while encouraging corruption, fuel smuggling and inefficiencies in the system.
He added that the reforms had helped redirect national resources to key sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, education and social development.
The APC spokesman acknowledged that economic reforms often come with short-term hardship but stressed that the measures were essential to build a stronger and more resilient economy.
“Economic reform is never cost-free anywhere in the world. The transient hardship experienced by Nigerians was an inevitable cost of reforms meant to build and guarantee a better future for all Nigerians,” he said.
Mr Morka maintained that the country’s economic outlook was already improving, citing recent growth figures and stronger external reserves.
“Our economy has rebounded and is expanding steadily. The country’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.4 per cent last year and is projected to expand by 5.5 per cent this fiscal year, with foreign reserves now exceeding $50 billion,” he stated.
He also pointed to government initiatives designed to cushion the effects of economic adjustments on citizens, including cash transfer programmes, student loan schemes and the rollout of compressed natural gas (CNG) initiatives to reduce transportation costs.
Mr Morka reaffirmed that the APC-led administration would remain focused on rebuilding the economy and expanding social investments to support vulnerable Nigerians.
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