National Dialogue: Presidency Cautions On Elections Commitment

The Presidency and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party have said that all the states governed by the party must participate in the national conference slated for next year, stating that participation at the conference is beyond any governor’s approval.

The assertion was in reaction to comments by Ebonyi State Governor Martin Elechi that he will not participate in the national conference being planned by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Elechi had last  Friday in his native Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State dismissed the planned conference as “a big joke, waste of time, and a distraction to Goodluck Jonathan.”

Elechi, a PDP member long known for his ardent devotion to Jonathan, said he would distance himself from the dialogue if his people insisted on participating, in what is seen as a sign of crack within the rank of the President’s supporters.

The governor spoke when some political elders in the state, who had paid him Christmas homage, wanted to know the modalities for the selection of the state’s representatives to the national dialogue.

But in the absence of an enabling law on the national dialogue, it is hard to see how the Presidency or the ruling party can compel the participation of states in the proposed talks.

The Presidency slammed the Ebonyi State governor, describing his comments as undemocratic, dictatorial, and against the rights of citizens to freely participate in popular discussions.

According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, “the issue of participation of the states of the federation in the national conference is beyond the approval of any state governor, let alone states under the control of the PDP-led federal government.”

Okupe claimed that Elechi might have been misquoted, saying that the participation of states at the national conference was a civic national duty of all citizens and no governor should stop the citizens’ participation.

“The national conference is a citizens’ civic responsibility. It is constitutional in the face of right of assembly for the citizens and, therefore, no governor can stop the citizens’ participation. To do that is undemocratic and dictatorial; for any governor to stop the citizens’ participation,” Okupe said.

He alleged that Elechi was misquoted because he remained one of Jonathan’s main allies in the South-East.