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2015 Presidency: Buhari, Tinubu, Amaechi
ruled out by APC
NIGERIAN PILOT
All Progressives Congress seems to be having its
first major headache since the successful merger
of all the parties. The party, it is understood, is
locked in the battle of getting a credible and
nationally accepted presidential candidate aheadof the 2015 elections. This, according to insiders
has not been very easy as the party wants to
factor in many things before arriving at whoever
will fly its presidential flag.
Such things as ethnicity and religion are the twomajor areas the party wants to iron out amicably
in order to minimise the expected rancor and
division it may create post-party primary.
According to a very reliable insider source,
though General Muhammadu Buhari is one namethat keeps on resurfacing whenever the
presidential ticket of APC is mentioned, but the
odds are stacked against him because party
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chieftains say that his impressive followership
has not been able to translate into electoral
victories since 2003 that he has been contestingfor the presidency.
A Buhari/Tinubu ticket was mooted sometime,
but I can tell you that the idea has been quickly
jettisoned. One, it is a Muslim/Muslim ticket,
which may not sell in a religiously combustiblecountry like Nigeria. Moreover, since 2003 that
General Buhari has been contesting the
presidency, despite the mammoth crowd that
throng out at his campaign rallies, he has not been
able to translate that into concrete victory and
the party hierarchy has looked at the scenarioand are convinced that throwing the General into
the fray in 2015, may not be in the interest of
the partys ambitionwinning the presidency in
2015. And moreover, age is no longer on his side.
So, the search continues and it is not an easyone. What the party is looking at really is a
younger Northerner, preferably a Christian. This
is mainly to assuage the grievances of the
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minorities in the North who have been murmuring
it aloud that the core North has not treated
them fairly.The issue of a Christian Northerner is not all
that sacrosanct, but the most important thing is
that whoever the party selects in 2015 must be
saleable across the various national divides, the
source said.While on the surface, the defection of the G5
governors may be a welcomed development,
insiders say it is most likely to open another
round of trouble for the party. It is learnt that
the defected governors are insisting on GovernorRotimi Amaechi of Rivers State being the partys
running mate to whoever will emerge as its
candidate, most probably from the North.
However, the party seems very uncomfortable
with this arrangement, knowing that as it standsnow, Amaechi does not have any political
stronghold that he can deliver, should the party
concede the vice presidential slot to him. The
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party knows that Governor Amaechi cannot
deliver South-South to the party as long as
President Goodluck Jonathan is in the race. Evendelivering his home state of Rivers is in doubt.
This explains why the party is seriously looking at
the South-East, the source said.
Analysts are of the opinion that with this initial
selection crisis impending at the party, whicheverway the APC decides to go, whether a Northern
Christian or Muslim, it is most likely to alienate
itself from a large voting population.
If the party decides to settle for a Northern
Christian, choosing a running mate from theSouth becomes very difficult and moreover, the
large Muslim population in the North will feel
cheated and protest votes may arise. If on the
other hand the party decides to go for a
Northern Muslim, which is most likely, theminority Christian population in the North will
feel dumped as usual and protest votes may also
arise.
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2015: APC in dilemma over Buharis
candidature
Two years ahead of the 2015 presidential
election, the leaders of the yet-to-be registered
All Progressive Congress, APC, are already in
dilemma over the ambition of the former Head
of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
Already, Buhari has indicated interest to contest
the 2015 poll, for the fourth time.
Impeccable sources told National Mirror that
while some major stakeholders in the Action
Congress of Nigeria, ACN, are keen in picking a
northern candidate, particularly from the North-
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West to confront President Goodluck Jonathan
in the election; they are averse to Buharis
candidacy.
But another major plank in the coalition is
rooting for Buharis candidacy on the strength of
his electoral value as demonstrated in the 2003,
2007 and 2011 presidential elections.
A competent source in APC told our
correspondent that the major stakeholders in
the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, and the
Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, believed
that Buhari is a sellable candidate.
Even before the takeoff of the APC, the choice
of who to be the flag bearer in the 2015
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presidential election had been a major source of
concern to us.
A major plank in the ACN does not want Buhari
while the majority views his electoral value as an
asset to the APC in the quest for the
Presidency, the source said.
Another source said that a prominent leader in
the ACN had earlier made a move to prevail on
the former ruler not to contest the 2015
election.
It was, however, gathered that Buhari was
unyielding which informed his recent statement
that he would once again contest the election.
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In 2015, if given the mandate, I will uphold your
trust, he had said penultimate week.
A top member of the CPC said the leadership of
the party was aware of the subterranean moves
to prevent Buhari from being the APC
presidential candidate in 2015.
He, however, vowed to resist any attempt to pick
the APC candidate through undemocratic means.
We are all democrats and equal partners in the
merger process. So, every stakeholder has equal
rights to vie for the presidential ticket. Buhari is
eminently qualified and he will pick the APC
ticket through open and democratic process, he
said.
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Some stalwarts in the ACN, however, reasoned
that Buharis outing against President Jonathan
in the 2011 election is a major factor to
consider.
They said that if the former ruler could defeat
President Jonathan in 12 of the 19 states in the
North, he was a sure bet for the APC in his
quest to win the 2015 election.
In the 2011 presidential poll, President Jonathan,
as an incumbent, polled 22, 350, 242 votes to
defeat Buhari, who got 11, 914,953 votes.
Out of the 19 northern states, President
Jonathan won in seven states of Kwara, Kogi,
Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Adamawa.
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Buhari, as the CPC candidate, defeated the
President in 12 northern states of Bauchi,
Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi,
Niger, Borno, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.
The performance of Buhari in the 2011 election
and previous presidential elections has put some
stakeholders in the APC in dilemma.
Dont forget that Buhari won in 12 states
against Jonathans seven. So he is no pushover.
We want to know which better candidate the
coalition intends to produce outside Buhari, a
source said.
But the National Publicity Secretary of the CPC,
Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, in an interview with
National Mirror, said no permutation could stop
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Buhari from contesting the 2015 presidential
election.
He said: He has told everybody that when he is
given presidential ticket, he will contest the
election. Gen. Buhari, as a democrat, will run for
the Presidency.
Any creature can aspire to deliver his country
from the shackles of bad governance.
Dont listen to speculation. There is nothing like
permutation on issues like age. Nobody is using
age in the presidential contest. General Buhari
remains qualified. How old was Ronald Reagan,
Nelson Mandela when they became presidents of
United States and South Africa respectively?
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Buhari will be 73 by 2015. Critics believe that
age may be a factor against his candidacy.
Even the National Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur,
has expressed fears that the APC will be torn
apart on the altar of ambition.
Dont worry, this is not the first time Nigerians
would hear about merger. Let elections come and
everyone will see the problems within them. They
will be torn to rags because of ambitions, he
had said.
In another development, many governors of the
PDP have retraced their steps in their opposition
to the second term ambition of President
Jonathan in 2015.
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It was learnt at the weekend that a couple of
the recalcitrant governors have visited President
Jonathan to beg for forgiveness and pledged
their loyalty in the face of the awesome powers
of the president and an uncertain political future
of some of them.
The president needed to demonstrate he is in
charge and that no governor can challenge his
authority. This is the reason why the president
is baring his fangs against Amaechi, a source
said.
According to a source in the Presidency, only
three governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Rabiu
Kwankwaso (Kano) and Babangida Aliyu (Niger)
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are still adamant on their opposition to the
president.
The volte face was unconnected with the
decision of President Jonathan to wield the big
stick on Amaechi, the chairman of the Nigerian
Governors Forum, NGF.
Already, the party structure had been taken
away from Amaechi in Rivers State. Besides, his
aides are being discreetly probed by various
agencies of government.
It is against this background that the governors
have embarked on reconciliation with the
president.
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We are in a comfortable position with the
governors today. In the past weeks, many of
them in company of prominent leaders have
visited the President where they pledged to
work with him in his transformation agenda and
in his re-election bid.
The game has really changed, an aide of the
president told National Mirror.
An aide of a northern governor told our
correspondent that his governor stands in a good
stead working with the President.
It is true that we have issues with the
Presidency, but now reason has prevailed. So, we
lose nothing being in the good books of the
president. Being in opposition to the President
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doesnt pay us. This is why we have made
amends, the aide, who pleaded anonymity said.
Meanwhile, contrary to several denials by the
Presidency that it has not begun campaign for
the 2015 polls, there are indications that
associates of the president and some of his
trusted aides have put machinery in place to sell
the candidacy of President Jonathan.
A source in the know told National Mirror that
the Presidency is reaching out discreetly to
prominent northern leaders and Emirs to curry
support for the 2015 Presidency.
Serving ministers and public office holders have
been the link of the President in the North.
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In the South-West, President Jonathan has met
with a couple of leaders, traditional, political and
religious from the zone. Also, several political
groups are being formed to sell the Jonathans
candidacy in the zone.
Amaechis defection to APC a mistake, I know
team Tinubu & Buhari very well Tonye
Princewill
Posted On21 Dec 2013
Prince Tonye Princewill is a member of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a prominent
http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/amaechis-defection-to-apc-a-mistake-i-know-team-tinubu-buhari-very-well-tonye-princewill/http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/amaechis-defection-to-apc-a-mistake-i-know-team-tinubu-buhari-very-well-tonye-princewill/http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/amaechis-defection-to-apc-a-mistake-i-know-team-tinubu-buhari-very-well-tonye-princewill/http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/amaechis-defection-to-apc-a-mistake-i-know-team-tinubu-buhari-very-well-tonye-princewill/http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/amaechis-defection-to-apc-a-mistake-i-know-team-tinubu-buhari-very-well-tonye-princewill/http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/amaechis-defection-to-apc-a-mistake-i-know-team-tinubu-buhari-very-well-tonye-princewill/http://www.africanspotlight.com/2013/12/21/amaechis-defection-to-apc-a-mistake-i-know-team-tinubu-buhari-very-well-tonye-princewill/ -
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player in the politics of Rivers State and the
governorship candidate of the defunct Action
Congress in the 2007 general elections. In thisinterview, the Prince of Niger Delta politics
confirms speculations that he has finally parted
ways with his erstwhile bosom friend, Governor
Chibuike Amaechi. He traces the genesis of it all
and declares the governors recent defection to
the All Progressives Congress (APC) a mistake.
Tonye Princewill also speaks on burning national
issues, why he chose to remain in, and President
Goodluck Jonathans perceived 2015 presidential
ambition. Excerpts:
Question: What is your take on Governor
Amaechis move to APC and are you moving
with him?
The short answer is No. Moving to APC is a
mistake for him which has become inevitable. SoI call it the inevitable mistake. The governor
boxed himself into that position almost
deliberately and so if it looks like beer, smells
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like beer and tastes like beer, then let us all
acknowledge that it is what it is. He chose the
path he is walking. Talk of him being forced totake it is for those who dont know any better.
Mr. President loved Amaechi but Amaechi put
that love aside to perform his first love which
was Chairman of the Governors forum and his
performance of it undoubtedly brought them into
conflict. He naively thought that it wouldnt. Manyof us advised him against it but he said, The
President is the Commander in Chief, I am just a
Chairman; there will be no conflict. Now we can
see how wrong he was. The President may have
made peace with Amaechi but the Presidents menand women wouldnt, especially considering the
media approach he (Amaechi) employed. The
insults were too much and it only made a bad
situation worse. People who have tried to kill the
President have made peace with him so why not
Amaechi? The answer comes from the lack of asufficient desire for peace.
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Very few people have the authority to talk on this
matter like small me. I understood the internal
workings of Amaechis mind on this issue; I amvery familiar with the Presidents personal view
on this matter; I have worked with the heads of
the current APC family (Tinubu and Buhari) at
close quarters and I understand the pulse of both
teams very well. So when I, who understand this
in and out, say Amaechi was wrong, I know what Iam saying and when I who have been there before
say dont go, I know also what I am saying.
Asking me to go there is like asking me to return
to secondary school after leaving university many
years later. A big mistake! It is the governorssupporters I feel sorry for. He has been Speaker
for eight years and will be leaving as governor
after eight years, so he cant complain. But
thanks to his decision, his inevitable mistake,
many councillors, LGA chairmen and other political
office holders will have their political prospectscut short. It is them I pity. They are the real
victims, alongside Rivers people. Amaechi will be
fine.
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People are wondering where you stand. Is it
with PDP or PDM?
They shouldnt. I am in PDP. I have been theresince 2010 and I am staying there. Many of them
wonder because I speak for the people first
before the party. Unlike most politicians, for me
my state comes first. I will not blindly follow a
party that does not have the interest of my stateat heart. So if my views are seen as anti-PDP, it is
only in the spirit of correcting the one you love
whenever they deviate. After all, when Amaechi
and I were working together I publicly criticised
him. My loyalty has always been to the people. If
Amaechi or PDP does not walk the path of mypeople, I will not hesitate to remind them. Having
said this, PDP is still the best of the rest, the
only party with a national interest and people who
you can go to war with. I would rather go to war
with (Nyesom) Wike than with some of these two-faced politicians. With him and his faults, you
know where you stand with him. I can deal with
that. Same applies to Jonathan: If he cant do
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something, he will not say he can. He may be slow
to decide but when he does, that is it. He keeps
his word. That has not been my experience withmany of them.
If I take you through the new APC arrangement,
the story is different. Since political parties have
refused to have a unique ideology of their own,
despite some of us coming close to insulting themon the subject, you are better of pitching your
tent with a team going somewhere and with your
peoples interests at heart. I make bold to say
that, for me in Rivers, that team is PDP. With
respect to PDM, it is a party close to my heart
and many good people uncomfortable with theaggressive style of politics played in PDP have
sought refuge there. They are organised,
respecters of internal democracy and a roof for
those, who cant see the difference between APC
and PDP but want to get involved in party politicsto make a difference. My dream is for PDP to
make them allies. It will not be easy but it is
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possible. They have a bright future, if not now
in 2019.
My commitment to the youths has made me keepone eye on PDM and its progress. I believe the
youth can use it to take control of their future.
Their website pdm.ng is proof that they are the
first political party in Nigeria to effect online
registration. At the rate they are going withmanual registration kicking off next week, they
are set to become a serious force in Nigerian
politics. Their pedigree guarantees it. I tell
people that my heart is with PDM but my head
and my legs are firmly in PDP. PDM will make
change tomorrow, PDP can make change today.They should work together.
How is your relationship with Amaechi now?
It is no longer what it used to be but that is also
inevitable. I have supported him at my ownexpense and it was no longer wise to continue to
do so. Each man to a box, they say. Most of the
negativity I get today was because I decided to
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support Amaechis government in 2007. Some
accuse me of doing it for money, others accuse
me of lacking the fighting spirit, some go as faras calling me a sell-out. All that because I
decided after fighting a good fight that I should
allow what I saw as a divine decision to stand. I
sold all I had to fight the 2007 election but after
I supported Amaechi, I had to leave the state to
survive because I was not a government pickinwho survived off government leading up to 2007
so why should I be lazy and become one now?
Amaechi knows this. I did some work but it was
not at all commensurate with my input and even
though I finished it after one year, it took themover two years later to pay me. But I never
complained. Amaechi was a good man and I know
he appreciated me.
Amaechi was like aradite, anyway, so empowering
me was not his first, second or third interest. Inoticed this and went about my business. Many
say I was involved in Silverbird, the 1,000-bed
hospital, waste management and many other
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things but the truth is not what it seems and one
day it will all come out. In 2011, I engineered over
half a billion naira of contributions to Amaechiscampaign. Majority of the contributors came with
money from outside Rivers State. Did Tonye
Princewill see one contract worth that much? No.
Yet I still stood by him. because I was there for
the states interest, not my pocket. That support
I gave Amaechi cost me politically but I didntlook back. I gave it. In the end God will judge us.
My people supported him tooth and nail but yet
they were not acknowledged. I asked and asked,
they were promised and promised but even after
he told them in public and on national TV that helikes to keep his word as an example to his
children, he didnt. Still I supported him. He
removed our commissioners in his cabinet, still I
supported him, he promised other appointments
and failed, still I supported him, because I wasnot there for me. If I was interested in me, I
would have done things differently, had a deal
with Omehia and collected N1.5 billion from him.
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All this I did because I believed Amaechi came
from God. I never knew him before October
2007, yet I was more useful to him than peoplewho grew up with him in politics. Many of my
supporters felt that my refusal to fall out with
him signified I was eating fat and content. This
was not the case.
I saw my support as a stabilising force. TheRiverine were agitating for a governor after eight
years of an Odili upland regime. People like me
deciding to stand by Amaechi gave him credibility
and soothed the Riverine /Upland divide that has
dogged our state for so long. One day I sincerely
hope that Amaechi looks at my role and realisesthat he lost a friend given to him by God. It
might be too late for us, but let him not do this
to others. Eventually it catches up with us. The
same man he called corrupt a.k.a Mr. Consumables
and not wanting to do politics with is now theinterim Chairman of APC in my state; the same
man he called an irritant and refused his calls is
now his spokesman and the list goes on. He
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deliberately poached members of my team
without the courtesy of my consent and did it
only when he needed them. But I am not bitter.They are good men and deserve recognition. I am
glad for the role I played in their lives. Good luck
to them. I only wish he had recognised them
sooner.
Can you still be governor in 2015 now?Why not? I am free of all encumbrances. I have
stood in Amaechis shadow for too long and now I
am once again my own man, free to talk for me
and free to speak for my people without worrying
about relationships and allegiances. Even though Iwas still quite blunt, I was a lot more measured
than I would like and a lot less critical than would
have pleased me. Now I can talk about what is
still wrong, what is not right and what needs doing
without suspicions about me wanting to be
governor. Many people say I won in 2007, 2015will be an opportunity to find out how popular I
really am. I have never held a political office
before, yet I have touched more people than
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hope it is not true. But I will ask him. I have
never abused him or insulted him. In fact, I have
even prayed for him. But I will not fight ourPresident and I will not go for Senate in 2015.
This I will not do. We have agreed to disagree. I
hope agreeably.
What is your view on Atiku and Jonathan? Who
will you support for President?I will support the President for a continued four-
year term in office. Let me make that absolutely
clear. As much as Atiku in my mind is a brilliant
politician and a great presidential material, I am
afraid that his route to the presidency is unclearto even a nuclear strategist like myself. He cant
get the PDP ticket and the APC ticket is not
aimed in his direction either (thanks to the G7).
He cant keep jumpingjust to get a ticket, so I
believe he should stay in PDP. Who knows, if he
stays there anything can happen tomorrow; 2019is there and his chances are still quite good.
Jonathan can acknowledge his support, Nigerians
can or maybe just maybe he wasnt destined to be
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President. I dont know. What I do know is I am
not going to APC, Atiku should not allow himself
to be used by those G7 Governors. I have noreason to do what would amount to impeaching
the President by denying him a second term.
What is his crime? Granted he has not done
fantastic in many areas but I am not fooled by
the finger pointing especially because of the
grubby fingers that are doing that pointing.
They are no better, they have a selfish agenda
and do not mean well for my country either. Id
rather have four more years of this certainty
than eight more years of their own version of it.
Politics should be about compromise. Honour
amongst thieves. Help Jonathan to go again for
the sake of the country and help him rule. He
needs all the help he can get because many good
people are fooled into abandoning him so the bad
people around him are gaining relevance. ThePresident is a good man. Ive seen many
acknowledge this. They complain about the people
around him. So why not come around him, too? If
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you are kept at a distance, maybe it is because of
your actions and your body language. Open it up to
dialogue and compromise. Do what Mandela wouldhave done. Talk to your oppressors, dine with your
enemies and seek a way forward knowing that the
interest of the nation come first. The voice of
the people is the voice of God. Jonathan didnt
get there by his might, so maybe God has a
reason. Let us think about it. Everything I havesaid here, I have told Atiku in private. Without
divulging his response, let me say that he
acknowledged that Jonathan is the only President
that has not attempted to destroy his business.
All other successive Presidents have. Does thatnot tell you something? Nigerians have heard the
phrase, Its the thought that counts but let
them remove the and use its thought that
counts. We need to start thinking.
I rest my case. That is the kind of man you aredealing with. A GEJ/Atiku alliance would so
gladden my heart. It would be a dream come true
for my nation. If Mandela and de Klerk could work
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together, why not them? The answer is leadership
and these elders God gave us. Ego and ambition
cannot come before us the people. My comfort isthat God knows best. Only one person can occupy
that seat at any one time. For now it is Jonathan.
I advised Amaechi not to support him in 2011,
Amaechi ignored my advice. Now he wants me to
help him clean up the mess? I wont do it. You lie
in the bed you made. Jonathan may not supportme for governor but I will support him for
President especially seeing the forces that have
mounted against him because it is right. I try not
to put my interest first. It helps me sleep better
at night.With PDP in such disarray, how can they win
the Presidency in 2015?
Because what you see as disarray is really just a
cleansing. Those that leave were never meant to
be there. Granted PDP has a structural problemhighlighted by this recent drama but now PDP is
free to address it without distractions. PDP is a
formidable machine. I know. I have come up
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against it before and so I pity those who start to
read its obituary. They underestimate it and
underestimate Jonathan. I did that in 2011, but Iwill not be repeating that mistake. Listen, PDP
Governors controlled the party until Jonathan
came along. Obasanjo and YarAdua had tried to
rebalance the control but they failed.
We have a string of memorials for PDP Chairmenwho fell at the hands of the governors but GEJ
changed all that. How? You can trace it to the
Governors Forum election. A masterpiece in
political sleight of hand. Now you see it, now you
dont. While all of us were complaining that 19 is
more than 16 and quite rightly so, the forum diedand governors were suspended by the same party
they controlled. People should go and study what
is happening in Nigerian politics today and they
will see that acting foolish is the new wisdom
because Nigeria is full of wise people. Busyanalysing the problem so much that a silent
listener who actually focuses instead on solutions
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can make progress where other so called smarter
ones have failed.
In the end the majority know that APC is nobetter than PDP and if they sense that PDP and
Jonathan are ready to listen, they will give them
another chance. If President Jonathan wants to
come back in 2015, he has a lot of work to do. But
he can do it. Some of us will help him do it. Thereare many young Nigerians that see the 419 in our
politics. How can APC absorb the same PDP
governors they were abusing last month and hand
over the party in their states to them as if
people were not there before. And they say they
are different? Is that democracy? Is Nyakochanged? The original APC members in Rivers
State are about to defect en masse to PDP and
PDM in sheer disbelief. Tell me who is in
disarray?
Is the level of corruption in Nigeria today notan indictment on Jonathan?
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It is an indictment on all of us, especially him.
Yes. But Nigerians need to move beyond
complaining to actually doing. We complainedabout Obasanjo assigning national assets to
himself and what happened? Jonathans hasnt
done that. Did corruption end? Did it go
underground? So why do we keep doing the same
thing and expect different results?
Complaining about GEJ is not the solution. He has
done a couple of things that suggest he can do
more. The PDP Chairmans son hasbeen remanded
in custody. Haba! That was never possible in
Obasanjos PDP. But it has happened. Tambuwal
complained the other day that Jonathans bodylanguage encourages corruption; Amaechi
complained that trillions are missing and Dino
Melaye set up an anti-corruption NGO. Who are
we kidding? Can we please stop the drama? The
political class is knee-deep in corruption, soforgive me if I dont fall for that particular game.
They want Jonathan out and somebody else in. So
they can control the key to the CBN vault. Sorry.
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Now we know. If good people surround Jonathan,
bad people involved in corruption will be
expendable. Now you ask him to chuck out thefew who stood by him and he feels exposed. Let
us understand them even if we dont agree.
Obama said of Mandela that he sought to
understand where his opponents were coming
from. We should learn from Mandela.
Nigerians should be wise. The truth is bitter.
There are no saints in the political space
anymore; just serial sinners. Let us find the ones
who accept they need help and see if we can save
them. Jonathan needs help. He has only four more
years. He is a much better option than a full eightyears of these other ones. The damage political
drama does our nation is beyond belief. In the
end, they all settle and resume casual affairs,
while the people remain casualties. Never again! I
dont see 2015 as change; I see it as apreparation for change. I see that change in
2019.
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Where do you see the state of the nation
come 2015?
I see it stabilising. The critical year for me like Isaid is 2019 when Jonathan is on his way out. If
the North do not support him now, they will lose
the Presidents support in 2019 and that may tilt
things in favour of the South East politics. That
would isolate the North and drive their politicalprospects deeper underground. Knowing the
history of our country, that will open up many ugly
possibilities. Containing that situation in 2019 is
my concern not 2015. If the President does
what he needs to do, 2015 will pass peacefully and
there is nothing to suggest he wont.
Mandela pulled South Africa from the brink;
what can be done for Nigeria?
Nigeria can move forward in leaps and bounds if
they are given the right leadership. Mandela wasa fighter and a defender of democracy but he
was willing to speak with even his oppressors to
move his country forward. This is what is lacking
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