Apparently taking their final stand on 2015, six northern groups, including Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Northern Union (NU) yesterday said the region would not vote for President Goodluck Jonathan if he decides to re-contest.
The other groups are Arewa Reawakening Forum (ARF), Arewa Research and Development Project (ARDP) and Code Group (CG). Addressing journalists yesterday in Kaduna on the State of the Nation, spokesman of NEF, Prof Ango Abdullahi, who spoke for all the groups, noted that the decision not to vote for Jonathan was due to disregard for rotatory presidency between the North and South under the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) after the death of President Umar Yar’Adua.
Prof Abdullahi, who was the Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, said the region would no longer allow power to slip off its hands from the next election, regretting that the North was betrayed by those who signed the rotational agreement for power shift.
He mentioned former president Olusegun Obasanjo and President Jonathan as the arrow-heads that refused to obey the rotational and zoning agreements, stressing that once power returns to the North in 2015, it will remain there as long as the people want.
His words: “We are now saying that since there is no consideration on morality and so on, the North is going to insist that the Presidency will come to the region whether on the basis of rotation or on the basis of voting power, and we have the voting power to make sure that power comes back to the North.
“It is not correct to say that North is not as assertive as people think on 2015 presidency, you know here in the North, we have certain traditions that are sometimes misread as wickedness. The fact that we don’t come out shouting in abusive language and so on, does not mean that we don’t have deep-rooted concern for ourselves. This is not true.
“All of us here are members of the ACF, and if you look at other parts of the country that are making noise, they are small enclaves, perhaps, may not be bigger than Kaduna State. Looking at the history of diversity and our style of governance, make us to behave slightly different from the others.
“But I want to make it absolutely clear to you that ACF and all these other groups that have emerged in the recent past, we are all talking about the same thing. We are committed to northern interest, there is no question about it. If you haven’t heard the succession clearly loud enough, that the North is determined and it insisted and it be insisted and firm that the leadership of the country will rotate to North in 2015, I am making that very clear to you on behalf of all of us, ACF in front because they have been the oldest group, the Middle Belt group had been very active and strong and all of us are likely to have this very firm common agenda.
“It is not that the North is hungry and power-blind, no, it will be argued on the basis of the national arguments that are on ground today, the North on the basis of one man, one vote can keep power indefinitely in the present Nigerian state. If it is democracy on the basis of one man one vote, the demography shows that the North can keep power for as long as it wants because it will always win elections, but on the basis of usual sacrifices that Northerners do make in the cause of the life history of this country, some of us who participated in the constitutional conferences from 1987 up to the last one, political reform conference.
“Accepted that every part of this country should feel part of the leadership, and this is the basis of acceptance of rotation of power between the North and the South which was what happened in the constitution conference I attended, many of us attended. This is the basis of the rotation between the North and the South, there was no question of geo-political zones. The geo-political zones were latter introduction.
“The argument at that time by the government in power was that the rotation was too much to put in the constitution, but it should be something that the party can put in its constitution. The agreement was that the President should do four years and rotate it to another zone for another four years. But when it was time to rotate, the then President Obasanjo begged the North to allow him do eight years before the power could shift to the North.
“All of us were present, we all agreed with him. He was the first person to sign the agreement, not knowing that he had third term agenda in mind. Jonathan who was then the deputy governor, representing the Governor of Bayelsa State, was in that meeting, and he signed as number 37, you can find the document.
“So, you see that we agreed that the south should have eight years, and then the North should have eight. Eventually, when Obasanjo having seen a lacuna somewhere, he tried to abandon the zoning as well as the constitution to seek for Third term, and of course, eventually it failed.
“He thought, with due respect, that we will allow him without resistance to hand-pick a successor, he handpicked my younger brother, Umar Musa Yar’Adua, o kay, the condition has been satisfied, we had a northerner as president and so on. But Umar fell ill, and he died two and half years into his first tenure. So, it will make a lot of sense to accept the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which says that for whatever reason if the President is not there, the Vice President will take over power. This was why Jonathan being his Vice President, took over the Presidency.
“We thought that on moral ground at the end of that four years, the North should take over. If it didn’t have eight years because of the transition, at least, it should have six years. but they said no, no, and I don’t want to go into how this no translated into yes because it might be the fault of northerners as far as I am concerned to have allowed this.
“They allowed it, but it was their turn, and Jonathan came in, and I thought that on moral ground, he should have given the North the chance. But some of them that signed the agreement publicly denied it. Obasanjo said he did not know about rotation, Jonathan himself said he did not know about rotation despite all the facts. Go to Chief Audu Ogbeh, he will give you the full story that this thing happened. The issue is that recently, we are now hearing from one of the governors, that there is a secret arrangement to allow Jonathan have another four years. It was revealed by the Governor of Niger State, Muazu Babangida Aliyu.
“It makes you think that how can leaders be transparent if they cannot honour simple agreement whether written or unwritten. This is the hallmark of decent leadership, believe and honour agreement. So, first, there was an agreement for this kind of rotation, and there is immorality in the movement of people not to really hand over this time to us,” Prof. Abdullahi said.
Source: Sun
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