Opposition parties and prominent lawyers on
Sunday blasted President Goodluck Jonathan
for recognising the Jonah Jang faction of the
Nigeria Governors' Forum.
The Action Congress of Nigeria, the Congress
for Progress Change as well as lawyers,
including Prof. Itse Sagay and Mallam Yusuf
Ali condemned Jonathan's action.
The governors had on May 24, 2013, held an
election, where the Rivers State Governor,
Rotimi Amaechi, got 19 votes to defeat his
opponent, Mr. Jonah Jang of Plateau State,
who scored 16 votes.
But some governors, led by the Chairman of
the Peoples Democratic Party Governors'
Forum, Chief Godswill Akpabio, had faulted
the election, insisting that Amaechi's term as
the NGF chairman had ended and chose to
recognise the Plateau State governor, thus
splitting the NGF into factions.
Jang faction had on Friday visited Jonathan
who recognised Jang as the chairman of the
forum.
On Sunday, the ACN said the President's
action was a travesty of democracy.
The ACN, in a statement issued in Osogbo,
Osun State, on Sunday by its National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the
President's ill-advised decision had shown
that he had little or no respect for
democracy.
The party recalled that Jonathan's spokesman
had in a statement the day after the NGF
election said, "The President has always
shown a willingness to work harmoniously
with any leadership freely and independently
chosen by the Governors Forum for the
collective progress and development of all
sections of the country and will continue to do
so.
"…President Jonathan trusts that as true
democrats and respected national political
leaders, members of the Governors Forum
will quickly resolve the issues and differences
amongst them which emerged yesterday (May
24th) and continue to contribute effectively to
national development as a strong, and
progressive body."
The ACN said, ''But it is now clear that the
Presidency's statement is not worth the paper
on which it is written, that in the Nigerian
Presidency, words do not carry their exact
meanings and that the spokesmen for the
President speak for no one but themselves.
"When viewed in the context of similar
deceitful statements by the presidency in the
past, especially on the health of the First
Lady, one can see a growing pattern of a lying
presidency, a presidency that likes to hide
behind one finger. This is sad, because
without credibility, a President cannot govern
successfully."
On its part, the CPC said it was clear that
Jonathan was behind the Jang group from the
beginning.
The CPC spokesman, Fashakin, who spoke with
one of our correspondents, said the President
did not believe that Amaechi would help him
in his second term ambition.
He said, "The deception did not travel for too
long. President Goodluck Jonathan's
endorsement of Jang as the 'elected'
Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum
has finally exposed the source of the
contrived crisis in the NGF.
"President Jonathan did not believe that the
Rivers Governor's re-election would be
helpful to his own re-election bid in 2015.
"He plotted, using the platform of his party to
truncate Amaechi's ambition. At first, a new
platform for PDP governors was birthed, with
a fierce Jonathan-loyalist in charge!
"For any dispassionate and discerning
observer, this puerile predication of the anti-
Amaechi group's dissent is laughable and
utterly ludicrous.
"This anti-democratic stance should not
surprise anyone familiar with PDP's brand of
democracy. The split in the NGF was the
impetus needed by the leaders of PDP to
unveil the plan for ensuring distortion of the
nation's electoral process hereafter," he
added.
He appealed to the international community
to take greater interest in Nigeria's
democracy which he alleged was alien to the
President's brand of what he described as
"deleterious politics."
Also, some senior lawyers on Sunday
condemned the recognition of the Jang
faction by the President.
The lawyers who spoke in separate telephone
interviews with our correspondent are Prof
Itse Sagay, Chief Mike Ahamba, Mallam Yusuf
Ali and Chief Solo Akuma, all Senior
Advocates of Nigeria.
Sagay stressed that Amaechi faction was the
only legitimate faction of the NGF, and
described the Jang-led group as a "breakaway
faction."
He also faulted Jonathan's support for the
Jang faction.
Sagay said Jonathan did not act like a
statesman.
"Everybody knows that there is only one
legitimate faction of the NGF and that is the
one led by Amaechi.
"For a President it is a big mistake, he should
not take sides. He should have worked with
the chairman that was elected, that is what a
statesman President should do, instead he is
now leading those who are contesting against
Amaechi.
"He has become a factional leader."
Ali said the endorsement of the Jang faction
by the President did not come as a surprise,
since the crisis in the NGF was orchestrated
by the presidency.
"It didn't come to me as a surprise; it was
clear to all political watchers and observers
that the disagreement within the NGF was
orchestrated by the presidency," he said.
On his part, Ahamba described the
controversy over the chairmanship of the
NGF as "much ado about nothing."
According to him, the NGF is unconstitutional,
hence its leadership should be
inconsequential.
But Ahamba expressed regrets that state
governors could not hold a successful
election.
He said, "He (Jonathan) can recognise anybody
he wants to recognise but as far as I am
concerned all these trouble about the NGF is
much ado about nothing.
"That organisation has no constitutional locus
in this country.
"Why we should spend so much time fighting
over the chairmanship of such a private body
that has no place in our constitution is a
surprise to me."
Akuma said the implication of Jonathan's
action was that he had decided to work with
the Jang faction.
But the Presidency, through the Special
Adviser to the President on Political Matters,
Dr. Ahmed Gulak, on Sunday justified the
endorsement of the Jang faction.
He said the President did the right thing by
recognising the man with the majority of
followers.
Gulak, in an exclusive interview with one of
our correspondents, said contrary to the lies
being fed the nation, the Plateau State
Governor won the NGF election with 21, out
of 36 state governors, solidly behind him.
He said that aside from winning the election,
there was no provision for a second term in
the constitution of the NGF up until Amaechi
concocted it.
He said, "Governor Jang did not lose the NGF
election, he won the election. Out of 35 state
governors, 21 are queuing behind him. These
are mature and responsible people, they can't
be behind him if he did not win.
"These opposition parties, be it ACN, CPC or
APC, don't they know simple arithmetic? Jang
has the majority behind him and President
Jonathan came out to recognise the man with
the majority.
"The facts are there. The governors are not
dead, they are alive. The President is doing
the right thing by standing behind Jang.
"By the way, there is no room for second
term in the NGF constitution until Amaechi
concocted it. It is a shame, leaders should be
truthful."
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