2015: APC zones presidency to North

[PeoplesDaily]

Rawlings, Shonekan, Mark warn against dictatorship

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi & Umar Muhammad Puma

There were strong indications yesterday that the opposition political parties, under the aegis of All Progressives Congress (APC), has ceded the presidential slot of the party in the 2015 elections to the north.

Peoples Daily gathered from a reliable source in the APC that aside from Major-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the party which is yet to be registered has made a shortlist of the likely presidential flagbearers to include Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano state, Governor Magatakarda Wammako of Sokoto state and Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa state.

Also being considered by the leadership of APC to fly the party's flag in 2015 is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who is acclaimed to have the backing of former heads of state from the north including, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, among others.

According to our source, this is the outcome of a series of meetings held between top leaders of the coalition last week, where it was decided to cede the slot to the north which has been clamouring for a return of presidential power.

It was also gathered that the party leaders are however battling to assuage members of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) over their objection to the decision to cede the national chairmanship slot to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

It was further gathered that ANPP leaders were earlier promised that the party would produce the chairman of the coalition but was later decided in favour of ACN following Senator Bola Tinubu's intervention.

A meeting between leaders of the Joint Committee on the Merger of the parties which was addressed by Tinubu last week, attempted to calm the ANPP as it was affirmed that the presidential slot had been zoned to the north.

The ACN national leader was said to have advocated at the meeting that the ANPP should exercise patience till when presidential campaigns start so as to push for its candidate since the position had been ceded to the north.

It was however confirmed that the merger parties have agreed to cede the national secretary position of APC to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) with the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, being tipped to occupy the seat.

Meanwhile, when the National Publicity Secretary of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Rotimi Fashakin, and his colleague from the ACN, Lai Mohammed, were contacted yesterday, they denied knowledge of such agreement.

According to Mohammed, "how can a party still seeking registration has not compiled its register of members, has not held any congress or convention, proceed to cede the presidential slot to a particular section of the country. Does it make sense?"

Also reacting, Fashakin said, "that has not been discussed and I cannot comment on rumours."

Meanwhile, former Head of the Interim National Government, Chief Earnest Shonekan, yesterday charged leaders of political parties to uphold internal democracy.

Speaking at a two-day international conference on, "Emerging Democracies in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities," organized by the National Institute for Legislative Studies in Abuja, Shonekan said, "a situation where people cannot voice their opinion within their political parties or where leaders of the political parties cannot be criticized by members of the same political parties is not good for our democracy".

He added that democracy does not thrive on empty stomach, as "it must be noted democracy in Africa will succeed more if it improves the condition of living of the people.

"If physical and social infrastructures are improved upon, particularly if there is improvement in the health care delivery and if there are job opportunities for the teeming unemployed youth across the country".

On his part, former Ghananian President, Jerry Rawlings, said in an emerging democracy, no true democratic arrangement could be successful if the institutions like Judiciary, security services, the electoral bodies, a well-oiled and independent media as well as a vibrant and non-partisan civil society that are meant to serve as checks and balances are not properly structured and equipped to operate at optimum.

He said the measure required to get these institutions operational is to have a well framed constitution that is not lacking in definition and which protects adequately the independent of the institution from abuse.

According to him, "we are saddled with civil society who instead of exposing ills in government and society and offering concrete options on the way forward rather metamorphose into partisans political entities attacking or overprotecting government as if their survival depended on it."

Also speaking, Senate President, David Mark cautioned the opposition to desist from making unrealistic demands and undue criticisms on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led administration, saying such inflammatory criticisms can cause crisis.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, on his part, said though democracy had come to stay in Nigeria, it may give birth to a world of oppression, segregation, widening inequality, disdain of power and disunity if the structures, institutions and processes of democracy are not strengthened in Africa.

He said, "we have recently witnessed developments in the some parts of the World.

"It has been clear that enthronement of democratic processes such as elections did not produce stability or development. Many countries in Africa have failed to institutionalize transparent and objective political processes that can provide good governance.

"Consequently, conflict, poverty and social disarray continue to plague our countries in Africa, creating a vicious circle of instability that inhibits economic development."

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[Folami David]

PDP has caused lots of things in this country. It is that political party others are keen on defeating so that they can gain power too. Strange!