Jonathan meets Tinubu, other party leaders, seeks support

[TGD]

 PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday held a consultative meeting with the leaders of major political parties in Nigeria, enlisting their support towards the implementation of his government's transformation agenda.

He said during the opening remarks at the meeting held at the Banquet Hall of Presidential Villa Abuja, that despite their political differences, Nigerians expect that it is their national duty to ensure that they receive the dividends of democracy.

He told the political leaders that their interests are the same, "the interests of Nigeria. I am not going to play politics of discrimination. Lets cooperate for the interests of our people."

The meeting was attended by leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The only major political party absent at the parley was the Congress for Progress Change (CPC) as their leaders' seats were vacant throughout the duration of the meeting.

Those present at the meeting included Dr Bello Mohammed (Chairman of PDP), Abubakar Kao Baraje (Secretary of PDP) and Olusola Oke (PDP Legal Adviser), Chief Bisi Akande (Chairman of ACN), Chief Bola Tinubu (leader of ACN), Senator George Akume and Dr Chris Ngige (Senator-elect and former Governor of Anambra State).

Others are Dr Ogbonnaya Onu (Chairman of ANPP), Admiral Lanre Amosu (ANPP chieftain), Chief Victor Umeh (Chairman of APGA), Dr. Tim Menakaya (APGA chieftain) and Chief Dan Nwanyanwu (Chairman of LP).

Among those who accompanied President Jonathan to the meeting were Vice President Namadi Sambo, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Chief Anyim Pius Anyim.

President Jonathan told the meeting that the successful conduct of the April general elections has placed more responsibilities on Nigeria both on the continental and international level, especially the quest of Africa to occupy a permanent seat at United Nations Security Council (UNSC), noting that "if we have a stable polity, our leadership role will increase and our citizens status will increase. The party of Mr. President cannot do it alone.

He thanked the political leaders for the various roles they play in the democratic process, saying that "those of us who won elections wouldn't have won without you leaders. You gave us the positions. You are the King makers."

According to the President, "as we want to start a new government, I am going to consult various groups and professional bodies. And I think the first group I should consult is the political family. No matter who is the President, no matter who is the governor, what Nigerians are interested in is to have food on the table, there should be infrastructure, there should be security and should be good governance. And I know that not only the ruling party alone can make this possible. For me to succeed, to give Nigerians what they want, we must run a stable government. I need the cooperation of all the political parties, all the leaders.

"That is why I call you, to assure you that I will run a Nigerian government. I want to assure you that our interest is the Nigeria interest and I know that the interest of every politician irrespective of the political party is the interest of the country. I am not going to play politics of discrimination. I want to plead with you that I will not want to run a government of opposition party or main party, I want us to collectively run a Nigerian government. A government that will take the interest of the country at heart and work towards solving our problems, the problems that are dear to our people.

"As your members of parliament will be inaugurated next week Monday or Tuesday, I want you to impress it on them that they are coming to work for Nigeria, not necessarily for Goodluck Jonathan. Let us co-operate and work for the interest of this country. Along the line, there will be differences but the President is not God and I believe we can always be able to resolve our differences without acrimony, without rancour. And I believe that is the best way we can run the country. We are now talking about two countries representing Africa on the UN Security Council and people are looking forward to Nigeria because of the political crisis in Egypt."

At the end of the meeting, Chief Tinubu told journalists that the participation of the opposition parties with President Jonathan does not mean that their powers were watered down, stating that "opposition is not all about axe, cutlasses and dane guns. We did not come here to eliminate opposition. And I am speaking for my own party and not for any other party. If the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria invites you, then what he really wants is a constructive opposition.

However, that does not stop you from opposing any bad government." Tinubu added that "the campaign is over. We are all Nigerians. Patriotism dictates that you put the nation first before your personal interest. Therefore you don't have to look at the political partisan angle but look at the intention of the President, exactly what he wants to achieve. He is the President until maybe the judiciary says otherwise. As a nationalist, you have to respond to the call of the President and he spoke very well today. The meeting was a very successful one but that does not eliminate opposition."

The ACN leader stated that the meeting with President Jonathan "does not water the strength of the opposition parties in the country. It is a one day meeting. It is not a regular meeting. There is a constructive level of opinion that you can get and use to build the nation. There is security situation. There are judicial matters too.

There are so many issues in a complex country such as this that you can share and still not jeopardize the opposition. Opposition is not about axes, cutlasses and dane guns."

Tinubu noted that as political leaders interested in the growth and development of the nation, an invitation by the President to attend a meeting is in the right direction. He however assured that the ACN would continue to raise its voice in opposition to government decisions or policies that run contrary to the wishes and aspiration of the Nigerian people.



Source: Jonathan meets Tinubu, other party leaders, seeks support