AC asks Jonathan not to succumb to Governors’ pressure

[bayo4luv]

As politicians intensify their lobby for inclusion in the yet to be constituted Federal Executive Council (FEC), opposition Action Congress (AC) on Thursday cautioned Acting President Goodluck Jonathan not to succumb to pressure of state governors in constituting the cabinet. 

Jonathan in an anticipated move announced the sack of the cabinet that has been divided since the crisis on the health of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua began, last year. Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary of the AC, advised Jonathan to pick men and women who can make an appreciable impact in a short time. 

The party said if Jonathan "gives such interests, especially the Governors' Forum, a free hand to nominate candidates for ministerial posts, he would get ministers whose loyalty will be to the governors, rather than to the country first and then of course to the Acting President". AC advised Jonathan not to hesitate to use technocrats, if necessary, "in order for his administration to impact positively on the lives of the long-suffering Nigerian people". 

It reminded Jonathan that the absence of visionary leadership at the very top was part of the problems that hobbled the dissolved federal cabinet, which ranks very high on the list of under-achieving Federal Executive Councils in the history of the nation.  "The dissolved cabinet failed when it mattered most: when a courageous act was needed to break a logjam that rattled Nigeria to its very foundation and threatened its fledgling democracy. "

It was the ministers' lack of courage, flimsy loyalty and downright selfishness that eventually left the FEC divided, thus paving the way for it to fall like a pack of cards,'' it said. AC reiterated its earlier assertion that the key areas in which the acting president can lift the veil of despondency across the country are electoral reform, power and energy as well as the Niger Delta issue.  "

Of all this, we make bold to say that electoral reform is the most important, in that it will help set the stage for the emergence of a truly-elected government, which will act in the interest of the people, rather than a cabal of riggers. 

"Once votes are made to count and committed and worthy leaders are elected on the basis of their own abilities and capabilities, other problems - including those of power, insecurity, unemployment and skewed distribution of resources - can then be tackled with genuine gusto,'' the party said. Plateau NBA chairman, Caleb Dajan, on Thursday urged Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint competent and credible persons as ministers. 

Dajan, who made the call in Jos in an interview with newsmen, was reacting to Wednesday's dissolution of the Federal Executive Council by the acting president. The legal practitioner stressed the need for merit in the selection process, adding that Jonathan should "select those that have the interest of the country at heart." 

Also speaking, the director, League for Human Rights, Gad Shamaki, described the dissolution as a welcome development. Shamaki said people who were willing to move the country forward should be appointed into the cabinet. He argued that most of those appointed by ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua were politicians and were currently eyeing elective office.

Source: AC asks Jonathan not to succumb to governors' pressure

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