By Johnson Momodu
Every political party that he has been part of since I became politically
wise has won the election! More, whenever he declared that a particular
person would win the election at the centre, he was always dead right! Just
a while ago, he declared that Nigerias president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan,
would contest the 2015 election! When the three scenarios are added
together, it is clear who Nigerias next president would be.
I want the national chairman (Alhaji Adamu Muazu) to go home with a
word
from the (political) father (of President Goodluck Jonathan) that come
2015, Jonathan will run for presidency for the second term, said Anenih in
Calabar, Cross River State, shortly after the euphoria of a quiet 81st
birthday surprise celebration in his Abuja home
While some are wondering about the strength of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) in the South-South geopolitical zone following the treacherous
departure of Rivers Governor, who is increasingly becoming a victim of
treachery in his new All Progressives Congress (APC) abode, Anenih, the
grandmaster of politics in Nigeria declared that the PDP is waxing stronger
in the South-South. If we continue like this, the load in 2015 will be
lighter than the load in 2011, he declared.
Buoyed by the fatherly declaration, the National Chairman of the PDP,
Alhaji Adamu Muazu, said the party would ensure that internal democracy
prevailed in its choice of candidates for various elective positions in
2015.
Muazu said that the party would not entertain any short-cut or favouritism
in selecting the candidates, advising party members and supporters to shun
rumour mongering and falsehood because of their implications for party
success and stability.
The opposition has seen that we are winning on all fronts and they are
ready to destroy us. Therefore, let us be careful as we are in a very
trying time, he said.
And for those who continue to lament that the president was losing grounds
in the North-East, words of comfort came from Gombe Governor, Ibrahim
Dankwanbo, who declared that the North-East PDP was in full support of
Jonathans administration.
He may be right, because recently the party caught in its net APC
strongman, former Borno Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, and many others are
suggesting that the sitting governor of the State was also considering the
prospect of going to the PDP.
Dankwanbo said: I want to assure the people of South-South that we in the
North-East are in solidarity with you and the president. I want to assure
you that we, the PDP governors in the North East, will work to ensure that
President Jonathan returns as president in 2015.
Politically savvy Muazu has to be credited with the relative peace that has
been the lot of the PDP, but Anenih has been a stabilising factor with the
absence of quarrelsome leaders like a former president who has been nothing
but a nagging distraction.
Anenih it was, who, after taking over as Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman,
has been traversing the land, meeting unobtrusively with leaders of
different shades to forge an agreeable common platform while politicians in
the opposition have been doing nothing but beating the drums of war,
insulting traditional rulers, and upturning the popularity of their party
where they previously held sway.
Toeing the line of Anenih, the South-South governors and leaders issued a
communiqué in Calabar where they said: We acknowledge the giant
strides of
Mr. President in the area of Education, Agriculture, Health, Tourism,
Re-invention of the Railway Systems, Roads and other infrastructure
development across the country. It is also notable that there is tremendous
focus on economic empowerment of Nigerians.
In view of his (President) doggedness in pursuing his transformation
agenda for Nigeria, the South-South is in full support of President
Jonathans administration. We therefore, endorse Mr. President for the
forthcoming 2015 presidential election so as to continue his transformation
agenda which transcends across all spheres of our lives.
Perhaps, the backing of his field men informed the confident declaration
that President Jonathan would contest the forthcoming elections, even
though the wisdom of Anenih kept him from declaring, for now, that Jonathan
would beat everyone hands down. That is if the opposition APCs primaries
of November would not be its greatest undoing. The sheer volume of
animosity, bile, violence, and acrimony is bound to cause it to implode,
because no living organisation can have such amount of disgruntled persons
and live in an atmosphere of peace.
To compound the character of bellicosity in the opposition, the APC is
already treading the treasonable field of politics to say that it would set
up a parallel government if it lost elections in a less-than-transparent
election.
But PDPs Olisa Metuh was up to the task when he upbraided the party. He
said: Nigerians need to be reminded that the APCs understanding of
˜rigging is where they lose election. Whenever they win as was the
case in
Edo, it is free and fair. It is a globally acknowledged fact that shadow
or parallel governments have no place in a Presidential system. Therefore,
the threat to institute such is nothing short of implementing the agenda to
destabilise and collapse the democratic system and institute a reign of
anarchy.
The statement by the APC National Chairman therefore has confirmed our
position that the APC is not planning for the 2015 election but an
overthrow of a democratically elected government having realised that they
cannot and will not win in the general elections.
The pronouncement confirms that the APC is indeed promoting a Janjaweed
ideology and further reinforces the long held suspicion that they have been
holding meetings outside the country to enact an Arab Spring as a means to
forcefully take over power when it loses in 2015.
May be Metuh needed not raise citizens blood pressure the way he did
because all Nigerians saw what came after the Arab Spring several years
after and would readily say a big NO to those trouble makers.
–
*Mr Momodu contributed this piece from Benin City.*