2011: THE UNPRINCIPLED STAND OF GENERAL OBASANJO AND PRESIDENT JONTHAN GAVE BIRTH TO THE CONSENSUS CONTRAPTION OF THE NORTH! – TURAKI VANGUARD

By Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze

We have read various interpretations on the consensus idea of the North by different politicians of various shades and we wish to state without fear of contradiction that if not that General Olusegun out of his vindictive nature and eagerness to retaliate against Nigerians particularly Atiku Abubakar for denying him his life-presidency project by promoting and having a willing tool in President Jonathan whose opportunistic venture in politics has taken good part of his thinking by denying the existence of zoning after duly signing and supporting the idea in 2002 enlarged caucus meeting of PDP held under the watch of General Obasanjo the contraption of the consensus candidate project would not have come to play.

Not minding that General Obasanjo was not a member of the founding fathers of PDP but he came out as the major beneficiary of the zoning formula of the party but true to his character he is ready to do anything to continue to diminish the powers and influence of the party that brought him into power against all odds once he is not the one benefitting. It is a pity that President Jonathan could give himself for such unhealthy exercise exposing him as lacking integrity and principle particularly considering the view that he was a signatory to the zoning formula of the party in 2002. We can convincingly state that if not for the unprincipled stand of these two men the North would not have come out with the ingenious idea of the consensus option and for the North to have succeeded in achieving this contrary to the thinking of many enemies of democracy and unity of our country who are now jittery with the emergence of the rallying point of democrats all over Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar so if they should be any condemnation it should go to these two men who cannot honour a common agreement they have benefited so much from.

What the Ciroma led Committee achieved is not necessarily to present a consensus candidate among four great political giants but to save PDP from disintegration and awful defeat envisaged by those supporting this unprincipled act by Mr. President. Instead of vilification Ciroma and his team of wise men should be commended for developing a concept that will keep this country intact. And for IBB, Gusau, Atiku and Saraki to have gone further to harmonize their campaign structures and dissolved them into the Atiku Campaign Organisation and with the appointment of a seasoned and respected politician like Senator Ben Obi who was one of the victims of the undemocratic acts of General Obasanjo it demonstrates that with unity this Team can actually move this nation forward. With the confusion and jittery state of President Jonathan Camp the best option for Mr. President is to abandon his unprincipled move and join the moving train to avoid being crashed during the primaries.

The fact remains that if the PDP primaries is to be held today we are ready to defeat President Jonathna flatly not minding the noise and wrangling by people who can't win a Councillorship seat. On the emergence of Atiku Abubakar, we are not disturbed by the misconception in some quarters in a futile effort to tag Atiku Abubakar as a consensus candidate of the North while we are convinced that this is a man if not for his antecedents and pedigree they would not have been any democracy in Nigeria today and whose contributions towards our democratic evolution and economic upliftement are not only legendary but very visible to a blind man. With his five point agenda of (Employment Generation and Wealth Creation; Power Generation and infrastructural Development; Security, Good Governance and War against Corruption; Education, Health and Social Services and Niger Delta), we are convinced that Nigeria will be a better place for all f us in the next four years.

General Obasanjo has proven that he is a waste pipe and political liability both to PDP and any who comes across him. With his support for President Jonathan in order to spit on Nigerians for not making him life President, it makes our defeating President Jonathan and his cohorts easier as by the happenings in the South West politics he has become a political leper and of no value so he we don't need him in making Atiku Abubakar the next President of Nigeria. With the loss of Lagos, Osun and Ekiti States to AC and Ondo to Labour Party thereby leaving only Ogun and Oyo to PDP it shows that the undemocratic antecedents of Obasanjo is no longer acceptable to the South West people and having such a fellow as the BOT Chairman the fortunes of our great party will continue to dwindle if nothing is done to remove him as the BOT Chairman of the party as he has succeeded in making mockery of the principle that brought PDP into being. That Ogun and Oyo are still standing for PDP today is due to the wisdom of Gov Gbenga Daniel and Otunba Alao Akala to distance themselves from him if not they would have found themselves in the shoes of those who does not understand his diminished stature in politics.

We urge him to continue to laugh until Atiku Abubakar is inaugurated as the next President of Nigeria by May, 2011.

Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze
National Director,
Directorate of Media & Public Affairs of Turaki Vanguard