Politics
2015, PDP and the Bitter Effects of Consensus and Impositions
Article by Hashim Suleiman
It sometimes makes me wonder how lessons are just not heeded to in this country. Could it be why some people believe Nigerians forget things too early to the extent that such assertion has become more of a cliché.
I could actually believe so considering how much the APC had early into their administration forgotten practically all the lessons that should have been learnt from the mistakes of the PDP and today we have come round to people debating more for a repetition of those mistakes even though the PDP appears a little more wary about them.
We have just come from the conduct of the APC national convention where the attempts at a consensus for the national chairman almost tore the party apart but for the immense fear and respect that the party governors and big wigs have for the president and in fact the much that has been tolerated from the party and government by party faithful is as a result of that respect and deferment. While all of it has been enjoyed by Buhari and the beneficiaries of it, it may not last up to the presidential primaries when the suppressed effects of the past will combine with the resultant ones from an attempt to foist a presidential candidate and finally bury the APC as a party.
This matter needs to be echoed because it’s evident that the managers of the party or rather the managers of Buhari have become totally comfortable and complacent over how easily Buhari’s instructions are heeded to regarding some of these issues around consensuses and impositions and they assume every instruction of Buhari will just be sailing through even without appropriate consultations.
Their inertia is deep enough not to even let them see the little trembling that resulted from the consensus processes leading to the selection of the national working committee of the APC. From the cutting short of presidential trips, to counter letters from within and abroad and culminating in tears and reluctance of candidates to accept outcomes on the stage of the convention. If all these are not indication of buried landlines waiting to be stepped on, then I don’t know what could ever be more.
While some members of the PDP who have learnt lessons from the past are insisting on open contests to clinch party tickets, the incurable lazy ones who have refused to learn any lessons and insist on the ways of the past are championing zoning as a way to bring back imposition through the back door. These people must be resisted for the sake of Nigeria’s democracy. Once the major fabrics of the democracy which are the political parties are destroyed, what are we going to have left again.
This will only take the clock backwards to pre ’99 when all the work about building a formidable democracy will have to be started again, little wonder why the National Assembly in its wisdom initially submitted an amended electoral act containing only direct primaries as a means of nomination of candidates by political parties.
However, as usual those lazy politicians who would always want to use privileges to advance their selfish agenda worked to truncate such provisions by ensuring that their most potent tools of indirect primaries and consensus was introduced.
That thing that is most dangerous with all these consensus and imposition is that it has even permeated our everyday life. People have no regard for competence and competitions anymore; everyone wants to create shortcuts or having their way out of everything. From work places to business environment and voluntary unions and associations. You’ll always see how people would unconsciously begin to mobilize towards truncating any competitive process using their privileged positions and because most of the people at the helm also emerged through same shortcuts, they mostly don’t have enough intellect or wherewithal to understand the effects of these things and even when they do, no guts to say no to them.
The 2023 elections are fast approaching and majority of the candidates from all the parties just want to be endorsed and affirmed. They are busy rallying around principals and waiting for endorsements while all others who have worked all their lives to gather enough goodwill as competitive edge must be jettisoned and schemed out. This can never be good for democracy, thankfully though, the National Assembly has introduced a caveat to consensus by saying all candidates must put in writing their acceptances to the consensus arrangement. One could say this is a little deviation from total imposition but we could do better.
Finally, this is an advisory to all contestants and political parties to recognize that we must truncate the culture of imposition before it kills us as a people. The culture of hard-work and completion is daily giving way for these short cuts and we must work to put an end to them for the sake of the survival of our democracy and the society in general.
Hashim Suleiman can be reached via email: [email protected]
President Bola Tinubu has banned members of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, from purchasing petrol dependent vehicles.
The President has also directed the mandatory procurement of compressed-natural-gas-powered vehicles by all government ministries, departments, and agencies.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this in a statement on Monday evening, May 13, 2024.
According to him, the directive is in line with Tinubu’s commitment to ensure energy security, drive utility, and cut high fuel costs.
He said the President’s directive is also in furtherance of Nigeria’s effort to transition to cleaner energy as CNG-enabled vehicles have been adjudged to produce lower emissions, even as they present a more affordable alternative for Nigerian energy consumers.
Addressing members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the State House on Monday, President Tinubu affirmed that there is no turning back in the energy reforms initiated by his administration.
“This nation will not progress forward if we continue to dance on the same spot. We have the will to drive the implementation of CNG adoption across the country, and we must set the example as public officials in leading the way to that prosperous future that we are working to achieve for our people. It starts with us, and in seeing that we are serious, Nigerians will follow our lead,” the President stated.
“The President further directed the rejection of all memos brought by members of FEC seeking the purchase of traditional petrol-dependent vehicles, tasking the affected members of the council to go back and diligently seek value-driven procurements of CNG-compliant vehicles.
The President remains committed to effectively harnessing the nation’s gas potential, alleviating the burden of high transportation costs on the masses while enhancing the standard of living of all Nigerians,” the statement added.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says he made a mistake when he chose to support Sim Fubara to succeed him as the governor of Rivers State.
Channels TV said this when he spoke at a function in Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State on Saturday, May 11. The governor at the function apologized to the people of the state for his “mistake”. He said he is a human who is bound to make mistakes, assuring the people, however, that the mistake would be corrected at the appropriate time.
“I want to say this clearly, in life when you have made a mistake, you say I have made a mistake, there is nothing you can do about it. I have made a mistake, I own it up and I say God forgive me and I will say all of you forgive me, but I will correct it at the appropriate time.
I am a human being, I am bound to make mistake, my judgement can be wrong, so forgive me for making a wrong judgement. That is life, so nobody should kill himself,” Wike said
Some days ago, Governor Fubara was quoted as saying that he appreciates Wike for supporting him to become the governor of Rivers State, but would not worship him.
In what seems to be a direct response to that statement by Fubara, Wike in his speech said that there was no time he told anyone to worship him as he is not God.
However, the Minister said that politicians ought to be grateful to those who supported them to attain office rather than showing ingratitude.
“I respect people who appreciate what God has done for them, who appreciates what God has used people to do for them. God does not come down, God uses people to help people. So, when you are helped you appreciate them and then God will know that you have also appreciated him. I have never told anybody to worship me, nobody can worship man. All of us believe that we only have one God and it is only that God we worship and we will continue to worship that God. But as politicians, you appreciate people who have helped you” he said
The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has assured Nigerians that the fuel crisis being experienced in the country will soon be a thing of the past.
Bamidele gave this assurance in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of the Oil Technology Conference in Houston, Texas on Friday.
He said the legislature is working tirelessly to ensure that fuel scarcity and frequent queues at filling stations are resolved and that there were plans to involve more private-sector players in the construction of new refineries.
In his words;
“The Senate is working to ensure that more private-sector players are licensed to own and operate refineries. This is to support other smaller ones that are springing up in several parts of the country.
“In addition to licensing new refinery operators, the Federal Government and Senate are working to ensure that the existing refineries are turned around with repairs and replacement of parts carried out where necessary,” he said.
Bamidele said the Senate had received an assurance from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited that two of its refineries in Warri and Port Harcourt would come on stream before the end of the year.
Opeyemi maintained that the focus was to ensure that Nigeria meets its OPEC production quota.
He further explained that achieving such milestones would provide more revenue for the government and halt lack and borrowings.
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