The
North has opposed to the plan by the leadership of the People
Democratic Party to choose President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole
aspirant for its presidential primaries.
The Arewa Consultative Forum and the
Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and
Businessmen, described the move as undemocratic, stating that it could
lead to chaos and collapse of the party.
The spokesman of the ACF, Anthony Sani,
said that the North was opposed to the move because it would limit the choice of Nigerians during the election.
He however, added that PDP does not have the final say as to who becomes president in 2015.
He said, “I am not aware of this kind of
move by the ruling PDP. But I want to say such practices, if allowed,
would limit the democratic space by reducing the choice of candidate. As
a result, members of the ruling party’s right to participate in the
choice of their presidential candidate will be short changed. Nigerians’
choice will also be limited.
“It is to be noted that even in
America, when candidacy is conceded to the incumbent, it is not forced
but brought about by consensus by members of the ruling party. And that
was why Senator Kennedy was not barred from contesting the primaries
with President Jimmy Carter in the early 80s. The practices of limiting
candidacy to incumbency cannot promote democracy that is premised on
triple foundation of liberty, justice and common decency.
“When you talk about effect of such
development on the aspiration of the North to vie for the presidency in
2015, you at once convey an impression that the primaries in PDP is
final. Nigerians can still make judicious use of their democratic rights
and vote candidates in some other parties, more so in a clime where
most of the political parties are mere clones of one another in terms of
their approach to solving the myriad of problems of Nigeria.”
Sani advised Nigerians not to let such action by the PDP result to chaos in the country.
“Nigerians should not allow the actions
of a few or of a party to determine how they think, what they say and
what they do. Nigerians should shape events, and not allow events to
shape us. There is no need for chaos, since voters have the final say.
Instead of causing any chaos, voters should make judicious use of their
democratic rights and vote leaders of their choice,” he added.
Sani added that it was too early to
determine if the North will look in the direction of the All
Progressives Congress to actualise it’s aspiration for presidency in
2015.
On the one-term agreement northern
governors allegedly signed with Jonathan, Sani said, “I have said
agreements (whether signed or not) and court cases do not produce
presidents in a democracy. Only Nigerian voters can produce the
president. Somehow, I believe that both the controversy about agreement
and court cases have been brought into the open for a higher cause.
Nigerians deserve leaders they can rely upon to deliver on their
promises.
“Though northerners aspire to be
president in 2015, they would do so democratically, and not
undemocratically. So the question of forcing northerners into one
political party does not arise. They do not have to be in one party in
order to make their votes count.”
On his part, the convener of CNPAPB, Dr.
Junaid Mohammed, said imposing Jonathan as the sole aspirant in PDP
would tear the country apart.
“Let them try it. If they try it, let us
see what will happen. The second term governors are not the only ones
aspiring to be president. Let PDP become an automatic consensus
candidate party, and let’s see how the party survives. That will lead to
a collapse of PDP and that is the best possible outcome for the
country.
“If they do that, there will be reaction
and the reaction will not be only from the rest of the country, but
also from the international community. This because the international
community will not want to pay the price of Nigeria breaking down,
because they will not want to bring their marines here to stop us from
tearing ourselves apart,” he stated.
