• Jonathan can win on another party’s platform- Ajulo
As Nigerians continue to deliberate on the outcome of the Northern governors’ meeting held in Kaduna on Tuesday, Buba Galadima, a member of the board of trustees of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), has said either way the matter of zoning the presidency in 2011 is resolved, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in trouble.
Speaking in an interview, Galadima said if President Goodluck Jonathan decides to take the 2011 presidential ticket of the party by force, many people even among those publicly clamouring for him now would not work for his victory.
On the other hand, if the North succeeds with the agitation for zoning, Jonathan would want to toe the line of the South African icon, Nelson Mandela, by conducting a free and fair election in which case the PDP might lose the 2011 election.
Galadima said he did not believe in zoning. “I have always stood against zoning because if you want to build a country, a nation, you should never allow any sectional, tribal or ethnic or religious consideration in your structuring of the country because once you allow that it will continue. If anybody wants to lead Nigeria he must reach out to all communities, to all religious persuasions and we have seen it work.
(The late Moshood) Abiola reached out to Nigerians and he was able to defeat his only rival (Bashir) Tofa at the polling booth in front of his house (in Kano). That does not mean that what the PDP is doing is right. If you have even a gentleman’s agreement let alone a written document binding you together stand by it. By not doing it (zoning) they are trying to tell Nigerians that they should never be trusted with leadership”, he said.
However, Kayode Ajulo, an Abuja-based constitutional lawyer, says that the Northern governors’ position that Jonathan, like any other Nigerian was constitutionally qualified to contest the 2011 election was in sync with the letter he wrote to the attorney-general of the federation declaring that zoning was unconstitutional.
Saying that zoning was only a PDP affair, Ajulo said some people give the impression that one could only win an election if they contested on the platform of the PDP. He said Olusegun Mimiko, Ondo State governor, decamped to the Labour Party from PDP at the last minute and went ahead to beat the former governor, Olusegun Agagu of the PDP. He said if the North insists on zoning, Jonathan could move to another party to contest the election.
Ebenezer Babatope, a member of the board of trustees of the ruling party, said the Northern governors have the right to take any decision that suited them and that their position canvassed at Tuesday’s meeting would form part of the national dialogue on zoning.
He said zoning is enshrined in Section 7 (2c) of the PDP constitution and appealed to the party to ensure that the issue of zoning is applied in a way that national interest of Nigeria is not compromised and stability of the nation is not threatened.
“All those who say that there is no zoning I want them to interpret what federal character means because we are a federation and federation is governed by compromise, consensus and coalition of interests,” he said.
At the Northern governors’ meeting, 10 states voted in favour of zoning against seven that voted against it. One state absented. The governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, stayed away from the meeting.
By MAX AMUCHIE
As Nigerians continue to deliberate on the outcome of the Northern governors’ meeting held in Kaduna on Tuesday, Buba Galadima, a member of the board of trustees of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), has said either way the matter of zoning the presidency in 2011 is resolved, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in trouble.
Speaking in an interview, Galadima said if President Goodluck Jonathan decides to take the 2011 presidential ticket of the party by force, many people even among those publicly clamouring for him now would not work for his victory.
On the other hand, if the North succeeds with the agitation for zoning, Jonathan would want to toe the line of the South African icon, Nelson Mandela, by conducting a free and fair election in which case the PDP might lose the 2011 election.
(The late Moshood) Abiola reached out to Nigerians and he was able to defeat his only rival (Bashir) Tofa at the polling booth in front of his house (in Kano). That does not mean that what the PDP is doing is right. If you have even a gentleman’s agreement let alone a written document binding you together stand by it. By not doing it (zoning) they are trying to tell Nigerians that they should never be trusted with leadership”, he said.
However, Kayode Ajulo, an Abuja-based constitutional lawyer, says that the Northern governors’ position that Jonathan, like any other Nigerian was constitutionally qualified to contest the 2011 election was in sync with the letter he wrote to the attorney-general of the federation declaring that zoning was unconstitutional.
Saying that zoning was only a PDP affair, Ajulo said some people give the impression that one could only win an election if they contested on the platform of the PDP. He said Olusegun Mimiko, Ondo State governor, decamped to the Labour Party from PDP at the last minute and went ahead to beat the former governor, Olusegun Agagu of the PDP. He said if the North insists on zoning, Jonathan could move to another party to contest the election.
Ebenezer Babatope, a member of the board of trustees of the ruling party, said the Northern governors have the right to take any decision that suited them and that their position canvassed at Tuesday’s meeting would form part of the national dialogue on zoning.
He said zoning is enshrined in Section 7 (2c) of the PDP constitution and appealed to the party to ensure that the issue of zoning is applied in a way that national interest of Nigeria is not compromised and stability of the nation is not threatened.
“All those who say that there is no zoning I want them to interpret what federal character means because we are a federation and federation is governed by compromise, consensus and coalition of interests,” he said.
At the Northern governors’ meeting, 10 states voted in favour of zoning against seven that voted against it. One state absented. The governor of Bauchi State, Isa Yuguda, stayed away from the meeting.
By MAX AMUCHIE
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