President Goodluck Jonathan
Four
northern governors met on Monday with former Heads of State, Generals
Abdulsalami Abubakar and Ibrahim Babangida, and appealed to them to
ask President Goodluck Jonathan to restore public order to Rivers State.
The governors are: Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto ); Sule Lamido (Jigawa); and Rabiu Kwankanso (Kano).
Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako,
who was supposed to be at the meeting, sent apologies. Nyako was one of
the four governors – Wamakko, Lamido and Kwankwaso – who had a closed
door meeting with another former Head of State and President, Chief
Olusegun Obasanjo, in Abeokuta last Saturday.
Sources at the Monday meeting in Minna,
said the governors did not mince words in their condemnation of the
recent activities of Jonathan, which they said were capable of derailing
the nation’s democracy.
The sources said that the governors specifically cited the crisis in Rivers State.
One of the governors, who spoke with one
of our correspondents said, “We know that the nation’s democracy is in
danger with what the President is doing.
“We cannot have a democracy where the
President would be mocking governors and would be attempting to impeach
them without following due process.
“We told them (Abubakar and Babangida)
that what is happening in Rivers State, as explained by Mrs. Patience
Jonathan, was orchestrated by the Presidency.
“We have appealed to the two leaders to reach out to other stakeholders and save this democracy.”
Another source also explained that what
took the governors to see Obasanjo was what made them to meet the two
Northern Nigerian former leaders in Minna.
He said, “They, like most Nigerians and
lovers of this country, are worried about the situation we have found
ourselves. The four governors were in Minna to consult on the way
forward for the country.
“The upcoming national convention of the
Peoples Democratic Party and the 2015 general elections were parts of
the discussions held behind closed doors.
“What will follow in the next few months
will be a flury of activities which will paint a clearer picture of
what is the way forward.”
However, Aliyu, who is also the
Chairman of Northern States Governors’ Forum , said after the 80-minute
meeting that what they discussed with Abubakar and Babangida, would
enhance “our political dreams.”
He said, “The meeting is a platform
that could be used to actualise our political dreams.Now, we are
consulting with our elders and leaders to look at some of the problems
and solutions to the problems that some of us are facing, simple.
“The solution to Nigeria Governors’
Forum crisis, political issues which have come up and we are consulting
to make sure that we all understand the issues and we all come out with a
solution; and we will also carry our people along as we move on.”
Asked what their resolution was, Aliyu, replied, “We are still consulting.’’
On the lingering Rivers State crisis,
he stated that what they discussed with Abubakar and Babangida was
larger than the “Rivers issue.”
The governor said, “There is no
gathering in Nigeria now that Rivers’ issue will not come up, but our
meeting today(Monday) is a larger issue than even the NGF crisis. We
are discussing on how to solve them.”
Nyako, through his Director of Press and
Publications, Sajoh Ahmed, gave an insight into their Abeokuta visit.
He told an online news portal, Premiumtimes, that it was part of efforts to save the Peoples Democratic Party from collapsing.
“We will continue to make our efforts
to save the party. But, if our efforts do not work, we have no
alternative but to fold our arms and see PDP die and help in burying
it,” he said.
The governor emphasised that unless “these serious minded Nigerians” intervened in time, the PDP would die a natural death.
Nyako described the current events
in the party as worrisome, stating that they constituted a threat to
the survival of democracy in the country.
It was gathered that the governors would also meet soon with a former Minister of Defence, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress
has called on Jonathan to display “uncommon statesmanship”in
resolving the Rivers crisis.
President of the NLC, Mr. Abdulwahed Omar, said workers were worried by the growing rate of impunity in the country.
He stated that the attempt by five
lawmakers to impeach the Speaker of the state House of Assembly and the
travails of Governor Rotimi Amaechi constituted a threat to democracy.
The labour leader made this comment at the 11th NLC Rain School at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Monday.
He said, “Of importance to the working
class has been the rate and extent of impunity in the country. The show
of shame in Rivers State, where only five legislators attempted to
impeach the speaker and the protracted travails of Governor Amaechi
are capable of derailing democracy in our country.
“We reiterate our call on Mr. President
to demonstrate uncommon statesmanship by ensuring that the political
crisis in Rivers State is checked and resolved in the interest of the
people of the state and the nation.”
Omar, who also commented on the issue
of the decentralisation of the National Minimum Wage Law by the Senate,
said that all the state councils of the NLC and industrial unions were
being mobilised to protest the Senate decision.
He said that the National Minimum Wage
Act did not contradict the concept of federalism contrary to the claim
of “the now fractious NGF.”
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