National Dialogue: Count Jigawa Out – Lamido

Jigawa State governor Sule Lamido has said that the state will not be part of the national dialogue proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan, describing it as unconstitutional.

Lamido said this during an interview with Radio Freedom based in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital.

He said that the state would not send any delegate to the proposed national dialogue if ever it holds, since it is an insult to democratic institutions already in place in the country.

Lamido said, “This proposed national dialogue is a flagrant abuse to democracy. We have the Senate and national House of Representatives that are legally and democratically elected to represent any constituency in discussing any national issue.

“Are you going to ask [Prof. Attahiru] Jega [chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission] to organise election for those that would participate in the dialogue, which I am sure he would not accept to do, or are you going to select them through nomination to go and take over the responsibility of elected ones?

“So the idea of the dialogue lacks formula in our democratic society and embarking on such worthless venture is not ideal.”

Lamido, who is one of the seven Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors seeking a change of leadership of the party, said the only solution to the country’s problems is good governance and also called on leaders to abide by due process, rule of law and ethics of leadership.

Meanwhile, a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on the National Dialogue, Professor Ben Nwabueze, has pleaded to be excused from the duty of working out modalities for the convoking of the dialogue because of health reasons. He has forwarded the name of Mr Solomon Asemota (SAN) to the presidency as his replacement.

Nwabueze, in a letter addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan dated October 2, 2013, said: “I am presently in London for medicals and may be away from Nigeria for some time. I will be glad if I could be replaced in the Presidential Advisory Committee on national dialogue/conference by Mr Solomon Asemota, SAN, who is a member of The Patriots.”

The letter came ahead of today’s inauguration of the committee. Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius Anyim has said that President Goodluck Jonathan will inaugurate the Advisory Committee at the Council Chambers of the State House, Aso Villa, by 10am.

Other members of the committee include a former ambassador to the United States of America, Prof. George Obiozor; former senators Khairat Gwadabe and Timothy Adudu; Tony Nyiam, a retired colonel; Prof. Funke Adebayo; Mairo Amshi; Abubakar Sadiq; Buhari Bello; Tony Uranta and Dauda Birma.

With the withdrawal of Nwabueze, it is not clear if the presidency will accede to his request on a replacement. Nwabueze had earlier called on Jonathan not to contest for the presidency in 2015.

The proposed national dialogue has continued to attract different responses from groups and individuals across Nigeria. While many see it as a way forward in restructuring Nigeria, others say it’s a ruse by Jonathan to achieve selfish political aims.

Some of those who support the dialogue include a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Dayo Saka Fafunmi, who has said that Nigerians should be allowed to air their views on critical issues on the proposed national conference committee. Fafunmi, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), told LEADERSHIP over the weekend that each geopolitical zone should be allowed to freely choose its representatives to the dialogue and Jonathan will have his name written in gold if he listens to advice from the opposition parties.

Also, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has drummed up support for the proposed dialogue. Its national president, Dr Osahon Enabulele, told journalists in Benin City, capital of Edo State, yesterday: “We cannot afford to bungle this opportunity especially as Nigeria prepares to celebrate her centenary anniversary.” The medical body said no area should be restricted from discussion.

We doubt Jonathan’s sincerity – NLC

However, opposition to the dialogue has continued to increase. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed doubt over the sincerity of the president. In a press release issued in Kaduna by the vice president of the NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu, the labour body said, “The challenge, among others, lies in the sincerity of purpose and the capacity of the administration to hold a meaningful dialogue on a national scale.”

The body said that since Jonathan cannot resolve the different labour disputes across the country, there is little hope that he would handle the complexity of a national dialogue.

“If the president, his men and women cannot resolve the university crisis, given the existing country’s robust labour laws and rich collective bargaining and dialogue traditions, what trust can the nation put on the administration to handle a national conversation on more knotty issues of national development?

“The president, governors and legislators were elected to deliver good governance they promised. They should not take cheap refuge in a so-called national dialogue they never promised the electorate in the first instance. It’s also about keeping promise and faith with the governed.”

Don’t celebrate yet – Senator Abe

Also, the chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Magnus Abe, has urged Nigerians not to celebrate yet over the dialogue considering past experiences, unless they are convinced that the outcome of the conference will be a clear departure from past attempts to address issues of injustice in the country.

Abe, in a statement made available to LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, insisted that the yet-to-be-worked-out details by the advisory committee will convince the cynical Nigerian public that the pronouncement is not just a calculated attempt to buy time and create space for political jobbers waiting to pilot predetermined agenda.

He said that while the move was what the people of the south-south expected of a president committed to truth, justice and the rule of law, meaningful dialogue cannot be held in an atmosphere of intimidation, harassment, and suppression of dissenting voices as manifesting through the activities of the police in Rivers State and Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

Abe, who represents Rivers South-East senatorial district in the National Assembly, identified the Niger Delta technical committee findings, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report on Ogoniland and reports of several other committees set up by the federal government to tackle critical national issues as strings of cases that have suffered implementation.

Similarly, the chairman, Senate Committee on Budget, Ahmad Muhammad Maccido, said that the proposed dialogue can bring unwanted consequences as the different groups in Nigeria have different interests.

Also, a former governor of Kano State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim Shekarau, called on the National Assembly to wade into the proposed dialogue as President Jonathan is trying to hijack its legislative responsibility.

Shekarau said this in an interview with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA) in Kano yesterday. He said, “There is no sincerity in the proposed National Dialogue. Jonathan is looking for what will divert his attention from his total failure and their party crisis.”

In its opposition to the proposed dialogue, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) described it as a bridge to nowhere.

In statement made available to LEADERSHIP in Enugu by its national publicity secretary, Osita Okechukwu, CNPP said the conference might be hijacked by ethnic merchants.