Jonathan can't be trusted-Atiku...as Northern Political Leaders Raise Alarm

Update

Jonathan can’t be trusted - Atiku …as northern political leaders raise alarm

Newsdiaryonline Wed Sep 29,2010

Former Vice President and presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has

stated that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was conspicuously present at the December 2, 2002 enlarged

caucus meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where the agreement to share power between North

and South was taken.

He said under that agreement, those in attendance including Jonathan, then a former Deputy Governor of

Bayelsa State, resolved after voting to rotate the presidency on the basis of eight years each between the

North and South.

He expressed surprise and shock that President Jonathan will now claim ignorance of such agreement for

the sake of his ambition to run in 2011.

According to a statement by his Campaign Organisation the President should have been honourable and

courageous enough to own up to his participation in the formulation of a major party power sharing formula.

“The ambition to rule at all costs should not make us abandon the path of honour by denying a decision

that has enthroned stability and unity in our body politic,” he said.

The PDP presidential aspirant said it is surprising that despite existing and verifiable minutes of this landmark

agreement, the President was pretending that no such pact was ever reached.

Atiku said the highpoint of the minutes of the meeting as read and adopted by the enlarged caucus was that

“the National Caucus generally decided that the 1998 zoning of the positions of the President, Vice President,

Senate President, Speaker, Party Chairman, Party Secretary etc should remain as it would stabilise the party...”

He warned that President Jonathan cannot be trusted with the PDP mandate in 2011 if emerging trends are

anything to go by.

He called on voters not to elect as President in 2011 someone who lacks the will, trust and confidence to

offer genuine and strong leadership to a diverse country like Nigeria.

“Mr. President gleefully denied before the whole world at the PDP headquarters that the presidency

of Nigeria has never been zoned to any part of the country. How did he emerge as Vice President in

2007,” Atiku queried.

According to him, “this was a man who sat at a PDP caucus meeting where a vote was taken over the

Presidency and he voted for the zoning motion and has subsequently developed amnesia. Given this

antecedent, does anyone think that candidate Jonathan will recognize term limits in the probable

assumption that Nigerians entrust him with the responsibility of leading them?”

He said that Nigeria deserves honest, reliable and trustworthy leadership at a critical moment like this.

The PDP presidential aspirant said that President Jonathan’s denial of having not ordered the disruption

of the South-east Stakeholders Political Conference in Owerri on Monday in which notable Nigerian patriots

of Igbo extraction like former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme and former Senate President Ken Nnamani,

among many others were harassed like outlaws is clearly an indication that he cannot be entrusted with the

highest office in the land.

“How can he exonerate himself from the disgraceful show of shame by the police in disrupting a peaceful

assembly of a people as recognized by the constitution without even as much as demanding for probe or

hold someone responsible if indeed he is the commander-in-chief?

“This government by denials will not by any standard help the course of

Nigeria’s development and the confidence of its people. The Commissioner of Police in Imo State takes

orders from the Inspector General of Police, who in turn reports to the President. But when a

Commander-in-chief fails to take responsibility for a clampdown on a legitimate gathering, denies

knowledge of it and fails to hold anyone responsible, it becomes difficult to trust that

leadership,” Atiku said.

He said that President Jonathan can no longer be trusted, as he is fast trading his commander-in-chief status for that of a “commander-in-denial.”

.........AS NORTHERN POLITICAL LEADERS FORUM RAISES ALARM

In an evident reference to events on the political scene, the northern political leaders forum has said events happening now call for urgent concer.That is why they have chosen to alert the whole world to dark trends in the polity.In a statement today the forum alleges that there is a steady rise in political intolerance by the Goodluck Jonathan regime.

Full text of their statement below :

1.     The Northern Political Leaders forum wishes to draw the attention of the Nigerian people and the

International Community to the steady rise of

political intolerance by the Jonathan administration.

2.     In sharp contrast to the Umaru YarAdua era, President Jonathan is openly undermining the Nigerian

 Constitution and Democracy in his desperate bid to retain power.

3.  Recently, he falsified history by declaring openly that zoning in the PDP does not include the office

of President and the Vice-President. Section 7.2c of the PDP constitution states clearly that; “in pursuance

of the principle of equity, justice and fairness, the party shall adhere to the policy of rotation and zoning of

party and public elective offices and it shall be enforced by the appropriate executive committee at all levels.”

It does not give exception to the offices of the President and Vice-President.

4.   The recent public humiliation of respected political leaders of the South East, among which were a former

Vice-President, Senate President, Former Governors, Ministers and highly respected leaders, is symptomatic of

dictatorship which is going out of fashion in other countries of Africa and the Third World.

5.   Last month, the administration caused the cancellation of a meeting of Northern Governors and other

political leaders scheduled to take place in Kaduna.

6.     Also, last month we the NPLF were compelled to issue a public statement condemning

the selective targeting of Governors and State Governments perceived to be pro-zoning and

opposed to the unbridled ambition of Goodluck Jonathan.

7.     Consistent with this mindset, the wife of the President publicly berated the elected

 Governor of Rivers State. Despite widespread public outcry and condemnation, no apologies

were extended to the Governor and peoples of Rivers state. This precipitated mass protests

in Port-Harcourt.

8.     Unfortunately, the administration has extended this climate of high handedness to the armed

forces. History shows that unnecessary politicization of the armed  forces is a recipe for disaster.

9.     The NPLF would like all Nigerians to note that while Jonathan is infringing on the constitutional

 rights of respected leaders, he is busy generating thousands of fringe groups and hired crowds to drum

support for his ambition.

10.  We want to state unequivocally that this is in sharp contrast to his verbal commitment to transparent

 free and fair elections. It is the kind of “Do or Die” posture that preceded the massive rigging of 2007.

We call on the Nigerian peopleand the international community to prevail on President Jonathan to

immediately desist from these anti-democratic and unconstitutional activities which may undermine

our democracy, national Unity and Political Stability

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