SSS moves against Northern Elders

The reconciliation move between the Mallam Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Political Leaders Forum , NPLF, and President Goodluck Jonathan was severely damaged, yesterday, as the State Security Service, SSS arrested two key operational staff of the Forum.

The scribe who has just been released, said his arrest was political, as it was in connection with his comments on zoning.

The NPLF in a terse reaction said the President was not ready for peace though the State Security Service, SSS, which picked the men said the arrests were unconnected with politics.

NPLF secretary, Mallam Abdulkadir Bello, was arrested, Wednesday, a day before the scheduled meeting of the body where the key decision of whether the NPLF should support the President or not was to have been taken.

Another operational staff, Mallam Bibi Farouk, was arrested while the meeting of the NPLF was going on.

Confirmation of Abdulkadir’s arrest

The State Security Services, SSS, which confirmed the arrest of Abdulkadir, however, said their arrest had nothing to do with politics. There were indeed inferences of a fifth columnist working to sabotage the envisaged reconciliation between the President and the NPLF.

Yesterday’s meeting which was ongoing at press time followed the arrival from abroad of former Vice-President Abubakar on Wednesday evening.

The meeting was believed to be deliberating on the work of the seven-man joint committee jointly constituted by the President and the NPLF to bridge differences between the two sides. Vanguard learnt that a communiqué of the meeting would be released today.

SSS spokesperson, Mrs. Marilyn Ogar, while admitting the arrest of the NPLF secretary, however, insisted that it had nothing to do with politics saying that membership of an organization was not a licence to carry out illegal activities.

She told Vanguard that Alhaji Abdulkadir was arrested as Alhaji Abdulkadir and that it had nothing to do with his position as Secretary of NPLF.

Ogar said: “Alhaji Abdulkadir was arrested as Alhaji Abdulkadir, not as Secretary of NPLF. People must not bring politics into this. Nobody should think that he will be allowed to do just whatever he likes because he is a member of any organization. It must be made very clear that this matter has nothing to with his position in the NPLF.”

She, nevertheless did not give the reason for the arrest.

The Ciroma-led NPLF had recently softened its denunciation of President Jonathan’s presidential aspiration and had met to take a decisive decision on whether or not to support the President.

The breakthrough followed the meeting early last month between President Jonathan and elements of the NPLF where it was resolved to set up a seven-man joint committee to articulate a working document to guide rapprochement between both sides.

The seven-man joint committee chaired by Magaji Dambatta was supposed to submit its report for the consideration of the President and the NPLF. NPLF sources, however, expressed regrets that possible reconciliation may have been put on hold with the arrest of the duo.

Sources said that Abdulkadir was arrested on Wednesday by operatives of the SSS in Abuja and taken to the headquarters of the security agency in the Asokoro area the same day. He was still being held by the SSS at press time yesterday.

Farouk was arrested while the meeting of the NPLF was on-going. It was, however, not confirmed whether he was arrested at the venue of the meeting.

Denouncing the arrest, yesterday, the NPLF in an unsigned statement made available to Vanguard said:
“This is in bad faith and tells a lie to President Goodluck Jonathan’s attempt for rapprochement with Northern Political Leaders Forum.”

Consensus candidate: We have not endorsed anybody - Northern Xtians

AS controversy continues to trail the consensus arrangement initiated by the Northern Political Elders Forum (NPLF), the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), North-Central chapter, has disassociated itself from the alleged endorsement of the contraption by its northern chapter, saying that the chapter was expected to meet with aspirants from the geopolitical zone on Tuesday next week.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune in Jos, the North-Central chairman of CAN, Reverend Yakubu Pam, disclosed that presidential aspirants from the zone—former President Ibrahim Babangida, Mrs Serah Jibril, Governor Bukola Saraki—were expected to meet with the chapter on Tuesday next week over their aspirations.

Reverend Pam said he had met with his executive team over the purported endorsement of the consensus arrangement by the northern CAN, adding that the person who claimed to have represented the northern CAN spoke for himself, not the body he claimed to have represented.

“As far as we are concerned in the North-Central, we are not part of the decision, nobody discussed the issue with us before the pronouncement was made. At our level here, we are meeting with the presidential aspirants from this zone on Tuesday next week on their aspirations. The three of them are the former President Ibrahim Babangida, Governor Bukola Saraki and Mrs Serah Jibril,” he said.

The North-Central chairman, who said the primary concern of CAN was the unity of Nigeria, added that the interest of the body was not just for the Christians but also to have good leaders at all levels in the country.

In a related development, the senator representing Plateau Central, Senator Sati Gogwim, had stated that plans by some people in the North to produce a consensus aspirant against President Goodluck Jonathan was never a threat to the president.

The senator told the Nigerian Tribune that the likes of the NPLF leader, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, could not speak for the entire North because their emergence as leaders was not endorsed by the entire North, adding they were just a group of aggrieved people who simply wanted to take on President Jonathan for their selfish interest.

“Nobody is losing sleep over their planned consensus arrangement but I want people to know that Mallam Adamu Ciroma and others are not speaking for the North. We in the Middle Belt are not bothered because they did not recognise us as part of the North,” he said.

Senator Gogwim said if those who constituted themselves as the northern leaders actually were championing the cause of the entire North, they should come out for assessment to determine if they were credible to negotiate for the North.

He charged Nigerians to learn to appreciate those in positions of authority, adding that in the past few months of being in the saddle, President Jonathan had proved his worth and zeal to move the nation forward.

“Nigerians should give him a chance. He has demonstrated that he is capable of steering the affairs of this nation. The circumstances surrounding his emergence as president of this country is enough to convince all that the hand of God is upon him.”

I’m contesting in 2011, Atiku tells Jonathan •I wish you well –President •Jonathan delays declaration for further consultations

AS President Goodluck Jonathan gathers his campaign team for the 2011 presidential poll, former vice-president, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, last Thursday, met with the president in Abuja and informed him of his bid to also contest the forthcoming poll.

Sources, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune on condition of anonymity, said the parley took place at the Presidential Villa, noting that it was part of the consultations that the former vice-president had been engaged in to launch his presidential ambition.

Abubakar, who contested the 2007 presidential poll on the ticket of the Action Congress (AC), the party he joined from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but lost to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, was said to have met President Jonathan on his ambition as leader of the party.

The president, after listening to Atiku on his resolve to contest the 2011 presidential election, was said to have wished him well, even as he reiterated his commitment to free and fair polls in the country.

According to a source, the parley was said to be the high point of consultations that the former vice-president had been having with party members and leaders, emirs and traditional rulers and key stakeholders in the country.

However, Nigerian Tribune gathered that Alhaji Abubakar would be adopting a different approach to sell himself and not engage in open campaign for now, as he was said to be focusing attention mainly on the party’s primaries coming up before the end of the year.

The source stated that the former vice-president reasoned that the primaries would come before the general election and it was where the party would pick its standard-bearer for the 2011 elections and, therefore, the need for him to stay away from engaging in open campaign.

“Atiku will not be seen printing or pasting campaign posters and billboards or sponsor radio or television jingles for now. He would also not be seen addressing political rallies. This is not the focus now, because the target is the PDP primaries and how to win,” the source said.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that the former number two man was continuing with his consultations and that he had already set up his campaign team, among other things.

Alhaji Abubakar served under former President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007, but was denied membership registration by the PDP due to irreconcilable differences between him and Obasanjo, a development which made him to dump PDP in order to contest the last presidential poll on the ticket of the AC.

Meanwhile, it emerged in Abuja on Monday that President Jonathan has, so far, refrained from declaring his interest in the 2011 presidential race, because of the need for further consultations, especially in view of the divisive tendencies being exhibited by some politicians across the country.

Sources in the government said that President Jonathan had assured his close aides that he would not encourage any debate that could put one section of the country against the other.

The president was also said to have held a strategic meeting with close aides at the weekend, where he assured them that he was intensifying consultations on the possibility of his joining the presidential race.

A source close to the meeting told the Nigerian Tribune that Jonathan believed that the most important assignment before him was to keep Nigeria united and reduce all divisive tendencies to the barest minimum.

“This is a country of 150 million people with diverse interests and peoples. Several interests are playing up but it is our duty to maintain a united nation, a united front and avoid orchestrating issues that only widen the gulf between the sections of the country,” a source close to the administration quoted the president as saying.

As a result of the need to further intensify his campaigns, Jonathan was said to have directed all his aides involved in the 2011 campaign to withdraw forthwith and face issues of governance.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Research and Strategy, Mr Oronto Douglas, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja on Monday, also confirmed the ban on the president’s aides as regards the 2011 elections.

“He stated at a briefing: “I am aware that Mr. President had told all of us, his aides, to steer clear of partisan politics and commit ourselves to governance,” Douglas said.

He also declared that President Jonathan had made up his mind not to encourage disunity in the land.
The president’s aide further said: “The president has said that he wants to consult with Nigerians on the 2011 issue. He is still consulting. In fact, I am aware that he has intensified his consultations and he has ordered all his aides who have been linked with the clamour for him to contest to steer clear of politics and allow the president to finish his consultations.”

Douglas said that the president was a man who cherished Nigeria’s unity and would never condone anything that threatened the all-important national item.

“I can assure you that Nigeria’s interests will be paramount in terms of offering himself for continuous service to the nation.

“I know that the president is an inclusive person, consultative and broadminded. He will anchor his decision on the total interest of Nigeria. He believes that the journey of Nigeria is not an individual affair; it is not a sectional affair; it is not a religious affair; it is a national matter. The Nigerian character is not exclusive,” the president’s aide said, adding that those orchestrating division along sectional lines needed to have their commitment to Nigerian’s unity examined.

Why I Didnot Sack Service Chiefs

THE President yesterday gave an insight into why he is still keeping the Service Chiefs he inherited from the late President Umaru Yar’Adua. He said he considered the polity’s stability more important than protecting his presidency. Dr Goodluck Jonathan spoke at a thanksgiving service to mark Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala’s 60th birthday at Molete Baptist Church, Ibadan. The city was full of excited crowds hailing the President. It was his first official visit to the state. President Jonathan said he shunned the advice to sack the Service Chiefs when he became the Acting President, despite the threats such a decision might have on his position. Jonathan was thanking the military for not truncating democracy during the political crisis sparked by former President Yar’Adua’s ill-health. He advised fellow politicians to trade personal ambitions for the overall good of the nation. Besides, he said, they should conduct themselves in ways that will give Nigerians hope in the system. He deplored infighting among politicians, who he described as major actors in the leadership scene, saying it only kills hopes of a better tomorrow in the minds of Nigerians. Jonathan did not name those who advised him to dump the Service Chiefs, but he confirmed what was a big rumour in the polity. His words: "Immediately I became Acting President, I was advised to move Service Chiefs, but I refused because I felt the polity should be stabilised. I left them at the expense of my own position. We have to thank the Army that in spite of the political turbulence, they did not strike. We (politicians) must conduct ourselves very well. "From vice chairmen of local governments to the deputy governors to the Vice President, you must be loyal to your bosses because the chairmen, governors and the president take their deputies into confidence on a number of salient matters. "Political fights do not raise hopes of Nigerians but only show the major actors as those that are unable to manage themselves. We got to positions not by our strength but by God." The President regretted that deputies do not usually succeed their bosses in Nigeria though they are normally expected to learn from them to succeed them in other societies. He showered encomiums on Alao-Akala, whom he described as his "good friend" and fellow former deputy governor. Jonathan urged the nation to pray for his administration’s success. Earlier, Alao-Akala gave thanks to God for his life. He recalled that he lost his father when he was 30 months old but that God saw him through. The head of the Methodist Church in Nigeria, Prelate Sunday Ola Makinde, who preached at the service, spoke on the need for thanksgiving, quoting from Psalm 103. He analysed the life and times of King David, stressing that he was favoured because he always appreciated God for showering His mercies upon him. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, governors of Ogun, Ekiti and Osun states and traditional rulers were at the service. Others include Minister of State for Finance Remi Babalola and frontline businessman Jimoh Ibrahim. But the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana, was absent. Though he replied the governor’s letter of invitation and congratulated him, he gave no reason for his inability to attend the ceremony in his correspondence. Thousands of residents trooped out to welcome President Jonathan. School pupils lined the major streets from the airport to the venues of projects commissioned. Also among the dignitaries who received Jonathan were Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, PDP Vice-President, South-West. Jonathan’s first port of call was Challenge-Orita where he inaugurated the newly built Challenge-Elewe-Apata dual carriage way. He also inaugurated the Molete-Oke-Ado-Queen Cinema dual-carriage way before attending the thanksgiving service. Jonathan was entertained at the Polo Ground, Eleiyele, before returning to Abuja. Also at the ceremony were the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Oyewumi Ajagungbade III, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi and members of the State Executive Council.