2015: Northern governors may form new party
JUNE 30, 2013
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu
Northern governors, and other senior politicians in the region, may form a new political party, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.
A source who is part of the move to ensure that the region recaptures power in the 2015 general elections disclosed this to one of our correspondents in Abuja, on Friday.
The source said the formation of a new political party was one of the three options being considered by northern political leaders as politicking for the next general election gathers steam.
The source added that the region would not allow itself to be used and dumped in the manner “Nuhu Ribadu was dumped by the Action Congress of Nigeria during the 2011 elections.”
Ribadu, the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was the presidential candidate of the ACN in the 2011 election.
However, he lost the states controlled by the party, except Osun State, and is believed to have been a victim of a deal between his party’s power brokers and those of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The source, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said, “The reality of our current political isolation is not lost on us here in the North.
“I believe also we have learnt a thing or two from the brand of politics which led to the set up of Nuhu Ribadu by the ACN during the 2011 elections.
“If by any chance we allow that kind of thing to happen again, then we are doomed. There are three options before us and we are considering them seriously.
“One: remain in the Peoples Democratic Party where we are almost certain that President Goodluck Jonathan will impose himself on the party; for those who may have forgotten, this was done in the last Nigeria Governors’ Forum election. Don’t forget that some of the northern governors are facing expulsion threats from PDP.
“Two: join the All Progressives Congress to defeat the PDP or three: float a fresh political platform altogether. For those who think the third option is a long shot, I suggest they should think again because the Congress for Progressive Change would have been the party to beat today but for some tactical blunders.
“Politics is a game of numbers; we have the numbers as well as the political sagacity to build bridges across ethnic and religious divides, we have done it before, we can do it again.”
Speaking to one of our correspondents, the Convener of the Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics and Businessmen, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, in a telephone interview, confirmed the plan, adding that a new party could be the best option for the North.
He said, “I believe that if they are determined to do it, they will get public support.If you have that support and it is seen that you are being victimised by government, it will bounce back on your accusers. We are strategising but it’s not what I would want to go into in details.”
Junaid also spoke about speculations that General T.Y. Danjuma is being considered as a possible consensus presidential candidate by the North.
He said, “I know General Danjuma and we speak a lot. I do not believe General Danjuma takes this seriously.
“If he had wanted to be President he could have been one, especially before the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed. After the assassination, he was the de facto leader of the junta and he was also in effective control of the armed forces but he didn’t want it.”
Meanwhile, northern leaders and groups have been holding meetings towards picking a candidate for the 2015 elections.
On Friday, the spokesman for the Northern Elders’ Forum, Dr. Paul Unongo, told SUNDAY PUNCH that it was working with the Arewa Consultative Forum, to ensure that the North presented a credible consensus candidate for the next presidential election.
“What is going on now in the North is just discussions. ACF has been meeting and consulting with the Northern Elders’ Forum. We have held two or three meetings. We have areas of agreement and areas of slight disagreement. We are consolidating on the areas we agree on.”
He added that the choice of a northern presidential candidate would be largely based on competence and the person’s acceptability to other parts of the country.
Ugongo said, “The Speaker of the House of Representatives seems to stand very tall. The capacity he has displayed has elicited confidence in his people (members of the House) from all the geopolitical areas. He seems to command the respect of all the political parties that have representation in the House.
“He must be doing something pleasing to the ACN, CPC and some members of his party, PDP. Some of us consider him very attractive and we will be very proud to present him as somebody to be looked at for possible leadership of this country.
“Somebody like Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, if he was young and interested in this type of thing, we would have been happy to present him. But he is known to say ‘no’ to political leadership right from the time when he was in the military.
“If the Governor of the Central Bank, Lamido Sanusi, retires from the bank, where he has established himself as an upright and fearless Nigerian, convincing the most brilliant minds that he can compete with anybody in the world, he is the kind of people Nigeria should be looking for.
“I am told that the Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, has indicated to some people that he wants to become President. He hasn’t told me or the public. I hear that the Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, wants to run and I also hear of the Governor of Bauchi, Isa Yuguda. As far as I’m concerned any of these gentlemen is eminently qualified to run for the presidency of Nigeria.”
When contacted, the ACF declined comments on the issue stating that it was too early to talk about 2015 general elections.
The spokesman for the forum, Mr. Anthony Sani, said promoting 2015 politics would heat up the polity.
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