KADUNA — Former Head of State and chieftain of the opposition
All Progressives Congress, APC, General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, x-rayed
current political developments in the country and concluded that Nigeria was
headed for the brink.
He, therefore, appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to “pull
Nigeria back from the brink”.
Highlighting some of the developments which informed his
conclusion in a statement issued, yesterday, in Kaduna, General Buhari said
that in his capacity as an elder statesman, he had spoken to President Jonathan
in private over the issues but it has not yielded positive results. He added
that history will not be kind to him (Buhari) if he sat back while things
turned bad in the country.
He urged the President to pull the brakes on his
administration’s runaway train of impunity in the interest of Nigeria and
sustenance of the nation’s democracy.
In his statement, Buhari said the recent induced impeachment or
threats of impeachment of governors of opposition states, just to decapitate
the opposition, does not augur well for the survival of a fragile nation like
Nigeria or the survival of its tenderfoot democracy.
In swift response, The Presidency, yesterday, denied allegations
levelled against President Jonathan by Buhari in a statement by Special Adviser
to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati.
The statement said rather than blame President Jonathan for the
problems in the All Progressives Congress, APC, Gen. Buhari should blame his
party for its inability to manage its internal contradictions.
According to Buhari, the developments in the polity have become
an unwelcome distraction for the nation’s ongoing survival battle against the
terror group Boko Haram, which has put Nigeria on the tenterhooks, with
innocent citizens being daily mowed down at the times and places of the group’s
choice and over 200 school girls spending their fourth month in precarious
captivity.
Jonathan can’t feign
ignorance
His words: “Whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan is behind
the gale of impeachment or the utilization of desperate tactics to suffocate
the opposition and turn Nigeria into a one-party state, what cannot be denied
is that they are happening under his watch, and he cannot pretend not to know,
since that will be akin to hiding behind one finger.
“In my capacity as an elder statesman, rather than a politician,
I have spoken to President Jonathan in private over these issues, but
indications are that the strategy has not yielded positive fruits. I cannot,
just because I am an opposition politician, fail to do what is expected of me
as an elder statesman to help rescue our nation in times of great trouble and
palpable uncertainty.
“History will not be kind to me if I sit back while things turn
bad, just so that no one will accuse me of partisanship. Yes, I am a
politician. Yes, I am in the opposition. Yes, there is the tendency for my
statement to be misconstrued as that of a politician rather than a statesman.
But I owe it as a matter of duty and honour, and in the interest of our nation,
to speak out on the dangerous trajectory that our nation is heading.
“I can say, in all sincerity, that I have seen it all, as an
ordinary citizen, a military officer, a head of state, a man who has occupied
many other sensitive posts and a politician. I have been a close participant
and witness to Nigeria’s political history since independence in 1960.
“Our country has gone through several rough patches, but never
before have I seen a Nigerian President declare war on his own country as we
are seeing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President deploy federal
institutions in the service of partisanship as we are witnessing now. Never
before have I seen a Nigerian President utilize the commonwealth to subvert the
system and punish the opposition, all in the name of politics. Our nation has
suffered serious consequences in the past for egregious acts that are not even
close to what we are seeing now. It is time to pull the brakes,” Gen. Buhari
warned.
He advised President Jonathan to tarry a while, take a deep
breath and ponder the impact of recent events in the polity, under his watch,
on the survival of the nation and the sustenance of its democracy.
Subverting constitution
The former Head of State further argued that “subverting the
Constitution of the Federal Republic in the desperation to impeach a state
governor or deploying the institutions of state, some of which are symbols of
the country’s unity, just to kick an out-of-favour state governor in the groin
can only breed anarchy and lead the nation down the slippery slope to
perdition.
“The dangerous clouds are beginning to gather and the vultures
are circling, and these have manifested in Nasarawa where the ordinary people
have defied guns and tanks to protest the plan to impeach Governor Umaru Tanko
Al-Makura in a repeat of the bitter medicine forced down the throat of Governor
Murtala Nyako.
“The people’s protest in Nasarawa is a sign of what will come if
the federal authorities continue to target opposition state governors for
impeachment. In the long run, the impeachment weapon will be blunted. Positions
will become more hardened on both sides and Nigeria and Nigerians will become
the victims of arrested governance and possible anarchy.”
Gen. Buhari said President Jonathan should also remember that no
democracy can thrive or survive without a virile opposition, hence it will amount
to a man cutting his nose to spite his face for anyone to embark on a journey
to decapitate the opposition, as the current central government is doing.
He said a man of power must realize that he cannot always do
things just because he could do them.
“I, along with many other patriotic Nigerians, fought for the
unity and survival of this country. Hundreds of patriotic souls perished in the
battle to keep Nigeria one. The blood of many of our compatriots helped to
water the birth of the democracy we are all enjoying today.
“Let no one, whether the leader or the led, the high or the low,
a member of the ruling or the opposition do anything to torpedo the system. Let
no one, whether on the altar of personal ambition or pretension to higher
patriotic tendencies, do anything that can detonate the keg of gunpowder on
which the nation is sitting. It is time for all concerned to spare a thought
for the ordinary citizens who have yet to see their hopes, dreams and
aspirations come to reality, within the general context of nationhood,’’ he
said.
Don’t blame me for your party’s
woes, Jonathan fires back
Meanwhile, the Presidency, yesterday, denied allegations
levelled against President Jonathan by Buhari that the President was waging war
on his countrymen.
In a statement yesterday, Special Adviser to the President on
Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati said rather than blame President Jonathan
for the problems in the All Progressives Congress, APC, Gen. Buhari should
blame his party for its inability to manage its internal contradictions.
Abati insisted that the President is ‘blameless’.
The statement read: “We have noted with much surprise and
regret, the statement issued by General Muhammadu Buhari today (yesterday) in
which he made some wild and totally unsustainable allegations against President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
“Although he tries very hard to deny it in the statement titled
“Pull Nigeria Back From the Brink”, there can be no doubt that General Buhari
has sadly moved away from the patriotic and statesman-like position he recently
adopted on national security, which President Jonathan publicly commended, and
has now reverted to unbridled political partisanship.
“There can be no other explanation or justification for the
completely unwarranted and very uncharitable assault on the conduct and
integrity of President Jonathan which the statement he issued today (yesterday)
represents.
“General Buhari’s main grouse which clearly motivated his
ill-considered statement appears to be what he called “the gale of impeachments
or the utilisation of desperate tactics to suffocate the opposition and turn
Nigeria into a one-party state.
“It is most unfortunate that instead of working to put their
house in order and resolve the leadership crises and internal contradictions
that have plunged their party into a downward spiral, General Buhari and his
opposition allies have resorted to blaming a blameless President for their
woes.
“The processes for impeaching an elected Governor are clearly
stipulated in the National Constitution which Nigeria has operated since 1999.
The President of Nigeria is not assigned any role in that process and President
Jonathan has certainly not played any role in the recent impeachment of
Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa or in the impeachment drama currently being
played out in Nasarawa State.
“For the record, the President remains fully committed to
upholding the letters, principles and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution as he
has sworn, and defending the rule of law and integrity of the democratic
process with all his might.
“General Buhari talks about anarchy. He needs to be reminded
that President Jonathan from his humble beginnings as a Deputy Governor in
Bayelsa State to date, has never in his acts, or utterances, recommended or
promoted violence as a tool of political negotiation.
“Contrary to whatever General Buhari and his new friends may
imagine, President Jonathan fully respects the rights, powers, authority and
independence of elected representatives of the people, including the members of
the state assemblies who have concluded or initiated impeachment proceedings
against their state governors on grounds which they consider justifiable.
“The constitution does not give the President any power to
intervene in such proceedings and President Jonathan has never arrogated such
powers to himself or sought to exert any nefarious and unconstitutional
influence on state assemblies in Adamawa, Nasarawa or anywhere else in order to
secure undue political advantage for his party as General Buhari unjustifiably
alleges.
“President Jonathan remains true to his declaration that no
political ambition of his is worth the life of a single Nigerian. The President
has definitely not declared war on his own country or deployed federal
institutions in the service of partisan interests as General Buhari falsely
claims. Neither has he been using the common wealth to subvert the system and
punish the opposition, as the former Head of State inexcusably asserts.
“Also, President Jonathan has never at any time ordered that any
Nigerian should be kidnapped or that anyone should be crated and forcefully
transported in violation of decent norms of governance.
“We therefore urge General Buhari to tarry a while, ponder over
his own antecedents and do a reality check as to whether he has the moral right
to be so carelessly sanctimonious.
“It may well be time to pull the brakes, as General Buhari says
in his statement, but it is he and others who have resorted to idle
scapegoating and blaming President Jonathan for their self-inflected political
troubles who need to stop their inexcusable partisanship and show greater
regard for the truth, democracy, constitutionalism, the rule of law, peace,
security and the well-being of the nation” he said.
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