It has been said that those whom the gods want to destroy; they first of all drive them mad. This time-worn expression best describes the Presidency in their running battle with Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, who has been ignominiously suspended from the ruling Peoples democratic Party (PDP). What began as a disagreement on policies such as the Sovereign Wealth Fund and the location of some oil wells between Bayelsa and Rivers State has now become an ego-tripping battle over who has more powers between Abuja and Port Harcourt. This is unacceptable and must stop forthwith. It is not what Nigerians voted for. As president, Goodluck Jonathan must at all times aspire to statesmanship and be presidential. He has a duty; both in his public conduct and private thinking not to act in a manner as to invite odium to his high office, or allow the public to hold him out as anything other than the President of Nigeria. Preserving order, peace and harmony is the highest objective of statecraft.
Jonathan’s obsession with Amaechi and unwholesome presidential meddling in the Nigerian Governors Forum, (NGF) was at best, the product of bad advice; underlined by a character weakness on the part of the President; who has shown that he is cantankerous and can hold a grudge. But this certainly, is not the kind of thing to be said of a President from whom everyone expects so much. Last Friday’s election in which Amaechi beat the odds to defeat Jonathan’s anointed candidate, Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State was a humiliation for the President. Jang’s defeat sent a very clear message: a president who cannot hold his party together cannot hold a nation together.
Available accounts indicate that all the 36 governors, except Yobe State Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, were in attendance for the election conducted by the NGF Director General, Asishana Bayo Okauru. The election was by open-secret balloting, whereby each governor was handed a ballot on which to write the name of his choice and drop in a box. Amaechi polled 19 votes to Jang’s 16, to win a second term as NGF Chairman. In a bizarre display of political imbecility, the sore losers led by Akwa Ibom State Governor; Godswill Akpabio proceeded to create a rival faction with Jang as chairman. This is pig-headed and wrong. To make an already bad situation worse for Jonathan, Amaechi was suspended from the party without any reason. Even with the flagrant display of absurdities assaulting the sensibilities of Nigerians, this unfortunate development in the unfolding NGF saga is one bizarre event too many.
At the same time, presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati tried to distance Jonathan from the controversy and expressed displeasure by the media portrait of the President as the main actor and loser of the election. Not many Nigerians would believe him. That Jonathan was opposed to Amaechi’s re-election and openly worked against him is an open secret. It is therefore a moral obligation for the President to come out publicly and disavow Akpabio and his Taliban group, considering the widespread perception of executive lawlessness and abuse of presidential power in the failed plot to oust Amaechi.
Amaechi’s fall out of favour with the Presidency, headed by a fellow Niger Delta man from a neighboring state, was not unexpected, but it took a while in coming. Loyalists of the Jonathan presidency have variously accused Amaechi of aspiring to contest as a running mate to another governor in 2015 in a manner considered an affront to the second term ambition of the incumbent president. The NGF, which Amaechi chairs, has also been said to be antagonistic to the Jonathan administration notwithstanding that Amaechi is a member of the ruling party.
Perhaps the first indication of an impending move to “trim Amaechi down to size” came from the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe. Orubebe had said then: “I am particularly piqued by the disrespectful behavior of Amaechi to the person and office of President Goodluck Jonathan, which will no longer be tolerated.” That perhaps set the ball rolling for what has been unfolding since then.
The move to first clip Amaechi’s wings from within started when Jonathan summoned PDP governors to a meeting on the night of Sunday, February 24 at the Presidential Villa; in what was thought to be a routine parley between the President and governors elected on PDP platform. Amaechi was absent. As an indication of his outright displeasure with Amaechi, the President sought to oust him as NGF chairman. To remove the carpet from underneath Amaechi’s feet, the PDP created its own Governor’s forum and made Akpabio its chairman. That done; Amaechi was to be ousted at the NGF meeting, the next day. But in spite of all the scheming and horse-trading, Jonathan could still not muster enough votes to oust Amaechi forcing the NGF to shift the election to Friday, May 24.
The Presidency then began to pile pressure on Amaechi. They took documents relating to the purchase of a private jet by Rivers State Government and came out to say the price was inflated. Thereafter, it was alleged that the plane did not belong to Rivers State and at another time, its papers had expired for which reason it was grounded at Akure airport with officials giving conflicting reasons for the action. The aircraft’s operation in Nigeria was also deemed illegal. The latest is that clearance documents used for the registration were forged. To anyone not blinded by prejudice, this is no more than insane blackmail. Assuming arguendo that these allegations are true, isn’t there a way of enforcing compliance with aviation laws without resort to brigandage that embarrasses the nation?
Amaechi’s opponents, obviously backed by the Presidency, enlisted the support of the PDP leadership with the result that he is now more or less a persona non grata within his party. The President may not be directly involved but Jonathan cannot claim ignorance of the crisis in Rivers that has crippled the State government. The shameful antics employed by the President’s men to politically emasculate Amaechi have indeed imperiled the public standing of the President. By all means, the ongoing charade is political vendetta at its worst.
By staking his Presidency on the NGF elections, Jonathan upstaged himself and made the elections a referendum on his leadership of his party and country; he lost and lost woefully. Having put himself on the spot, Jonathan should do the right thing: accept defeat gracefully and move on to more pressing issues of governance. There is enough cataclysm and wailings in Nigeria to which there has been no solution or respite, and the President should not be opening new avenues of chaos by wasting political capital over petty distractions like who heads a “social club” of despotic governors.
Aspiration to any office is a constitutional right of every Nigerian. It is regrettable that Jonathan has wittingly or unwittingly, developed a false sense of entitlement over the office. No individual has a special claim or right more than any other to the presidency. Nigerians are befuddled about the direction of this administration. They are asking: where really is the president leading us to? Beyond his obsession with Amaechi and 2015, Jonathan should start telling Nigerians, perhaps by deeds, why he deserves another mandate? This question goes beyond good luck; it is about rising to the occasion, offering dynamic leadership and delivering public goods. This is the challenge of leadership.
