AFRICAN ECON :: THE OPTIMIST VOICE

EDITORIAL

PDP and Rotational Presidency

May 8, 2010

Any party that does not respect its own ideology, policy, and common agreements - where its major stake holders do not feel any need for accountability to what they have already propagated - is not one that people should respect, let alone cast their votes for. Though people have come to distrust politicians, still some of their actions that one sees these days make people at the very least disgusted.

Some key players within the ruling party in Nigeria have demonstrated that they only believe something when it serves them individually, and not common goals that ensures fair play, integrity, and respect for public interests. And they still go along parading themselves as politicians. I hope Nigerians have been awakened by recent developments surrounding rotational presidency and what is unfolding today.

The Daily Trust run a story today (Saturday), in which it quoted Former President Obasanjo denying rotational presidency as a policy of his party the PDP, while his former Vice President Atiku Abubakar confirms that it does. The paper reported that there have been denials by former President Obasanjo “that there was any concrete arrangement by the PDP to zone the presidency to the north after eight years of a southern presidency, of which Obasanjo was the beneficiary.”

Atiku when asked about it commented thus according to Daily Trust “Well, yes, I am aware of that agreement, I was a party to it, it exists and I expect the party will implement that policy and if the party decides not to implement it then, it will also have to meet and review it.”

Mr. Obasanjo further added according to the paper, that: “The president can come from any part of the country, and nothing in the Constitution says he must come from a certain part of the country,”   In this particular war of words, it seems that Atiku carries the victory, for no Nigerian that is politically active or even in the know will agree with what the former President uttered as facts. If Obasanjo however does, then he must admit thereafter that his party and himself have deceived the nation, for he cannot eat his cake and still have it.

The issue here is not that there has ever been any basis for rotational Presidency in the constitution, and that is fully understandable. We have criticized it on the pages of this publication too, because it amounts to infecting oneself with germs that have the potential to cause bodily harm. Once you uphold democratic and non discriminatory ideals, you cannot come back and draft an in-built policy that mocks it, all within the same document. And if you do, you then knowingly implanted a counter device that will clash and ultimately cause chaos to the system.

The issue here is upholding one’s personal as well as national integrity especially if one has held the highest office in the land. Sometimes our leaders by their own actions and words, and not the citizens, bring shame unto their status and our national integrity. You can play politics with issues, but there are ways you can do that and still command respect across the board. Remember all such Former Presidents and Head of States still have an advisory seat on the table of governance. They have to watch their words.

The style of politics Mr. Obasanjo appears to be playing today sounds like the “ultra conservatives” kind when you equate it to U S politics. But even here in the United States the ultra conservatives have become a minority ideology and their style very unpopular. For if it was, we would have had a different individual occupying the White House today, than the one who ran on the theme of “change.”

The Nigerian Constitution, designed to return the country to democratic rule of course enshrined only democratic ideals of one person one vote, non discrimination on the basis of language, ethnicity, regional origin etc But the same constitution was in place when PDP concocted the rotational Presidency issue and forced it on the country. And the Former President used it at that time because it served his interest.

PDP, as Atiku said, has to sit down and iron out the issue in a just, fair and agreeable way, as we have also propagated earlier on this publication. What one would expect from people who have once reached the pinnacle of power in the nation is finding a compromise that (1) serves the interests of all members of his party regardless of where they come from without bulldozing some of them in a tyrannical fashion (2) also satisfies and justly serves all Nigerians (North, South, East and West). It is expected also that his position will help his party. And for it to serve his party well his position has to be all inclusive.

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