Abdulsalami Heads Group to Douse Tension in North

Posted by admin Top Stories Thursday, March 24th, 2011

A five-man lobby group to stave-off the rising incidents of violence between supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and that of other political parties particularly the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has been raised by President Goodluck Jonathan.

This comes as President Goodluck Jonathan is scheduled to meet the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the National Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NCSIA) this weekend. The parley is part of the ongoing nationwide consultations with various interest groups on the best way forward for Nigeria, post May 29.
Headed by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the committee is to enlist the support of religious leaders, including emirs in their mission to end the political clashes in the North.

It also has former parliamentary assistant to former President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, as member.
Other members are former Minister of Agriculture Shettima Mustapha, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and Wakilin Adamawa, Alhaji Hassan Adamu.

Apart from being initiated by Jonathan, the committee also has the endorsement of former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, and the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Mohammed Harilu Bello.
THISDAY gathered it was at the intervention of “these leaders” that a committee of Northern politicians and clerics was set up to meet the emirs and imams to join the vehicle that will usher in peace and reduce tension in the country, especially in the North as a result of the ongoing electioneering.

Yakassai, who spoke to THISDAY on the mission of the committee, said: “First, let me disabuse the minds of Nigerians that we were set up to campaign for President Goodluck Jonathan. Everybody knows my stand on zoning and the president contesting the presidential election in the first place.
“We were set up to douse the growing political tension between the PDP, CPC and the ACN during the electioneering. We, like everyone, are worried over these clashes and the letting of blood because of the campaigns. We were not set up to campaign for anybody.”

Giving further insight on how the panel was set up, he said: “It was first the chairman of PDP who contacted some of us and expressed his worries over the clashes from the campaigns between the PDP, CPC and ACN members. He said that he was acting on behalf of President Jonathan.
“I told him that I cannot do the job because I am a member of the G15 that is opposed to President Jonathan and that I cannot do such a thing without the consent of our leader, General Ibrahim Babangida. I advised him to meet with Babangida to get his consent before I will accept.

“Later, Babangida contacted me and said that the mission is not to campaign for Jonathan, but to meet the religious leaders, both Christians and Muslims on the need to avoid the growing political tensions between PDP, ACN and the CPC at various times. It was on this basis that the Committee of Elders was set up with the primary purpose to minimise political tension in the North.
“We have gone to many states and we have spoken to the emirs and the imams. We have also condemned the Nasarawa State Governor Akwe Doma, who directed the Emir of Lafia not to grant audience to the CPC presidential candidate, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). All we are doing is to douse political tension, which is capable of consuming the country if care is not taken.

“Our work basically is to ensure peace during the elections and not that we are set up to campaign for President Jonathan. We have so far visited Sokoto, Kebbi, Gombe and other areas where there were incidences of religious clashes between the PDP and CPC on one hand and the PDP and the ACN on the other hand.”
Yakassai, who was a parliamentary adviser to former President Shehu Shagari, said at 85 years, he would do anything to ensure peace in the country.

But a source from the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) told newsmen that the committee headed by Gen. Abubakar was set up by Jonathan to intensify efforts towards wooing emirs and imams following the deadlock in his dialogue with the NPLF.
Meanwhile, the National President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, will tomorrow lead top officials of CAN to play host to Jonathan in Warri, while the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Abubakar Sa’ad III, will lead the NSCIA on a meeting with the president on Sunday in Kaduna.

Confident of heading a new government in May 29, the president had last weekend begun a nationwide consultation with various interest groups with a view to hitting the ground running as soon as he is sworn in.
In the last few days, the president has met with some interest groups including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), members of the Nigeria entertainment industry, as well as Nollywood actors and actresses.

The dialogue, which is coming after the state-by-state campaign tour of the 36 states of the Federation by the president, saw him meeting with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He had on Monday had a meeting with the motorcycle riders, popularly known as Okada riders under the aegis of Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN) in Lagos.

In all the meetings, Jonathan had continued to receive endorsements from the various groups for the 2011 presidency.
In the weeks ahead, the president is expected to meet other interest groups such as the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), among many others.

In another development, Jonathan yesterday raised the alarm that the level of political violence preceding the April elections was capable of marring the exercise and warned that henceforth, anyone, no matter how highly placed, caught perpetrating or sponsoring violence would be prosecuted.
He also charged all security agencies to, as a matter of urgency, step up efforts to contain the violence, warning that every political office holder must respect the laws of the land which provides for safety of lives and property.

Briefing newsmen after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting yesterday, Minister of Information and Communication, Mr. Labaran Maku, in company with the Minister of Police Affairs, Mr. Humphrey Abbah, vowed that there would be no sacred cows in the crackdown against violence.
According to them, Jonathan asked political parties and leaders to ensure that their supporters obeyed the law as no office, no matter how revered, was worth the blood of a fellow Nigerian, and insisted that violence could not be allowed to be an instrument for grabbing power in the country.

Maku said the president was particularly insistent on arresting the trend because unless it was adequately tackled, citizens would not feel free and safe to come out and cast their votes which would make nonsense of the free and fair elections he had promised Nigerians.

“FEC reviewed the increasing political violence across the country and the president believed that anyone seeking to lead Nigeria or seeking to participate in the leadership of Nigeria in any level is to respect the law of the land; is to respect safety of lives and property.

“That is why today Mr. President called on all security agencies, as we go into the elections, to step up their effort to contain the violence. He believes that no one is above the law. He believes that no single Nigerian is above the law. The campaign must show that we are prepared to lead our country to the era of stability. Democracy is about due process; it is about rule of law; it is about regulations,” the minister said.
He further warned: “Government has therefore resolved to take decisive actions against anyone, any party, any group that threatens the lives and properties of others. And any person that disrupts the electoral process by way of violence, this situation is not right. It does not portray the nation right; it does not portray our electoral process right.”
To him, the issue of getting votes should be about stating your covenant with the people, debate and discussions as against the use of guns, machetes, sticks, bows and arrows.

-ThisDaywp_posts

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Posted by admin on Mar 24 2011. Filed under Top Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry