2011: JONATHAN CAN CONTEST —NGF
...says zoning is PDP’s affair

From ABDULL-AZEEZ AHMED KADIR, Kaduna
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010

THE Northern Governors’ Forum (NGF) yesterday rose from its ‘special meeting’ in Kaduna, saying it recognises the supremacy of 1999 Constitution Section 1 (131) and “acknowledges the right of President Goodluck Jonathan and indeed any other Nigerian to legitimately and constitutionally contest for the office of the President”.
Reading the communiqué to journalists after the meeting that lasted about five hours, the Chairman of the Forum and Chief Servant of Niger State, Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu said the forum took reports from all the member states that have taken various positions on the issue.
According to him, the Forum recognises that the issue of zoning is a Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) affair as contained in section 7(2C) of the party’s constitution. And in recognition of the circumstances of the demise of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan to the Presidency, “Forum resolves that wider consultations at all party levels within the PDP with all stakeholders across the nation to address the concerns of all in the interest of peaceful co-existence and advancement of democracy in our dear country Nigeria”.
Earlier, addressing the opening of the meeting which held at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Aliyu said Northern Nigeria is lagging behind in virtually everything and has become a region of ridicule, called all sort of names by others which should not be.
He said that those are the issues that should be at the front burner for any northerner in the overall interest of Nigeria. “The North now has poverty greater that any part, the North now has more people out of school than any part of the country. Our industries, none is functioning. When you talk of the power supply and indeed, we are now being looked at as Almajirai in the federal systems that have laws and constitution,” Aliyu asserted.
He appealed to all northerners and those residents in the region to remain calm, be law abiding and be very conscious that “Allah (SWT) does everything at the end of it all” making reference to the burning issue of zoning.
“It is amazing to note the intensity of the debates on the issue across the length and breadth of this country. This is a healthy trend in our political evolution, for whatever happens at the end of it all, Nigeria must go on, as one indivisible great nation. Overall, while negotiating equitably for better life for our people who seem to be short changed, in the federal system,” he added.
The Forum chair said the body would take responses from the governors of the member states as regards the zoning issue. As leaders of the people which Allah has saddled them with, Aliyu said they have to take the difficult decision in their best interest “while we must respect the fundamental rights of people to hold and express opinions”.
The issue of zoning, he argued, has become one of the most contentious issues in the polity, but the leaders should remember that God has placed the responsibility on their shoulders to chart a new course for the nation.
“Indeed, to many of us, the issue is not simply the issue of rotation/zoning as is being hyped but rather the issue of integrity, honesty and discipline. It is also an issue of good governance, the issue of equity intertwined by pragmatism. We must therefore be courageous in taking decisions, wise in negotiating properly and sincere in determining effort to get Nigeria working properly” he enthused.
Ordinarily, Aliyu said the issue at stake “is a political party issue, which should have been determined by the political party, and whatever position is taken should ordinarily be obeyed by the party members, once due process is followed”.
Meanwhile, an umbrella body of youth groups in the region by the name “Arewa Youth Development Foundation” opposed to jettisoning the zoning arrangement yesterday presented their position to the NGF.
Speaking through their joint-chairman Alhaji Ashiru Sherif, they said they planned to carry out peaceful protest in support of the zoning formula but were “advised by the security agencies in the state, to resort to delivering a message” to the NGF “bearing in mind the volatile nature of the state”.
Sherif said they had a meeting with Yakowa, Aliyu, Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, the state Director of the State Security Service and other security agents lasting into the wee hours of yesterday morning who compelled them to send 25 of their members to present their letter to, and brief the NGF.
He said that should the NGF go ahead and jettison the zoning arrangement, they would mobilise the electorate and take their pound of flesh when it is election time by ensuring most of them lose whatever position they may contest for.
The meeting was attended by 18 of the 19 governor members with the exception of Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda who was still receiving condolences on the demise of the Emir of Bauchi Dr. Suleiman Adamu who died on 24th July, 2010.