Buhari to Jonathan: Nigeria sitting on keg of gun powder 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. Jonathan and Buhari 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.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 12:19:31 +0000
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