All Progressives Congress (APC) leader Asiwaju
Bola Tinubu yesterday justified his opposition to
the national conference proposed by President
Goodluck Jonathan, insisting that the President’s
motives are suspect.
He said although he is an unrepentant supporter of a
Sovereign National Conference, he was wary of a
“rushed embrace”, owing to President Jonathan’s
antecedent as an antagonist of the idea.
The former Lagos State governor opposed the
proposed conference when he returned from a
medical trip abroad. His comment drew criticisms
from some proponents of the conference.
Tinubu faulted the proposal, based on its timing,
stressing that government’s sincerity is questionable.
He said: “Though I remain an unrepentant supporter
of a genuine Sovereign National Conference, I am
suspicious of this present concoction because it is
half-baked and fully deceptive. Government’s sincerity
is questionable; the timing is also suspect. Now that
this government is sinking in a pool of political and
economic hot water of its own making, it seizes hold
of the national conference idea as if it were a life
jacket.”
In a statement in Lagos, the APC leader urged
Nigerians to beam the searchlight on the proposed
conference, insisting that it is a ‘Greek’ gift and public
deception.
He stressed: “President Jonathan’s epiphany–if
epiphany it is and not an expedient calculated to
enhance his 2015 re-election bid – should be
subjected to searching questions.
“It is difficult to lay aside the suspicion that his
sudden conversion is all about 2015. Otherwise, why
the sudden endorsement of a national conference,
not merely in principle, but with a rush toward some
form of implementation? What has happened that
was not already in play in all those years during
which the authorities rejected demands for a national
conference?”
Justifying his opposition to the conference, despite its
seeming popularity, Tinubu maintained that the
Federal Government should address “the fundamental
questions about the timing, sincerity and, most
importantly, the capability and credibility of the
President to deliver a genuine national conference”.
He went on: “How credible, reliable and capable is
the current President to be able to midwife a critical
conference, such as this? Will this President be
sincere enough to let all the issues that are on the
agenda be exhaustively discussed at the conference?
Will this President have the guts to implement fully all
final resolutions of the conference, without fear or
favour or any pandering”?
The former governor alluded to the events that
heralded the announcement of a conference by the
President, recalling that despite the previous
opposition to it by the legislative and executive arms,
the President suddenly made the announcement,
following its endorsement by Senate President David
Mark, who had also criticised the agitation, barely
three months earlier.
Noting the change of heart by the President and the
Senate President, he said: “I, like other well-meaning
Nigerians, must welcome this shift. It is an admission,
at last, that the wide cracks in the national fabric can
no longer be papered over, and that the time has
come for fresh thinking on fundamental problems,
the existence of which has for too long been denied.”
Tinubu’s opposition was informed, according to him,
by historical experience and the government’s
shortfalls in sincerity and capability.
He said: “This is an administration that has been
known to have flip- flopped on so many critical issues
of national importance. President Jonathan was part
of two issues of national importance in the recent
past; amnesty and the Uwais Panel on electoral
reform. We all know what has happened to these two
issues.
“The amnesty conceived from inception has been
corrupted and hijacked by the President’s clique. It is
one of Nigeria’s drain pipes. A slush fund for political
expeditions and a conduit to siphon money to the
boys. The Uwais Panel report gathers dust and suffers
from constant cherry picking. What about the much-
publicized SURE-P initiative of this administration?
“Another ill-conceived and fraudulently implemented
programme of this administration. Billions of naira
have so far disappeared into private pockets and the
treasury still bleeds. I can go on and on. Is this the
leader we want to trust with organising a national
dialogue or is it conference they call it? Where is the
capability? Where is the sincerity? Where is the
presence of mind?”
Stressing that sincerity is fundamental, the APC leader
added: “It is difficult to lay aside the suspicion that
his sudden conversion is all about 2015. Otherwise,
why the sudden endorsement of a National
Conference, not merely in principle, but with a rush
toward some form of implementation? What has
happened that was not already in play in all those
years during which the authorities rejected demands
for a National Conference? This government cannot
hold a National Conference anymore than a comatose
man can stand and hold up a candle that the rest of
us might see our way to a better Nigeria.”
Tinubu also raised some posers for the organisers of
the conference at a time the polity is preparing for
the next elections. He asked: “Would staging a
National Conference in such a setting not overheat
the polity? Would it not be better to defer the
Conference until after the general elections? There is
still so much to do to ensure that the election is free
and fair, conforms to best practices, and represents
the will of the people.”
Tinubu suggested some conditions for the
convocation of the conference to prevent it from
becoming another public relations ploy to whitewash
government’s tarnished record.
He said: “If the conference must be held now, we
must return to the spade work already done by the
Obasanjo government in the aspect of constitutional
review. Let the Jonathan government bring it out,
remove the third term toxic component and set up a
technical review committee to examine the 118
recommendations therein. The process came up with
118 recommendations, most of which were far
reaching and dealt with critical and the contentious
issues of nationhood. We must continue from where
we disagreed. Nation building is a progressive work
and to totally jettison the considerable spade work
already done will set back the hands of the clock.”
Secondly, Tinubu advised that the Uwais
recommendations on electoral reforms be
implemented. “That report was the work of eminent
Nigerians and it was done after widespread
consultations with constituencies far and wide. We all
know that our electoral system is broken and unfair.
If the President has done nothing to fully implement
this corrective report that would fix a system so
blatantly broken, why would he implement
recommendations of national conference if those
recommendations do not suit his narrow purposes?
“The government should first implement this
important work in order to demonstrate to Nigerians
that it can hold and honor the outcome of a National
dialogue. This government should do so to show that
it has nothing to hide and is willing to engage in the
upcoming electoral contest on a level playing field.”
Tinubu said while he agreed that “Nigerians need to
talk, the midwife must be trustworthy”, adding that “if
we get this wrong, the future will be fraught with
dangers”.
He also said that “Nigeria is adrift and unless we start
a discourse aimed at updating and improving our
political economy and its structures, we might wake
up one day from a night devoid of dreams because
we have turned into a nation devoid of hope”.
Bola Tinubu yesterday justified his opposition to
the national conference proposed by President
Goodluck Jonathan, insisting that the President’s
motives are suspect.
He said although he is an unrepentant supporter of a
Sovereign National Conference, he was wary of a
“rushed embrace”, owing to President Jonathan’s
antecedent as an antagonist of the idea.
The former Lagos State governor opposed the
proposed conference when he returned from a
medical trip abroad. His comment drew criticisms
from some proponents of the conference.
Tinubu faulted the proposal, based on its timing,
stressing that government’s sincerity is questionable.
He said: “Though I remain an unrepentant supporter
of a genuine Sovereign National Conference, I am
suspicious of this present concoction because it is
half-baked and fully deceptive. Government’s sincerity
is questionable; the timing is also suspect. Now that
this government is sinking in a pool of political and
economic hot water of its own making, it seizes hold
of the national conference idea as if it were a life
jacket.”
In a statement in Lagos, the APC leader urged
Nigerians to beam the searchlight on the proposed
conference, insisting that it is a ‘Greek’ gift and public
deception.
He stressed: “President Jonathan’s epiphany–if
epiphany it is and not an expedient calculated to
enhance his 2015 re-election bid – should be
subjected to searching questions.
“It is difficult to lay aside the suspicion that his
sudden conversion is all about 2015. Otherwise, why
the sudden endorsement of a national conference,
not merely in principle, but with a rush toward some
form of implementation? What has happened that
was not already in play in all those years during
which the authorities rejected demands for a national
conference?”
Justifying his opposition to the conference, despite its
seeming popularity, Tinubu maintained that the
Federal Government should address “the fundamental
questions about the timing, sincerity and, most
importantly, the capability and credibility of the
President to deliver a genuine national conference”.
He went on: “How credible, reliable and capable is
the current President to be able to midwife a critical
conference, such as this? Will this President be
sincere enough to let all the issues that are on the
agenda be exhaustively discussed at the conference?
Will this President have the guts to implement fully all
final resolutions of the conference, without fear or
favour or any pandering”?
The former governor alluded to the events that
heralded the announcement of a conference by the
President, recalling that despite the previous
opposition to it by the legislative and executive arms,
the President suddenly made the announcement,
following its endorsement by Senate President David
Mark, who had also criticised the agitation, barely
three months earlier.
Noting the change of heart by the President and the
Senate President, he said: “I, like other well-meaning
Nigerians, must welcome this shift. It is an admission,
at last, that the wide cracks in the national fabric can
no longer be papered over, and that the time has
come for fresh thinking on fundamental problems,
the existence of which has for too long been denied.”
Tinubu’s opposition was informed, according to him,
by historical experience and the government’s
shortfalls in sincerity and capability.
He said: “This is an administration that has been
known to have flip- flopped on so many critical issues
of national importance. President Jonathan was part
of two issues of national importance in the recent
past; amnesty and the Uwais Panel on electoral
reform. We all know what has happened to these two
issues.
“The amnesty conceived from inception has been
corrupted and hijacked by the President’s clique. It is
one of Nigeria’s drain pipes. A slush fund for political
expeditions and a conduit to siphon money to the
boys. The Uwais Panel report gathers dust and suffers
from constant cherry picking. What about the much-
publicized SURE-P initiative of this administration?
“Another ill-conceived and fraudulently implemented
programme of this administration. Billions of naira
have so far disappeared into private pockets and the
treasury still bleeds. I can go on and on. Is this the
leader we want to trust with organising a national
dialogue or is it conference they call it? Where is the
capability? Where is the sincerity? Where is the
presence of mind?”
Stressing that sincerity is fundamental, the APC leader
added: “It is difficult to lay aside the suspicion that
his sudden conversion is all about 2015. Otherwise,
why the sudden endorsement of a National
Conference, not merely in principle, but with a rush
toward some form of implementation? What has
happened that was not already in play in all those
years during which the authorities rejected demands
for a National Conference? This government cannot
hold a National Conference anymore than a comatose
man can stand and hold up a candle that the rest of
us might see our way to a better Nigeria.”
Tinubu also raised some posers for the organisers of
the conference at a time the polity is preparing for
the next elections. He asked: “Would staging a
National Conference in such a setting not overheat
the polity? Would it not be better to defer the
Conference until after the general elections? There is
still so much to do to ensure that the election is free
and fair, conforms to best practices, and represents
the will of the people.”
Tinubu suggested some conditions for the
convocation of the conference to prevent it from
becoming another public relations ploy to whitewash
government’s tarnished record.
He said: “If the conference must be held now, we
must return to the spade work already done by the
Obasanjo government in the aspect of constitutional
review. Let the Jonathan government bring it out,
remove the third term toxic component and set up a
technical review committee to examine the 118
recommendations therein. The process came up with
118 recommendations, most of which were far
reaching and dealt with critical and the contentious
issues of nationhood. We must continue from where
we disagreed. Nation building is a progressive work
and to totally jettison the considerable spade work
already done will set back the hands of the clock.”
Secondly, Tinubu advised that the Uwais
recommendations on electoral reforms be
implemented. “That report was the work of eminent
Nigerians and it was done after widespread
consultations with constituencies far and wide. We all
know that our electoral system is broken and unfair.
If the President has done nothing to fully implement
this corrective report that would fix a system so
blatantly broken, why would he implement
recommendations of national conference if those
recommendations do not suit his narrow purposes?
“The government should first implement this
important work in order to demonstrate to Nigerians
that it can hold and honor the outcome of a National
dialogue. This government should do so to show that
it has nothing to hide and is willing to engage in the
upcoming electoral contest on a level playing field.”
Tinubu said while he agreed that “Nigerians need to
talk, the midwife must be trustworthy”, adding that “if
we get this wrong, the future will be fraught with
dangers”.
He also said that “Nigeria is adrift and unless we start
a discourse aimed at updating and improving our
political economy and its structures, we might wake
up one day from a night devoid of dreams because
we have turned into a nation devoid of hope”.
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