Olusegun Obasanjo and the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), accusing them of
plotting against President Goodluck Jonathan.
He condemned the Governors Forum, which he
described as “oppressive and dictatorial forum,” saying it is “getting more
worrisome as the days go by,” and that, “the quality of governance in most of
the PDP controlled governments is very poor.
The former Minister of Information also said, “The
PDP is sitting on a keg of gun powder which can explode at any time.”
He specifically accused Obasanjo of destroying the
party’s supremacy because he wanted to control it by wresting the powers of
party leader from the National Chairman.
Clark, who spoke in Abuja at a press conference he
tagged “Open letter to the Governors Forum,” also flayed the governors for
bastardising the slogan of the party from ‘ power to the people’ to ‘power to
the governors.”
Besides, he denied insinuations that Jonathan
signed any pact with the former president that he will serve for only one term
in office.
“It is not true. It is not the former President
who decides how many terms a President should do. It is the constitution,” he
said.
Recalling his political experience from the First
Republic, the elder statesman said he has no regrets attacking the governors.
“The Governors Forum is now acting as an
opposition party to the Federal Government.
“It deliberately breaches with impunity the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Constitution of the
PDP, without any challenges. The Forum has now become a threat to the peace and
stability of Nigeria. Most of the Governors today, are more dictatorial than
the then Military Governors.”
Comparing the NGF with the United States’ National
Governors Association (NGA), the octogenarian said Nigerian governors abuse the
Constitution with impunity and are using the platform to manipulate the polity.
“I have seen and made enquiries about your
counterparts in the U.S. Governors association called the National Governors
Association, NGA, does exist, but their existence and operations are within the
confines of the law of the land. This body, which was formed as far back as
1908, has never been a thorn in the flesh of the country.
“They are not politically ambitious. Each of the
Governors of the 50 states in the U.S. who want to become the President of the
country, does not use the Forum to achieve this ambition”, Clark said.
Going down memory lane, he said the over-bearing
influence of the NGF started when the former Kwara State Governor, Bukola
Saraki, became its chairman.
He said Saraki exploited the forum to achieve his
failed presidential ambition.
Clark went on to articulate what he considered the
sins of the governors. “The recent action of the National Working Committee,
NWC, of the PDP in which 10 of the members met to take a decision even when the
National Chairman was available and did not authorise his deputy to act for
him, clearly showed that there was problem in the party. Instead of the Forum
to join other party leaders to resolve this problem, it arrogantly supported
one side of the dispute.
“The controversy in Adamawa State is being fuelled
by the Governors Forum by declaring its unholy support for the Governor of the
state, Murtala Nyako. The Forum did not see anything wrong with Governor
Nyako’s ambition of nominating his wife as the Chief Judge of the State.”
Clark blamed the controversy in Adamawa on the
selfish interest of the PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, Nyako and former
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar“.
It must also be realised that the controversy in
Adamawa State is as a result of the selfish interest of three leaders of the PDP
in Adamawa State of wanting their sons to be the next Governor of the state,
that is, the National Chairman of the PDP, Bamanga Tukur, the State Governor,
Murtala Nyako and the former Vice President of the country, Atiku Abubakar,
while the majority of Adamawa people look on helplessly.”
Clarke recalled that the conflict between the
National Chairman and the President over who is the party leader started in the
days of Obasanjo. According to him, the former president “punctured and
destroyed” party’s supremacy.
“Somewhere along the line, the incoming President
Olusegun Obasanjo used his military antecedents, indoctrination and perceptual
conceptualization to obliterate the known practice of the distinction of the
party chairmanship with the leadership, and office of the President.
“He prevented the late Sunday Awoniyi from
becoming the Chairman of the great party on the reason that Awoniyi was a
Yoruba man like himself. He preferred Barnabas Gemade, who actually became the
National Chairman of the party. Much sooner and for no justifiable reason, he
decided to replace Gemade with Audu Ogbeh.
Clarke recalled that Obasanjo later removed Ogbeh
and imposed Ahmadu Ali over disagreement on the kidnap of former Anambra State
Governor, Chris Ngige, and the politics of the state’s godfather, Chris Uba.
“We witnessed the bastardisation of the Party by
the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo and the former National Chairman of the
Party, Ahmadu Ali, who for their own interest frustrated all the founding
fathers of the party and party faithful by de-registering most of the founding
members.
“Obasanjo installed himself the Chairman of the
Board of Trustees of the party as a former President of the country. With all
of these actions, the party’s supremacy was punctured and destroyed. Members
and all concerned reluctantly accommodated this unilateral attitude of the
President in office at that time, while he got himself consolidated for the
period he served.
“Concurrently, the Governors in the various states
also assumed the same posture and in all circumstances seized the soul, the
heart and disciplinary features of the Party.
“There is no more justice in the party due to the
greed and corrupt attitude of the heavy weights of the party who made money
using the party. Today they are using the same money to destroy the party.
“There is no unity in the party, it is fragmented
everywhere.”
“The slogan of the party has been turned upside
down. The PDP members at the grassroots no longer control the party and the
power of the party no longer belongs to the people. The people have lost the
power reluctantly accepting the slogan ‘Power to the Governors.’
He added: “The PDP Governors who now regard
themselves as the leaders of the party are using their own structures to
entrench corruption, lack of internal democracy, imposition of candidates
within the structures of the Party over the recognized structures as entrenched
in the party’s Constitution.
“The over-bearing influence of the Governors Forum
in the polity has become a matter of serious concern. The activities of the PDP
Governors Forum in particular has become very disturbing and calls for urgent
correction as it is fast eroding the authority and the supremacy of the party
and posing a serious threat to our democracy. The Forum has become a powerful
tool in the hands of the Governors who now use it to pursue and promote their
individual and collective interests with little or no regard to the letter and
spirit of the Party’s Constitution and supremacy.”
