It is a truism that political parties are platforms on which political office seekers contest elective offices during polls.
However, political observers say that the parties ought to regularly maintain certain modus-operandi that tends to turn around the engine of their management.
Since the current democractic dispensation in 1999, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has remained as the ruling party, after taking power at the centre and in many states of the country.
The PDP has produced the country’s presidency through the joint ticket of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar twice, in 1999 and 2003, and through Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua and Dr Goodluck Jonathan in 2007, in the three elections thus far.
Although the PDP has 61 other opposition parties to contend with, it has, however, managed to maintain its dominance at the centre, in spite of its internal squabbles at national and state levels.
As part of efforts to maintain its dominance on the country and possibly re-capture the states and supporters it had lost to the opposition, the PDP inaugurated a committee headed by former Vice President Alex Ekwueme to reconcile aggrieved members ahead of 2011 elections.
The committee had just started its work when the party experienced yet another challenge — the demise of President Yar’Adua on May 5, 2010.
Following Yar’Adua’s death, Jonathan became the President on May 6, in fulfilment of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution.
This, political observers, say has led to the great question: Should Jonathan contest in the 2011 elections?
This question brought to the fore the unresolved controversial issue regarding the PDP’s zoning arrangement.
In the last three months, since Jonathan’s assumption of office, the issue has continued to generate heated debates both nationally and internationally and concerned citizens note that it is threatening not just the PDP but also the country’s democracy.
While many see the issue as the internal affair of PDP, others believe that it is a national and moral question that requires the interest of every right-thinking Nigerian.
Some critics claim that while zoning may be a PDP arrangement, it is also promoted in the country’s constitution via a different nomenclature called Federal Character.
Senate President David Mark, at an event in Abuja where the issue was raised, assured Nigerians that Jonathan would not undermine the sanctity of the Nigerian Constitution.
Mark told a delegation of Northern Elders Assembly led by its chairman, Alhaji Muhammed Kirfi, in Abuja that Jonathan “is very mindful of the diverse nature of Nigeria and will not do anything unconstitutional to undermine the sanctity of her unity’’.
While allaying their fears, Mark said that it was necessary to assure the citizens because of fears expressed in some quarters that Jonathan might not uphold the principle of Federal Character or zoning arrangement in appointment or election into public offices.
The Senate President also gave the assurance that the leadership of the National Assembly, being loyal party members, would continue to be guided by the constitution and rule of law in their activities.
“We shall do everything within the ambit of the law to promote the interests of Nigeria and Nigerians,’’ he said.
Mark urged Nigerians to strive to promote the nation’s interest beyond any ethnic or regional considerations, saying: “We are all bound by a common purpose and mission as one indivisible country with a common heritage.
“As elders, we must be nationalistic and open-minded in our views and actions, so that we can correct the younger generation from deviating,’’ he said.
Mark conceded that the application of the principle of Federal Character in employment and appointment of people into public offices was a worthy development.
He, however, cautioned: “Federal Character principle is good but it should not be at the expense of merit.”
Kirfi, nonetheless, urged the Senate President to prevail on Jonathan not to jettison the principle of Federal Character and zoning in the forthcoming general elections, to preserve the harmony and unity of the federating units.
He also urged the present administration to pursue to logical conclusion, the electoral reforms that would guarantee credible elections in 2011.
In spite of these assurances, many sceptics say the PDP leadership has left Nigerians and party members more confused by the recent resolution of its National Executive Council (NEC) on zoning.
The party’s NEC said that it would retain the zoning principle at the 2011 general elections and resolved that President Jonathan could also seek election.
Worried by the hazy stance of the PDP, former Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh and Senate Minority Leader Olorunnimbe Mamora, advised President Jonathan to watch out for booby traps.
Mamora said: “ I would advise President Goodluck Jonathan not to allow political hawks in any guise to distract him from his good works.
“It is good to hear the President restate his commitment to Nigerians but he should not allow all those political hawks who surround him to either derail or distract him from implementing his planned programme of actions for the country.
“These political sycophants will always be there but I urge Mr President to remain focused and only listen to those who may be opposed to him but who are constructive in their criticisms,’’ he said.
Momoh, in one a write-up, “Point of Order’’, said: “What the departure of Yar’Adua means is that Jonathan is now in charge, not as Acting President, but as the one who must now assume full powers as Head of State, Chief Executive of the country and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces.
“No one can now doubt that he is the one on whose table the buck stops and his tenure ends when the tenure of the late President would have ended; that is on May 29, 2011,’’ he said.
But he expressed concern over the unfolding internal squabbles within the PDP.
‘ I can already hear the drumbeats, telling Jonathan that he is God-sent and so, he must contest the next election.
“These drums, the drumming have been part of our system and have only grown in sophistication. They derailed Gen. Yakubu Gowon, who wanted to leave office after the civil war.
“They told him about the programme of reabsorbing the Igbo into the Nigerian family, which only he could successfully undertake. So, the time he promised to return the country to civilian rule was no longer feasible.
“He listened to the drummers and fell. Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo did not fall for overstaying his welcome when he had to take over the mantle of office on the death of Gen. Murtala Mohammed. He quit office in 1979 and was held in high esteem by the world.
“ It is this example of leaving office the time you are expected, that sustains Abdulsalam Abubakar today.
‘There were pressures on him not to quit in 1999. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari had not made a commitment on return to civil rule before he was removed. In fact, one of the reasons given for his removal was that he had no programme for return to civil rule.
“Gen. Ibrahim Babangida’s major sin is that he annulled an election he conducted. And what has given Obasanjo a bad name today is the attempt he made or that which those who said they loved him made, to ensure he extended his tenure of office beyond the eight years that the Constitution provides.
“Now, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is the President of Nigeria and the pressure will soon mount on him not to hand over power to anyone when the tenure ends on May 29, 2011. The only way to ensure this is to ask for the ticket of his party, the PDP, to contest the next elections.
“This is my advice for Jonathan: Don’t fall for the drumming of the diverters. These people I call diverters are human beings alright but they manifest their talents so persuasively that their victims only come to know that they had been taken for a ride.
“They never lose sight of what they want. Anybody, anything can be sacrificed to ensure that their interests are protected. But one day, just one day, the diverted comes to his senses and wonders whatever came over him when he was being diverted by the diverters.
“President Jonathan must by now be persuaded beyond any doubt that he is a child of fulfilment of a vision, a pencil in the hand of One whose power we cannot assess and undermine.
“The day Jonathan undermines the guidance that has brought him to a level no seer would have been able to predict, that day he would be listed among those who were derailed by the diverters.
“But Jonathan is the issue today. His mission is to give us credible elections and he cannot do this if he contests.
“Both Jonathan and the Vice President must therefore organise the 2011 elections without contesting, so that for once in a long time, we may have elections whose outcome both winners and losers would endorse.
“And then, Jonathan’s name will be written in gold and anything he wants thereafter will be there for the taking. Is age not on his side?’’ Momoh asked.
Till now, Jonathan has neither spoken of his ambition for 2011 nor reprimanded those urging him to contest the presidential election. But whatever decisions he needs to make, many believe providence will once more guide his steps.
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