Order of primaries : How governors forced Jonathan to back down

Yesterday’s meeting of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party’s [PDP] National Executive Committee [NEC] was delayed for more than 7 hours because of a tense and acrimonious closed-door meeting at which President Goodluck Jonathan and party national chairman Dr. Okesileize Nwodo alternately begged, cajoled and threatened the party’s state governors to accept presidential before gubernatorial primaries, Daily Trust learnt from sources inside the meeting last night. When all pleas fell on deaf ears, Jonathan caved in to the governors’ demand in return for what a source said was “a hollow statement endorsing his presidential aspiration.”

It all began when 21 PDP governors arrived at Wadata Plaza, venue of the scheduled meeting, earlier than the 11am time of the meeting and they went straight to Dr. Nwodo’s office. The governors, led by their chairman Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, said they had come to tell Nwodo that they will not accept a reversal of the order of primaries to place the presidential before the gubernatorial primaries, and that they would ensure the proposal’s defeat at the NEC meeting. They urged Nwodo to tell President Jonathan, who was behind the move, to drop it “in order not to suffer a humiliation at the NEC meeting.”

When the governors’ meeting with Nwodo dragged on, party national secretary Dr. Abubakar Kawu Baraje issued a statement rescheduling the NEC meeting to 3pm. The hot exchange in Nwodo’s office then continued and 2 hours later, Vice President Mohamed Namadi Sambo arrived and joined the meeting. He pleaded with the governors to respect the president’s wishes and allow the primary election order to be reversed, but the governors resolutely stood their ground.

At 4.47pm, President Jonathan also arrived and joined the meeting. Sources told Daily Trust that the meeting became very hot at that point, with President Jonathan close to tears as he begged the PDP governors not to allow his main challenger, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, to humiliate him in the PDP primaries. He said Atiku had severally promised to defeat him in the primaries and he accused the governors of abetting it with their intransigence.

President Jonathan then referred to Atiku’s comment of the previous day, in which he said “those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable.” He described the statement as treasonable, and he said if Atiku ever makes such a statement again, he would order his arrest “no matter what will happen.”

When the PDP governors still said they would not back down from their stance, former Board of Trustees chairman Chief Tony Anenih stood up and suggested a compromise. He urged the president to allow the governors to have their way with the order of primaries. In return, Anenih said the governors should make a public declaration of support for Jonathan’s aspiration.

This suggestion again divided the governors, some of whom said it was okay, but several others said there was no need for it, since most of them had already declared support for Jonathan at his eagle Square declaration and also when his campaign team visited their states. However, a majority of the governors said a statement should be issued, describing it as “insignificant” because of previous endorsements. At that point, several Northern governors said they could only sign the statement if it committed Jonathan to serve a single term from 2011 to 2015.

At 6:15 p.m, while the imbroglio was going on, Minister of Women Affairs Mrs. Josephine Anenih, who along with other NEC members had been waiting for 7 hours, got up and began singing a song calling for equality, development and peace. She said, “You will agree with me that if women are up there [in the meeting], they will have solved this problem. Women are for peace!”

After the Anenih compromise was worked out, the NEC meeting finally began at 6.24pm. the NEC quickly ratified the old order of primaries and provided that House of Assembly, National Assembly, governorship and then presidential primaries to hold on January 3, 5, 9 and 13 respectively.

Soon after the NEC meeting ended, twenty governors kept their own side of the bargain and issued a statement endorsing Jonathan’s ambition. Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State read the statement, but the governors’ chairman Governor Bukola Saraki bluntly refused to sign, saying he could not endorse Jonathan because he was part of the Northern consensus arrangement.

The governors that backed Jonathan were those of Benue, Niger, Katsina, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Gombe, Rivers, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Plateau, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kebbi, Kogi, Zamfara, Taraba, Ogun, Imo and Oyo States.

The communiqué read by Shema and signed by the 20 governors stated that they were supporting Jonathan ‘for a period of four years only’.

The communiqué titled ‘Resolution of PDP Governors’ said, “ At the emergency meeting of PDP Governors held Thursday 16th Day of December, 2010 and having deliberated extensively on democratic practices the world over observed as follows:

“democratic systems all over the world recognize the principle of incumbency and continuity.

“entrenched democratic culture persistent in presidential system and our constitution entitles our President to run for a second term which the PDP Governors support.

“The Governors also recognize the Yar’adua/Jonathan ticket and therefore hereby support and endorse President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GCFR) to contest the 2011 election as the PDP Presidential candidate for a period of four years only.”

Swiftly reacting to the governors’ statement, Atiku Abubakar’s campaign office said the governors have the right endorse any aspirant but stated that delegates’ right to vote should not be trampled upon.

The statement said, “The so-called Governors’ endorsement is of no significance so long as they do not take away the right of delegates to vote. We are in a democracy. Governors have a right to make a democratic choice and so do the delegates. Let there be no intimidation of delegates”