I am saddened by the pretenses being expressed and exhibited by members of the People’s Democratic Party who are presumed to be displaying ‘public support’ for former President Goodluck Jonathan against the continuous pounding and crucification of his person by the ruling All Progressive Congress. Their dramatized support is draped with the same mannerism that greased their incompetence and selfishness.
In accepting their guilt having come under constant pummelling by the Nigerian mob dominated media, they are now pleading with the man that has the ‘yam and the knife’ that came to power with an agenda either of the populace or selfish; to treat them and his 95 percent voters alike. Making it look like the goose and the gander theory.
How is this possible?
Buhari had at his inauguration presented a three point agenda of curbing corruption, insecurity and unemployment. His party also promised to pay N5000 earlier. Which is now less than a paltry 20 dollars – due to the falling naira exchange rate social package to the unemployed with the strategy still being worked out.
With a sloppy and wobbling economy that is without shocks, President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Peoples Congress’ promises can’t be fulfilled except some measures are taken which includes the disbanding of the very mysterious, non formally appropriated and unaudited security votes managed by the office of the National Security Adviser in the case of the federal executive, Security Officer in the National Assembly, the judiciary and exists in all strata of the federation’s government.
It would have been expected that the PDP put up stronger arguments and campaigns in their areas of advantage as per public perception and continually defend their conducts for tempering with the now sacrilegious security votes which have always served as the shock absorbers of the incumbents in successive administrations at times of re-elections. And not the despicable cry babies that they have since turned themselves to. It is a fact that except for Nigerians love for sensation and spectacle the security vote has long existed. A tradition that creeped in from the military era. The present administration is however leveraging on and exerting on its probe as long as it can defend it and make the administration remain popular before finding a balance in fulfilling it electoral promises to the citizens of our collapsing federated states with its never improving socio infrastructural deficits.
It is therefore unimpressive for the PDP to at this time circulate a statement calling for the open probe of GEJ. It is childish, ill timed and so irrelevant. The man, GEJ has long been on the focus of the APC led administrations’ probes. He has been under their radar with investigations and conclusions against him made a long time before he handed over power to the then opposition. His media arraignments also dominated radio discussions, newspaper opinions and television discourse fora. There are a few APC governors who have not taken upon themselves habits of dressing down Jonathan at will and on every opportunity given to them by beat journalists.
Several documents have been accessed or deliberately released on social media. The same social media that PMB acknowledged as being the springboard in his ride to power is being indirectly gagged through the senate despite its current usefulness as a library for Jonathan’s approval documents. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is in possession of the evidential documents which are drawing up conclusions or giving interpretations to the role played by the former NSA, Sambo Dansuki, the errand boy. It clarifies that he was also just carrying out his duties and responsibilities and can only be convicted in the court of law if he diverted what he was expected to disburse or hadn’t procured things he was meant to procure.
President Buhari was a former military head of state. He understand the game and he is also surrounded by former civilian governor and Vice President, they all know how funds are loosely managed in the NSA’s and SO’d offices. We should understand that he also served as a close confident of former Head of State, Late Sani Abacha, heading an office, the Petroleum Trust Fund that had similar extra-ordinaries functions. He waited all these while to go for the jugular that is now christened blocking of economic drain pipes in the Nigerian states.
It would have been expected that the PDP succumbs to the lesser party category that it has relegated and denigrated itself than coming to the public to pretend that they are behind a man they sold away like Joseph in the run up to the 2015 General Elections. The cynosure of abuse of power, corruption and disassociated from his role in sustaining democratic tenets except in a few occasions that his strides are mentioned reflexively by those who would dare not try such consciously like in the case of Works Minister, Babatunde Fashola most recently.
Jonathan’s mobilization of the military and men of the Department of States Services to Edo and Osun in the cause of ensuring peaceful elections in the aforementioned states was not taken lightly by the then opposition APC and now ruling party. President Buhari and the party condemned the actions, interpreting them as a compromise in the part of the departments in the exercise of their constitutional duties, then seen as a pretence by Jonathan to rig the elections. Personnel in those departments were severely punished after the victory of the APC for those acts. But today, the PDP has since forgotten those incidents and are now playing the blind and deaf game to the same party and its leader’s mobilization of more of those armed personnel ahead and in the course of gubernatorial elections in its controlled states of; Kogi and Bayelsa.
They haven’t impressed on the public on the role played by these personnel. The viral videos of their escapades are on the internet showing clips of election rigging that were allegedly perpetrated by these so called personnel. The President has since expressed disappointment in the conducts and the inconclusiveness of the ‘Inconclusive National Electoral Commission’ monitored elections.
I feel the PDP should have paid more attention in such areas where they have tenable arguments than re-opening a closed case awaiting formalities that can only form picture news as all, about the looting in the NSA office, other holding points for funds, stealing spree and the cluelessness of GEJ and his administration has been exhaustively reported.
All the PDP as a party need do while their members are being allegedly singled out for probes is to return to the drawing board with their eyes wide open strategizing on their new moves at ensuring that attempts at turning the country into a one party state fails and not converging at every space available to wail like the wailing wailers that they are. Because as at now despite the fact that the constitution is enshrined with the need for a minority leader to exist from an opposition party in all the legislative houses in the federation many have been intimidated or hoodwinked out of those houses in the new total victory mantra.
The PDP can’t stop Jonathan from being prosecuted or disallow a prescribed jail term for him. Only President Muhammadu Buhari has the powers to do so. He is exercising it and you must allow him use his powers that the 95 percent, about 15 million voters have so entrusted to him. We are nurturing our unity and purposes for being together as a nation. Let it be on record that a former president was probed, found guilty and jailed. Let it also be on record that the government that jailed him; that same administration also scrapped the traditional security votes but are unfortunately still being operated. And made government so transparent to the extent that it too can withstand probes and prosecutions at the tail of its tenure whether in four years or eight years.
Meanwhile, PMB has so many fronts that needs to be attended and championed at these time. Monetary policies have failed, fuel shortages are still being experienced, Indigenous People of Biafra are on civil rampage threatening secession, South West Coalition are behind IPOB, Boko Haram is on bumper to bumper against the government, Shiite Moslems have raised their head in Kaduna with Yobe, Kano and Bauchi on high alert while the Niger Delta Reformed Militants are also watching developments in the country. If these are not enough headaches for PMB it is not for you, the PDP to stop the prosecution and probable imprisonment of Jonathan. You possess no moral rights to do so because you sold him away.
Okpogode Moses, resides in Abuja.
