Daily Independent Online.
* Tuesday, April 20, 2004.
CNPP asks Obasanjo to resign, insists
on protest
" Organisers are Nigeria
s enemies, says Presidency
By Tokunbo Oloruntola,
Habib Aruna, Lagos
and Gbenga Abiodun, Abuja
Undeterred Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) teamed up with a coalition of pro-democracy
groups Monday to raise the tempo in the agitation for good governance by demanding the resignation of President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
It discounted alleged intimidation by security agencies and resolved to go ahead with the mass protest
scheduled for May 3 against what it described as the unacceptable state of national affairs.
At a well-attended press conference in Lagos, which saw civil rights activists mingling freely with
members of opposition parties, CNPP Chairman and the former governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, said the media
briefing was to draw global attention to the threat posed to the stability of the country and the mortal damage
being wrought on the democratic process by Obasanjo and his supporters.
However,
Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) board
of trustees, Augustus Aikhomu, has dissociated himself from the planned rally.
He said in an interview at Igueben, the country home of former external affairs minister, Tom Ikimi,
that rather than mass action, he believes in a gradual peaceful change.
I am expressing my personal opinion. I am not speaking in my capacity
as Chairman of ANPP board of trustees. The policy of the party is one thing, my own philosophy as a person, as
a statesman in this country is quite another, Aikhomu said.
Predictably, Aso Rock has taken swipes at the rally organisers, describing them as enemies of the
state who should rethink their position.
Presidential spokesperson, Mrs. Remi Oyo, said Monday in Abuja that a mass action when the nation
had started making remarkable progress in attracting foreign investments is retrogressive.
She stressed that because the image of Nigeria is soaring, foreign investors have recognised that
our polity is stable, they also see our nation not only as an emerging market but a market that yields quick and
juicy fruits. On a weekly basis, there are people who come in to speak with the President.
Many investors, who are keen on investing in Africa
s largest economy in different spheres, be it tourism, agriculture and power, are coming in with millions of dollars.
Those present at the CNPP press conference included Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA),
Chekwas Okorie; Convener of United Action for Democracy (UAD), Bamidele Aturu; its Secretary General, Ibrahim Zikirullahi; National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Dayo Adeyeye; Executive Director of Civil Liberties Organisation
(CLO), Chima Ubani, ANPP top member, Ireti Kingibe; Secretary General of the National Democratic Party (NPD), Idongesit
Nkanga; Rev. Peter Adebiyi who represented Bisi Akande, Chairman of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), former minister
of Special Duties, Wada Nas; and a representative of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Bashir Kurfi.
CNPP deplored what it called the unconstitutional use of the electoral body by the ruling party and
the coercive deployment of state power, reminding security agencies that their loyalty should be to the Nigerian
state and the Constitution.
Quoting Section 14 of the Constitution which states that the security and welfare of the people shall
be the primary purpose of government, Balarabe said the government has failed the people on these two cardinal
issues.
In his view,
it added insult to injury by closing the ballot
option, thus depriving the people of their sovereign right to sanction an
unpopular government.
According to him, the question is, what is the remedy for the millions of Nigerians whose votes were
rendered useless or deprived of the right to vote at an election? This, he argued, is the main reason why the
only option left is for Nigerians to come out in support of the mass protest.
Balarabe quoted Ben Nwabueze to justify the mass action, saying: The only redress open to the people
is to take to the streets to protest by means of public demonstrations, processions and rallies, or to keep away
from work or to engage in other forms of protest action. Provided such actions are
peaceful and none violent, they are lawful, and are indeed an essential element of a mature democracy. A nation
lacking the capacity for such peaceful, non-violent protests in defence of its participatory rights is not ripe
for democratic government.
The four minimum demands CNPP says are the
foundation for the resolution of the protest are: resignation of the Obasanjo government as it lacks the legitimacy
and capacity to solve the nation
s problems; setting up of a transitional government of national unity pending the conduct of free, fair and acceptable
elections; convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) for a united, democratic and federal republic of
Nigeria which would prepare a new and autonomous Constitution, subject only to a national referendum, which will
then be the basis for electing a new government.
