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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Reject calls for extension of Alli�s tenureA kite is being flown and ordinarily, that kite ought to be ignored. But we are not going to do so because past experiences have shown that some government decisions were often preceded by kite flying. A group, calling itself Plateau Elders, has been going about lately calling for the extension of six-month term of Major-General Chris Alli (retd), the Administrator of Plateau State. The general was put on the saddle following the suspension of Governor Joshua Dariye and the Plateau State House of Assembly, under a six-month state of emergency, declared by the Federal Government. To be fair to General Alli, calm appears to have returned to Plateau since he assumed duty. Government business also appears to be fine. The National Assembly has approved N2.5 billion for him to reconstruct Plateau and also passed the state�s budget for 2004. The administrator has also gathered a wide spectrum of Plateau society, preaching peace and reconciliation, but reserved the right to use force to enthrone peace in the state. Critics can say the calm now witnessed in the state was no better than when General Alli took over since President Olusegun Obasanjo, in his emergency declaration speech, admitted that a semblance of peace was returning. But the administrator should earn credit for having, so far, prevented a relapse into chaos that pushed the President to declare an emergency. But even with all these, we find it absolutely objectionable for any �elders� to go on lobbying for the extension of any aberration. That an unelected soldier supplanted an elected governor is an aberration any right thinking person ought to decry. The legal validity or otherwise of the action is the subject of litigation which we cannot comment upon. But it is self-evident that Gen. Alli�s tenure is an aberration. Every emergency rule is. That is why that aberration must not last a second longer than necessary. In our opinion � and any lover of rule of law and due process would share it � six months is enough for Gen. Alli to ensure calm in Platau and leave. Even a day, nay a second, beyond that should be counted as failure. Besides, it is all so amusing that some Plateau �elders,� who ought to know better, are campaigning to the contrary. Gen. Alli himself appears to be playing out a script. Lately, he has been granting press interviews, flaunting his �democratic credentials� as a principled Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who was booted out by the repressive Sani Abacha regime, because of his insistence on the revalidation of the June 12 mandate. While the administrator tries to sell himself to the people, his wife takes care of the �home-front� putting in place her own structure as �First Lady�. In between, the administrator announces the sack of high-ranking state officials (suggestive of a long-term tinkering with the bureaucracy), and is even thinking of probing the suspended governor. Gen. Alli�s role during the Abacha regime is well known and widely appreciated. But he should reserve the flaunting of that role till when he comes out � if he so desires � to contest election as governor of Kogi, his home state. Right now, he should concentrate on his present task so that he has no excuse to overstay his welcome. If he does, he would have become part of the Plateau problem. As for Governor Dariye, he should, by all means, take his calm. But let all those involved in x-raying his tenure be reminded that there is only one way to permanently remove an elected governor: Impeachment by the state legislature. Any other way will appear a traducement, which can only spruce Governor Dariye�s image. The Federal Government has its job cut out on the Plateau crisis. After the legal controversy that greeted the suspension of Governor Dariye and the Plateau legislature, the least it can do is to despatch Gen. Alli home after six months. If he cannot do the job within that period, then he cannot do it. Rather than concede an extension therefore, the Federal Government should admit that its emergency option has not � and won�t - work, and therefore should change tact.
Monday, July 19, 2004 |
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