If President Olusegun Obasanjo had his way, Governor Joshua Dariye would not have returned to Jos as Plateau State Chief Executive. But for the ruling PDP that presented him (Dariye) for second term in 2003 against all odds, pandering to Obasanjo’s desire to have Dariye removed is a sort of a dilemma?
Perhaps, Governor Joshua Chibi Dariye of Plateau State would have been saved the hassles that he has been made to pass through if the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the leadership of Chief Audu Innocent Ogbeh, had provided a level playing field in the nomination process that threw the party’’s governorship ticket on the laps of the incumbent governors. The party leadership, which allegedly pandered to financial power and influence, came up with guidelines for the governorship primaries that weighed heavily in favour of the incumbent. Protestations, including litigations in court, by the fresh aspirants did not cause a detour from the path that the party leadership had chosen to thread. The incumbent governors were the beautiful brides. The party’s tickets for a second term in office, as decided, were to be given to them gratis. The Presidency and the Party leadership decided it.
In fact, the decision flowed from the Presidency, where no vacancy existed.President Olusegun Obasanjo’s second term in office had to be negotiated. Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, old political warhorse, strategist and tactician, Chief Tony Anenih perfected the deal. He had started out with his “No Vacancy in Aso Rock” refrain. The politically undiscerning did not take him serious. But for those who know Anenih very well, Obasanjo had got a good bargain from a man who could be trusted to deliver.
Sunday Vanguard gathered that the Oracle of Uromi presented the proposal for Obasanjo’s second term to the Ogbeh leadership. When the proposal was listed as an agenda item at the caucus meeting of the party and a voting became the determiner, it was not difficult to push it through by a vote of twenty-eight to one.
An agreement to cede presidential power to the North in 2007 made the decision easy to arrive at. The deal was sealed. The agreement had its salutary effects on the governors, who were by the same token, allowed to recontest for the 2003 governorship elections on the platform of the party. The only exception was Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju of Anambra State. This was what bolstered the arrangement by the party leadership to skew the guidelines in favour of the incumbents at the presidential and governorship levels.
Governor Dariye benefited from the process that was “arranged” to favour the incumbent. Whereas, Dariye might not have clinched the party ticket if there had been a proper primary hinged on the plank of a level playing field. This is because formidable internal opposition within the party had swelled against him. Consider the formidable forces of Commodore Jonah Jang (Rtd.) and Mr. Damisi Sango (former Sports Minister) who were also jostling for the party ticket.
Immediately, it was apparent that the party leadership had taken side, they moved out of the party. Jang headed for the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) while Sango decamped into the Alliance for Democracy (AD) where they both emerged as their respective parties’ candidates to slug in out with Dariye at the April 19, 2003 governorship polls. Reports had indicated a neck and neck situation between Dariye and Jang, who apparently had the backing of the clan of retired military Generals in the State.
In fact, initial reports had given the polls to Jang until certain moves were allegedly made that swung the pendulum of victory to Dariye. The difference in votes was considered a negligible figure that Sango’s votes would have cancelled out easily for a Jang victory Sango had worked with Jang against Dariye. The alleged manipulation of the polls in favour of Dariye is believed to have the signature of the PDP and the Presidency.
The political elite in Plateau State and the mushrooming opposition against Dariye, which had tried to no avail to have the PDP drop Dariye as its candidate for the 2003 governorship elections were apparently not happy with Dariye’s candidature and his alleged “manipulated victory”. PDP leadership, which played a role in the stoppage of Mbadinuju’’s run for a second term as governor on the party’s ticket on the flimsy excuse that workers’ salaries were not paid, could not stop Dariye in the face of detailed acts and attitude capable of inflaming ethno-religious conflicts. Concerned leaders from the State had made representations to the PDP leadership, alerting it of potential flashpoints and the possibility of crisis in the State. The PDP leadership turned a deaf ear because, as learnt, it had allegedly compromised itself.
By the time the bubbles burst in Plateau State, the party could not do anything to stop Obasanjo’s proclamation of a state of emergency. The leadership of the party and the Presidency were alarmed at the way the concerns by the political elite and so-called aggrieved party leaders in the State found expression in the way Dariye reportedly became part of the problem in the State. Obasanjo had taken him to the cleaners, saying among others that “the situation in Plateau State, to say the least, constitutes a challenge to our democracy, negates the norms of rational human interaction, contradicts the tenets of civil society, and devalues opportunities for peace, stability, co-existence and social justice.
It constitutes a grave threat to law and order and a great danger to security in Plateau State and the neighbouring States of Bauchi, Nasarawa, Taraba and Benue. It is, therefore, clearly, a great threat to the security and unity of Nigeria. Even if active conflict and killings seemingly subside for now, it is a façade that will erupt again if fundamental actions are not taken now as it had subsided and erupted on and off since September 2001.
“As at today, there is nothing on ground and no evidence whatsoever to show that the State Governor has the interest, desire, commitment, credibility and capacity to promote reconciliation, rehabilitation, forgiveness, peace, harmony and stability. If anything, some of his utterances, his lackadaisical attitude and seeming uneven-handedness over the salient and contending issues present him as not just part of the problem, but also as an instigator and a threat to peace." Plateau State cannot and must not experience another spate of violence, killings and destruction of property.
If allowed, the crisis would engulf the entire nation. Considering my constitutional responsibility as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and having exhausted all possible avenues to have and to help the Governor of Plateau State to ensure security of life and property generally in that State, and cognizant of the proven inability and incompetence of the governor to maintain security of life and property generally in the State and particularly in Langtang, Wase and Yewa-Shendam in the past few months; I have painfully come to the point that I have to resort to the last constitutional option available to ensure security of life and property of all citizens of Nigeria and non-Nigerians alike residing in any part of Plateau State. Since 2001 when I first visited Plateau State as a result of the crisis, the situation has steadily deteriorated politically largely due to the failure of governance and the gross inefficiency in managing the rich and robust diversity of the State”.
The Federal Government lifted the suspension clamped on Dariye and other democratic institutions in the State last Thursday.
The lifting of the suspension was a consequence of the pressure allegedly piled on the Presidency by the party leadership under Chief Ogbeh whose efforts were bolstered by the first National Chairman of the party and member of the Board of Trustees, Chief Solomon Daushep Lar. Ogbeh had insisted that Dariye should be allowed to come back in line with the prevailing democratic government in place. But in the face of allegations of money laundering and other improprieties that have been leveled against him, which Obasanjo had brought to his attention, Ogbeh would appear to have washed off his hands and that of the party, declaring last Wednesday that the allegations have been forwarded to the Plateau State House of Assembly for consideration. He said the House would determine the fate of Dariye.
Watchers of the political development are watching Ogbeh’s PDP on the Dariye’s expected inquisition by the House. Obasanjo wants Dariye to be probed by the House and impeached, given the weight of the allegations that have assumed international dimension. PDP has pushed Dariye to the court of his State House. Will the party have the capacity to allow the process unfold without any interference? Will the PDP and its leadership sympathise with Obasanjo on this issue or side with Dariye.
This is the dilemma of a party that claims to be father of all its governors. If the party leadership does not handle this matter with tact, it may inadvertently or deliberately head on a collision course with Obasanjo who has expressed serious concern to Ogbeh on the need for the Plateau State House of Assembly to be credible in handling the matter. This, coming from Obasanjo, speaks volume. How will the PDP free itself from this hamstring? Time will tell.
