The
Action Congress of Nigeria has said that the President Goodluck
Jonathan Administration is steadily descending into despotism.
The ACN, in a statement on Sunday by its
National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, criticised the way
the President had been handling his disagreement with a member of his
party, Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.
The opposition party said the
disagreement had portrayed Jonathan as a leader who was willing to
sacrifice democratic ideals and principles on the altar of personal
ambition and accused the President of using national institutions
against perceived enemies.
It said the Jonathan’s administration had a growing inclination to denigrate opposition leaders.
It said, ‘’The Jonathan Administration
is anchored on a transformation agenda. But the only transformation that
we can see is the one from a democratically-elected President to an
Emperor, a despot.’’
‘’If the President is not prevailed upon
to change course, Nigeria may be in for another season of anomie,
reminiscent of the days of the maximum ruler who took the country to the
brink before his sudden demise.’’
The party wondered why national institutions had to be bastardised and compromised just to get at a political enemy.
The ACN stated, ‘’Like we said before,
we are not perturbed by what is happening in the Peoples Democratic
Party. Our main concern is the fact that the party’s internal crisis is
overheating the polity and threatening the country’s hard-won democracy.
“After the theatrics of the aviation
agencies and their parent ministry, the EFCC has suddenly realised that
the cost of the Rivers State’s plane was inflated by US$10m while the
police have sacked the secretariat of Obio-Akpor local government in
Rivers.
“The question is: Who gave the orders
for the police to sack the secretariat, and in the process take sides
with the President in the political disagreement with the governor?
“Which are the other national
institutions that will be drafted into this scorched-earth campaign
against a perceived non-conformist party member?”
The party said if the President could go
to that length against his own party man, he would do worse things
against the opposition
It asked why a democratically-elected President could not be challenged by anyone, whether or not he was a member of his party.
The ACN also expressed concerns at the
growing propensity of the administration to stifle the freedom of
expression and freedom of the press.
It cited the report by the media rights
group, the Committee to Protect Journalists, on the occasion of this
year’s World Press Freedom Day on May 3.
According to the ACN, this is a global
testimony to the worsening record of the administration as far as press
freedom is concerned.
The party stated, ‘’According to the
CPJ, Nigeria has become one of the worst countries in the world for
deadly, unpunished violence against the press. Nigeria and Somalia are
also the only African nations listed on the CPJ’s 2013 impunity ranking.
“Yet, the government has not relented in
its attacks against the media: Gestapo-style arrest of Leadership
journalists; Fines slammed on Liberty Radio in Kaduna over a listener’s
opinion on the so-called Good Governance Tour; Arrest of two journalists
of the Kaduna-based Al Mizan newspaper and the ban on a documentary on
poverty in Nigeria, just to mention a few.”
It also listed the way the Jonathan
administration allegedly went after a former Minister of Education, Mrs
Oby Ezekwesili, for claiming that President Jonathan frittered away the
$67bn in foreign reserves which she said President Olusegun Obasanjo
left behind in 2007.
Another example by the ACN was the fate
that befell National Emergency Management Agency spokesman, Yushau
Shuaib, for daring to criticise the lopsided appointments in parastatals
under the Ministry of Finance..
‘’These anti-democratic measures will
worsen as the 2015 elections approach. Therefore, all lovers of
democracy must join us in speaking out against the Jonathan
Administration’s descent into despotism,” the ACN said.
But the Presidency described the statement by the opposition party as another attempt to stand the truth on its head.
In a statement by the President’s
spokesman, Reuben Abati, the Presidency said those who did not allow
freedom and equality in their parties were the same ones who are now
quick to accuse others of despotism.
Abati said the ACN should start by removing the log in its eyes.
The statement read, “ The latest press
statement by Lai Mohammed of the Action Congress of Nigeria, in which he
claims, wrongly as always, that the Jonathan administration is
‘descending into despotism,’ represents yet another attempt by the ACN
and its spokesperson to stand the truth on its head and indulge in the
politics of abuse. They should not be allowed to get away with their
perfidy.
“President Jonathan is a democratically
elected leader who is running a people-oriented, inclusive and
progressive government. Under his watch, Nigeria’s democracy has been
consolidated; the scope for human freedoms has been further expanded and
there is respect for due process and the rule of law. Ordinary
Nigerians appreciate the fact that they have a President who is humane,
disciplined and focused.
“Does Lai Mohammed know the meaning of
the word, despotism, or is he just throwing the word around for
onomatopoeic effect? He and his sponsors are in fact beneficiaries of
the openness and freedom that this administration promotes.
“The paradox is that those who do not
allow freedom and equality in their own party or backyard, those who are
well known as self-proclaimed Godfathers and closet despots, are the
same ones who are now quick to accuse others of despotism. The ACN
should start by removing the log in its eyes. President Jonathan is not a
despot. ACN is the real abode of budding despots in Nigeria.
“The Transformation Agenda which Lai
Mohammed tries to pooh-pooh is a well thought-out blueprint on the basis
of which this administration continues to serve the interests of the
people and move the country forward.”
Abati said the ACN’s allegation that
there is a disagreement between Amaechi and the President was also
“wrong-headed and mischievous.”
He said Amaechi had publicly stated that the allegation was a piece of fiction created by certain persons and the media.
Abati insisted that Jonathan was not engaged in any quarrel or dispute with Amaechi.
Abati added that it was wrong to use the
matter of the aircraft that was grounded by the aviation authorities to
concoct stories of persecution.
“The institutions involved have offered
reasons publicly why they took their decision with regard to the
unlicensed aircraft, which in any case is an asset of the state, not the
governor’s personal property. The President has nothing to do with that
incident,” he said.
The Congress for Progressive Change on
Sunday agreed with the ACN that the Jonathan’s administration was
becoming despotic and that things were likely to go worse as the 2015
elections get nearer.
Spokesman for the CPC, Mr. Rotimi
Fashakin, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents said,
“En-route 2015, we should begin to expect the Jonathan regime to be a
lot more jittery. All these are signs of a dying regime, which has been
the trade mark of dying regimes, they become very, very intolerant.
“I can tell you, what Nigerians are likely to see is incipient fascism.”
PUNCH
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