2015:15 Power Brokers In Aso Rock
1. Comrade Oronto Douglas:A lawyer who was on the defence team of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, Comrade Oronto Douglas ranks high among the influential aides of President Goodlock Jonathan in Aso Rock. Sunday Trust learnt that the president would not take any major decision without taking into account the input of the 48-year-old man. Officially, […]
1. Comrade Oronto Douglas:
A lawyer who was on the defence team of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa, Comrade Oronto Douglas ranks high among the influential aides of President Goodlock Jonathan in Aso Rock. Sunday Trust learnt that the president would not take any major decision without taking into account the input of the 48-year-old man. Officially, he is the Special Assistant to the President on Research and Documentation, hence Douglas always pulls up a seat around Jonathan at every meeting. One of his responsibilities is to write the president’s speeches, and we learnt that he does this often, except his is out of the country.
As soon as any memorandum to the president matures to the level of implementation, it is Comrade Douglas who liaises with the minister, agency or institution concerned on how it should be done. This places him in a very powerful position, such that ministers and other top government officials consult him when they want to know how the president would react to issues they intend to raise with Jonathan. Apart from the Aide-de-Camp (ADC), there is virtually no other aide who is as close to the president as Comrade Douglas.
He has been within the corridors of power since Jonathan became a politician. Douglas was the Commissioner for Information in Bayelsa State when Jonathan was deputy governor of the state.
When Chief Deprieye Alamaseigha was impeached in 2005 and Jonathan become governor, Douglas resigned from the cabinet and refused to return in spite of appeals to him by the then Governor Jonathan. When he was picked as vice president by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, Jonathan appointed Douglas as Senior Special Assistant on Research and Strategy. The nomenclature of that office was modified to Research and Documentation after Jonathan became president. He is playing a very strategic role for the president in the match to 2015.
2. Dame Patience Jonathan: Though her position as First Lady does not have any legal backing, Dame Patience Jonathan has become a woman whom politicians defy at their own perils as the country approaches the 2015 elections. Governorship aspirants, who realise her influence, Sunday Trust learnt, are soliciting her support.
This has created so much anxiety among governors that they had to approach President Jonathan and appeal to him to prevail on the First Lady against endorsing any governorship aspirant. In her home state in Rivers State, Dame Patience’s endorsement of Nyesom Wike, a former Minister of State for Education, for governorship in next year’s elections has raised much dust because it contravened the zoning understanding in the state.
Even in Adamawa State, it is the same situation that is playing out. Though the governorship has been zoned to the Central Senatorial District, it was learnt that the First Lady is throwing her weight behind another aspirant from a different zone.
But it is not only governorship aspirants who court the First Lady, even ministers and heads of government departments and agencies made deliberate attempts to reach her and seek her intervention in their affairs. Perhaps, apart from President Jonathan, Dame Patience is the next most powerful person in Aso Rock Villa.
3. Ambassador Hassan Tukur: Like Comrade Douglas, Ambassador Tukur, is also a very close aide of the president. Officially, he is the Principal Private Secretary to the President. By virtue of this position, Ambassador Tukur has unrestricted access to Jonathan. Beyond this official position, Sunday Trust learnt that Ambassador Tukur, before his appointment, was a personal friend of Jonathan ever before he became the Number One citizen of Nigeria. Their relationship, therefore, predated the current dispensation.
Secondly, Ambassador Tukur has intelligence background, hence he’s been very useful to Jonathan in tackling the current insurgency. For instance, he is working hand-in-hand with the president of Chad, Idriss Derby, on talks with elements in the Boko Haram sect to ensure the release of 219 Chibok girls held in captivity for over 200 days now.
Ambassador Tukur seems to be the clearing house of any ideas on how to deal with the current insurgency. However, apart from the issue of insurgency, he provides a second opinion to Jonathan on political issues in the North.
For instance, our reporter learnt that it was Ambassador Tukur who persuaded Malam Nuhu Ribadu to jump ship from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in spite of all the risks involved in such decision, especially in Ribadu’s quest for the governorship ticket of the PDP for Adamawa State.
4. Gordon Ogbua: This is another very influential personality in the Villa, and this is as a result of his long-standing relationship with President Jonathan. Gordon Ogbua is the president’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), hence he is courted by the high and mighty in and outside government. Ogbua has been the CSO to the president since Jonathan was governor of Bayelsa State, through his chequered experiences as vice president, acting president and now substantive President.
He clears anyone who intends to see the president. No governor can see the president without first of all obtaining clearance from Gordon Ogbua, making him one of the most sought after persons in Aso Rock. Ministers and politicians who want to access President Jonathan have to court him.
5. Chief Amalate J. Turner: Chief Amalate J. Turner is the Obigbo Mikimiki 1 of Obanema in Opume, Ogbia kingdom, in Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. He was a Permanent Secretary, and Executive Secretary of Capital City Development Authority, CCDA, in the state.
He was a university mate of President Goodluck Jonathan, and they both love playing squash. He and Jonathan are said to be like ‘’five and six’’. Turner shot into prominence in Bayelsa politics during the administration of Jonathan as the governor of the state. He and Jonathan have an almost identical mansions separated by a common fence at Kpansia in the state capital.
He was said to have played an active role in the sequence of events that led to the removal of Chief Timipre Sylva as Bayelsa State governor. Through him, it is believed, President Jonathan saw to the enthronement of Seriake Dickson. He is said to have remained a kingmaker in Bayelsa politics since then. For instance, he was said to be the convener of the meeting of Ogbia Brotherhood recently where the decision to zone the National Assembly positions in the state was reached.
Since that decision was reached, which it was gathered, had the blessing of Jonathan and Dickson, the colour of Bayelsa politics has not remained the same again. Those the zoning appear to have thrown out of contention, especially the incumbent senators from the state are said to have returned to the trenches to fight for their political survival. The zoning, it was gathered has also thrown the president into dilemma, as the affected senators are said to be putting the president under pressure to reverse the arrangement.
Senator Emmanuel Paulker, representing Bayelsa Central, and a Commissioner for Lands and Transport during Jonathan’s administration as governor who has since then remained a key member of Jonathan’s kitchen cabinet is said to be leading the opposition against the zoning.
6. Senator Anyim Pius Anyim: Senator Aniyim Pius Anyim, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) is another influential politician in President Jonathan’s cabinet. First, his office has made him to become very powerful because it is the clearing house for many ministers, except the Minister of Finance, Minister of Petroleum and the Attorney-General of the Federation.
Again, all the parastatals and agencies of government are answerable to his office, and this account for why the headship of most government agencies are being appointed from among the people of the South-East – in defiance of the outcry from other sections of the country. Because that is Anyim’s prerogative, the president has looked the other way when Nigerians complain. Seen as one person in government who opens doors for Nigerians of South-East origin, Anyim has naturally assumed the role of political leader from that geopolitical region.
Beyond his position in government and political role, Sunday Trust learnt that Senator Anyim is of a very strong personality, with the kind of confidence that the president cannot resist. He’s seen as a very good strategist in this administration, and a backbone of the TAN rallies that held all over the country.
Our reporter learnt that this man always gets whatever he wants from the president, hence many politicians court him because with Senator Anyim, they could realise their ambition.
7. Chief Edwin Clark: Now 82-year-old, the foremost Ijaw leader is not showing signs of tiredness, especially when it comes to the issues of politics. He is still as politically alert as every young politician in this country. In spite of the criticisms against his outbursts against the North, Chief Clark still exercises a good measure of influence in the Jonathan administration. He has been the de’facto political leader of President Goodluck Jonathan and most of the political calculation of the president, especially as it concerned the 2015 ambition of the president, was under his supervision.
He saw the president’s 2015 project as his own personal challenge, hence all sorts of groups that expressed support for Jonathan’s second term paid homage to him. They flock Chief Clark’s residence to explain their vision and missions, and if they received the blessing of the old man, they returned to their homes in excitement, because Chief Clark’s approval of their project was synonymous with that of President Jonathan.
Apart from his public pronouncement supporting President Jonathan, he was also linked to subtle antagonism towards the president’s opponents, especially PDP presidential aspirants. This reportedly led to his intervention in the so-called Abdul Jhalil’s presidential nomination form saga under the platform of the PDP. It was learnt that Clark facilitated the initial withdrawal from the race. Clark is also the link between President Jonathan and the Niger Delta militants who are not covered under the robust amnesty programme.
8. Diezani Alison Madueke: The Rivers State-born Diezani K. Alison-Madueke became Nigeria’s first female Minister of Transportation in 2007 before she was moved to Mines and Steel Development in 2008 and in April 2010 was appointed the first female Minister of Petroleum Resources. She was also the first female Executive Director of Shell Petroleum Development Corporation in Nigeria.
Her influence in the President Goodluck Jonathan administration was such that she always has her ways in debates, even with the more vociferous Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
It was learnt she has been drafted into the ‘security cabinet’ of the Jonathan administration due to the massive funding involved in the fight against insurgency, and it was reported that her suggestions on what to spend and how, always scale through. As someone said, “After all, she is in charge of the oil money that everyone needs”.
The president reportedly shows everyone that cares that the minister should be taken the way he took her, which led to her having her way against the Finance Minister even in matters relating to the nation’s larger economy. This has led to a tactical withdrawal of Iweala in public sphere of the present administration unlike it was obtainable before the government’s recent activities against the Boko Haram insurgency.
The president also gave in to her in her squabbles with four successive Group Managing Directors of the NNPC, over operational procedures and overbearing attitudes of the Ministers, the last being Andrew Yakubu.
Yakubu’s case was mild compared to his predecessor, Shehu Ladan who was fired a day after he travelled to London on official duty, mainly due to his being ‘too close’ to First Lady Patience Jonathan and being seen as too independent minded for her liking.
The First Lady’s intervention could not save Ladan as the president reportedly told his wife that it would be unwise to reverse Lada’s sack even when Patience retorted that Ladan should not have been sacked simply because Diezani accused him of insurbordination due to his perceived closeness to her (Patience). The recent creation of the Deputy GMD in the NNPC was also due to the influence reportedly to reward a loyal subject. In the current political atmosphere, she is believed to have given a very strong support to the controversial Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN).
9. AYO ORITSEJAFOR: The closeness of the president of the Christians Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ayo Oritsejafor to President Goodluck Jonathan and the kind of influence he has on the nation’s number one citizen is not in doubt. From the beginning of this administration, the CAN president is known to be one of the visible allies and confidants of the president whose activities in and outside the Presidential Villa have great impact on decisions and postures of government on national issues.
To demonstrate the level of their closeness, on June 4, 2014 the president attended the launch of a private university, Eagle Heights, owned by Pastor Oritsejafor. At the foundation laying ceremony of the private university, located at Omadino, Warri South Local Government Area, of Delta State, President Jonathan was joined by dignitaries, including the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike and others.
The Nigerian president was also in attendance when Pastor Oritsejafor was presented a $4.9 million private jet in 2012. In October, 2014 the CAN president, President Jonathan and the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC), Mr John Kennedy Opara went on a 3-day visit to Jerusalem where Oritsejafor was shown laying his hands on the president’s head when he was praying for him.
It came as a surprise to many Nigerians that it was Pastor Oritsejafor’s private jet that would be used to ferry $9.3 million to South Africa to purchase weapons. But this tells Nigerians of the extent of closeness between government and the CAN president. Though Ortisejafor is not a politician, those who have political ambition could explore the possibility of reaching the president through him.
10. John Kennedy Opara: Dr John Kennedy Opara is the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Board (NCPD). Though he is not a personal aide of the president, he is seen as a very influential person in this government, considering his closeness to the president.
Sunday Trust learnt that he has an unrestricted access to Jonathan, such that many ministers cannot boast of. Our reporter learnt that Dr Opara is seen as the go-between President Jonathan and the various Christian groups across the country. He is in no way in competition with Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Dr Opara, because of his interface with the various Christian groups, easily reaches out to them in order to snake around the division in CAN, a section of which is not comfortable with the leadership being provided by Pastor Oritsejafor.
It is noteworthy that, more than ever before, Christian groups have become active in pro-Jonathan’s political activities. For instance, many Christian organisations were mobilised and attended last week’s declaration to run for the Number One job in 2015 by President Jonathan. The groups came to Abuja from various parts of the country, and it is believed that without the intervention of Christian groups like the pilgrims board, CAN and the like, not many Christians would have turned up.
11. Brigadier-General Jones Oladehinde Arogbofa (rtd): Retired Brigadier-General Jones Oladeinde Arogbola, who hails from Ondo State, is another influential personality in Aso Rock because of his position as the Chief of Staff to President Goodluck Jonathan.
All the memoranda to the president’s office passes through him, making his office the narrow gate to the president’s desk. Though he is relatively new on this job, as he took over from Mike Ighiadomhe in February this year, our reporter learnt that the retired army general is fast learning the ropes. For instance, he is the highest ranking political office holder from the South-West, because his appointment was the fallout of the outcry by the Yoruba, that the South-West was suffering from marginalisation under the Jonathan regime.
Through Arogbola, the South-West has found a space in Jonathan’s court. He was one of those who prevailed on Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko to dump the Labour Party (LP), on whose crest he rode to Governor House in Akure, for the PDP. As the 2015 race heats up, Arogbola’s office is a beehive of activities, a demonstration of his influence in the regime.
12. Chief Tony Anenih: Chief Tony Anenih, the Board of Trustees Chairman of the PDP, is as constant as the Shakespearean northern star in the country’s politics since the current political dispensation. Though he was minister only during Obasanjo’s first tenure, Chief Anenih’s image has continued to loom large in the PDP and Aso Rock Villa. His residence in Abuja is a beehive of activities in this political era, because he has unrestricted access to President Jonathan ‘any time any day,’ our reporter learnt.
Specifically, Chief Anenih is President Jonathan’s Man-Friday who helps to quench any political fire ignited against the president from any part of the country. Though he’s seen as an old political strategist at 81, his role in Jonathan’s power game is different from that of Chief Edwin Clark. For instance, at the height of Governor Sule Lamido’s anger against Jonathan, it was Chief Anenih who flew to Dutse to placate the governor.
This is because Governor Lamido is seen as the governor in the North-West who could deliver votes en-block for President Jonathan in 2015, and in the face of the threats from APC in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, and other North-West states, it would be better to make peace with Lamido. After watering the ground, President Jonathan was made to travel to Dutse to commission the airport built by the Lamido administration.
This is how the rift between the two was settled. He’s been carrying out such special assignments for and on behalf of President Jonathan, using his political connections across the country. Therefore, those who seek political office in Nigeria would have to seek the blessing of Chief Anenih in order to succeed.
13. Gov. Godswill Akpabio: Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio’s political influence in the PDP in the run-up to the 2015 elections has grown exponentially. This is because of the way he uses his position as chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.
As it were, governors hold the aces in the forthcoming elections for the simple fact that they control the political structures up to the grassroots in their states, hence President Jonathan depends largely on them for his re-election in the next election. With his influence, PDP governors are getting away with the ‘right of first refusal’ for first term governors seeking to return; governorship tickets for those they anointed as their successors; and grabbing senatorial tickets from even sitting PDP senators.
Governor Akpabio also uses his influence to have his way among his peers. He prevailed on governors to declare their support for President Jonathan as the PDP’s sole candidate in 2015, and followed this through at the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC). Because of the vital role he’s playing in the president’s re-election bid, Governor Akpabio has unfettered access to Aso Rock Villa and President Jonathan.
14. Malam Adamu Muazu: The national chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is wielding a lot of power, firstly because of his position in the party and the fact that it is an election year. Since he became the chairman of the party earlier in the year, the bickering in the PDP has subsided, mainly because of his cordial relationship with PDP governors. To a great extent this has reduced the tension in The Presidency.
Also, against all odds, the party has preserved the 2015 ticket for Jonathan. In doing so, he has persuaded northern politicians with presidential interest to shelve their ambition and rather work towards achieving their ambition in 2019.
To many, it was not a mean task to calm frayed nerves from the North, considering an understanding among them that Jonathan had, before the 2011 election, vowed not to seek another term. Malam Muazu, Sunday Trust learnt, has become so powerful in the march to the next general elections that some members of the party have considered him to be very autocratic for their liking.
15. Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala: The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is one woman who cannot be ignored in this administration. Though she does not seem to be very political, she wields a lot of influence in Aso Rock, because Jonathan does not ignore her advice.
She is like the de facto vice president of the country, as she determines how much funds would be released on government projects to ministries, departments and agencies. Dr Okonjo-Iweala, unlike many ministers, has direct access to the president. Others would need to pass through the SGF to put their cases across to Jonathan. As a result of her international status, she has continued to defend Jonathan’s government across the globe.
For instance, during the saga between the president and former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, it was Dr Okonjo-Iweala who defended government against allegations and insinuations of corruption in the petroleum sector. Jonathan does not ignore her in Aso Rock.