Consensus: Between NPLF and Northern Governors

The NEC, by its decision, took cognizance of the rights of all Nigerians to aspire to the highest position in the land as guaranteed in the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  The NEC scored a bull’s eye when, in taking that decision, it navigated the booby trap by refusing […]

The NEC, by its decision, took cognizance of the rights of all Nigerians to aspire to the highest position in the land as guaranteed in the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  The NEC scored a bull’s eye when, in taking that decision, it navigated the booby trap by refusing to throw overboard the zoning arrangement.

In the deft move, it retained the zoning arrangement that ceded the presidency to the north in 2007 and still opened up the presidential space to allow aspirants from the north and south throw their hats in the ring in the gritty contest for the plum position.  But the north is not happy with the decision, because it is capable of abridging its slot as packaged by the party a little over three years ago.

But in order to ensure that its slot is not truncated some northern leaders promoted by the four presidential aspirants from the region-General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, Governor Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and General Aliyu Gusau- who are squaring up with Jonathan for the party ticket, have been working out a consensus arrangement.

The arrangement is aimed at producing one of the northern aspirants in the PDP as the region’s standard bearer in the calculations that the consensus option would be unifying and strong enough to upstage the applecart of Jonathan incumbency at the party’s primary election.  And, just like the zoning arrangement, the option has also not been devoid of much ado.

So much noise has been made over it such that the distractions that the noise constitutes have almost drowned the essence and substance of the process.  Regardless, the jaded process is still unraveling.  The Consensus Committee of the Northern Political Leaders’ Forum (NPLF) has, understandably, been flogging the issue and creating hysteria in the polity.

It is not always easy by such exercise to produce the expected result.  But then, the north and the rest of the nation do not need this big show, this political circus which the quest for consensus has become.  And because it has become a big show, members of the Consensus Committee, especially Malam Adamu Ciroma, have seized the moment by combatively dictating the pace and putting the polity through avoidable stress.

Whereas, the process could have been pursued differently without making an open show of it; without intimidation and grandstanding, the process could have been quietly driven to achieve the same objective of reaching some consensus.   But the myriad media reports about some external influences and unholy linkages between members of the Committee and some of the aspirants have already weakened the integrity of the process.

The process, as it were, has become dilatory as it continues to respond to manipulations by the promoters of the consensus option.  The date for announcement of the outcome of the process keeps changing.  But whether or not the process will acquit itself well is debatable.  However, in order to forestall a big crisis, all that needs to be done now is for the northern governors to quickly wade in.

Consider this: the members of the Consensus Committee of the NPLF whose utterances are creating the tension of division in the polity are not eminently positioned to add any modicum of electoral value to the process that will ensure that whoever emerges as consensus candidate clinches the presidential ticket of the PDP.

This is because none of them controls the delegates.  The governors control the delegates.  Therefore it is the governors that are eminently positioned to meet minds and decide who should be the consensus candidate of the north in the PDP if they consider that option the best path to tread in the political circumstance.  To leave the process to the so-called Consensus Committee is to abdicate a very serious responsibility that their position as governors confers on them.

The PDP governors in the north owe the region a duty to, through their timely and strategic intervention, save the NPLF and its Consensus Committee from avoidable political embarrassment that may follow the futility of their current exercise.  It is time the governors rose up to the exigency of the situation by taking over the process.

The governors will determine whether or not the quest for consensus candidate will succeed.  If they agree that it will succeed, they have the wherewithal and the human resources-the delegates-to push it through.  They will be able to work in concert and synergy among themselves to evolve a common front.

In fact, the unity of purpose will become the driving force of the search for consensus candidate.  But the Consensus Committee does not have what it takes to do that.  It is only to come up with a consensus candidate whose choice may still be contested by some forces in the PDP in the northern region. I am also not aware of any commitment by the northern governors to fall in line behind anybody that emerges as the consensus candidate.

The point I am making is: why allow the Consensus Committee to go on this wild goose chase, knowing full well that the key to solving the problem at hand is in the hands of the PDP governors in the north?  The governors understand very deeply the politics of presidential power; they know the implications of making a political faux pas at this time: if the quest for consensus must be pursued to its logical conclusion, then they should meet to decide who among the four aspirants they can work with.

Otherwise, the seeming mismanagement of the process by the Consensus Committee headed by Ciroma will continue to expose the underbelly of the NPLF, which, by extension, includes the northern governors, to the vagaries of attacks by political opponents most especially from the south of the country, who will label them as promoters of a process that is tendentious and divisive, especially as Ciroma has contnued to be neck-deep in throwing brickbats across the Niger.

And in heeding my call there are some pertinent questions the northern governors must ask themselves. Who among the candidates do they really know and feel comfortable working with when he eventually becomes president? Who can boast of a genuine relationship with governors from other regions of the country and by extension be able to canvass them for delegates during a primary run against President Jonathan? Who can boast of already having delegates in the bag and therefore will not need too much work during the primaries? Who has youth on his side, thus eliminating the talking points of the other side that the northern aspirants have an age problem? Who has a verifiable record of recent executive experience? With all the above considered who can we honestly say stands a better chance against President Jonathan and ultimately be able to win a general election?

While I am not writing this piece to drum up support for Governor Abubakar Bukola Saraki who I believe fits the bill, however, answers to the questions posted will help in narrowing the field and ensure that the process is not just a game, but one embarked upon to produce a candidate that not only the north can rally round, but viable enough to win a general election.

There is obviously, therefore, a choice to make.  Will the governors wade in and redirect the process more purposefully to achieve a more acceptable result or will they allow the elderly elements in the NPLF to continue to run the process in a manner that does not reinforce confidence in the northern people and their confederates in the south?  The time to act decisively to save the process by weighing all other considerations within the context of national politics is now!

Yusuf, a political analyst, contributed this piece from Kaduna.