Crisis in the Governors’ Forum

The import of the action of Mr. Suswam et al, in my view, wasn’t just in the purported removal and installation but the spirit and the implications that it both has and will have on the project of delivering credible elections for Nigeria, which there seem to be a national and global consensus that this […]

The import of the action of Mr. Suswam et al, in my view, wasn’t just in the purported removal and installation but the spirit and the implications that it both has and will have on the project of delivering credible elections for Nigeria, which there seem to be a national and global consensus that this time around, Nigeria must get its electoral processes right.
When a governor and his colleagues who are beneficiaries of our flawed electoral process begin to get so desperate in the countdown to the general elections, I think it is obviously worrisome because the message such actions send is simple: We should get ready for another round of impunity come 2011.
I can see desperation just as many other citizens have since the unfortunate development. What the action of these governors paint to the nation is that no stone must be left unturned in removing every vestige of opposition to the Goodluck Jonathan campaign agenda. The fact that Abubakr Saraki is an aspirant for his party’s ticket therefore puts him as an enemy of the President. Such a Rambo style of politics in my view is typical of political hangmen who have staked everything just for the material condiments that accrues from playing vindictive politics. It is worrisome if officials, especially executive officials, descend so low as was the case in this bid to unseat Saraki and foist a pro Jonathan crony as the chairman of the Governors’ Forum.
I am more so worried because I have had close relationship with Mr. Suswam since his days in the National Assembly and even as the Governor of Benue State. I have followed very closely his antecedence in the last several years in politics and I have rated him very high. It is disturbing to at this material time notice certain development in his attitude to politics, beginning not with his support for the candidature of Jonathan or rather his role as the North Central (or is it Middle belt?) campaign coordinator of the Jonathan movement, but when on the declaration of Jonathan as a candidate he said in public that Jonathan was a candidate of the minority.
I am aware that several other governors reprimanded him at the same venue for that political slip of tongue which I personally also overlooked then because knowing the caliber of Suswam, he hardly would go so low even in this very competitive national politics.  Apart from that, the people of Benue in the Nigerian federation are among the most dynamic and nationalistic from the colonial period to date. The role of the Tiv and Idoma nations in not just the making of modern Nigeria but most importantly its preservation is unquantifiable, as such it is expected that this obvious structural and historical relevance of the great people would not be compromised by any kind of ambition in the heat of national electoral politics.
I expect that all those especially in positions of authority who route for the Jonathan candidature to be civil even if because they are already placed in an advantaged position of power. The watch word must be caution as the objectives of politics are pursued.
I see the crisis initially caused by splinter as unfortunate and a further confirmation of the allegations of the critics of the group that it is only intended to serve the selfish purposes of the governors and not an avenue of improving the art and science of governance and deepening of the roots of democracy in the country.
Some are saying that the group of eleven was instigated to cause tension by the president and/ or his men. Even at that, I do know that most of them are more competent, exposed and tested than Jonathan. How then would they be manipulated by weakness? I do not think that electoral contest should be reduced to such an intolerable level where opponents, especially those in advantaged positions, should insist on inflicting maximum damage on those challenging them.
The Governors Forum, in my mind, play a very significant role in the administration of the country. It curtails the might of the center and places federal officials who are in the midst of tremendous national wealth in their proper context and thus reduce their capacity to take the federation for a ride.
I think the truce achieved on Thursday morning clearly epitomizes the maturity in most of the governors and the need to keep the house in order even if for the wrong signals that any crisis is likely to send to the uninformed public. I am of the view that politics can still be played with the necessary maturity and decorum without anyone playing the hangman.
This week’s midterm elections in the United States should be a lesson to our politicians and leaders at various levels. How the Republicans regained control of the congress was as amazing as it was breathtaking. The winners and losers are all united in the belief that something either worked right or went wrong and are committed to continue to pursue the American dream.
The governors are torchbearers in the nation’s democracy. Whatever comes from them is critical and essential to the determination of the content and context of power and governance. That is why I will continue to insist that what Nigerians need is to ensure that free and credible elections occur, a process through which those who exercise power do so with our authority.