Leadership (Abuja)
Iyobosa Uwugiaren
21 August 2008
The ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday raised alarm over secret plots by some group of persons in collaboration with some foreign entities to "sabotage the nation and reverse the progress we have so far made as a democratic nation."
The party said it had some documentary evidence which suggested that "some foreign entities who are hell-bent on creating instability in Nigeria in order to play down the growing influence of Nigeria in regional and international affairs," are working in concert with the Nigeria United for Democracy (NUD).
Apparently giving credence to the secret plots, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua yesterday approved the appointment of Air Marshall Paul Dike as Chief of Defence Staff. Dike is to take over from General Andrew Azazi, who is retiring from service.nd Division of the Nigeria Army in Ibadan.
He also approved the appointment of Major- General A.B. Dambazau as Chief of Army Staff in place of Lieutenant General Luka Yusuf, who is also retiring. Until his appointment, Dambazau was the Chief Officer Commanding the 2
Other changes approved by the President in the command structure of the Armed Forces include the appointment of Rear Admiral Isaiah Iko Ibrahim as Chief of Naval Staff in place of Vice Admiral G.T.A. Adekeye, who retires from active service. Ibrahim was the Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Training Command, Lagos.
The President, who left Abuja yesterday evening to perform the lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia, also approved the appointment of Air Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin as the Air Officer Commanding the Nigerian Air Force Training Command, Kaduna.
According to a statement signed by the Special Adviser (Communication) to the President, Mr Segun Adeniyi, "All the appointments are with immediate effect.
President Yar'Adua and the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, have met with the outgoing Chief of Defence Staff and Service Chiefs to thank them for their services to the nation, he said.
Meanwhile, following the changes approved by Yar'Adua in the command structure of the Armed Forces yesterday, the Defence Retreat scheduled to begin in Kaduna today has been postponed until further notice.
"The Honourable Minister of Defence, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, regrets any inconveniences the postponement might cause all those invited to the retreat, especially former Heads of State and royal fathers," Adeniyi added.
The PDP, while frowning at the development, urged security agencies to weigh in on the calls for the overthrow of established constitutional order.
It would be recalled that NUD is an amalgam of some opposition political parties, which include Action Congress (AC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP).
PDP's nine-point response is as follows:-
"The call for an interim government has no place in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and is therefore not only illegal, but also treasonable to the extent that it calls for the overthrow of an established constitutional order.
• Contrary to the posturing of this group, Nigerians, indeed the international community have come to accept democracy as the only means for socio-economic development, the protection of human rights and the advancement of good governance and leadership rooted in accountability, fairness and justice. The PDP holds the view shared by all patriotic Nigerians that any political arrangement that alienates or seeks to alienate the people and reduce their participation in how they are governed by whatever name is unacceptable, especially now that democracy has taken root in our country.
• The tragic consequences of the contraption called Interim Government which was put in place in 1993 is still very fresh in the minds of Nigerians. The attempt to supplant a popular election with an unelected regime led to a crisis that shook the very foundation of our country. We will never wish that for our nation under any guise again;
• Once again, the judiciary, which we all look up to as the last hope of the common man, has come under a vicious attack from these latter-day saints of democracy. The judiciary in a political power play cannot be anything but a pawn to be used and humiliated by the autocratic executive arm which controls most of the nation's resources. The judiciary itself has been so manipulated as to become a byword for inconsistency and unreliability . . .
• It is also frightening that in this era of due process and the rule of law, the NUD in their statement advocated for a determination of conflicts "politically rather than legally." By this position, they have expressed a lack of faith in the judicial system in spite of the numerous cases they have before the courts;
• The PDP believes in the structures of the Nigerian nation as presently constituted and therefore condemns the call for all "Peoples National Conference" to fashion out a new constitution and political structure for the Nigerian state. We believe that the responsibility of amending the Nigerian constitution to accommodate any emergent issue on the political structure of Nigeria lies entirely with the elected representatives of the people in the national and state assemblies. Any arrangement outside this is unconstitutional and cannot stand the test of time;
• The motive and intentions of this group are very clear: to create confusion and cause general disaffection within the polity, because of their failure at the polls. This is a further evidence of the bad loser syndrome;
• From all available facts before us, some of the conveners of the NUD are working in concert with some foreign entities who are hell bent on creating instability in Nigeria in order to play down the growing influence of Nigeria in regional and international affairs, and
• In line with all the above, the PDP condemns this reckless act and calls on Nigerians, including the security agencies, to be vigilant and nip in the bud any attempt to foist any illegality on the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Politicians are once again advised to desist from acts capable of undermining the peace, stability and security of our nation as we have no other country to call our own except Nigeria."
However, the Action Congress (AC) has described as "idle talk that can only emanate from a warped mind'' the allegation by the PDP that the opposition is seeking to undermine the Federal Government and reaching out to foreign interests for that purpose.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the accusation amounts to giving the dog a bad name just to hang it, saying it was a ploy to clamp down on the opposition to facilitate the emergence of a one-party state "which has been the dream of the PDP."
It said that with the PDP-led government controlling the police, SSS and other security forces, it should not hesitate to arrest and charge to court, based on concrete evidence, anyone who is undermining the government, instead of issuing "clownish threats."
"The allegation by the PDP amounts to shooting the breeze, and it is the work of a ruling party that has no initiative on how to address the plethora of problems facing the country and how to ensure better life for the country's long-suffering citizens.
"Apparently confronted by the enormity of the problems facing the nation, and without any idea on how to go about it, PDP leadership and the governments it controls at federal and state levels are fast descending into a frightening level of paranoia, which can only worsen the problems of lack of basic infrastructure, insecurity, food crisis and militancy in the Niger Delta, just to mention a few,'' it said.
AC said the PDP, through the unwarranted and inscrutable allegation, is merely heating up the polity and giving the impression that the country is not stable.
"If the regular efforts by the opposition to point the government to the right direction is what the PDP has misconstrued as an attempt to undermine the Federal Government, then those running the PDP must immediately undertake a crash course in constitutional democracy.
"Criticisms of the government and the suggestion of ways to ensure better governance are not synonymous with fomenting instability, except in the eyes of those who have run out of ideas. Responsible opposition is part of democracy.
"Despite the laughable allegation by the PDP, we in the AC shall not keep quiet. We will continue to point the government in the right direction in the interest of our democracy and the people of this country, who deserve better than they are getting now from the PDP-led administrations across the country,'' the party said.
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These useless politicians make me laugh. What is PDP afraid of? Afraid of toothless group of smaller opposing parties whose combined efforts couldn't even muster 5% of electoral votes last May compared to PDP's landslide victory? How can you expect minority parties of spineless politicians to overthrow the dominant party without guns and the support of the military? Instead of clamoring for the return of a very corrupt, treacherous and insubordinating Atiku back to PDP, the party big wigs should be clamoring for membership of Nigerian ordinary folks to join the party and give it credibility as the party of the people and not just the party of less than 3000 political elites. For their selfishness and lack of unity of purpose/party discipline, PDP is only afraid of its own shadow, like a headless chicken-little running around in circles screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" If anybody is to be afraid it should be Yar Ardua and its visionless administration - learn from the recent events in your neighborhood a la Mauritania and Zambia, one or the other is ripe in Nigeria, if he doesn't shape up.