By Henry Umoru
Senator Yisa Braimoh, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), represented Edo North Senatorial District in the Senate (from 2007 to 2011). In this interview, he speaks on the one-term pact that President Goodluck Jonathan allegedly had with PDP governors; the emergence of PDP Governors’ Forum (PGF) as a counterpoise to the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF); the desirability of local government autonomy; the problems with the All Progressive Congress, APC, merger and the emergence of Chief Tony Anenih as Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the PDP, among other issues.
What is your position on the crisis that has hit the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the emergence of the PDP Governors’ Forum (PGF)?
Before now, I had always seen the Forum of Governors as a mere platform for governors, irrespective of their political parties, to meet minds and/or share ideas on governance in their respective states so that one or two positive lessons and/or paradigms of development that are invaluable could be shared and learnt for the purpose of possible replication in other states. It, ab-initio, had no constitutional backing; and, therefore, its operations were not supposed to be carried out in such a manner as to suggest that it was or is a legal entity. But because we are in a democracy, the system has tended to give room for platforms of positive associations, interactions and expressions which are geared towards promoting collective good interests and thus deepening democracy in the process. But over the years, there has been an inclination by the Forum to turn itself into not just another arm of government but a powerful one at that.
Incrementally, with the passage of time, the Forum has now become a monster, engaging and issuing threats to the Federal Government and the president on issues such as the sharing of money in the Excess Crude Account, et al. What has become worrisome is the disposition of the leadership of the Forum, acting in concert with some members, to turn the Forum into a political weapon to intimidate the president.
I find this particularly nauseating because as a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with twenty-three governors, I did not expect that the Forum under the chairmanship of Governor Rotimi Amaechi, a PDP member, would be deployed to intimidate and blackmail the president. If Amaechi has a personal axe to grind with the president, he should have looked for other ways to deal with it; not by hijacking the platform of the NGF to prosecute a selfish agendum. It is sad that the majority of the governors who are PDP did not know on time that the opposition had perfected plans to use the Forum to upset President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015.
How do you relate with the issue of Local Government autonomy against the backdrop of reports from the states where governors are said to have abused the joint state/local government account?
This is one of the areas where the excesses of the state governors have been quite manifest. It is ironical that state governors who demand, and, in fact, ensure that their states’ shares of money from the Federation Account and the Excess Crude Account get to them in the spirit of our Federal-State structure are the ones who have consistently denied local governments in their domains the opportunity to access the full funds that are allocated to them.
The local governments in all the states have been greatly short-changed with a vast majority only getting what is just enough to service their overheads; nothing to fund development projects. Yet, the local governments are closer to the grassroots; and, by virtue of which they should have been allowed direct access to their funds to intensify the implementation of development projects at that level.
Sen Braimoh
This is why I would like to suggest that the PDP should take a position on the issue of local government autonomy in the interest of rapid and widespread development across the country, especially in the PDP-controlled states, as the process of constitution amendment is still on. local governments should get their disbursements direct from the Federal Government. local government autonomy is a recipe for rapid grassroots development.
Can you rationalize the idea of the good governance tour of states embarked upon by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, vis-à-vis the position by your state governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and his counterpart in Lagos, Babatunde Fasola, that the programme was ill-conceived?
I am not a spokesperson of the Federal Government. The Minister of Information should be in a position to do that rationalization. But be that as it may, Governors Oshiomhole and Fashola failed to convince me on the position they took and, in contradistinction, I was quite happy that the statement by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State that the tour was the collective decision of the governors: that they discussed it and agreed to do it has put the moral burden on the duo.
Indeed, I believe that if the idea of the tour as it was also done when Jerry Gana was Information Minister, is for the Federal Government to monitor how federally allocated and collected revenues have been judiciously utilized to fund development projects in states, I would suggest that the PDP-controlled Federal Government reverts to what obtained in the defunct Second Republic when the National Party of Nigeria (NPN)-controlled Federal Government under Alhaji Shehu Shagari where Presidential Liaison Officers were appointed in charge of states being governed by the other parties. It does not require an Act of Parliament to do this. It would be a corpus of aides, not of cabinet rank. What the Liaison Officers would do is to develop, project and promote Federal Government infrastructure in such States as well as monitor State Government activities in such states.
How ready is your party for the All Progressive Congress (APC) merger?
The PDP is the party to beat. It is arguably the biggest party on the continent of Africa. Since 1999, it has been dominating the Federal Government and this will continue for a long time. The structures are there on ground. There is only one thing the opposition parties can do about that: the merger that they are currently involved in; and, this is not the first time they would form an alliance of a merger to confront the PDP. But, unfortunately, this merger cannot dislodge the PDP. I consider it a merger of jokers, by jokers and for jokers.
The elements coupling this merger together are not from heaven. We know their antecedents, tendencies and their characters, their attitude towards internal party democracy, governance and accountability. There can never be a consensus within the APC in the conduct of primaries for the emergence of candidates for election in 2015. Will the APC adopt the autocratic selection process of the ACN? Crisis of credibility is rocking the CPC whose chairmanship position is being challenged by some senior members of the party. And for APGA with only two governors in its fold, it has already broken into three splinter groups. I do not want to talk further on this; but mark my prognosis: this merger will not work and, even if it manages to work, it will not be able to muster the power and national appeal to dislodge the PDP and President Jonathan from power in 2015.
Your political leader in Edo State, Chief Tony Anenih, has emerged as Chairman of the BoT of the PDP. What does this portend for your party?
His emergence is no doubt the greatest thing that has happened to the PDP in recent times. It means that our party is on the path of consolidating its holds on the reins of government with our predictable victory in the 2015 presidential election. Chief Anenih is an experienced political strategist, who has the capacity to define and chart his winning ways in politics and electoral contests. With the backing of the awesome federal machine, the job becomes easier for him to accomplish. I am sufficiently close to him to understand a bit of his strategies. As I speak to you, he has begun to work quietly to bring strategic stakeholders in the party and the polity to the side of President Jonathan.
Is the president’s re-election bid not running against the grains of an alleged one-term pact that he entered into with governors as claimed by Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State?
This is the monstrosity of the governors and their forum that I talked about earlier. How can a governor, who is serving out his second term in office, come out with such effrontery to claim there was a pact that limits President Jonathan to one term of office? I do not want to go into the argument and dialectics of an existent or non-existent pact. But my brief take on that is that any such pact is unconstitutional. My position is that Jonathan is qualified to contest for a second term in office, as constitutionally circumscribed; and, therefore, I will support every effort in that direction.
Besides, as president, I am of the opinion that he is doing well and, as a party, the consensus is that he has performed well and should be supported. Consider the mileage that has been achieved with the SURE-P initiative, the revitalization of the rail, the building of road infrastructure. Sustenance of the Amnesty Programme, together with the peace in the Niger Delta, is a success that we must project. The progressive growth of the real sector of the economy through the Federal Government’s deliberate policy of providing loans to small and medium scale industries by the Bank of Industry across the country is commendable.
The reasonable stability of the exchange rate and the decline in the inflation rate are commendable. The remarkable Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) influx in the trade and investment sector is commendable. The renovation of schools, supply of books through the UBEC and establishment of universities in the last 18 months as well the commitment to generate over 6,000 more megawatts of electricity at the end of 2013/early 2014 are positive developments.
In fact, with the commendable performance of Jonathan in less than two years into his first term, APC, if eventually formed, will remain in opposition in the next twenty years. There is no doubt that Nigerians will take all of these and many more into consideration and return him to power. Jonathan is the president we want and not the president we need. I implore all PDP members and Nigerians to give him a solid backing.
I am happy that we now have a BoT under the indefatigable Chief Anenih, NWC under the sedate but highly fecund leadership of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and PGF under the rambunctious and performing Governor Akpabio of Akwa-Ibom State who, acting in concert with us who are various leaders in our areas, will work out the victory plan. I can only say: Jonathan, carry go!
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