Senator
Arthur Nzeribe, yesterday, asked his kinsmen, the Igbos, to jettison the idea
of producing the next president in 2015, saying it would not be feasible
because of lack of unity in the zone.
According
to him, the Igbos are not just ready to produce the country’s president.
He also
said if the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP must get it right and move away from
its present crises, the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, members of the
National Working Committee, NWC must go, adding that ‘’the PDP must clear the
desk, including Bamanga Tukur, to get it right.”
The
Oguta-born maverick politician from Orlu, Imo State, told his people bluntly
that before they sought the exalted position, they must first put their house
in order by speaking in unison.
Nzeribe,
who based his position on previous unsuccessful attempts by the Igbos to what
he called endemic disarray amongst Igbo politicians, said:
“Until we start speaking with one voice, we cannot get the Presidency. We
should not try it now, we are not just ready for anything like that, we must
first put our house in order.”
He also
warned that ahead of 2015 elections, Nigerians must note that the country was
bigger than anybody, irrespective of status, adding that politicians must,
therefore, put their selfish interest in their handbags to save the country.
Speaking
on the presidential primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator
Nzeribe noted that those advocating that President Goodluck Jonathan must not
go through the rigour of primaries to emerge as the Presidential candidate were
only raising their personal opinion on the matter, stressing that he must
present himself with others for the party’s presidential primaries.
Drumming
support for President Jonathan, Nzeribe said: ‘’It is the personal opinion of
those who said President Jonathan must not go through primary election, he must
present himself for that, I can bet that President Goodluck Jonathan will win
at the People Democratic Party, PDP, primaries”.
He,
however, supported last week’s position of the Senate during the vote on the
1999 Constitution review, especially where the call for local government
autonomy was jettisoned.
Advocates
abolition of LGAs
He said
local governments should be abolished as they were not achieving their set
objectives of meeting the yearnings of the people, adding that he was in total
support of decisions taken by the senators during the debate and the voting
process.
The former
senator, however, urged all those who left the party to return and embrace the
on-going reconciliatory overtures, with a view to repositioning the PDP.
Urges
Jonathan to develop the South East
Senator
Nzeribe called on President Jonathan to help in the development of the Eastern
part of the country as he had not really impacted on the people in the area of
roads, adding that the people wanted good roads, Onitsha Bridge, among others.
He said despite the lack of party manifesto in the PDP, the President was using
his personal initiative to produce results.
The
veteran politician, who titled his address: “We Must Not Allow Doomsday
Prediction About Nigeria To Come True,” however, described the declaration of
state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states by President Jonathan as
“necessary and obviously the only reasonable option left to dissuade the
doomsday prophets of Nigeria’s disintegration from having a field day”.
He said:
“What is needed now is for stakeholders in the Nigerian project to give maximum
support to Mr. President in his effort at bringing to an end activities of the
insurgents. The critical stakeholders in the affected areas should on their
part, corporate maximally with the President to achieve the goal of emergency
rule”.
“Although,
the current emergency rule order is a sharp departure from the conventional
one, but viewed from the position of inclusiveness in finding lasting solution to
the vexed issue of insurgency, one can begin to appreciate President Jonathan’s
brand of emergency rule”.
“In
effect, what is obtainable in the affected areas right now is “Diarchy” which
is a system of government whereby the Civilian and the Military share power. It
was propounded by late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. The beauty of the current emergency
rule is that both the civilian and military authorities in the affected states
are expected to corporate to find lasting solution to the problem.”
Nzeribe
who cautioned that care must be taken to avoid civilian casualty in the
execution of emergency rule, also urged the Nigerian media to be nationalistic
in their reportage and shun sensational reporting.
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