Govt shutdown:Why Jonathan will not intervene in Rivers crisis — Ben Obi

SPECIAL Adviser to President Goodluck
Jonathan on Inter-Party Affairs, Senator Ben
Obi, in this interview spoke on why the
president may not intervene in the crisis
ravaging Rivers State as demanded by the All
Progressives Congress (APC) leaders while
directing APC federal legislators.
He also spoke on how the president is handling
pressures to declare his 2015 political ambition,
allegations that the president is not fighting
corruption and the leadership tussles between
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and APC in
the National Assembly. Excerpts:
ON the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC 2015 timetable
First of all, they have a constitutional
responsibility to take care of elections; it is
that responsibility they have adhered to. For
me, it is part of the transformation agenda
that those who are given responsibilities to
perform do so without let or hindrance. That is
what the Professor Attahiru Jega-led INEC has
done.
Nobody was expecting it. If anybody was saying
that they were under some influence that
person is wrong in his presumption.
It is the independent nature of the various
organizations under this administration that is
coming to play. We must thank the president
for making sure that these organizations have
a free atmosphere to function.
So, when is President Goodluck Jonathan
declaring whether or not to run?
I want Nigerians to understand one thing. I
have been on the side of the opposition for very
long. Now, I am in the executive, current
leadership.
Path of governance
President Jonathan appealed to Nigerians and
said he would not discuss politics until 2014.
Despite all the pressure mounted on him by the
opposition to draw him into politics much
earlier than 2014, he resisted it; he continued
on the path of governance and maintained that
he would say something in 2014.
Now we are in 2014, now INEC has spoken, we
do expect that with all of these, I am sure he
will sit down with his kitchen cabinet and look
at the pros and cons, what his administration
has done and then take a position clearly on
what his next line of action will be.
I want say, as somebody who has been deeply
involved in the management of political parties;
a political party will only sponsor a candidate,
whose achievements they are proud of. So,
when I see people talking about who the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) is going to sponsor or
not, I feel sorry for them because they don’t
understand how political parties are run. I
cannot tell the APC that because I had been
associated with most of them one way or the
other that A or B is a better candidate. I can’t
do that.
And I expect that they too will not try to put
themselves in a situation where they will be
dictating to the PDP. Their business is to go
and wait for whoever it pleases the PDP to
produce.
In every climate and political understanding
that I know of, particularly, when the
constitution is on his side, they concede the
first, the right of refusal to seek re-election
to the incumbent.
The constitution is on the side of President
Jonathan. His achievements speak for him.
If you feel offended or aggrieved, he has put
out a mid-term report, cataloguing his entire
achievements. I am still waiting to see a
critical objection and rejection of that
document rather than people just shooting in
the dark.
He has put down his achievements in black and
white. Take them one-by-one and dismantle or
dislodge them but that has not been the case.
So, as far as I am concerned, I serve a
president who has made a tremendous impact in
the lives of Nigerians judging particularly from
where he took off. What was the situation
when he came on board and what is the
situation today?
How soon will the President meet with his
kitchen cabinet over the issue?
Like I said he will meet with his kitchen cabinet,
they will study the INEC guidelines and
timetable and decide: what do we do? Where do
we go from here? Nigerians will be adequately
informed at the appropriate time.
As far as I am concerned, they (president and
his kitchen cabinet) still have some two to
three months to really concentrate on
governance and that is the Jonathan
philosophy.
His New Year message was very clear:
‘Nigerians will enjoy a better 2014,’ which
means there are certain things he will want to
put up that will make a difference. Let’s
complete that process before we go into the
political event. Let’s create the atmosphere
for a better Nigerian environment.
On allegations that the government influenced
INEC to put the presidential election first to
create a bandwagon effect in favour of the PDP
Go back to the past INEC elections and draw
your analogy from there. There is nothing INEC
will do today that people will not say it is doing
it in favour of the president in power.
But those of us who are part of the
government in power are really a bit perturbed
the way things were done without
consultations. Consultations I mean here is the
council of state and various bodies. They are
performing their responsibility as a body under
the constitution. For anybody to think that all
they are doing is in our interest is
unfortunate.
On leadership tussle in the House of
Representatives between APC and PDP with APC
claiming majority over PDP
We have legislators from APGA and Labour
Party. Have you taken their numerical
strength? Where do they stand? APC has 172
and PDP 171 members, if you add APGA and
Labour, who then constitutes the majority? It
is always better we do stocktaking before we
come to the public domain.
I must commend the Speaker for the matured
manner he handled the issue that day. Both
camps, APC and PDP poured encomiums on him.
APC tied its directive to shutdown government
to the resolution of the crisis in Rivers State…
Again it is a vindication of the position of the
President. If the president dabbles into the
issue of Rivers, he should be ready to dabble
into the issues of the 36 states plus one – the
Federal Capital Territory.
Having appointed people to take charge of the
various departments of government –the
Inspector General of Police, Director,
Department of State Services, etc, it is when
the matter overwhelm these people that there
can now be a communication to the
government.
Like many people talk about corruption, have
we had complaints from the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or
Independent Corrupt Practices and related
offences Commission (ICPC) that they are
under-funded?  Have they said there is this
intervention from the government that is
making us not perform? As far as the
presidency is concerned, the right people have
been put in place and they have been doing their
assignments. Until they fail, there is no point
to intervene. I was listening to Amaechi, he
said he spoke to the IG, ‘I am going to lead this
Save Rivers Rally myself.’ And he thanked the
IG because the IG sent men to make sure that
they are protected. Some of these things are
due to gap in communication.
On Speaker Aminu Tambuwal’s comment that
President Jonathan is not fighting corruption
the way he should given issues around Aviation
Minister, Princes Stella Oduah and Director
General of the Stock Exchange Commission
(SEC), MS Arunma Oteh?
On Oteh, I am a member of the Presidential
team, I do not know nor have I heard of how
the president found a way to fund SEC.
International politics
But I do know that Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
the Minister of Finance and Coordinating
minister of the Economy, a highly respected
international figure, who but for international
politics would have been president of the World
Bank and the President of the World Bank pays
her absolute respect, set up a committee and
that committee vindicated Oteh.
The legislature came up with its own issue.
Ordinarily what needs to be done here is to look
for solutions. It is not my duty to start
educating the legislature on what to do. I just
want to make sure, as somebody who has
served on both sides, I can tell you there is
always a way out of such a dilemma.
That is a way that must be looked into at
resolving the issue so that both sides can sleep
with their eyes closed.
On the issue of Speaker Tambuwal talking about
body language, when I was in the Senate a
couple of people talked to me about the Third
Term agenda. I was the person who coordinated
the project. I was not the chairman. Senator
Idris Kuta of blessed memory was the
chairman.
A lot of offers were made to me on how we
should allow the third project sail through. The
speaker talked about body language, when you
are in the legislature, the truth of the matter
is that you see permanently a challenge from
the executive. And the more challenge you put
across to the executive the more assured you
are of your position.
Purview of the executive
I say to my colleagues in the executive, the
young man (speaker) is managing 360
legislators from different political parties,
background and interest, etc.
So he has a duty to navigate the storms and as
long as whatever he says cannot be used
against him, all well and good. Talking about
Stella Oduah, the president did what he should
do. Within the purview of the executive, he set
up a committee immediately to investigate
Stella Oduah.
Let me tell you something and I say this with all
seriousness and experience as a politician, 35
years experience: this woman has done what no
minister of Aviation had done. She has done so
much in improving our aviation sector. I don’t
see how on earth she will bring herself to a
level of deliberately engaging in unexpected and
unbelievable scam.
A lot of Nigerians across the country have
commended her. I, as a son of Anambra State
where she comes from, I am exceedingly very
proud of her. I am happy. Whatever it is, a
committee has been set up. By the time a
decision is taken, it will be clear that the
president will not go out of his way to shield
anybody that is indicted. The President
Jonathan that I have seen and known  in the
last two and a half years  will not shield you if
you are found wanting President Jonathan is
not the typical Nigerian politician, who lies and
promises you what he would not do. He is not
the aggressive type of person. He is somebody
who means well for this country. He is
committed to seeing a true Nigerian nation
unfold. That is why he is all-accommodating. No
president has been bashed by the media as him.
Divine message
I keep telling our people, the way you make
your bed so you lie on it. If we ridicule our
president that is the way people outside will see
us. It is not about Jonathan. Beyond all of
these, there is a divine message in Jonathan’s
appearance on the political scene. It will be
better if all of us join hands to make this
country better.
Jonathan’s critics say he is too slow compared
to rulers like Obasanjo…
I was a victim of the Obasanjo era. All those
who say this now were saying a different thing
when Obasanjo was in power. Today, President
Jonathan is consulting. For every action he
takes, he consults. Every action he had taken
that needed to be reversed was reversed. Let
us give him his dues.
On comments that the national conference is
now threatened with discordant tunes trailing
the report of the Senator Femi Okurounmu
committee
I don’t agree. The national confab is not
threatened. The President set up a committee,
to come up with a template. The committee has
submitted its report and people are reacting.
Naturally, that is what it should be.
The committee is not all-knowing, it is not
omnipotent. People are reacting from the
various zones of the country, that is what it
should be so that by the time the report is
finally collated and the way we are going to hold
the confab is decided, everybody will feel
included and involved. I see the president’s
position as purely defined and straightforward.