Gov forum’s crisis paved the way for PDP defeat–Tinubu, Soyinka

The National Leader of the All Progressives
Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and Nobel
laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Thursday in
Lagos said the 2013 Nigeria Governors’ Forum
crisis paved the way for the end of the 16-year
rule of the Peoples Democratic Party.
They made the observation during the public
presentation of ‘Dynamics of Change: The
Amaechi Years,’ a book edited by a former
Managing Director of Daily Times, Yemi Ogunbiyi,
and author, Chidi Amuta.
They explained that the crisis provided the spark
that led to a common sense revolution as
witnessed in the defeat of the PDP by the All
Progressives Congress.
The NGF crisis erupted from an election organised
by the 36 governors of the federation. Governor
Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State garnered 19 votes
while his Plateau State counterpart, Jonah Jang,
had 16 votes.
However, the Presidency chose to recognise Jang
as the chairman, thereby causing a split in the
forum and the defection of five governors from
the PDP to the APC.
Tinubu, in comments at the event, said when the
split happened, he quickly wooed Amaechi.
He described the Rivers State governor as the
general that the APC used to secure victory
during the just concluded general elections.
Tinubu said the APC played on President
Goodluck Jonathan’s lack of understanding of
Arithmetic to defeat him.
He said, “Governor Amaechi and most of the
governors thought of a different arithmetic
algebra without derivative. Thirty six minus 16 is
equal to X and if X is greater than 16, suggest the
answer and if you can’t, you have failed
democratic arithmetic.
“Amaechi resisted it and we joined him in the
resistance. Of course, how can a leader educate
and be responsible for the future of our citizens if
he cannot do a division of sum total of a number,
36? We are glad today that we decided and we
got rid of that leadership through ‘General’
Amaechi.”
Tinubu stated that his message of a common
sense revolution gripped Nigeria and opened their
eyes.
He said for instance, the Civic Centre on Victoria
Island used to be a dumpsite but the state
government sold it to the Chairman of Zenith
Bank, Jim Ovia, who turned it into a revenue-
spinning machine that now pays tax to the state.
The APC leader said it was the same method that
the APC would use in redefining the history of
Nigeria.
He said, “We are in this hall because of its good
construction. The hall is part of a common sense
revolution. It used to be a dumpsite but we asked
our friend, Jim Ovia, to excavate it and pay
whatever price to the government. He took the
risk and it is paying off. It is part of the common
sense revolution.’’
The former governor also enjoined all APC
stakeholders and other Nigerians to brace for the
post-election challenges.
He said, “Elections are over and both the leaders
and citizens must brace themselves to meet the
challenges required to build a better, more
prosperous nation. Indeed, even as we subscribe
to the tenets of common sense revolution, we
must retool ourselves; the new leadership must
embark on policies that will improve the general
well-being of our people.
“This revolution is not a violent one to tear things
down; it is a revolution to rescue us from
violence, injustice and poverty. It is a positive one
to rescue, repair and restructure the nation and
its institutions in ways that further collective
prosperity and well-being. The only violence that
is to be done is to violence, injustice and
poverty.”
Tinubu said Amaechi, who was the director-
general of the APC Campaign Organisation, would
be given a key position in the incoming Buhari
administration for his role in the party’s victory.
He said what Amaechi and his colleagues in the
NGF wanted was a better management of the
Federation Account .
The former governor said, “Governor Amaechi and
most of the governors want a properly defined
federalist relationship with the government at the
centre. The President would have none of that as
in the notable example of the management of the
federation account. This is, therefore, another
great opportunity to salute Amaechi’s rare
courage of conviction and sense of purpose.
“The APC change agenda is anchored on the three
Rs – Reform, Relief, and Recovery. It is the tripod
upon which Nigeria must operate in order to
unleash her potential.
“Rotimi will go on from here to continue to serve
Nigeria in key positions. He will not be alone. He
will share the company of many change agents
and professionals who have cast their lots with
the new political order under the leadership of the
President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari.”
Like Tinubu, Soyinka pointed out that the NGF
crisis marked the beginning of the end of the
Jonathan administration.
Soyinka said one of his close friends in Aso Rock
had urged him to talk to Amaechi to stop
attacking the Presidency as his party(APC) would
not succeed in defeating Jonathan.
The playwright, who is a notable critic of
Jonathan, said the two architects of the APC
victory were Tinubu and Amaechi.
He said, “In the political atmosphere today,
whatever you call it, change or hope or cautious
hope and or careless hope, I recognise two
personalities in particular who led the chant of
change. One of them, I call him the architect of
the process, the architect in fact, that houses the
essence of hope Bola Tinubu.
“The other person (Amaechi) was unconsciously,
perhaps, the arrowhead of that charge that led to
the change and that is the man that we gather
here to celebrate.
“He was the one who said no, we cannot turn the
clock backwards. Nothing about the philosophy of
the clock runs against what we were hoping for.
It was a very unpopular and risky decision to
take. But it exposed to us the basic arithmetic
fallacy of governance in demonstrating that when
16 is said to be higher than 19, something is
fundamentally wrong and the same kind of
arithmetic leads to the cooking of figures in
governance.
“And it was within that nexus that he stood up
and challenged even his own colleagues, and said
let’s change the mentality of the stock, let us re-
orientate it towards the people and towards the
nation and the electorate.”
In his remarks, Amaechi said he and Tinubu had
disagreements during the electioneering but were
able to put their differences aside in the interest
of the party.
He said Jonathan destroyed the governors’ forum
but expressed joy that with the APC victory,
things would return to normal.
He said, “I was determined that there should be a
change because if there’s no change, things will
not move. Even before our convention, I got
Asiwaju Tinubu angry. I went to him and implored
that we should not fight or disagree over issues.
“I told him that the important thing was for us to
win first and after which, we can disagree. I
believe that we must win and make a change. I
am ready to make a sacrifice.

Source-www.punch.ng