Jonathan didn’t give commitment he won’t run in 2015 – Clark


Yesterday, First Republic Minister of Information and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark spoke on the conviction of former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori by a London court. In this concluding part of the interview with SOLA ADEBAYO, he speaks on the 2015 presidency and the probality of President Goodluck Jonathan contesting the election. He also speaks on sundry issues. Excerpts:

You were involved in the various consultations which led to the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan as presidential candidate of PDP in the 2011 election, was a commitment ever extracted from Jonathan, especially by the Northern political leaders that he would not seek a second term mandate of Nigerians?

There was no time he gave such committment. Let us make it very clear, this country, Nigeria belongs to all of us. Who is qualified to become the President of Nigeria? Anybody who has no defect has the right to be the ruler of this country. It is not an exclusive right of certain people. The people of Nigeria for the first time unanimously voted for President Jonathan, this is the first time across religious divides, across ethnic divides, across political divides, people voted for this President. So they expect so much from him and he knows that. So the issue of whether he would run in 2015 or not has not arisen. The man has three more years to go for him to decide whether he wants to contest for the second term or not. And he has advised his ministers, his functionaries that nobody should talk about politics of 2015. Some of these northerners who are making these statements are just being vicious. They just want to create problems for Jonathan as some of them threatened to make this country ungovernable for him. So this is part of it. Jonathan has not told anybody that he is going to contest in 2015. He has told his people that nobody should talk about it.

But he has said that he has a right to contest, are you not aware of that?

Yes, he has a right to contest. If Obasanjo did eight years and governors are doing eight years, Shagari was going to do eight years, what prevents him from doing eight years if he wants to? But if he does not want to, that is his own deci-sion but he has no reason to give commitment to any group of persons or any person in this country. He is a Nigerian, he has a right every Nigerian has. None of them gave com-mitment to anybody. Obasanjo did not give commitment even though in 2003 Atiku, his vice, wanted to take over from him. At that time they did not care whether Obasanjo has a second term. Nobody will do this to Jonathan. Let us see what Jonathan can do for the people of this country in the next three years. He is obligated to do that because they voted for him and they expected so much from him. His transformation agenda should be completed and he should not talk about second term until towards the end of his first term. I think that is the position.

Are you convinced that he is delivering on the mandate given to him?

He is performing. What do you mean?

Are you not aware of the problem, for instance, in the power sector?

Which power sector? There are saboteurs. He has been trying. You also remember that there is certain time it came up to 4,000 megawatts but due to the fall in water and lack of gas, this thing happen everywhere in the world but the power sector is a priority to his government. There is a conspiracy against him that all the things that were never done by Obasanjo, by other people, are being descended on him. He has just taken office for one year.

It is two years…

Not two years. Not at all.

What about the one year he got due to the death of Yar’Adua?

The one year he got when they harassed him, they intimidated him, that he has no right to become the President of this country. How many people would be free enough to do something for their country under that circumstance? This is the first time he has been elected. By May, he will be one year in office. And if he fails that is his own business, God has put him there. All that we are saying is that please you have voted for him, we are appealing to Nigerians to have an open mind, give Jonathan a chance. When you harass him he cannot perform. He is a human being. But Boko Haram said they are going to run him out of government in the next three months, what is your reac-tion to that?And you believe in that?

I am asking you for reaction, are you bothered?

Boko Haram is not against Jonathan. We are not afraid. How can we be bothered? Bothered about what and who? I don’t want to comment on that because as far as I am concerned it is irrelevant because Boko Haram is fighting their own people, who neglected them, who give nothing to them. They had no school for them, who had no medicare for them. How many of our people in the South have been killed? Is it because Jonathan is the President of the entire country? Otherwise Boko Haram know their enemies; Jonathan is not the enemy of Boko Haram and I think that if he finds the leaders and negotiate with them, they will tell him. They are not anti-Jonathan.

How can you claim that they are not killing people from the South when they were invading churches and killing worshippers?

Is it not also true that they have been killing northerners? What happened in Kano where about 186 people were killed? How many southerners were killed? Are they not burning mosques and are they not attacking primary schools owned by Muslim?

Is it not the duty of the government to protect lives and property and punish criminals?

The government is doing everything possible to contain Boko Haram. The number of Boko Haram leaders that have been arrested, the number of Boko Haram, who are also Nigerians that have been killed. It is not what one is happy about. You killed Boko Haram, they are Nigerians and those Boko Haram are killing are Nigerians. So we will find a way to ensure that this thing stops. What do you want the President to do? Do you want him to go to Maiduguri and stop them? He is doing everything possible to contain them and he will contain them. The leaders of Boko Haram should come out. You can’t negotiate with faceless people. When Yar’Adua decided to negotiate with the Niger Delta militants, they came to him, they saw him, he saw them and he fraternise with them. Let Boko Haram leaders come out and I am very sure the President will negotiate with them.

Do you subscribe to the views in certain quarters that Boko Haram was an invention by the North to truncate the second term aspiration of President Jonathan in 2015?

A few of the northerners may do that but majority of the northerners will not contemplate that. Have you read the interview given by Senator Kanti Bello? He mentioned people like Atiku who are professional presidential candi-dates. He said Atiku has no principle but he has ambition for presidency. He is jumping from one party to another. Those are the people who believe that unless they are rul-ing, nobody should rule. The same Atiku in 2003 wanted to take over power from Obasanjo, who was his boss. In 2007, he left PDP to contest presidency on the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Today, he is back in the PDP and wants to push Jonathan out, he will never succeed. Kaita is one of the persons canvassing for Atiku, feeling that unless Atiku becomes president of Nigeria, there will be no peace in this country. And if it is found that they are actually doing it, the government should be bold enough to arrest them. Nobody is above arrest, we need peace and stability in this country and no individual should create problem for the government.

What is your reaction to the call by the North for the review of the revenue formula?

That is why we are calling for a National Conference.

Do you support the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) now?

No. I don’t support the SNC. People do not know the meaning of SNC. What most of us have agreed to do is let us have a national conference where all Nigerians will meet, from the various ethnic nationalities to discuss the basis of our living together in this country. It is only those who want to break Nigeria that talk about SNC.

Will national conference not be a waste of time and resources if it is not sovereign in view of the fact that similar conference convoked by previous administration did not achieve any result?

It will not be a waste of time. When we have a national conference, the mere fact that we sit together to discuss the problem of this country as it affects everybody is a step forward. Why should a man from the North talk about 13 per cent? The constitution says minimum of 13 per cent. It has not been increased. During the 2005 national conference in Abuja, the conference recommended that it should be increased to 18 per cent. We wanted 25 per cent, we wanted 50 per cent. So the North should look inward, collect taxes from their people, develop their areas. Agriculture is their mainstay, they should develop it. We depend on them agriculturally. So, as far as I am concerned, they have no case but if they want to resume the issue of offshore/onshore, the issue of derivation, let us go to the national conference and discuss it.

http://nationalmirroronline.net/politics/37500.html

Demdem: This old man words are full of lies and deceit IMO. Wont even bother myself dissecting it one by one at least for now.

Hmmm!

This Agadi-Nwoke should just shut it and tell us what Jonathan has done since in office.