Day Lagos PDP Canvassed for Jonathan 12 Mar 2014 Font Size: a / A Ahead 2015, the Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, says it is working towards returning President Goodluck Jonathan to power and plans a PDP-controlled government in Lagos State, writes Ojo M. Maduekwe It could be likened to the drumbeat of war, only this time, rather than the sound of war it was the sound of vote canvassing for President Goodluck Jonathan by the South-south PDP Forum, Lagos chapter. In earnest, and amidst the sound of change being chanted by the All Progressives Congress (APC), different groups have started beating up support for the president’s re-election bid. In the contest to see that President Jonathan is re-elected for a second term, the PDP in Lagos is also bent on delivering the state and is determined to “enthrone PDP in Alausa.” To the APC, this is some joke, but from the look of things, it seems like some serious business for Lagos PDP. At least, this is what it wants Nigerians to believe. Nothing underscores this point than the vote canvassing event held at the party’s secretariat recently and attended by some of the party’s stakeholders in Lagos and the South-west. The PDP top notch at the event include the chairman of PDP in Lagos, Tunji Shelle; former Minister for Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe; and the chairman of the South-south PDP Forum, Lagos, Sunday Ekanem, amongst other dignitaries in the South-west. For those who had no inkling the seriousness of the day, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, PDP South-south, Vincent Amadi, in his opening remark, gave an insight into what to expect. Commending President Jonathan for initiating the national conference, he urged him to also seize the moment and “take full advantage of his constitutional right as a first term president.” According to Amadi, there couldn’t be a better time for the president to declare for a second term than now. “This will enable him to kick-start and pilot the implementation of the declarations at the national conference.” The president had during the last media chat, asked Nigerians to use the outcome of the conference as a campaign tool as the nation inches towards 2015. Shelle said, “The South-south people are here to canvass for the president’s second term and I know from his achievements, he’s won it. Those who didn’t want it to be possible have left the party, and their leaving won’t affect the president because they are not relevant. By the time the president leaves office in 2019, Nigeria would have been transformed into an Eldorado.” For those who find the boastfulness of the Lagos PDP South-south Forum to rally support for President Jonathan in the 2015 election unrealistic, the Forum said its resolve to canvass support for the president was predicated on three major reasons and that its determination comes amidst the dwindling profile of President Jonathan, among some segments of the country, especially to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). Not minding APC’s continuous foul cry, the Lagos PDP South-south Forum believes that the president has contributed substantially to the development of the Nigerian economy to deserve a second term. According to Ekanem, President Jonathan has performed commendably well by growing the Economy. “This explains the rationale behind Nigeria being named the number one destination for investment in Africa by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), attracting over $7 billion in FDI last fiscal year.” For Ekanem, the Jonathan-led administration aspires to change the fortunes of the country’s economy, adding that it was what led to the creation of the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), with focus on industrialising Nigeria and diversifying the nation’s economy into agro-processing, light manufacturing and petrochemical sectors. He said many stakeholders had applauded the initiative and that it was a matter of time before Nigerians make their judgment. Aside the economy, Ekanem said President Jonathan’s “humane nature” was another reason the Forum was backing him. He said though there might be those who consider the president’s disposition as a form of weakness, “we regard it as a mark of a well groomed democrat.” Some Nigerians feel the president, unlike former President Obasanjo, is slow in making decisions. Also, there are politicians who take advantage of this supposed weakness. The Forum’s third reason was a simple one, though somewhat uncontroversial like the first two. Here: “President Goodluck Jonathan has the constitutional powers to ask Nigerians for a second term mandate.” Many Nigerians would agree except for some Northern powerbrokers who have always spoken of having power return to the region since the demise of former President Musa Yar’Adua. Done airing their support for Jonathan’s re-election, the Forum switched to what many would consider a daunting and near impossible task – to have a PDP-controlled Lagos State. “We want to place here on record that we have resolved to work tirelessly to ensure the enthronement of PDP at Alausa come 2015,” said Ekanem in his speech. Ekanem is banking on an alleged five million people of South-south scattered across the state to achieve this feat; even as he maintains that “our reaction and resolution is borne out of anti-masses policies of APC-ruling government in Lagos,” for which he cited the tolling of highways at exorbitant cost, imposition of double taxation on business premises and property, among other reasons. There’s no gainsaying that same way many Nigerians are dissatisfied with the level of performance by the PDP-led federal government, many residents in Lagos question the APC-led government. Many of the policies of Babatunde Fashola-led administration have not gone down well with Lagosians. A recent instance was the hike in tuition fees in the state-owned Lagos State University (LASU), from N25,000 to an upwards of N250,000 and N350,000 per session for non-medical and medical students respectively, almost at the rate of what students in private universities pay. “This is an institution where students’ certificates are not ready 10 years after graduation,” Ekanem said. On the Lagos debt profile, Ekanem said that, “it is very worrisome and surprisingly embarrassing that Lagos State Government with over N1 trillion top the list of states with high debt profile. This is really sad knowing that Lagos State generates not less than N370 billion per annum as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which is approximately N30 billion per month.” If one was to rely on the general mood of Lagosians, and from the points highlighted by Ekanem in his speech, then maybe the ruling APC in Lagos State would have a problem retaining power in the coming polls. But the challenge for the PDP is that the party in the state has always been its own enemy. It is believed that the PDP needs to put its house in order if it must win any election, or at the very least, make an impact in the state. Aside a recent incidence, during the last governorship election in 2011 where the PDP was fraught with a demeaning allegation over mismanaged electoral funds that saw some of its leading members in the state decamp to the then ruling Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), now APC, the Lagos PDP seems to have long stopped believing in itself as capable of unseating the ruling APC. Every election year, the party resumes its chant of unseating the opposition and “enthroning PDP at Alausa” and until the state chapter of the party proves otherwise, this has been the usual cycle of the life of the PDP in Lagos. While the Lagos PDP works in putting its house in order, one way to begin, according to stakeholders, is the renovation of the current state chapter secretariat. Located in the Government Reservation Area (GRA), Ikeja, should the PDP win the governorship election next year, the architecture of the building and the entire premises is not befitting for a PDP governor. Tags: Featuered, Nigeria, PDP Canvassed, Politics
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:51:11 +0000
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