THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said on Monday that it was not against the president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, if he chooses to contest the 2011 presidential election because he has every right to do so like any other qualified Nigerian.
The position of the congress, which was made known by its president, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar in Abuja, was clearly against that of the Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE), which pleaded with Dr. Jonathan not to run in the 2011 election or impose anybody, even though it said he had the right to do so.
The NLC also rejected the Minister of Information, Professor Dora Akunyili or Mallam Nuhu Ribadu as the likely new chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and threatened to mobilise against the appointment of anyone of them, because, according to it, they were clearly partisan and known card-carrying members of political parties.
The NLC, however, insisted on free, fair and credible election, saying it would not want to dictate to the president on his personal political ambition as to whether he would contest the presidency in 2011 or not.
Speaking at an event tagged: “Celebrating the success of Nigeria’s working peoples’ push for removal of Maurice Iwu as INEC chair,” organised by the Alliance for Credible Election, in collaboration with the NLC, Comrade Omar said the choice on whether to contest or not is that of President Jonathan, and that the NLC could not disqualify any Nigerian, including the president, from contesting because the constitution did not stop any qualified Nigerian.
The NLC president said: “Though Congress may not wish to also dictate to the president the direction he should take in terms of his personal political ambition, we would state unequivocally that it would be in his greater personal interest and integrity to prioritise the conduct of a free, fair, just and credible election.
“History and indeed, generations yet unborn will remember him more if he chooses the path of honour to engage his energy and focus attention towards instituting an electoral system that is trustworthy and which will attract the confidence and respect of all civilised and democratic nations.”
He added: “We insist that for our electoral process to be credible, the Uwais recommendations must be fully implemented.”
Comrade Omar commended President Jonathan for what he called his courage in sacking Professor Iwu despite the obvious backing by former President Obasanjo.
But he made it clear that Professor Iwu’s removal was merely the beginning of the journey to credible elections.
On the replacement of Iwu, the NLC president regretted recent media reports which tend to suggest that the president is considering the appointment of personalities that are clearly partisan and known card-carrying members of political parties or who had served or are still serving the PDP government.
He said the plan to appoint either Professor Akunyili or Mallam Ribadu was disturbing, adding: “We will not, and Nigerian people will never accept such characters to head our electoral body. We will mobilise to resist any such appointment.”
The congress also called for a total overhaul of INEC and decried the continued stay of one of the former commissioners, Mr. Solomon Soyebi, as the acting INEC chairman, describing it as disturbing.
Comrade Omar said: “We are equally not comfortable with a scenario where a former INEC commissioner, Mr Solomon Soyebi, is holding the fort at the commission as acting chairman.
“Mr Soyebi, we must note, was one of the leprous fingers of INEC under Maurice Iwu, who superintended over the conduct of the very fraudulent 2007 general election and the subsequent by-elections, particularly that of Ekiti State.
“We therefore urge the president to quickly fill all vacancies at the Commission with men of impeccable integrity to begin to lay the foundation for the 2011 general election to hold in a few months.”
He stated that the congress was very uncomfortable with President Jonathan’s seeming romance with former President Obasanjo.
“Our feeling derives from the fact that former President Obasanjo had done more harm to the current democratic process than good and stands to cause further damage if given unfettered access to influence opinions of those in power.
“His recent blasphemous comment in the US that Nigeria’s electoral process is irredeemable goes to show that Obasanjo does not believe in a true democratic electoral process. If President Jonathan desires the trust and confidence of Nigerians, he must stop hobnobbing with Obasanjo for he represents the most visibly formidable danger to the future of our democracy.”
But the General Secretary, Alliance for Credible Elections, Mr. Emma Ezeazu, pleaded with President Jonathan not to run, saying that Nigeria was in a critical moment which required sacrifice and integrity, not opportunism on the part of those seeking to rule.
He pointed out that if the president contested, it would have a severe implication on the polity.
Mr. Ezeazu stated that this would force the president to stand akimbo or mobilise political forces in the nation and state assemblies to delay and ultimately frustrate electoral reform.
Besides, he said that the president’s choice of INEC chairman, commissioners and Resident Electoral Commissioners would be tailored towards errand boys.
He also pointed out that if he decided to run in the 2011 election, he would not be able to conduct the anti-corruption campaign objectively and justly but would use the anti-corruption war to destroy his political enemies and by so doing, undermine the values of democracy and fairness.
To Ezeazu, Jonathan 2011 would be very divisive for the country and it would exacerbate political instability and pit the South against the North.
He said: “PDP does not have a charter for public good. It is led by scavengers. Indeed, it is a mark of crass opportunism and lack of integrity for Jonathan to disregard the party’s rotational principles in order to advance his prospect for 2011.
“If he will not contest, that is a different matter. It means he will not be benefitting from his actions.”