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CNPP asks Obasanjo to resign, insists on protest

• Organisers are Nigeria’s enemies, says Presidency

By Tokunbo Oloruntola,

Habib Aruna, Lagos

and Gbenga Abiodun, Abuja

Undeterred Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) teamed up with a coalition of pro-democracy groups Monday to raise the tempo in the agitation for good governance by demanding the resignation of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

It discounted alleged intimidation by security agencies and resolved to go ahead with the mass protest scheduled for May 3 against what it described as the unacceptable state of national affairs.

At a well-attended press conference in Lagos, which saw civil rights activists mingling freely with members of opposition parties, CNPP Chairman and the former governor of Kaduna State, Balarabe Musa, said the media briefing was to draw “global attention to the threat posed to the stability of the country and the mortal damage being wrought on the democratic process” by Obasanjo and his supporters.

However, Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) board of trustees, Augustus Aikhomu, has dissociated himself from the planned rally.

He said in an interview at Igueben, the country home of former external affairs minister, Tom Ikimi, that rather than mass action, he believes in a gradual peaceful change.

“I am expressing my personal opinion. I am not speaking in my capacity as Chairman of ANPP board of trustees. The policy of the party is one thing, my own philosophy as a person, as a statesman in this country is quite another,” Aikhomu said.

Predictably, Aso Rock has taken swipes at the rally organisers, describing them as enemies of the state who should rethink their position.

Presidential spokesperson, Mrs. Remi Oyo, said Monday in Abuja that a mass action when the nation had started making remarkable progress in attracting foreign investments is retrogressive.

She stressed that because the image of Nigeria is soaring, foreign investors “have recognised that our polity is stable, they also see our nation not only as an emerging market but a market that yields quick and juicy fruits. On a weekly basis, there are people who come in to speak with the President. Many investors, who are keen on investing in Africa’s largest economy in different spheres, be it tourism, agriculture and power, are coming in with millions of dollars.”

Those present at the CNPP press conference included Chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chekwas Okorie; Convener of United Action for Democracy (UAD), Bamidele Aturu; its Secretary General, Ibrahim Zikirullahi; National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Dayo Adeyeye; Executive Director of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Chima Ubani, ANPP top member, Ireti Kingibe; Secretary General of the National Democratic Party (NPD), Idongesit Nkanga; Rev. Peter Adebiyi who represented Bisi Akande, Chairman of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), former minister of Special Duties, Wada Nas; and a representative of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Bashir Kurfi.

CNPP deplored what it called the unconstitutional use of the electoral body by the ruling party and the coercive deployment of state power, reminding security agencies that their loyalty should be to the Nigerian state and the Constitution.

Quoting Section 14 of the Constitution which states that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government,” Balarabe said the government has failed the people on these two cardinal issues.

In his view, it added insult to injury by closing the ballot option, “thus depriving the people of their sovereign right to sanction an unpopular government.”

According to him, the question is, “what is the remedy for the millions of Nigerians whose votes were rendered useless or deprived of the right to vote at an election?” This, he argued, is the main reason why the only option left is for Nigerians to come out in support of the mass protest.

Balarabe quoted Ben Nwabueze to justify the mass action, saying: “The only redress open to the people is to take to the streets to protest by means of public demonstrations, processions and rallies, or to keep away from work or to engage in other forms of protest action. “Provided such actions are peaceful and none violent, they are lawful, and are indeed an essential element of a mature democracy. A nation lacking the capacity for such peaceful, non-violent protests in defence of its participatory rights is not ripe for democratic government.”

The four minimum demands CNPP says are the foundation for the resolution of the protest are: resignation of the Obasanjo government as it lacks the legitimacy and capacity to solve the nation’s problems; setting up of a transitional government of national unity pending the conduct of free, fair and acceptable elections; convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) for a united, democratic and federal republic of Nigeria – which would prepare a new and autonomous Constitution, subject only to a national referendum, which will then be the basis for electing a new government.

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Daily Independent Online.

PDP plans mass action to counter CNPP
By Bisi Abidoye

Political Editor, Abuja

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has dared the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) to go ahead with its mass action planned for May 3, even as the ruling party Tuesday said it planned to hold a counter national rally to present the world with the party’s picture of things in the country.

Announcing the party’s position at a chat with political correspondents in Abuja, the National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said the PDP had nothing to fear about the planned CNPP mass action and urged the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, to give the go ahead for the May 3 event.

But Ogbeh warned the CNPP to be wary of “hoodlums and non-politicians” hijacking the rally to loot and unleash mayhem on innocent citizens, even as he faulted a charge by the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) that the PDP was out to muscle the opposition.

“It is normal for the opposition groups to organise such rallies. We (PDP) sincerely welcome a strong opposition. It gives us the opportunity and shows us where we are going. Our only advice is that they should keep within the limits of the laws of the land. Let them come if they have something to say. Let’s have it. We’ll learn from it,” Ogbeh said, adding:

“When they finish, the PDP will do its own mass action and tell the world what we have been doing. Let the IGP listen to them.” Warning the organisers of the proposed May 3 rally on the security implications, the PDP boss said: “The danger of mobilising a large number of people for a mass rally is the difficulty in controlling them. People who have nothing to do will be damaging things.”

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