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| Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu |
Orji noted that without both parties applying compromise, the polity would be heated unnecessarily, a development which he said, would not be favourable in deepening the country’s democracy,
He added that he suggested this solution because he had spoken with the warring parties and knew the reason for their bitterness.
The former governor said such bickering among governors and the presidency did not portray the country in good light, remarking that some level of sacrifice among the feuding parties would help to give peace a chance.
“The president and the national chairman of the PDP should also give in a little bit. They should both find a common ground for the unity of the party and the Nigerian people. Nigerian people need more of democratic values than this impasse. This disagreement has taken a lot from the governors, the president and the party at large.
“It has been terrible months of quarrel; I had the opportunity of talking to both parties and I am in the middle of the quarrel because the Nigerian people deserve more good things to happen to them than this quarrel in the ruling party. It is not difficult to see the division in the party which is not good for democratic process or the country, or the image of the country. It is also not good for anybody,” he said..
On Nigeria’s development, Kalu said he wanted the federal government to focus more on building key infrastructure if it wanted citizens to benefit or feel the impact of the growth of the economy.
“The Nigerian economy is growing but we have to build the infrastructure for the people to feel the impact of the economic growth,” Kalu said, stating that leaders should stop joking with the Nigeria’s economy irrespective of their party affiliations.
“Government should address the economy because the economy belongs to Nigerians; the economy has more to do with the Nigerian people than with the political parties. Nobody will be comfortable with the economy because the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing and you can see both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Economic Forum among other bodies are predicting that the economy of Nigeria will grow by 6.7 per cent this year,” Kalu said.
He said in the last five years, Nigeria’s GDP has grown, purchasing power parity has grown, even the stock exchange, the nominal value and financial GDP has also doubled from six trillion to 11 trillion and all the indices are showing that Nigeria is a strong emerging market, “but the people in the country are not feeling the impact of these growths.
“So it is only when the government goes back to ploughing the money back into the economy; into road construction, housing, potable water, education, railway line, reactivate our postal services, fix our roads properly to be durable so that those who cannot fly airplane will go by road rather than exporting our money out, and that is when I think the people will feel the impact of the growth.”
Kalu, who is also the Chairman of Slok Group, said he was on his way to Dubai, to discuss and bring investment into Nigeria’s aviation, maritime and manufacturing sector with the Royal Family of Dubai.
He singled out the ongoing reforms in the aviation and power sectors as laudable and worthy of commendation, demanding that full cooperation be given to the Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alision-Madueke, to ensure a speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to unlock the petroleum sector for more private sector investments.
G7 Govs to Demand Oyinlola’s Reinstatement
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| Governor Aliyu Wamakko |
The governors, Rabiu Kwankwanso (Kano), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto), Chibuike Amaechi (Rivers), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Aliyu Babangida (Niger), Abdulfatai Ahmed (Kwara ) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), it was gathered, would be demanding the reinstatement of the suspended national secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who was on November 6 reinstated by the Court of Appeal.
It is also expected that they would ask that the suspension slammed on Oyinlola, alongside the former National Chairman of the party, Abubakar Baraje, former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, and the Vice-National Chairman, North-east, Ibrahim Kazaure, be lifted.
A source close to the governors yesterday, said the governors would be demanding the reinstatement of Oyinlola as ordered by the Court of Appeal and the withdrawal of the appeal by the party.
Apart from that, it was learnt that the governors would also demand the stoppage to the invitation sent to Oyinlola and three others to appear before the disciplinary committee and that their suspension be lifted.
In their previous meetings with the president, the governors had requested, among others issues, that the suspension slammed on Ameachi be lifted and that they (the governors) be allowed to control the party structure in their states.
They also called for the sack of the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
And while awaiting the meeting with the president, the New PDP has ruled out the appearance of Oyinlola and the three other suspended party chiefs before the PDP disciplinary committee.
The National Publicity Secretary of the New PDP, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze, said: “We have read from some of the national dailies of the alleged summoning of the PDP National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, New PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, National Deputy Chairman, Dr. Sam Sam Jaja, and the National Vice-Chairman, North West, Ambassador Ibrahim Kazaure, by the PDP Disciplinary Committee said to be headed by Second Republic Minister, Alhaji Umaru Dikko.
“Our initial reaction was to ignore these reports since the PDP Constitution does not recognize the existence of the so-called Dikko Committee as due process was not followed in its establishment. Besides, the fact that the committee – if at all it exists – did not have the courtesy to directly invite the accused to appear before it strips it of any atom of seriousness.
“Even so, we have decided to react to the reports by the media. For the avoidance of doubt, the New PDP wishes to state unequivocally that neither the aforesaid leaders nor any other New PDP member for that matter will appear before the Dikko committee either on November 27, or at any other date for that matter. The committee is an illegality and alien to PDP and its members. It is not our intention to confer legitimacy on such an illegal contraption by self-serving politicians intent on destroying a house the building of which they were not a part.”
He queried: “How could these great men whose contributions towards the growth of PDP cannot be questioned be invited through the pages of the newspapers? We have a lot of respect for Alhaji Umaru Dikko as a person. That notwithstanding, we must observe that it is sad that Dikko should accept such an unholy task just because Alhaji Bamanga Tukur feels like using the appointment to thank him for helping him secure the gubernatorial ticket of the defunct Gongola State during their days in the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN).
“We challenge the Dikko Committee to prove its seriousness by starting with the trial on Tukur and his cohorts for anti-party activities, specifically as displayed during last weekend’s gubernatorial election in Anambra State when instead of supporting the PDP, they aligned with the APGA candidate, Chief Willie Obiano, thereby making mockery of the efforts of Comrade Tony Nwoye.
“It does not require a soothsayer to see that PDP, which is bleeding to death under Tukur’s unpopular leadership, is doomed if it continues to antagonise the G7 governors and their followers in the New PDP.”
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