Former Governor of old Anambra
State, Senator Jim Nwobodo has spoken on his defection to the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP.
Nwodo had early today dumped the All Progressives Congress, APC, during a visit by the party’s
stakeholders in the Southeast.
He has now issued full statement
on his decision.
Read full text below:
At this stage of my life, I see
myself more as an elder statesman than a partisan politician and I speak from
this standpoint. I have served our country both at the state and the federal
level. In the course of my political journey from second republic till date, I
have had my fair share of ups and downs. I made mistakes and learned from my
mistakes, I have learned a lot from my experiences and feel qualified to speak
on burning issues confronting us as a nation.
I cannot pretend that all is well
in our country today with the escalating crisis, ranging from the economy,
insecurity, tension among the three arms of government – executive, legislative
and judiciary. Dangerous divisions along tribal and religious lines, and
different militant groups arising from the hues and cries of marginalization.
What we are seeing are symptoms
of deep rooted issues that should be brought to the table for discussions on
how to address them. I am a democrat and a strong believer in democracy. Those
of us who claim to be democrats have a duty to tell the president the truth and
advise him appropriately. I have been chief executive of a big state and I
appreciate how difficult it could be for the chief executive of a state or a
country to know the true situation of things with the people you govern.
Just a few of the many
undemocratic moves and sayings that are capable of igniting crisis:
As a member of APC and a
democrat, I got visibly worried when I heard party members boasting we have won
the election and just waiting for results to be announced. My question was how?
How? How was the election won when the elections are yet to take place?
One of the tenets of democracy is
the division of power among the different INDEPENDENT arms of government,
namely Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. The desecration of any of these
arms of government portends danger to democracy. The ongoing attempts to
arraign and prosecute the chief justice of the federation in disregard to due
process is a mockery of the judiciary,which is the last hope of the common man.
It is even more worrisome to read in the papers that President was not aware of
such moves.
Now that the President is aware,
he should please intervene and stop the desecration of Judiciary and restore
respect for the rule of law. We are all aware of the implications of disrespect
for the rule of law and its dangerous consequences. No genuine investor will
take us serious and our image as country will seriously bruised.
My expectation had been to see an
inspiring new hope and values for the younger generation of leaders in our
country. But a situation where current leaders of political parties and public
office holders disparage former presidents and former leaders in the media
shows we have learnt nothing from history. Is that how we intend to groom and
mentor the “not too young to run” and prepare them to take over the mantle of
leadership?
On the return of democracy in
1999, by the grace of General Abdusalam Abubakar, the then Head of State, I was
one of founding fathers of PDP. One of the wise decisions we took was to rotate
and zone the presidency between north and south. It was a great idea for
inclusiveness and to avoid any part of the country feeling marginalized and
left out.
Chief Dr Olusegun Obasanjo took
first slot from the south and became the first beneficiary of that zoning
formula. At the end of his tenure, he supported and handed over to late
AlhajiUmaru Musa Yaradua, from the north. Dr Goodluck Jonathan completed the
unexpired two years of Yaradua’s term and went on to contest and worn. At the
end of Jonathan’s four years, he lost the election to President Muhammadu
Buhari from the north.
Of the three zones in the south –
South West, South South and South East,South East is the only zone that is yet
produce a Nigeria president. It has been our hope that Nigerians will support
our dream of producing a Nigerian President from South East, the way we
supported and voted for Presidents from other zones and regions.
I had hoped the route to
presidency of Igbo extraction would be the APC, but statements from some top
government officials and top APC party leaders gave me a food for thought. As I
was processing these statements and struggled to come to terms with them,
prominent political leaders from South East led a delegation to meet with me in
Abuja on the same issue. I asked for time to think about their mission and the
meeting was rescheduled for today Friday January 25th. In addition, I received
numerous telephone calls from both political and non-political South East
leaders.
As you can see, they are here
today in a larger number, after their meeting with Ohaneze. It is difficult for
me to ignore their call and turn my back on them when they have a genuine worry
about the fate of Igbos in Nigerian polity.
I will do the same for any other
zone that feels excluded because I am a true Nigerian in all sense of it. I was
born in Lafia, spent my childhood and my early education there. Thereafter, I
moved to Kafanchan in Kaduna state, where I had part of my education before
going to University of Ibadan and thereafter taught at Kings college Lagos.
From Kings College, I went to work for Shell BP in Portharcourt. I have friends
and relationships across all parts of Nigeria.
As a governor, I worked had to
reconcile the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who
had not sat together since after 1952 as a result of their political
difference. I succeeded in bringing the two great leaders of blessed memory to
my private residence in Enugu and they sat together, had lunch and discussed at
length. Thereafter they communicated and attended political meetings and
rallies together under the Progressive alliance we had in the second republic.
After that first meeting I had
with Igbo leaders in Abuja, I received calls from people who told me APC has
won and I should join the band wagon. My response to that is, people should
take a stand based on what they believe and what is just and fair.
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