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| President Goodluck Jonathan |
After winning the presidential poll, President Goodluck Jonathan need not be told that it is time to get down with the task of governance - a herculean undertaking in a country with an amazing mix of huge potential and enormous challenges.
Apparently, this fact is not lost on the President, judging by his words and deeds ever since his inauguration for a fresh four-year term at the Eagle Square seven days ago.
But then, the free and fair conduct of the elections meant that his own party, the Peoples Democratic Party, lost some positions it could have ‘won’, had the elections been conducted in a totally different manner.
Had Jonathan adopted the doctrine of ‘do or die’ politics and perhaps, forced Independent National Electoral Commission to favour the PDP, the opposition parties, like the Action Congress of Nigeria, Congress for Progressives Change, All Nigeria Peoples Party, and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, would not have won the number of positions they got in the National Assembly.
Emboldened by their success at the polls, which manifested in a stronger presence in the National Assembly, the opposition parties, particularly the ACN, would most likely take delight in frustrating the PDP, if not for any other purpose, at least to lay the grounds for even better showings in future elections, and vent longstanding anger against the seemingly indestructible, ruling party.
Already, the ACN is digging into its trenches, taking up an offensive position against the PDP.
The battleground is the National Assembly – the Senate and the House of Representatives.
A recent retreat for the ACN members in the coming National Assembly was to drive home just one simple message: Oppose the PDP.
Even before the inauguration of the new National Assembly, the expected hostilities in the hallowed chambers, especially the lower one, the House of Representatives, is building up. Indeed, feelers have it that ACN members are gearing up to reject the official candidates of the PDP national executive for leadership positions in the House.
That could just be the beginning of potentially costly disagreements between the PDP and the opposition parties. Taken further, it could affect other legislative issues — legislation on budgets and sundry appropriations, executive bills, confirmation of presidential appointments, and even the advancement of motions, including notices for impeachment — the list is endless.
Such a situation could be disastrous for the executive, more so, considering that, despite its unquestioned majority in former dispensations since 1999, the PDP-led Federal Government continued to have difficulties in getting results at the National Assembly.
In the past, many key executive bills were not passed, budgets suffered delays, and some of the President’s nominees had a torrid time getting confirmation for appointments, while others were not even that lucky as the lawmakers foot-dragged whenever approached by the executive to approve certain requests for appropriations.
Again, the discharge of oversight functions on federal institutions by the National Assembly was turned into a fight, just as the two arms of government had a largely adversarial relationship — a mind-boggling situation considering the fact that both bodies were constituted by mostly members of the PDP.
All things being equal, the antagonism between the National Assembly and the executive is expected to escalate in the new dispensation, now that the real “opposition” is coming in greater number. And, Jonathan is also not unmindful of this possibility. He is aware of the dangers posed by the emergence of a stronger and larger opposition – the risk is a divisive, unstable polity, a problem for any government.
This awareness largely informed the meeting he held with leaders of the major political parties in the Presidential Villa last Wednesday. Leaders of the ACN, ANPP, APGA, Labour Party, as well as the PDP, were at the meeting. The CPC, which is challenging his victory in the presidential poll, abstained.
Key chieftains of the opposition parties, particularly Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ACN, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu of the ANPP, Chief Victor Umeh of APGA, Mr. Dan Nwanyanwu of LP, among many others, were at the meeting, which held at the State House.
At that meeting, one in a series of consultations the President is billed to hold with key stakeholders in a bid to lay the grounds for the success of his new administration, Jonathan left nothing to chance as he pleaded for the support of the opposition parties, telling them that his government would be open to all.
Short of announcing that he would form a ‘unity government’, which would imply offering the opposition parties cabinet positions, Jonathan said he would run a “collective government.”
Indeed, the President’s main request at that meeting was ‘stability,’ a stable polity that would enable him to effectively pursue his transformation agenda.
In appreciation of the role the National Assembly would play in ensuring the desired stability, Jonathan appealed to the leaders of the opposition parties to ensure that their parties’ lawmakers in the coming National Assembly support the executive.
In his address to the opposition party chieftains, Jonathan did not shy away from the fact that he was ‘pleading’ for their assistance to enable him to succeed.
He said, “No matter who is the President, no matter who is the governor, what Nigerians are interested in is to have food on the table, there should be infrastructure, there should be security and should be good governance. And I know that not only the ruling party can make this possible.
“For me to succeed, to give Nigerians what they want, we must run a stable government. I need the cooperation of all the political parties, all the leaders.
“That is why I called you, to assure you that I will run a Nigerian government. I want to assure you that our interest is the Nigerian interest and I know that the interest of every politician irrespective of the political party is the interest of the country.
“I am not going to play politics of discrimination. I want to plead with you that I will not want to run a government of opposition party or main party, I want us to collectively run a Nigerian government, a government that will take the interest of the country at heart and work towards solving our problems, the problems that are dear to our people.
“As your members of parliament will be inaugurated next Monday or Tuesday, I want you to impress it on them that they are coming to work for Nigeria not necessarily for Goodluck Jonathan. Let us cooperate and work for the interest of this country. Along the line, there will be differences but the President is not God and I believe we can always be able to resolve our differences without acrimony, without rancor, and I believe that is the best way we can run the country.”
Of course, only time would tell if Jonathan’s plea would have the desired effect on the opposition parties’ relationship with his government.
Nevertheless, feelers from the meeting, as suggested by comments made by some of the opposition party leaders, indicated that the President’s plea was received favourably, at least, in the immediate time.
Labour Party leader, Nwanyanwu, said, “We must change the situation in the country. Mr. President has started out on a right note, particularly now before the inauguration of the National Assembly. Those of us political parties that have representatives in the National Assembly must reach out to them so that lawmakers must look out for bills and laws that would enhance the lot of the people of Nigeria.”
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