WHEN PRESIDENT JONATHAN BITES

          Eight PDP Governors from all parts of the country made another unsuccessful effort yesterday to beg President Jonathan to let the Governor of his home State, Timipre Sylva to run on the PDP platform in the forthcoming State election. The ticket for the PDP’s candidature has already been given to the person widely perceived as the President’s man. This did not stop the Governors from making an attempt to plead with the President to forgive their colleague, whom they towed to the Villa as well, so that the result of the heavily-guarded Primaries of the party can be overturned by him. The effort to get the President to reverse the result of the Primaries was also made in spite of a whole stack of court cases, restraining orders and injunctions, some of which are being initiated by the Governor himself. 

          The visit of the Governors to the President on an issue he has made personal will speak volumes of the nature of the democratic process under the PDP administration; and the President’s character and personal disposition to matters which affect his interests. Coming only one day after President Jonathan publicly commended his party for its stand against Governor Sylva and the conduct against the Primary, the visit by the Governors should have been discouraged by the President in the first place. To have allowed them to visit him, complete with the embattled Governor Sylva in tow suggests that they believe the President is responsible for the Governor’s travails, and has the power to direct that he is allowed to run. The impression created by the visit of the Governors is that the entire Bayelsa affair is centred around the personal preferences of the President; who, we now have to assume, single-handedly decided who is to fly the party’s flag. Even those charitable enough to say that President Jonathan met with the Governors out of respect, and only to enable him explain his position, will concede that the Governors’ apparent conviction that they can get the President to change his mind says a lot about their democratic credentials. Eight PDP Governors choose to visit the President days after a Party Primary has produced a candidate, to ask him to allow a Governor who has sued his Party over his disqualification should tell Nigerians much about the state of intra-party affairs in the PDP. It will also say much about their respect for the opinion of Nigerians, as well as their perception of a President who has a very sensitive role to play in terms of the development or subversion of our democratic processes.

          The decision of the Bayelsa PDP to stop Governor Sylva from contesting on its platform will be seen as the script written in Abuja, no matter what the President and the party’s national headquarters do.  The most visible element in this untidy process is the person and office of the President himself. Ironically, it is also the one time when President Jonathan shows the nation that he can bark and bite. His determination to prevent the Governor from his home State from running for a second term has always been a public issue. Speculations behind this have hinted at threats made by the Governor against the President and his wife; or the existence of records of mismanagement and corruption; or massive unpopularity which is likely to cost the party the office if the Governor is allowed to run. Whatever the reasons behind the desperation of Abuja to prevent a Sylva re-run, the battle on both sides have involved just about every element of power and influence. Elders, legislators, local party enforcers, lawyers, courts and security agents have all been drawn into the fray. In the end, quite possibly the most heavily-protected State party primary was held after a number of aspirants were disqualified, at the end of which the President’s man emerged victorious. The period until the elections themselves will be marked by heightened tension and continuing manoeuvres in the courts. The tiny State of Bayelsa will be filled to the brim with soldiers and policemen and sundry security officials. It is possible that violence will play a major role in the build up to, and the conduct of the elections. In the end, the people who will cast their votes may or may not get a Governor they voted for; but the democratic process has already been severely injured by the involvement of Abuja in Bayelsa. Whoever flies the PDP flag is also likely to be declared winner at the end of the elections, and the circle of desperation to contest on PDP platforms will continue.

          President Jonathan showed his teeth either in his determination to exclude Sylva, or in his resistance to pressures to let him run against local interests. There will be many Nigerians who would wish that he will be as resolute and steadfast in other areas of governance. For instance, there is a gaping hole in the response of the government to many issues relating to national security. The nation wants to see a determined response which both uses the instruments of coercion like soldiers and policemen, and the subtle but effective use of political intelligence and flexible and informed engagement tactics which will bring an end to the threats of Boko Haram, or the constant threats of communal violence in Plateau and Kaduna States. The nation wants to see a President determined to bring transparency around the petroleum sector. They want to see a determined and informed strategy to reduce the cost of governance; an end to waste and corruption; and a visionary perspective on the future of the Nigerian State. Young Nigerians want to see some glimmer of hope that they can live productive lives; and older Nigerians want to see a return to a nation in which they do not spend everyday looking over their shoulders for bombs or robbers. All Nigerians want bold polices to reduce poverty and improve social and economic infrastructure; and we all want to see real efforts made towards improving the limitations of our political system and electoral process, so that 2015 will not continue to be a nightmare.

          President Jonathan showed Nigerians that he can bite, but over the wrong issue. In point fact, he should have been advised not to entertain, or make public, the meeting with the PDP Governors who wanted him to reverse the Bayelsa primaries and single-handedly hand over the ticket to Sylva. He has shown that he could prevent Sylva from running; in this respect he emulates the former President Obasanjo, if that suits him. The visit of the Governors merely confirmed that the President’s power to decide who runs on the PDP platform exceeds the powers of the Bayelsa PDP leaders and members; of all the interested parties; of court orders and injunctions. His refusal to change his mind showed that he could both bark and bite. Sadly, he bit the wrong bullet.