President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday said he regrets the failure of the South-west to get the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives in accordance with the zoning arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“I always say it; one of the problems I faced in the National Assembly was that I felt the right thing should be done because our party has a formula. We have six geo-political zones in the country and when the president emerges from one of the geo-political zones, the vice president emerges from another geo-political zone, the rest core offices – the senate president, the speaker, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the chairman of the party – must come from different geo-political zones,” Jonathan said at the Yoruba Unity Summit, organised by the Yoruba Unity Forum and held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State.
“The idea is that, whenever we are distributing board positions and some of these appointments, these people sit to take decisions. Whenever we are appointing ministers, all these people sit to take decisions. In that case, we want all the geo-political zones to be in the inner caucus that take critical decisions,” the president explained.
“The last time, it was difficult for me because I insisted that the South-west must get the office of speaker. Of course, I couldn’t go through with it because some of us within the South-west didn’t want it based on some personal reasons. I am still suffering from that till today. That is one of the reasons that the leaders said, this time around, we must work collectively so that whatever position is zoned to the South-west, we should get that position.”
The last time a lawmaker from the South-West held the position of the speaker was in 2011 when Dimeji Bankole, representing Abeokuta South Federal Constituency finished his tenure. Although, the zone of the President, his vice and the Senate president has remained the same, a northerner Aminu Tambuwal has held the position since 2011. If the PDP zoning was to be considered, someone from the southwest should be speaker of the House of Representatives.
Jonathan restated his commitment to keeping Nigeria as one and he said he remained true to his conviction of a united Nigeria. He praised the efforts of the Yoruba people and their cooperation with other sections of the country to ensure Nigeria remains united. He therefore pledged to do more for the region, as over 50 percent of the nation’s wealth comes from it.
He observed that the gathering was “not just about the unity of the descendants of Oduduwa but a clarion call on Nigerians to embark on a path to seek accommodation and build consensus.”
He therefore charged people of the country to live in harmony, noting that with love, understanding and respect for one another, there is no obstacle Nigeria would not surmount.
Nobody saw the handwriting on the wall from the beginning. Those who moved for Tambuwal were in the opposition camp but nobody knew. Anyway, work for your second term so it could be changed.
Too late to shed crocodile tears. What did you
do when a PDP leader was calling the APC a
yoruba amala and ewedu party in anambra?
You were seated there urging them on as they
ridiculed awolowo. His spirit gave you a taste
of disgrace to come when you visited a great
university named after him, as the students
chanted and called you and your cohorts
thieves. Where’s our lagos-ibadan
expressway? Is it now you want to repair all the
junk federal roads in lagos? Oh, you suddenly
realised that the votes from SS and SE can’t
help you retain aso rock so you now. need
those of the SW. I thought those 2 regions
were the pillar of your government as you
proudly announced to the world as if they were
the only regions you that got you elected. Even
if they were, should a president be making
such divisive statements? I was never a
tribalist but you woke up my tribal conscience.
We are glad tambuwal became the speaker cos
we yorubas aren’t fools. That seat was a
bargain for the huge political relevance we are
enjoying today. Who doesn’t know that having
a yoruba man there via the fraudulent PDP
zoning would have favoured you and only you
as he would do your bidding just as the senate
has been doing? The Mulikat you wanted to
install is from my constituency in ogbomosho
and I was on ground in 2011 when she came
begging to be re-elected as she shared N500
notes to the people and dropped a transformer
too weak to carry the load of the
neighborhood. Her brake light hasn’t been
seen since then. That’s enough to show you
that you would have just empowered an
individual yoruba instead of the whole of them.
What did patricia etteh and dimeji bankole
benefit the yorubas? They only enriched
themselves. Your government enriches
individuals only. We are not like fools who sing
your praises cos you gave their tribes men
political posts. What we want are
developments. Am glad you failed in installing
mulikat cos we would have faced the kind of
thuggery the fayose you gave federal backing
is delivery to the ekiti people. I hear you are
bringing obanikoro for lagos. Bring it on! Why
do you associate yourself with thugs,
fraudsters, drug barons, militants and looters?
Mr president, you disappointed not only the
yorubas but also sane nigerians. We voted
massively for you in 2011, am sorry to say this
in tears: you won’t have our votes anymore.
Well said.
It was not GEJ’s fault. It was a slap in the face of Obasanjo by no less a con man than BAT who had earlier floored baba in the 2003 and subsequent elections. Baba should take the blame for that monumental loss of the South West which must be corrected in 2015, insha Allah.
@Numason has spoken the minds of 99% of Yorubas. We Yorubas are not move by his visit & antics.
He should rather discuss security not politics