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The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was yesterday thrown into
further disarray after the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party
announced the suspensions of the former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, and 28
other members of the PDP Reform forum.

The meeting of the National Working Committee coincided with the
PDP Reform Forum’s meeting, in which the former Senate President addressed over
2000 people in Abuja.

The NWC meeting considered the recent uprising by the reformers
and expressed its surprise at the refusal of members of the party, operating
under a group called the PDP Reform Forum, to appear before it, despite
extensive invitations to them.

Earlier in the day, the Reform Forum had their own meeting in
which they had accused the PDP leadership of having failed in the past three
years to move the party power.

In a statement signed by its National Secretary, Abubakar Kawu
Baraje, the party said it is of the view that the concerned members had
adequate notice but declined to utilise the opportunity granted them by the
invitation to explain their roles.

The party stated that the decision to dishonour the invitations
to appear before it is a calculated attempt to disregard lawful directives of
the party in order for them to continue to ridicule it, contrary to Article
12.1 of the PDP Constitution.

The NWC then invoked Article 21.4 of the party constitution to
suspend Mr. Nnamani, Aminu Masari, Onyema Ugochukwu, Adolphus Wabara, Peter
Odili and 24 other members of the PDP Reform Forum.

The working committee added that the case would be referred to
the National Disciplinary Committee for further action.

At odds with party
leaders

But Mr. Nnamani, who is the Chairman of the steering committee
of the Forum, stressed the need for better organisation of the ruling party in
the interest of the entire country.

“The party must tolerate other people’s views and not some
people sitting down and dictating how things should move without minding
others, which is anti-democracy,” said Mr. Nnamani, as he addressed the
2000-strong audience.

Nnamani said some state governors were invited by the group to
discuss the “nose-diving” status of the party but because of their selfishness
and their fear that such a gathering could lead to a change of leadership
structure, they refused to turn up.

The former Senate President regretted that the party has
seriously derailed from the ideals and goals of the founding fathers, such that
today, all the grand visions of the party have virtually vanished and nobody is
talking of providing meaningful governance and improving the living standard of
Nigerians anymore.

He said the umbrella under which hid before had disappeared
owing to lackluster and inept leadership of the party.

Former Minister of Education, Chinwe Obaje, said reform could
never be a negative trend in any progressive society, but a necessary change of
attitude that must be embraced by those in positions of authority. According to
her, reform is a continuous process which no human organisation must derail
from to ensure progress.

Inept leadership

Mrs. Obaje said the mission of the forum was not to pull the
party down but to campaign for good polity within the party.

Doyin Okupe said, without reform, the party would not last based
on its current structure and leadership. “PDP leadership is totally and grossly
inept,” he said, adding that most of the problems within the party were caused
by the overbearing power of the governor’s forum.

The former governor of Taraba State, Jolly Nyame, said he
supported the group and was ready to associate with it. “You don’t have to be
in power before you can be a reformer,” he said.

The former Organising Secretary of the party, Dahiru Umar, said
that more than N4 billion was left in the party account for the current
leadership to execute the building of the party’s headquarters in Abuja, but
noted that nothing had been achieved with the amount.

Some members of the group who attended the meeting were former
Senate President Adolphus Wabara, Amanga Nimi, Adamu Waziri, Rochas Okorocha
and Iro Dan-Musa.

Junaid Mohammed,
national chairman of the People Salvation Party (PSP) , speaks on
Nigerian leaders, next year’s elections, and the possible candidature
of Aliyu Gusau and Ibrahim Babangida. Excerpts:

On Ibrahim Babangida

Sincerely
speaking, I don’t have a view and this is quite unlike me. This is
because I have not been able to hear from him the reasons he wanted to
come into electoral contest, and why now? If, for whatever reason, IBB
decides that the country now needs him, or is it the usual empty
rhetoric of ‘my people asked me to come and contest and I’m merely
answering the call of my people?’

I think it will be
very disingenuous for a man who was out of power under the
circumstances he left to now come back and say ‘my people want me to
come back.’ Where were his people when he was forced to leave in 1992?
I’m concerned about the number of retired military officers who believe
they have a divine right to come and govern Nigeria. I know Olusegun
Obasanjo believed in that and that belief was encouraged in a very
substantial way by IBB himself.

I want IBB to
speak for himself, which will justify his coming to be the president of
Nigeria. I would now ask the question, what is it he left behind that
he wants to come back to? That is not to say I believe the nation
should do to him what he did to us, the first and second republic
politicians, when he banned us from participating in political
activities without anything against us.

Now is the time
for him to realise what it meant to have dealt with people in a very
shabby manner. But beside that, I believe he should be allowed to
contest and let the people of this country decide whether he is going
to be a worthy successor to the likes of Obasanjo, Yakubu Gowon,
Murtala Mohammed, and others.

What he is saying
about the youth is also an indictment about what he has said before. He
unilaterally disqualified most of the qualified politicians in this
country. The fact of the matter was that when he banned the old breed,
he did not do it in the interest of the nation, and when he is now
calling the new breed names, people are bound to suspect if there is
anything new he learnt. Even though he was unjust, I don’t believe we
should met out injustice to him because two wrongs don’t make a right.

On Aliyu Gusau

I want you to
quote me, he is barely literate. If he likes, he can sue me because I
can bring out his record from primary to secondary school and to
Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA). The Emir of Gwandu, Mustapha Jokolo, who
grew up in the same household with Aliyu Gusau, has said in an
interview with a Lagos newspaper that the man was never trained as an
intelligence officer; he was just put there by late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua.

I’m not aware whether Aliyu Gusau or anybody else has come out to deny that this is a matter of record.

If these are the
kinds of characters who come out and believe they have the right to
govern alongside IBB or Muhammadu Buhari, then there is a danger to
Nigerian democracy and that danger cannot be wished away by either IBB,
Buhari, T.Y Danjuma, Obasanjo, or Aliyu Gusau. It has to be addressed
by Nigerians themselves.

On Obasanjo and corrupt leadership

On the issue of
corruption, again I want us to be very cautious. Unless you have a
determinant measure that can practically measure the level of
corruption under Obasanjo, Yar’Adua/Goodluck, and level of corruption
under IBB or others. I’m not in a position to say corruption was less
or more or otherwise. Because frankly speaking, this concept of
corruption is quite intimately related to the issue of the resources
available to the country. Such as the issue of Gulf war windfall, which
is yet to be resolved; and I want IBB as a friend to come and address
this issue. As far as I’m concerned, you can only measure corruption by
the measure of affluence or wealth of those who have gone into
government and come out. If you look at the problem we had, the
constitutional crisis and the June 12 debacle, I’m not aware that IBB
has come clean with the matter. But I can say with due humility he has
come clean to me. He has told me about three times how he regretted the
turn of events over the two party systems, and over the issue of Abiola
and the crisis which affected the country. In assessing a government,
you have to assess it at various levels. Corruption then and now have
become institutionalised. Now that Obasanjo is out of office, everybody
knows that he is the most corrupt leader Nigeria ever had. Obasanjo was
a lot more corrupt than IBB.

Role of military in politics

The state of
things now is more of an indictment on the military than the political
elite. Whenever a soldier stages a coup in this country, they always
claim civilians were corrupt, irresponsible, or not patriotic. The fact
that money is, today, the sole determinant of public office and the
soldiers see themselves as the only people who have the money,
indicates that soldiers stage coups because of money, and not for any
patriotic reason. When they went out to bring Obasanjo out of prison,
the first thing they did was to get billions for him, from both local
and foreign sources, for them to oil the machinery that is called the
PDP, and that is how they won the election. So, the only reason why
they are in politics today is because they have the money in abundance
that they can use to buy votes and create confusion in the country.
Tell me one soldier who can say he has anything to offer above any
civilian.

On the political situation

No, it is not a
helpless situation. It is just the political class that is helpless and
hopeless. They were accused of playing monetised politics now that the
soldiers are ahead with that game. Why is the political class not
coming out to say we are not corrupt, these are the people who are
corrupt? In a nation which, since independence in 1960, have had over
30 years of military rule. If the country is in a mess, who are you
going to blame proportionately? But I agree with you, the civilian
political class is hopeless.

The leader Nigeria needs

We need a tough
son, who would make sure that the country’s laws are obeyed and who
will make sure we have a revenue allocation formula, which is realistic
and gives every Nigerian a fighting chance to get education, and to be
competitive in the labour market. We need someone who can make sure
that some of the ills of the society, such as illiteracy, corruption,
diseases, and poverty are eliminated.

The leader we need
must be the kind of leader who will have confidence in the Nigerian
state. He must be the kind of leader who will say there are certain
things to be done, but cannot be done by the system of capitalism which
we operate. And people who are in leadership positions must not use it
to enrich themselves, and I believe that is not too much to ask from a
Nigerian leader.

On rotational presidency

I don’t believe in
rotational presidency. I have been a critic of it since 1978. Because
it is not democratic, it is nonsensical, and is always subjected to
intervention by forces over and above the political system or the
political class. For example, when they had the system under National
Party of Nigeria (NPN), which delivered Shehu Shagari as president,
they didn’t envisage the termination of his presidency unceremoniously
in 1984. Which means that the system simply disappeared. What we have
now in Umaru Musa Yar’Adua is an invalid president who is incompetent,
lazy, and indolent – who cannot do anything and who has been pretending
to be governing Nigeria for the last three years. If what we had in
1984 was a military intervention, what we now have with Yar’Adua is a
divine intervention. Since they don’t have control over military and
divine intervention, what is the need of deceiving ourselves that
zoning and rotation works. Who is fooling who? It does not work and it
has created crisis anywhere it was tried.

And people who are in support of it cited the example of
Switzerland. Switzerland is not a federation. It is a very small
country, less than the population of Kano. So I don’t know the reason
for it. To pretend that Goodluck Jonathan is going to pretend that he
is not going to be interested in the presidency is to delude oneself. I
don’t believe in deluding myself in politics or in public life.

As the year rolls
to an end, many chairs will be vacant and will need to be occupied in
2011. Some weeks ago, two chairs became vacant within 48 hours of each
other, when two senators were extinguished by Death’s mighty sting. We
may not have evidence, but tongues are wagging as to why two senators
from the same state would die, virtually on the same day.

The attraction for
these chairs, the juiciness of these portfolios, and the temptation for
these seats, are definitely provoking others to procure charms, juju,
and voodoo – whether physical or spiritual – that will leave a lasting
damage, probably worse than Haiti or Rwanda.

Earthquakes do not
just happen, in spite of the scientific explanation. There is always an
abundance of spiritual connotation. Now, it is beginning to go beyond
individuals.

Even in Jos, we
have heard that some groups have been charmed by the chairs that belong
to another group, and they want to occupy these by force or
systematically take over the entire middle belt. It may be rumour, but
to every rumour there is always an element of truth. If in doubt, check
your mirror.

Certainly, we would
unearth a can of worms if we try to follow the river of cash flow out
of the Nigerian official establishments, and some people believe access
to this cash is their birthright. Hence, they stake their claims to
these juicy chairs, offices, or portfolio. The very annoying evidence
is that inspite of all they have stolen and stashed away, the level of
poverty, suffering, and stagnation of the mass of people in their area
is stupefying.

In fact, they are
the actual cabal. They recycle themselves and their children, and will
stop at nothing to extinguish even a distinguished soul that stands in
their way. They are ready to use aircraft, witchcraft, and even ‘mammy
water’ to annihilate the presumed enemy. The bible says one shall chase
a thousand and two shall chase ten thousand, pardon my allusion. Now if
one person can kill another because he feels his chair has been
threatened, what will happen if one section feels that their attractive
chairs are being threatened? Does somebody remember the meaning of
genocide or maybe war?

Unfortunately, the
presumed enemy is the entire nation that has been reborn and we are all
collectively saying, NO MORE RESERVED SEATS. It is a thing of shame to
hear someone say he is from an educationally backward state or, to put
it more diplomatically, an educationally challenged state and so, if
called to apply for a position and he scores 35%, he will be given the
job, ahead of others who scored 90%, because we have to follow the laws
of Federal Character. How can we ever progress in such a circumstance?

We need to make a
deliberate effort to kill the charm of the chair before it lures more
people in search of more dangerous charms for these chairs. To these
die hard charmed-chair seekers, government is the only business they
know. They want to continuously sit on juicy chairs where they can
direct the river of cash to flow into the lake of selfishness, greed,
and avarice in their backyards. And continuously produce zombies that
they have brainwashed into believing that ‘there is no blessing in
education’, whereas their children are attending the best schools in
the world, training to become owners of oil blocks, and/or control the
financial institution. They do this to ensure that they can keep the
charm for the chair in their family forever. Even the music of
rebranding, they have become deaf and dumb to.

Power is not a family heirloom. Do your best and leave the rest.

These chairs are for all of us, and only the best should sit on them so that we can all move forward.

Cross River State
is so well attuned to its tourism industry that practically most
infrastructure are built to support the sector. This is especially
important since the state recently lost its status as an oil producing
state – and the attendant revenue.

The hotel
revolution in Calabar, the state capital, and other local government
areas, from 2005 onward is enough sign of the acceptance of the
industry in this state. In Calabar, new hotels spring up monthly.

It is an open
secret in Calabar that the commonest investment of politicians is in
this industry: members of the state and national assemblies from the
state now channel resources to gigantic hotel projects with world class
facilities. These hotels come in different architectural designs,
mostly with eye-catching outer Greek columns.

It’s about comfort

The infrastructure
development, especially in the hospitality industry, is aimed at one
thing: boosting patronage. Tourists need comfort.

Now, investment in
mass transit to facilitate the movement of residents and visitors and
tourists is receiving a boost. Following the ban of commercial
motorcycle operation in Calabar, investors have moved into the
transportation business.

Branded taxis and
buses – all brand new – have come to fill the void. The four companies
holding the intra-city mass transit franchise in Calabar today include
Pronto Cars, Canaan Cabs, Calabar Urban Taxis and Red Alert. Their
colours are deep blue, light green, blue fringed with green and red.

The special
adviser on public transportation, Gabriel Okulaja, listed criteria for
franchise to include capital, availability or provision of office,
telecommunication and other facilities necessary in the business. Also,
all the vehicles have a tracking system to prevent them from being
stolen without detection. This device helps in monitoring the vehicles
too.

More companies are
billed to register to operate under the franchise, but out of the
quartet already in business, Canaan Cabs appears to be in a class of
its own. The parent company, Remlords Tours, is an long time player in
the tourism business.

Out with the old

Recently, the
initial 50 cars demanded by the state government for a company to
qualify for the franchise were inaugurated by Mr. Okulaja. Another 150
cars will be added before this year runs out. The 50 cars were
dedicated by Josef Bassey of God’s Heritage Global Mission, Calabar.

Mr. Okulaja said
the decision to ban motorcycles was the culmination of government’s
plan to bring sanity to Calabar roads. “The formal commissioning of
Canaan Cabs is a direct result of the initiative of government in
creating the enabling environment for private sector driven provision
of decent, modern, safe and affordable transportation to the
citizenry,” he said.

Chairman and chief
executive of Canaan Cabs, Nkereuwem Onung, said his company has taken
advantage of the opportunity provided by the government to float the
scheme.

“This scheme is
not limited to Cross River State. Very soon, you shall be seeing Canaan
Cabs in Lagos and other cities. We are out to support tourism and also
meet the mobility needs of members of the public. We have consultants
from the western world. Together we shall build an enviable and
reliable transportation business,” Mr. Nkereuwem said.

According to Mr. Okulaja, a new dawn has broken for public
transportation in Cross River State. “It is an era in which rickety
cars have given way to brand new vehicles to facilitate the movement of
commuters, including that of local and foreign tourists,” he said.

The Federal High Court in Asaba on Friday granted
leave to estate agents and valuers engaged by 52 Ijaw communities to
assess property damaged by the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in the
area.

The 52 communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom had in
July 2009 instituted a N100 billion suit against the federal government
challenging the May 13, 2009 invasion of the areas by the JTF.

The suit filed on their behalf by Femi Falana,
leading Felude Zimughan and Selekeowei Larry, sought for damages for
lives and property “wantonly destroyed” by the military operations.

The communities also prayed the Justice Ibrahim
Buba court to compel the Federal Government to rebuild the houses
demolished during the bombardment.

At Friday’s hearing, Mr. Buba ordered that the
communities be permitted to assess and carry out valuation of property
or properties said to have been destroyed on or about May 13, 2009 by
the JTF.

The communities, through its counsel Mr. Zimughan,
had told the court that armed military men of the JTF were still in
occupation of the territory in which the applicants were located.

Mr. Zimughan said the estate valuers commissioned
by the 52 Ijaw communities required the protection of the court to have
unrestricted access to the property without fear of molestation or
intimidation.

He said the claims and reliefs sought by the
applicants were such that expert evidence was necessary to determine
the actual losses suffered as a result of the military bombardment of
their communities.

Mr. Buba, who granted the reliefs sought by the
applicants, said “The application is granted as prayed” and adjourned
the matter to May 24 for further hearing.

He ordered that the experts commissioned by the
affected communities should enter the areas to assess and carry out
valuation of property said to have been destroyed on May 13 by the JTF.

Counsel to the federal government, Emmanuel Okosun, had earlier told
the court that his clients were not opposed to the application and
would go into the substantive matter.

The Abuja chapter
of Women Optometrists in Nigeria on Friday in Abuja offered free eye
screening, glasses, and other services to Jahi village residents.

Claire Esenwah,
Chairperson of the Chapter told journalists that the choice of the
village was in fulfilment of the mandate to take health care services
to the grassroots.

Mrs. Esenwah said
many people at the grassroots were not aware of the need to go for eye
checkups, noting that this could be detrimental to their health.

She said many of
them were also not aware of the eye defects that they had, adding that
such ailments if not properly screened and treated could lead to
blindness.

“We are doing this
as a way to improve the lives of residents because we know they cannot
afford to do the screening. Besides the screening, we will be giving
out free eye drops, drugs and reading glasses to those with eyes
defects,” she said.

“For those with
very serious eye defects that could not be treated here, we will tell
them to come to the clinic where we can examine them. If surgery is
required, we will make sure that it is done and all expenses will be
borne by WON,’’ she said.

Mrs. Esenwah added that the gesture will also be carried to other
villages in other parts of the country where the offices of the
organisation were located.

The
counsel to the Lagos State House of Assembly, Festus Keyamo, on
Thursday, wrote to the lawmakers informing them of an appeal filed by
Richard Akinola, a human rights activist, on Wednesday, challenging the
power of the legislative House to probe the executive government.

“I have received
the notice of appeal filed by the claimant [Richard Akinola] against
that part of the decision of the High Court which declared that the
power of the House to investigate the governor cannot be interfered
with,” the letter stated.

According to the
letter, Mr. Akinola is appealing part of Justice Hakeem Abiru’s
judgement of March 16 where the Mr. Abiru held that the counsel to the
claimant, Babatunde Aturu, did not refer the court to any section of
the Constitution that prohibits the defendant, House of Assembly, from
constituting probe panel, as long as it follows due process.

For non-compliance
with due process, Justice Abiru quashed the first attempt by the House
to probe the activities of the executive government based on
allegations from a group called True Face of Lagos.

Last week, having
complied with the directive of the court, the House reconstituted
another probe panel which will have its first sitting on Monday, April
26.

However, while the
House has cordially entertained every request of the petitioner up till
now, the last request that the House allow the probe committee to sit
publicly seems to have been trashed.

There also is a
sense of urgency in the House’s attitude towards the probe issue, as
alleged by some pro-Fashola groups, when it gave the committee just two
weeks to conduct a thorough investigation into allegations that the
EFCC cannot finish within a month.

However, as alleged
by Mr. Keyamo in the letter, “they have also rushed to the Court to
obtain an injunction restricting the House from continuing with the
present effort to probe the activities of the governor.”

No date has been fixed for the hearing and no injunction has been given.

Ministers of Economic Community of West African States,
yesterday in Abuja, called for the emergence of a diversified regional economy
anchored on a competitive manufacturing sector and common regional industrial
policy.

Under the platform of the West Africa Common Industrial Policy
(WACIP), the ministers said the poor economic performance of the region as a
regional economic block is worsened by limitations to its industrial
development, socio-political instability, fiscal, legal and judicial
constraints, underutilisation of installed manufacturing capacities, lack of
competitiveness, infrastructural inadequacies, and lack of access to finance
and small national market.

Linking improved growth rates from 5 to 5.6 percent in the last
two years to the high global demand for commodities, especially the region’s
oil and gas, metals as well as minerals, the ministers noted that with the
decline in commodity trade as a result of the global economic recession, there
should be a concerted effort to halt the slide.

“It is imperative for the region to review its strategies and
consider diversification option through value addition and export of
manufactured goods. Members should continue to initiate measures to build
bridges of development, investments, and trade cooperation outside their
national boundaries, regions and continent. They should strengthen their
national economies, and in turn, the regional economy in order to sustain our
common and shared vision of regional integration,” Nigeria’s Minister of State
for Commerce and industry, Josephine Tapgun, said.

According to the Minister, the meeting was to strengthen actions
already adopted under WACIP, to encourage further discussions on aspects of the
policy and strategic framework by the Heads of State and Governments, as well
as industrial issues by the African Union Commission (AUC).

The devastating impact of the global financial crisis, she
noted, resulted in the crash in prices of Africa’s major export commodities in
the world market, including crude oil, gold and cocoa, pointing out that the
continent’s international trade, foreign direct investment flows, tourism and
foreign aid, have been adversely affected by the collapse of the capital market
in Europe, Asia and United States.

Hinging the economic transformation and sustainable development
of the region on a robust industrial sector, Mrs. Tapgun urged member-nations
to exploit their resources for local consumption and export, as well as add
value to their agricultural produce, while remaining competitive, if they are
to overcome global recession.

She cited the steps already taken by Nigeria to implement an
action plan that emphasises national, regional, and continental policy
frameworks, adding that apart from reviewing and revalidating its trade and
industrial policies, the Federal Government has set medium term target for the
manufacturing sectors in the national development programme spanning 2010 and
2013.

Modernise industrial
capacity

The Minister listed the targets to include modernising and
expanding the nation’s industrial processing capacity to 50 percent; increase
the sector’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) from 4 to 13 percent;
enhance the business climate for manufacturing by reducing regulatory and other
costs by 60 percent; increase annual growth rate in manufacturing to 20
percent, as well as raise average local content in the sector from 22 to 55
percent.

Other targets include increasing agricultural produce processing
by 10 percent annually; attain 60 percent compliance with global International
Standard Organization (ISO) quality standards; increase share of manufactured
goods in export from 2.5 to 10 percent, as well as raise employment share by 15
percent annually by 2020.

The Commissioner for Trade, Custom, Industry, Mines and Free
Movement, Mohammed Daramy, said in view of the challenges of globalisation,
food insecurity, financial and energy crises to the economies of the region,
the ECOWAS Commission is determined to foster regional integration through a
20-year industrialisation action plan expected to last till 2030.

The plan, he said, would focus on diversifying the regional
industrial production to raise local raw materials processing by an average of
30 percent; boost contribution of manufacturing to regional GDP to over 20
percent; increasing intra-community trade in the region by 40 percent, while
export of finished and semi-finished goods from the region to the global market
would grow to one percent by 2030.

The committee on
power created by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to solve the
problems in the sector has said it will make public its blue print
within 30 days.

Speaking to
journalists at the end of a committee meeting at the presidential villa
yesterday, Minister of State for Power, Nuhu Wya, said the committee
will be effective because it is working under the acting president’s
direct supervision.

“The meeting is
essentially convened by the acting president with all the stakeholders
that will make things happen in the power sector and it is generally
agreed that all hands should be on deck to move the power sector
forward,” Mr. Wya said.

“The final
documentation of the programme and the vision are being worked out and
it will be announced to Nigeria.

“The issue of gas
that we have been talking we are going to discuss it centrally. We are
discussing security of the pipelines and other things. So the difference
here is that everybody involved in value change of fuel to distribution
of power are put on the same table under the watchful eyes of the
acting president.”

However, Mr. Wya
cautioned that the 30-day time frame was not set in stone.

“I said 30 days because I am talking to journalists and I don’t want
to be held by my words. I am not the chairman of this committee, the
acting president is the chairman and he is the one to unfold this plan.”

Two weeks after its take-off, the Social Democratic Mega Party
is already being besieged by politicians who have expressed their interest to
contest at gubernatorial and presidential levels on the platform of the party,
the Party’s Protem National Chairman, Pat Utomi, said on Wednesday.

Mr. Utomi was speaking on the political strength of the new
party, amidst statements by some politicians that it is just a paper formation
and dispute among two of its former backers, Atiku Abubakar and Balarabe Musa,
on their roles in the project.

“All the candidates, including myself, are getting ready for a
long primary-season during which we would go to the length and breadth of our
constituency to canvas members of our party to support certain ideas that we
stand for and how to serve the Nigerian people in a disciplined manner and
bring an end to this curse of poor leadership that has bedevilled Nigeria for
so many years,” he said.

“For the avoidance of all doubts, the movement is strong,
healthy and surging forward.” He said a number of those who initially
participated in the process that led to the formation of the party had
different ideas of what its outlook would be.

“Different players have had different understandings of the
issues in the run of process. The situation is that different perspectives of
the structure of the party that should result from the Mega Summit Movement
have been expressed from the very beginning as should rightly have been the
case in a democratic process,” he said.

Misfits will leave

On the challenges that the party faced at its beginning, Mr.
Utomi said two schools of thought were dominant.

“One school led by Balarabe Musa wanted the process to result in
the coalition of political parties where members continue to belong to their
parties and decide whether they wanted to concentrate on local or state
election while all collaboratively work towards issues at the national level,”
Mr Utomi said.

“The second school of thought suggested that, with the experience
that we as a nation have had in the matter of political party coalition, it is
better that people coming into MSM should come, leaving their political parties
behind and come to join as individual.”

Mr. Utomi said that the group finally agreed to a model that
fuses both schools of thought.

“People who lack discipline, who cannot follow party discipline and rigorous
visionary decision-making aimed at uplifting the majority of the Nigerian
people, self-serving persons in their orientation, would eventually leave the
party,” he said.