Ahmad
If anybody thought there was some decency remaining in Nigerian ruling class politics, then the emergence of Charles Soludo as the governorship candidate of the PDP has put paid to that assumption. Itwas clear that the ruling party is structured basically to subvert the norms of democratic politics; this is because of the historical evolution of the party from the hopeful naivety of its founding by patriotslike the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, to its monstrous transmogrification in the despicable hands of Obasanjo and his garrison politics disciples. The emergence of Soludo was grand larceny of an open type that was built upon a cynical subversion of open competitive politicking through the misuse of court processes to ensure that democracy was not given a look in.
The deal was done in the typical manner of a smoke-filled room .of intrigues and maneuvers, defined -by the bloodsoaked cloak and dagger which has characterized PDP rule since 1999.Tony Anenih openly canvassed the Soludo candidacy, never minding the controversies trailing that individual from his recently-vacated tenure at the CBN. For the past masters of intrigues in politics, the small matter of public perception built upon a gathering cloud of indicting evidence meant next to nothing! The party took its
members on a fool’s ride and an incredulous nation was given a cast iron guarantee that the PDP is too dead lost in its anti-democratic ways to husband a political process based on respect for the Nigerian people . .As 2011 approaches, we can hear the rumble of a monster. the PDp, INEC, the Yar’adua regime will deliver the worst elections ever and walk away believing that nobody can do anything about it! Or can anybody dare?
Itis remarkable that in the past three weeks there have been si.gnificantmovements on the political and none more so, than the meetings in Kaduna between Atiku, Bafarawa and Buhari as well as the one between Buhari and Bola Tinubu. All patriots realize that the nation is being led into a potentially serious crisisbya combination of the indices of existence which make a mockery of the competence of our rulers as well as their dedication to the common weal. So a combination of the anger of the people and a political process which is loaded against the best interests of the people, make the search for alternative platforms an urgent issue of Nigerian political life. Those who met in Kaduna as well as the promoters of what is called the Mega Summit Movement have a historical opportunity to tuck in their individual ambitions tohelp craft vehicles of hope for our country. They will merely be helping the survival of the ruling class project from the threatening anarchy which the irresponsible politics of the last ten years has given birth to. The people wait with bated breath forwhat good can come from all these meetings.
Itisalso significant that Nasir El-Rufai has become a very important element of the cauldron which Nigerian politics has become. The faux pas and consequent sackings which trailed the botched attempt to deny EI-Rufai a Nigerian passport reflect the deep-seated insecurities at the highest level of the Nigerian state. Ihave been critical of El- Rnfai in practically everything that Ihave written about him, especially the nee-fascist content ofhis politics, when he was at the arrogant height of his power. But who could deny that he was also different in terms of his single-minded commitment toassignments he carried out? Furthermore, he remains a Nigerian citizen with all the responsibilities and rights that conveys; to attempt to use his need for a passport renewal to curtail his right to dissent is precisely to diminish the rights of all of us. Happily, the government was obliged by the incompetence with which it handled the effort and the vigilance of the Nigerian media, to back track. I might not agree with all that El-Rufai has done in the past or what he says in the present, but Idefend his democratic right to freely express his views. It is contestation of ideas that enriches democratic culture; Nigerian politics has suffered from the absence of edifying ideas!
