Former Minister of Finance, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma at the weekend gave reasons he had been silent on national issues, especially those concerning the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He said as a founding member, he was disappointed that the party has derailed.
Ciroma spoke as the Guest of the Week on Kaduna-based Liberty Radio. The former minister said he lost interest in the political affairs of the country and the PDP because the party leaders refused to agree on somebody from the North to complete the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s term after his death.
He said: “I was there when the party agreed to rotate the Presidency between the North and South. And President Goodluck Jonathan was there when General Olusegun Obasanjo presided over the rotatory presidency based on two terms. President Obasanjo did his two terms on behalf of the South and President Yar’Adua was doing his first term for the North, but unfortunately, he died.
“And the PDP leaders, instead of agreeing on somebody from the North to complete Yar’Adua’s term, they all went to ensure that the then Vice President, Jonathan became the President, and because the leaders we made this agreement with, departed from this agreement, I lost interest in Nigerian political affairs. Because if you cannot trust people you formed a party with, you won power with, you hardly have such interest. Whether it is Tony Anenih or any other members of the party that are still in the party, I lost interest in the party itself”.
On how the PDP fared in governance, Ciroma expressed worry over insecurity, saying, “the biggest of worry facing the country is that of insecurity and the issue of Boko Haram. People who steal and the issue of bombing. These are problematic and they become even more worrisome as we look forward to the general elections next year. Because no matter what you do, politicians will always tend to get their affairs in line with the elections and a lot of people are worried whether the elections will take place as expected. Everybody is hopeful that the exercise would be well conducted and the results should be generally acceptable”.
On holding elections same day, Ciroma said, “holding elections in one day does not solve the problem. In India, elections are held over a long period. It is not the number of days you use that determines whether it is fair or not, but it is the process. Whether you are doing it with integrity and whether you are doing it well. It is the quality of the conduct of the elections that is critical”.
On the ongoing National Conference, Ciroma called on the delegates to tread softly on how they handle issues in the polity.
“Well, the conference has performed. There are well experienced individuals and there are some but what worries many of us outside the conference is that collectively, the exercise seems to be carrying on as if this country is new.
“The issue of derivation and revenue allocation are events which have taken place as what happened in the past. The truth is that every time you are going to the revenue derivation and allocations, there will always be some technical examination on what the problems of the country are and what are the needs and contributions of the various parts? But all that you must ensure that if you help one economy, everybody in the economy has to benefit. Nobody should feel cheated by the other,” Ciroma said.