NIGERIANS ABROAD, UN FOLLOWING
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT KEENLY
Our
Reporter
Nigerians abroad are preparing for what may seem
like a long-drawn battle over the political
developments in their country especially the
disqualification by INEC of Vice President
Atiku Abubakar from next month's election,
Empowered Newswire reports.
There
are already talks of a global campaign to discredit
any government that emerges from an election that
does not recognize the candidature of Vice President
Atiku Abubakar.
But not
only Nigerians are concerned, officials and
diplomats at the United Nations are also said to be
eagerly following the developments with bated
breadth. There are international apprehension even
though still muted as at last week on the dicey
political scenario developing in
Nigeria.
At the
UN headquarters on Friday, the question of
Nigeria came up at the daily noon press
briefing, and the Spokesperson to the UN
Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon Michelle Montas said the world
body had asked its Political Affairs Department,
formerly headed by a Nigerian diplomat, to focus on
Nigeria's April elections and the build up to it.
Asked
if the UN had received the petition sent last week
by the Vice President to international bodies like
the UN and European Union, Montas said she could not
immediately confirm that.
This
was the exchange Friday afternoon between the press
and the UN Spokesperson on
Nigeria:
Question: I wanted to know whether the United
Nations is following events in
Nigeria where the Vice-President has been
disqualified on grounds of being indicted for
corruption. And the Vice-President says that he can’t
be indicted because the (inaudible) grants him
immunity. And they also said that he has written to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations to express his
feelings, a petition essentially. So, I want to know,
is the UN following this event? This is the first
election in
Nigeria that is going to be conducted where you
can have a civilian-to-civilian transition. So is the
United Nations following this event? Is the UN in
receipt of the petition of the Nigerian Vice-President?
Spokesperson: The UN is certainly following the
situation. The Department of Political Affairs is doing
that. And I’m sure you can get more from them on that.
Question: Is the UN in receipt of the petition of
the Vice-President of Nigeria?
Spokesperson: I cannot confirm that information yet.
A United Nations affiliated news network Integrated
Regional Information Network, IRIN, managed by a
UN department also published a story on Thursday reporting
that "Political tensions mounted across
Nigeria on Thursday with the announcement by
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
that the 24 candidates cleared to run in April's
presidential election do not include Vice President
Atiku Abubakar, who fell out with outgoing
President Olusegun Obasanjo and is currently being
indicted on charges of corruption."
According to the UN IRIN news
website report, and in line with how most western
media reports describe the dispute between President
Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy, Vice President
Abubakar's political problems can be
traced to when he "fell out with Obasanjo last year
after he opposed plans to amend the constitution to
eliminate the current two-term presidential limit."
On their part, Nigerians
in the US are however speaking out loudly about the
developments. Referring to the IRIN report, a US
based University administrator and chairman of PRONACO-US lamented
that Nigeria is beginning to make "
the wrong headlines world-wide" on the
disqualification of the VP. AC-USA has in fact
warned that it will
continue to carry out its global campaign against
civilian dictatorship in
Nigeria,
and
will vigorously persuade the international community
especially the US Government, the United Nations and
the European Union to do the same not to recognize
any government that emerges from an unfair
elections.
Waxing
scriptural Adam, a Christian who hails from Borno
State then quoted the Bible saying "'Father, forgive
them for they did not know what they are doing'
(Luke 23:34)"
Adam, a
US citizen known to be very influential in the Bush
administration added that "INEC - seems to a puppet
and tool of Pres. Obasanjo - and is ready to be
manipulated in the upcoming elections" But he warned
that next months elections in
Nigeria "will neither be free or fair."
Specifically he declared that "If the FGN and INEC
illegally bars the VP from the elections or
disenfranchise the
Nigeria people in any way ... we will request
for full economic, political and military sanction
on
Nigeria from UN, US Government, EU, etc."
Listing
a litany of court orders which the FG and INEC have
disobeyed and continued to disobey on the matter,
Adam said "as the late Dr. ML King said injustice
for one is injustice for all. From INEC's action we
strongly believe they are disobeying many "Court of
Law" rulings and orders"
Bolaji Aluko, a university professor at Howard
University in
Washington DC, who is also a social
commentator and a registered member of AC the
FG by its reaction on Friday to verbal protests
that it was disobeying court orders had
started now to "boldly threatening and
intimidating the courts, knowing that it cannot
win there." Aluko said the statement credited to
the presidency which threatens to deal with any
protests is a military-like statement, wondering
loudly "We shall eventually see how all of this
ends."
A
Statement from AC-USA signed by Chairman Tex
Wariboko and Secretary Dele Alade also
"warns INEC
and Obasanjo-led PDP Federal Government against the
disqualification of Vice President Atiku from the April
2007 general elections."
Interestingly, the AC-USA is a combination of the a
faction of the PDP in the US, and the AD chapter here.
The US members observed that "the courts have spoken and
INEC must in particular obey the decision of the Federal
High Court in Abuja
that INEC has no power under the law to disqualify any
candidate for election. Further, a
Lagos High Court in November 2006, declared the
EFCC- PTDF report null and void, set aside the Bayo
Ojo-led administrative panel report and quashed the
federal gazetting of any purported indictment."
AC-USA said
it will employ "all legal means possible" to ensure that
the provisions of the Nigerian constitution and the
electoral laws are followed and respected by Obasanjo
government, alleging that "President Obasanjo intends to
cause enough confusion in the polity so as to have a
reason to postpone the elections and perpetuate himself
in office."
