Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013—5
POCKET CARTOON
LESSER HAJJ —Vice President Namadi Sambo being received by Saudi Arabia protocol officer, Khaled Al-Abad at the King Abdul-aziz International Airport, Jeddah on his way to commence the process of Umrah or Lesser Hajj. With them is Nigeria's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Amb. Abubakar Shehu Shuni (centre).
2015: PDP plots consensus ticket for Jonathan Continues from page 1 that had earlier proposed the adoption of a right of first refusal for
the president and governors are now proposing a double-phased convention to accommo-
LIFEWORDS
BY PASTOR ITUAH
There is a seed of greatness in every individual, it takes patience to discover this seed; to plant and nurture it into greatness require great patience. Mixed with sacrifice and discipline it becomes truly outstanding.
TAKE HEART BY ELLA RANDLE
The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them — Bernard Shaw
T
WO men fell on hard times. Try as they might, they couldn’t find work. They heard that a museum was willing to pay $50 apiece for live rattlesnakes so, in desperation, they decided to catch snakes. Outfitted with a net and basket, they hiked to a remote area renowned for its large snake population. But as they scaled a steep ledge, rock gave way and they tumbled down a slippery bank into a deep pit crawling with rattlesnakes. One of the men quickly sized up the situation and shouted to his friend, “Look! We’re rich! We’re rich!” I find this story hilarious but it is a very good principle to illustrate the intensity of seeing only the possibilities in all situations. Maybe the feller in the snake pit didn’t fully appreciate his predicament. But in most situations, I believe there is a sunny side. Steve Goodier puts it beautifully: “I’ve learned that my greatest power may well be my power to choose my outlook.” As Abraham Lincoln wisely said, “most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” The truth is, I can choose to view tough times as growing times, I can choose to see life challenges as seasoning for unfoldment, and I can choose to focus on whatever good there is to be found in living.
date the concerns of party members aggrieved at the earlier proposal of the right of first refusal. Among those in strong opposition to the right of first refusal are some two-term governors from the North and former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar. Suggestive of his perceptions of the alleged moves to turn the scale in the president’s favour, Atiku has written the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur over his exclusion from the Adamawa State delegates list for the party’s mini convention. He said it could be part of a plot to push him out of the party. In the new move being pushed by party leaders, President Jonathan and first term governors desiring a second term would be considered for a referendum on their achievements in the first term before a party convention. As part of the referendum, delegates to the party convention would be asked to affirm a yea or nay on the president’s performance upon which he would be adopted as the party’s consensus candidate. Should the president
fail to get a majority in the referendum, a second convention would be called within one month in which all interested presidential aspirants in the party would be subjected to a contest that would also include the president as a candidate. The right of first refusal for the president in 2015 was first openly canvassed by the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Chief Anthony Anenih last May at a meeting of PDP SouthSouth chieftains in Asaba, Delta State. “I do not see anything wrong, if the PDP considers automatic tickets for the President and its governors who have performed well and are seeking for a second term,” Anenih had said at that meeting. The proposal immediately ran into a storm with Northern stakeholders, including Atiku, raising objections. This led to the fresh proposal. Anenih, it was learnt, is equally supportive of the fresh amendment and is vigorously pushing it. In line with that fresh push, Anenih and senior presidency officials are pushing Federal Government officials to vigorously sell the achievements of the Jonathan administration in various sectors. Towards this end, the administration would in few weeks commence a media blitz of the achievements of the Jonathan administration to sell the performance of the government.
Atiku protests, writes Tukur Meanwhile, Atiku has written Tukur on his non-inclusion in the list of delegates for the party ’s forthcoming convention. In the letter dated July 11, 2013 obtained by Vanguard, Atiku said he had waited without a response from the party on his reported exclusion despite its publication by a national daily. “After waiting for a public statement from the party, correcting or refuting the abnormality in vain, I decided to draw your attention to this mistake. You may recall, Mr. Chairman, that section 8, sub section 8 (b) of the consti-
tution of the Peoples Democratic Party, 2012 as amended, states that “a person who desires to rejoin the party after leaving it, unless given a waiver by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of our Party, be placed on probation for a period of not less than one year.” Noting the approval the NEC gave him on September 15, 2010 to rejoin the party and upon which he contested the 2011 presidential primary, Atiku said: ”It is in this regard, that I consider the omission of my name as a mistake since it contradicts Section 32 sub section 1 (a) of our Party constitution which states that the Board of Trustees members of our Party shall consist of “all past and serving Presidents and Vice Presidents of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who held or hold the respective posts as members of the Party and who are still members of the Party. "As a bonafide member of our party, I look forward to the respect and privileges conferred on the office of the Vice President and founding fathers of the party by our party constitution. I, therefore, request for a correction and restitution of my right to attend the forthcoming special national convention of our great party and also membership of the Board of Trustees.” Atiku’s associates, it was learnt, are working on the theory that the exclusion from the delegates list for Adamawa State may be part of a plot to exclude him from the presidential contest.
South-South leaders endorse Jonathan Meanwhile, elder statesman and Ijaw
leader, Chief Edwin Clark and some SouthSouth leaders, weekend, advanced quantum achievements by Jonathan since he came to power as why he should go for a second term. Besides the achievements in various sectors, they said the president had carried on as a detribalized Nigerian without favouritism or subverting the Nigerian constitution for any sectional interest. The leaders, who included Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; former Minister of State (Education), Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi; former Presidential Spokesman, Olorogun Ima Niboro; Urhobo Leader, Chief Ighoyota Amori among others, spoke at a rally held at Sapele Athletics Club, Sapele, Delta State. The rally was organized by Gbagi to unite the Urhobo nation in Delta Central Senatorial District and mobilize support for President Jonathan’s transformation agenda. Clark, who was represented by Chief Godwin Ogbetuo, Chairman, Delta Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders Forum, urged the North to back Jonathan’s re-election in view of past political alliances between the South-South and the North. “Considering the good political alliance between the South-South and the core North in the pre-independence constitutional conferences also in the First and Second republics, supporting the SouthSouth aspiration in President Jonathan come 2015 is like payback time for the support of the region for the North in the past,” Clark said."