By EMMANUEL AZIKEN, Political Editor, HENRY UMORU & DAPO AKINREFON

Malam Adamu Ciroma

LAGOS—THE Northern Political Leaders Forum has blasted the major opposition political parties saying they are not better alternatives to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP judging by the primaries they conducted.

The Muhammadu Buhari and Nuhu Ribadu presidential campaign organisations immediately dismissed the assertion by the Northern elders saying that the results of the forthcoming elections will prove their strength.

The Mallam Adamu Ciroma-led forum in a communiqué following a meeting on Monday where it reviewed the nation’s political landscape was equally unsparing of the PDP and its decision not to uphold the principle of zoning.

Lamenting what it described as the impunity that marked the party’s primaries at all levels, the forum faulted the PDP primaries, citing what they decried as the lack of internal democracy, the violation of the party’s constitution and the corruption they claimed characterized the process saying it was an indication that the nation’s political class was determined to repeat the same mistakes that stunted the nation’s political development.

The forum equally flayed the state of insecurity in the nation particularly in Akwa Ibom, Plateau, Borno and Edo States.

The assertion of insecurity in Edo State was immediately dismissed by the Edo State government which charged the group with misinformation.

The meeting chaired by one of the presidential aspirants was attended by Ciroma, General Mohammed Aliyu Gusau, Atiku Abubakar, Bello Kirfi, Shettima Mustapha, Lawal Kaita, Tanko Yakasai, Iyorchia Ayu, Patrick Adaba, Senator Ben Obi, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, among others.

Charging the political opposition as represented by Buhari and Ribadu of lacking the moral character and commitment to enthrone a viable alternative to the ruling PDP, the NPLF said: “The Forum decries the failure of opposition political parties to occupy the moral high ground and to provide a viable alternative to the ruling party at this critical hour when Nigerians are sick and tired of more of the same.

“Only a viable opposition will arrest the nation’s political drift to a one_party state. Opposition parties must hold themselves responsible if they fail to play their proper role in a democracy, even one as broken as our own.”

The assertion was immediately faulted by Buhari and Ribadu. The Buhari campaign said it would not join issues with Ciroma and the other northern elders saying that Buhari regarded the North as a section of the country, and would only compare notes with Ciroma after the April elections.

Buhari’s spokesman, Mr. Yinka Odumakin told Vanguard, yesterday: “We are not joining issues with Alhaji Adamu Ciroma because all along, Alhaji Buhari sees the North as a section of the country and also as his own constituency. By April after the presidential elections and when the results have been announced, we will compare notes with Alhaji Ciroma. Nigeria needs change and Alhaji Buhari represents that change.”

Odumakin added:  “On our part, we do not want to join issues with Ciroma. It has become a moral imperative for Nigerians to throw out the PDP out of power because we can no longer tolerate them. If Nigerians should go through another four years of what is on ground which Ciroma is commending, our children will be begging for bread. That is the more reason why Nigerians need to throw out the PDP.”

They should leave ACN alone—Ribadu

On its part, the Nuhu Ribadu Campaign Organization called on the Ciroma-led committee not to meddle in the affairs of other political parties.

While speaking with Vanguard on telephone, the Director of Media and Communications, Mr Ibrahim Modibbo said: “As far as we are concerned, Adamu Ciroma and his committee are PDP members, they do not have the moral right to judge any other party. They should leave the ACN and other parties alone and face what concerns them, which is the PDP.

The communiqué read in part:
“After thorough appraisal, the Forum has arrived at the sad conclusion that Nigeria’s politicians have not learned any lesson from our past and are about to repeat the same mistakes which brought political instability to the nation and stunted its political development. If the behaviour of Nigeria’s political parties during the recent primary elections is anything to go by, then it is safe to assume that the quality of the forthcoming general election in April will make the discredited  2007 election seem credible, free and fair.

“In this regard, all the nation’s political parties must share responsibility but the largest proportion must go to the ruling party because of the level of impunity it exhibited especially in the following areas:

2. With all of these and more taking place in the just concluded primary elections, one can only imagine what will happen during the general elections in April. The Forum calls on all political parties to call their members to order and urges the Independent National Electoral Commission to sanction all those found to be involved in subverting the nation’s democracy for personal political gain.

3. The Forum decries the failure of opposition political parties to occupy the moral high ground and to provide a viable alternative to the ruling party at this critical hour when Nigerians are sick and tired of more of the same. Only a viable opposition will arrest the nation’s political drift to a one -party state.

Opposition parties must hold themselves responsible if they fail to play their proper role in a democracy, even one as broken as our own.

4. The Forum decries the state of insecurity in the country, especially in Akwa Ibom, Borno, Edo and Plateau States and calls on the authorities to rise up to their responsibilities of protecting the lives and properties of citizens. A situation whereby human life can be taken at will without sanction or punishment is a situation of anarchy which, if left unchecked, can easily destabilize the entire country.”

Edo reacts

Reacting to the assertion, Mr. Peter Okhiria, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Edo State said:
“We do not believe that the Mallam Ciroma-led NPFL said what was attributed to them or maybe they were quoted out of context. However, if the group really raised concern over the state of insecurity in the country, we also are alarmed.”
We, however, differ on the perceived state of insecurity in Edo State. For the records and Mallam Ciroma_led NPFL is free to verify the facts, Edo State is the safest in both the South South and South East regions of Nigeria and we are very proud of that record.

“We do not know where the group got its information from, but it is incorrect. Edo State is very safe. Only recently, the Joint Military/Police Task Force code-named: Operation Thunderstorm  was re-launched to further tighten security in all parts of the state and all the small-time criminals operating in the state before then have since fled the state.”