BY ISHOLA BALOGUN
Ahead of the reconstitution of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), President Goodluck Jonathan has been advised to allow the party play a pivotal role in the exercise, a group, Good Governance Front (GGF), stated this in a statement it issued yesterday.

The group in the statement, which was signed by its National Coordinator, Hon. Akintunde Ige said if the party must bring sanity and stability to its fold and the government, all nominations should be routed through the party.

The statement reads, “The recent cabinet reshuffle by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has thrown up a lot of issues. Speculations have been rife as to why the ministers were relieved of their appointments. Many have attributed the action to various reasons; from political to poor performance, the need to inject fresh blood into the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and calculations towards the 2015 elections. Others have adduced other reasons; from the reasonable to the outrightly ludicrous.

“A careful analysis of all the comments and opinions, one point that has remained consistent is the fact that most of the ministers were removed because of the alleged loyalty to some godfathers, governors or interests, other than the common good.

“We wish to further add that the current storm in the party is partly due to the past tradition where some “big men” by-pass the party structure to get things done at the highest level.”

They impose candidates of their choice during congresses and primaries as well as get them appointed into various offices. This is why most of them feel they owe their allegiance to the “big men” and not the party or even the government that appointed them.

“It is against the background that we wish to suggest that one of the ways to avoid a recurrence of the present scenario is for appointments to be routed through the various structures of the party, from the national to the zone and state.

“This, in our view, is the way to restore sanity to the party and make it stronger. This is the only way to woo people back into the party and free it from the whim and caprices of godfathers who singlehandedly nominate appointees in the past. Even if the Presidency has some nominees, they should be presented to the party. Mr. President, do not let anyone come straight to the Presidency as this will undermine the party and suppress the structures of the party, for any party without a portfolio is an empty barrel.