President Goodluck Jonathan said Friday that the failure of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to deliver the speakership of the House of Representatives to the South West region as originally planned has continued to prick his conscience.
It will be recalled that the PDP had zoned the seat to the South West but certain persuasions in the party banded together with members from opposition parties to entrench a line of leaders outside the party’s plan.
Jonathan at the Yoruba Unity Summit held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Osun State said that tthe failure of the South-west to get the position in accordance with the zoning arrangement of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party was one of his regrets.
The president who spoke live at the summit, Which was organised by the Yoruba Unity Forum, however blamed individual interests of some politicians in the region for playing a role in denying the zone their due.
Jonatthan said that he is affirm believer in equity in appointments in accordance with the zoning formula of the PDP.
He said, “I always say it; one of the problems I faced in the National Assembly was that I felt the right thing should be done because our party has a formula. We have six geo-political zones in the country and when the president emerges from one of the geo-political zones, the vice president emerges from another geo-political zone, the rest core offices – the senate president, the speaker, Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the chairman of the party – must come from different geo-political zones.
“The idea is that, whenever we are distributing board positions and some of these appointments, these people sit to take decisions. Whenever we are appointing ministers, all these people sit to take decisions. In that case, we want all the geo-political zones to be in the inner caucus that take critical decisions.
“The last time, it was difficult for me because I insisted that the South-west must get the office of speaker. Of course, I couldn’t go through with it because some of us within the South-west didn’t want it based on some personal reasons. I am still suffering from that till today. That is one of the reasons that the leaders said, this time around, we must work collectively so that whatever position is zoned to the South-west, we should get that position.”
The President reaffirmed his unalloyed commitment to the unity of the country and expressed appreciation on the efforts of the Yoruba people and their cooperation with other sections of the country which has helped tremendously is sustaining the unity of Nigeria.
According to him, over 50 per cent of the nation’s wealth is from the South-west, pointing out that infrastructure such as airports, rail link and power must be provided to enable the area to continue to provide opportunities for the people.
Jonathan said the summit was an opportunity for him to salute the collective spirit of the Yoruba people that has seen them play critical roles at every important junction in the history of our country.
“I have said it and I will say it again. We will implement the recommendations. The political environment now is not too conducive for certain good things to be raised because of partisan interest. People are ready to even kill. I wouldn’t want to play with that document that our great men and women, our egg heads took time to form. I believe the whole context will be taken by government. So, we will surely implement it,” he said.
He observed that the gathering was “not just about the unity of the descendants of Oduduwa but a clarion call on Nigerians to embark on a path to seek accommodation and build consensus.”
The President charged all to be in harmony, articulate differences with a view to arriving at formidable national consensus to give the nation a more robust vision and energy to confront the rest of the world.
He said with love, understanding and respect for one another, there is no obstacle Nigeria would not surmount, adding, “with unity, we can go to the moon.”
The President assured the South-west that the federal government would never leave the region behind in development and called for their cooperation.
