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Who Is Etiebet’s Paymaster? By Babayola Toungo
Democrats all over the country had cause to gather and take stock of the Obasanjo administration and democratic rule in the country in the past six years in Lagos. The June 4th Kudirat Abiola remembrance and the June 12th presidential election annulment afforded democrats the opportunity to come together, rub minds, brainstorm and generally share experiences with like minds in Lagos. Several human rights groups, cultural groups and individuals facilitated the get-together in Lagos. General Muhammadu Buhari, the ANPP presidential candidate in the 419 2003 elections, was one of those invited and presented a paper. It was a well attended gathering that brought together all shades of opposition to military dictatorship, anti-corruption crusaders and human rights activists.
General Muhammadu Buhari was invited in his capacity as the arrowhead of the opposition to Obasanjo’s misgovernance and inept administration that is characterized by corruption, divide and rule and brazen abuse of office. Apart from being the arrowhead of the opposition, Buhari is well known for his perpendicularity. As a matter of fact, the ANPP reaped the little electoral victory they were able to gain largely because of Buhari’s presidential candidature of the party, if not the story might have been different today. There might not have been any opposition worth talking about – anyway as far as the party is concerned, there is no opposition to Obasanjo’s dictatorial tendencies.
Chief Don Etiebet, the National Chairman of the ANPP, which happens to be the single biggest opposition party, has been working at parallel with the party for long it appears. Etiebet took exception to Buhari’s attendance of the Lagos activities for reasons only known to him, because there is no way one can explain the Chairman’s umbrage purportedly being the position of the party on Buhari’s presence at a gathering of opposition political leaders meant to draw the attention of people to Obasanjo’s misrule. Etiebet tried, albeit lamely, to disassociate the ANPP from Buhari’s action of associating himself with the ‘people’. But it appears Etiebet is the one that is on his own. All the newspapers that reported on the events were of the opinion that General Buhari’s presence at the various events added colour and credibility to the activities lined up to remember Kudirat Abiola and the June 12th, 1993 presidential election annulment.
Don Etiebet had to practically fight for his political life last year and it was the same Buhari that saved the man’s neck from those that wanted to hang him politically. The crisis that rocked the party last year began and ended with Etiebet. Before becoming the national chairman of the ANPP Etiebet was of the PDP where he was expelled and joined the ANPP and emerged as consensus chairman at the 2003 national convention. There were rumours then and now that some mercenaries have embedded themselves in the party to render it ineffectual. To all intents and purposes, the ANPP as a party is comatose; it is General Buhari that embodies the opposition tendencies of the party.
In 2004, General Jerry Useini tried to wrest the party’s control from Etiebet on reasons bordering on anti-party activities and financial recklessness. General Buhari and his supporters rose as one in support of Etiebet to counter the Bafarawa/ Useini bloc. But in light of what has transpired since, it is my contention that Etiebet has all along been playing the role of a double agent in the party. The on-going National Political Reform Conference was rejected by almost all party members across the board, but before you say Jack Robinson, the party chairman was there purportedly representing the ANPP. It is agreed that the party has no legal basis ab initio and therefore of no consequence apart from being a forum by Obasanjo to further reshape the country in his image through unconstitutional means. To achieve his aim, Obasanjo have to load the conference with his cronies and other political contractors that may have some personal things to protect. I would have dearly loved to know what interest Etiebet is protecting – certainly it cannot be the ANPP’s.
Etiebet is a member of the committee that recommended the ban on ex-military leaders from contesting further elections. This is a ploy by Obasanjo to disqualify his most formidable opponents from challenging his not so hidden ambition to continue beyond 2007. General Muhammadu Buhari, an ex- head of state, is one of such leaders. As the ANPP presidential candidate in the 2003 elections, he is still in court with Obasanjo andat the moment, he is the most formidable personality in the party. Unmindful of the damage such policy will do to his party, Etiebet was part of the destructive tendencies that may sound the death knell of the ANPP, the party he is supposed to lead and represent at the Conference. You can see the glee and the excitement on the man’s face when the announcement was made to the whole house and the dynamism in the way he was clapping. How sad for the ANPP in particular and the opposition in general.
You hear of the party chairman’s voice only when there is anything to do with Obasanjo or his government. The various anti-people policies of Obasanjo has never bothered or pricked the man’s conscience. I would have loved to know whether as one of Abacha’s Petroleum Ministers, Etiebet is afraid of the Dan Etete treatment that is why he chose to be Obasanjo’s doormat rather than be on the side of the people, to whom the ANPP is the only bulwark against Obasanjo’s misgovernance. It would be very revealing if Etiebet will be man enough to tell us whose interest he represents – ANPP’s or Obasanjo’s. |