A prominent politician and South-South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has berated Mallam Mamman Daura, the influential nephew of President Muhammadu Buhari, for his publicised stand on the zoning of the 2023 Presidential ticket.
Daura had said on Tuesday that there was no need to zone the 2023 Presidential ticket to a particular part of the country, noting that Nigeria’s political space should be left open for the best candidate to emerge as President.
But Clark, in a statement on Thursday, responded to this position, saying that Daura lacked the requisite political experience to qualify him for the posiiton of an adviser on Nigeria’s political affairs.
“Mamman Daura has never held any notable political appointment to qualify him to be a political adviser to Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari on the affairs of Nigeria,” he said.
The elder statesman, who spoke in a statement, titled, “Who is Mamman Daura Fooling?”, maintained that, as nephew to the President, he “has every right to speak on their family matters because he is part of Muhammadu Buhari’s family. But he has no experience or qualification to give directives on Nigeria’s governmental affairs.”
He said, “This morning, Wednesday, 29th July, 2020, I listened to the various comments by the electronic media, particularly the interesting discussion on the Arise Morning Show anchored by Dr Reuben Abati and his colleagues.
“I have known Mamman Daura for very many years; when he was Deputy Editor of the New Nigeria Newspaper, when his friend, the late Mallam Adamu Ciroma, was Editor. Mamman Daura later became the Editor when Adamu Ciroma was appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Newspaper became very famous during the trial of Andrew Obeya, a prominent Public Servant.
“Mamman Daura was not a politician or activist. I saw Mamman Daura for the first time in Kaduna in 1975 when, as Federal Commissioner (Minister) of Information, I accompanied Gen. Yakubu Gowon, the then Head of State, to Kaduna to commission a Low Cost Housing scheme, popularly called Masa-Masa Project.”
Clark added, “Mamman Daura accompanied Mallam Adamu Ciroma and Col. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, as he then was, to the Guest House, at the Government House in Kaduna. Mamman Daura has never held any notable political appointment to qualify him to be a political adviser to Mr. President, Muhammadu Buhari, on the affairs of Nigeria, which entitles him (Mamman Daura) to have permanent accommodation/residency at the Aso Villa, with his family, where politicians go to him, to lobby for political appointments.
“It is, therefore, not true that he visits the Aso Villa to advice Mr. President. He resides permanently at the Villa with his family. This is what led to the open display of shame between the First Lady, Aisha Buhari and Mamman Daura’s children. The First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has severally complained openly of how her husband’s nephew, Mamman Daura, and his family, keep harassing and interfering in the affairs of the first family.”
The South-South leader claimed that Daura was the leader of the ‘Villa Cabal’, while the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the President, Garba Shehu, was the go-between “or the errand boy” of the cabal.
He said, “MammanDaura, as nephew to Mr. President has every right to speak on their family matters because he is part of Muhammadu Buhari’s family. But he has no experience or qualification to give directives on Nigeria’s governmental affairs.
“The qualities of capability, competence, intelligence and transparent leaders, and availability of such, are not only either in the North or in the South, neither is it the prerogative of one group or area. In fact, citizens with such qualities exist in each of the six geopolitical zones.”
Clark further explained, “In terms of size, each of the six zones is as large enough, in fact, each zone in the country is even larger and more populated than some African countries. The matter of zoning was sufficiently discussed at the 2014 National Constitutional Conference, which was attended by over 490 Delegates, representing various aspects of the Nigerian public, including professional bodies, Trade Unions, Market Women, the physically challenged and the Youths. And the essence was to give a sense of belonging to all.
“The Conference lasted for about four months and all decisions taken were unanimous. The late Justice Idris Kutigi, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, was the Chairman of the Conference and his Deputy was Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, former Foreign Affairs Minister. Mrs Valerie Azinge (SAN), was the Secretary, and one of her assistants at the Conference is the present Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
“Six Hundred recommendations were made by the Conference, and submitted to Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the then President and Commander-in-Chief, Federal Republic of Nigeria, who set up the National Conference. The first set of recommendations was purely meant for Mr President and his Executive to implement, which he did not do until he left Office. The second set was for the President to submit to the National Assembly for implementation, while the third recommendation was purely a draft Constitution for Nigeria, which is meant to be considered, amended and approved by the National Assembly, and then finally to be submitted for a National referendum.
“This could have given to us a well restructured Nigeria, with full devolution of power from the centre to the other federating units. Nigeria is made up of over 250 ethnic nationalities and many regional bodies.”
