Presidential Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential flag off campaign was almost marred by stadium controversy following the refusal of the Akwa Ibom State government to approve the use of the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo for the rally. Patrick Andrew writes on the controversy.
Refusal
The Akwa Ibom State government had on December 23 issued a statement to the effect that it would not approve the use of the stadium for the presidential rally.
Expectedly, the refusal promptly generated all sorts of political interpretations especially from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) which saw the act as a deliberate ploy to deny them the use of the facility. It further interpreted the move as manifest persecution of the opposition party in the state.
The State government though had adduced the argument that use of the main bowl of the stadium would have adverse effect on the pitch and being the home base of Akwa United, a premier league club, it would have technical implications in view of the likely mammoth crowd that would besieged the stadium for the political rally.
The resumption date for the premier league currently on break was equally taken into consideration. January 6, 2019 was formally fixed. Besides, the government claimed that necessary repair of the stadium may not be done before the resumption date of the league basically because the maintaining organization-Julius Berger- had closed for the end-year-yuletide and would be resuming about the time the Premier League would kick-off.
The painful statement
Recall that the State Commissioner for Sports, Monday Uko, had said President Muhammadu Buhari will not be allowed to use the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, Uyo, for his campaign this Friday.
Instead, the state government directed the President and the APC to make use of another stadium, the Uyo Township Stadium, which accommodates a far lesser number of people compared to the 30,000-capacity Godswill Akpabio stadium.
The APC had requested the use of the stadium for the campaign. However, a statement issued during the weekend said: “The next season of the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) is scheduled to begin on January 13, 2019.
“In view of this and the fixtures of home matches for Akwa United FC, it will be practically impossible to ‘regrass’ the stadium for pre-fixed matches, if used for non-sports activities, because of the nature of pressure that such events bring on the pitch.
“Additionally, The Maintenance Contractor (Julius Berger) had also advised that the present atmospheric conditions being very hostile to the pitch, the facility should not be used for non-sport activities during this harmattan period, so as to avoid inflicting long-term or irreversible damage to the grass on the football pitch,” Mr. Uko said.
The government also noted that the stadium managers, Julius Berger, currently on vacation in Germany had locked the stadium and would resume on January 7, 2019, but approved the use of a smaller facility, Uyo Township stadium.
According to Uko, the explanation became necessary because “political actors and commentators” in the state were trying to use the issue to pitch the state government against President Buhari.
The commissioner went further to say that the annual state-sponsored Christmas Carol night in Uyo took place in the Uyo Township Stadium, instead of the earlier proposed Godswill Akpabio International Stadium, because of the same reason. The Christmas Carol night was held last Friday.
“The stadium from its inception has been under a maintenance contract with Julius Berger Construction Company. They operate all the sensitive and non-sensitive components of the facility”, the Commissioner said.
APC kicks
Expectedly, the state APC leadership dismissed the reasons advanced by the state government for the refusal of their request to use the facility for their rally. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate) Senator Ita Enang said the party would forcefully take possession of the facility whether it is approved or not.
Briefing newsmen in Uyo on Monday, Ita Enang said that the President would be in the state with the party national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and national leaders.
He said that the party would use the opportunity to formally present the party’s flag to APC gubernatorial candidates of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers and Delta respectively.
“President Muhammadu Buhari and 2019 Presidential Candidate of the All Progressives Congress candidate will be in Akwa Ibom on December 28 to flag off the 2019 campaign of the APC.
“He will be coming with the National Chairman of the party and the National leaders of the party and the sitting governors of the party and other governorship candidate of the party. He will be here to formally launch his campaign and flag off the 2019 Presidential election campaign, “Enang said.
According to him, the campaign will kick off in Akwa Ibom because the state has accepted the President fully and the state is ripe for harvest by the party.
Enang said the APC would continue on the path of diplomacy to get government’s approval to use the facility but was quick to warn that if the negotiations fail, the party would be forced to break into the stadium.
He faulted explanations by the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Mr. Monday Uko, that the stadium’s pitch was being preserved for the state team, Akwa United, to play their home games as the National Professional Football League (NPFL) kicks-off on January 13.
The SSA said the state government’s action was pre-meditated and political, adding that “the governorship primary that Udom was declared the winner in 2014, was done in that same stadium”.
He also argued that Senator Bassey Akpan, representing Akwa Ibom North East, did his empowerment and constituency briefing in the same stadium.
He explained that the choice of Akwa Ibom for the South-South campaign flag-off is necessary due to widespread acceptability of the party in the South-South states.
“We will continue to use diplomacy for the request, but if the diplomacy fails, we will still use the stadium. When higher immunity meets the state immunity, it would succumb. We will not allow Udom to blackmail Akwa Ibom.
“Udom should know that it was his predecessor Godswill Akpabio that built the stadium with funds allocated to the state by the Federal Government led by President Buhari and denying Akwa Ibom people the use of that facility is a collective insult on the people of the state,” he said.
Palliative at last
Barely a day following after turning down the request, the state government reversed itself and approved the use of the 30,000-capacity facility for the opposition party yesterday.
The APC state chairman, Iniobong Okopido, had applied to the government for the use of the facility for the campaign launch, but the state turned the application down, instead offered the small capacity Uyo Township Stadium.
Akwa Ibom state governor, Udom Emmanuel, approved the use of Godswill Akpabio International Stadium for the flag-off of President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election campaign in the South-South region.
A statement signed by the Commissioner for Youths and Sport, Mr Monday Uko, Monday night said the approval follows the decision of managers of the stadium, Julius Berger Plc, to recall its staff to work on the stadium before the commencement of Akwa United match billed to be played there.
Stadium use request decline unnecessary reprisal
“Following a decision by Julius Berger Plc to recall their staff from their scheduled holiday, the Akwa Ibom State Government has approved the use of the Nest of Champions Stadium, Uyo for the flag-off of the President’s electioneering campaign on December 28, 2018.
“However, all other terms of use will remain effective. Organisers of the rally are expected to meet with the stadium management to finalise this approval,” the statement read.
The decision of the governor puts an end to the earlier threat issued by the Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on National Assembly (Senate), Ita Enang, to break into the stadium.
Like Uyo like Eagle Square
Recall that the presidential aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, had dully applied and paid for use of Eagle Square, Abuja for his planned declaration for the position. However, hours to the event, his request was turned down despite meeting all necessary requirements for the approval.
The managers of the venue, Integrated Facility Management Service Ltd, rescinded its earlier approval for the former Kano state governor to use the facility saying that it had wrongly granted him approval.
Kwankwaso had paid the required fee of N2.2 million following which the venue was approved for his use and the approval communicated to him via a letter dated August 20, 2018, signed by Usman Raji on behalf of the company’s General Manager.
But in another letter dated the August 27, 2018 also signed by Raji, the company told the Kwankwaso Campaign that it had rescinded the approval having realised that the political event fell on a working day and would disrupt activities in nearby Federal Secretariat.
The letter stated: “With reference to the approval letter dated 20th August, 2018, granting our approval for the use of Eagle Square on the 29th August, 2018, we are sorry to inform you that the event can no longer hold on the said date because it is a political event, and 29th August 2018 happens to be a work day, as it would disrupt the usual work flow of the federal secretariat. We apologise for the oversight on our part to note the date in relation to the nature of the event.
The statement
“We are sorry to inform you that the event can no longer hold on the said date because it is a political event and the 29th of August, 2018 happens to be a work day, as it would disrupt the usual work flow of the Federal Secretariat,” Mr Raji wrote.
“We apologise for the oversight on our part to note the date in relation to the nature of the event. We regret every inconvenience caused by this.”
Aides of Mr Kwankwaso and many other politicians in Abuja believe the move was made to stifle the senator’s presidential declaration.
The Kwankwaso Campaign Organisation said it “sees the development as a handiwork of the government in power who will not see anything good in growing our fledgling democracy as no level playing field has been created to allow for viable opposition in the country.”
When contacted, the Abuja minister, Mohammed Bello, who has oversight over the management of the venue, did not deny any political undertone to the action. Through his spokesperson, Abubakar Sani, Mr Bello simply referred all enquiries to Integrated Facility Management Services Ltd, the firm which manages the Eagle Square and which made the controversial U-turn.
Baseless excuse
The August 29 being a “work day” excuse by the Eagle Square management was baseless since the same venue had in the past been released for other political activities on weekdays. It was argued for instance that only recently there was the rally to support President Buhari in the 2019 general election under the aegis of Buhari Youth Organization. That rally, attended by hundreds of people, held on Tuesday, July 10, at the Eagles Square, a work day.
Also, similar to Mr. Kwankwaso, then candidate Muhammadu Buhari on October 14, 2014 (a Wednesday, work day) officially declared his intention to contest the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the same venue.
On another working day, December 10, 2014, a Wednesday, the same facility managers released the Eagle Square to the then ruling party, PDP, for a convention that ratified the endorsement of Goodluck Jonathan and former chairman of the party, Adamu Muazu.
Reacting to this development, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP), called on Nigerians and the international community to rise against the culture of intimidation and impunity.
A statement issued by its spokesman, Ugo Chinyere, in Abuja stated: “The Information reaching the Secretariat of the CUPP is that the Buhari led APC federal government working with the Police have just sealed the venue of the tomorrow’s scheduled declaration of Sen.Rabiu Musa kwankwaso for President billed to hold at Eagle Square by 10am tomorrow (Wednesday).
“We are calling on the Nigerian Media, international community and the general public to stand up against this latest culture of intimidation and impunity.
“The Attempt to block the venue of the declaration billed to hold at Eagle Square shall be resisted as the venue was fully paid and approved for the event.
“The constant attack on key opposition leaders and use of state force against opposition aspirants cannot stop us from serving Buhari his well deserved Electoral defeat come 2019.”
Recall also that in 2014 the APC and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria had engaged in a verbal war over the failure to grant landing right to a private jet conveying chieftains of the APC to Gombe, Gombe State.
The aircraft on approach to landing was prevented from landing by the airport control officers. While the APC viewed that as an act of sabotage, the FAAN explained it did not get any notification that the aircraft was going in the direction of Gombe and that it had earlier sent out a notification that there was a maintenance going on at the airport.
FAAN said it was surprised that the pilot of the aircraft claimed it did not get the alert of the repairs at the airport.
“In view of the seriousness of this unprecedented act, the willful endangering of the lives of those on board the aircraft that was deliberately prevented from landing and the fact that the action contravenes global aviation standards, we call for a comprehensive investigation of the incident by the National Assembly,”
The APC said in a statement issued by its then Interim National Publicity Secretary, Ahaji Lai Mohammed that:
“The investigation is necessary to ensure that Nigeria’s airspace does not become another weapon in the hands of a desperate administration.
After all, the authorities know those who were aboard the plane as well as their mission in Gombe. We make bold to say that the politicization of air safety is worse than the alleged training of snipers by the Jonathan administration.”
The APC also criticised the spokesman for the aviation agencies, Yakubu Dati, who said the airport was closed for a routine operation to check fire tenders.
Last June, the Ekiti state government had declined APC leaders the right to land in Ado-Ekiti, instead they were compelled to land in Akure some 50 minutes drive away from the Ondo State capital for a rally in support of Dr. Kayode Fayemi, now the elected governor.
This seems to be a growing trend, a certain ill wind that offers none any good, in the view of political analysts. Nwanze, who publishes a magazine says the act portends danger for 2019 campaigns especially in volatile states like Rivers, Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Ogun, Kwara, Zamfara, etc which could explode should the ruling party attempts to stop the opposition from using such facility.
NRM presidential candidate, Senator Saidu Dansadau, thinks it is an ugly trend that must be nipped in the bud before it further degenerates into something else. “It is a time bomb waiting to explode and it must be stopped now that the real campaigns are yet to start in full swing”.
