Jonathan tasks elected officials on good governance  

“Henceforth, we shall no longer condone acts of indiscipline. It is better to have a small and cohesive party with potential to grow than to have a large number of undisciplined members.

“Our party will henceforth be on the watch and closely monitor the performance of all elected members because they must be accountable to our people.......’’ Acting PDP Chairman, Dr Bello Haliru Mohammed,

Jonathan tasks elected officials on good governance  
Obiora Ani and Uche Aneke, Abuja

Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has urged the elected officials to place the interest of the people over and above personal and partisan interests.

President Jonathan said this at a two-day Retreat for the Nigerian President, Governors, National and State Assembly members-elect on the platform of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holding in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.

Fulfilling election promises

Declaring the event open, Jonathan said the people expected that elected officials of the PDP would address their problems and aspirations. He said: “this is the task of our party in the next four years, and with are expected to meet these expectations by delivering on our electioneering promises.”

“It is our responsibility to make positive impact on the lives of all our people and transform our country into a stronger, more secured and prosperous nation. “To achieve this task the party will rely on us to provide the needed leadership in the various states and at the federal level where we have been given the mandate to carry through executive and legislative agenda for good governance. It is my hope that this retreat will offer us the opportunity to discuss and develop appropriate strategies for effective implementation of the agenda.’’

The Acting National Chairman of the party, Dr Bello Haliru Mohammed, said that the retreat would not only sharpen the participants knowledge of the rudiments of Executive-Legislature relations but will also enhance their determination to be team players in the great commission which the people of Nigeria had given the party.

He stated that the essence of the retreat was to keep the participants abreast of the party’s blueprints and to stress the importance of cooperation between the executive and the legislature for good governance.

Party discipline

Haliru stressed the need for party discipline and supremacy and charged the participants to always remember that they were products of the PDP.

“We must understand that the seat we occupy is made possible by the PDP; therefore we must obey the laws of the party and avoid frictions,’’ he said.

Mohammed noted that indiscipline in the party had cost it dearly in the last elections making it to lose many positions to the opposition.

He said: “Henceforth, we shall no longer condone acts of indiscipline. It is better to have a small and cohesive party with potential to grow than to have a large number of undisciplined members.

“Our party will henceforth be on the watch and closely monitor the performance of all elected members because they must be accountable to our people.’’

The retreat 

Voice of Nigeria’s correspondent, Obiora Ani, reports that the retreat, with the theme, “Legislative Executive Branch Collaboration: A New Synergy for National Transformation,” had seven out of the expected 23 PDP governors in attendance.

In attendance were, Governors Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State, Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta, Theodore Orji of Abia, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State and Jonah Jang of Plateau.

Vice-President Namadi Sambo, the Senate President, Sen. David Mark, PDP chieftains and some aides of the president were also in attendance

Williams