President, PDP NWC members, governors sheathe their
swords
swords
Notwithstanding President Goodluck Jonathan’s repeated
promises that he would not take a decision on whether or not he would seek a
second term in office until 2014, some stakeholders in the ruling People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) and ministers are proceeding with behind-the-scenes
preparations to make the president contest for the office again.
promises that he would not take a decision on whether or not he would seek a
second term in office until 2014, some stakeholders in the ruling People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) and ministers are proceeding with behind-the-scenes
preparations to make the president contest for the office again.
THISDAY gathered at the weekend that the president’s
aides and associates have set up a 21-member committee to advise Jonathan on
the viability of his entry into the presidential contest in 2015.
aides and associates have set up a 21-member committee to advise Jonathan on
the viability of his entry into the presidential contest in 2015.
It was not certain if the president was behind the idea, but THISDAY learnt
that the sponsors of the committee might have got his support for the venture.
Although the membership of the committee, which is drawn from the six
geo-political zones is still a top secret, it was learnt that the committee is
primarily peopled by the president’s political associates and trusted members
of the PDP.
Some stakeholders within the ruling party under the aegis of Concerned PDP
Democrats have also started drumming up support for a second term for the
president by calling on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to
transform last week’s vote of confidence on Jonathan to an affirmation vote.
They said if the party sincerely has confidence in the transformation agenda of
the president as implied by the vote of confidence passed on him and the
party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, last week, Jonathan, by the
affirmation vote, should automatically emerge the party’s candidate in the next
presidential election.
THISDAY also gathered that the leadership crisis rocking the NWC and its feud
with some PDP governors might have been resolved at a meeting last Wednesday
where the president, PDP governors and the party leadership agreed to work for
the unity of PDP.
Impeccable presidency sources told THISDAY that the president had set up the
committee of his political associates to prepare grounds for his eventual
declaration in 2014 to contest the presidential election the following year.
Pressed to declare whether or not he would seek a second term despite his
statement in Ethiopia before the 2011 general election that he would be a
one-term president, Jonathan had said during one of the presidential media
chats that he would not disclose his decision on the issue until 2014.
According to him, doing so earlier would unduly heat up the polity and cause
needless distractions for his administration.
However, despite his declaration, his associates and aides have embarked on
subtle campaigns to give him an edge in the presidential race.
Giving some insight into the work of the committee, the source said: “The
21-member committee will collate all the achievements of President Jonathan’s
transformation of the country. The committee will specifically list what the
presidency under Jonathan has done and what it intends to do from 2015.
“This will be like preparing a blueprint for the 2015 presidential election.
But this would be made public in 2014 when the president addresses the country.
As part of the strategy, a publicity committee under the name of a group, ‘We
the People of Nigeria’ has commenced a sensitisation campaign to soften the
ground for the eventual declaration of President Jonathan to contest the 2015
presidential election.
“The newspapers’ advertisements of ‘We the People of Nigeria’ has commenced
running in some selected newspapers since Sunday (yesterday).”
The group, in a full-page advert in yesterday’s edition of THISDAY, said: “We
the people of Nigeria uphold the right and constitutionality of President
Goodluck Jonathan to seek a second term as the president of Nigeria if he so
wishes. So help us God.
“Section 137(1) provides that a person shall not be qualified for election into
the office of the president if such a person has been elected to such an office
at any two previous elections.”
In another statement signed by the convener, Concerned Democrats of PDP, Max
Gbanite, and national convener, Elvis Agukwe, the group commended the NWC of
PDP for passing a vote of confidence on Jonathan and urged the party to take a
step further by urging him to contest the presidential election and giving him
the right of first refusal.
It said: “For giving President Goodluck Jonathan a vote of confidence shows
that the party is alive with trends in modern democracies. You cannot pass a
vote of confidence on the president and still allow the same president to
undergo a rigorous presidential primary election.
“What is the essence of a presidential primary election, when you pass a vote
of confidence on the president and still call for a presidential primary
election?
“By a presidential primary, it means that there is no confidence on the
president. But this is not the case.
“We, the members of Concerned PDP Democrats, hereby call on the NWC, the BoT
and the national caucus to seize the momentum of the new peace in the party by
urging our incumbent president to take the right of first refusal if he wishes
to contest in 2015.
“This is not novel as it is the practice in advanced democracies. In two years,
our president has managed to pilot the ship of the Nigerian state and he is on
course.
“All the ambitious people in the party cannot be president at the same time.
Since President Jonathan is doing his best, he must be encouraged to continue.
“We urge all our governors to show maturity by sinking their differences like
the NWC and show solid support for the president. As a human being, the
president has faults just like any of us.
“President Jonathan inherited a divided country where some people had vowed to
make the country ungovernable yet he is doing his best.”
Also, the leadership crisis rocking the NWC as well as the face-off between the
party and some governors may have been resolved following the truce reached at
last Wednesday’s meeting attended by some PDP governors with NWC members and
Jonathan in attendance.
The meeting came moments after the NWC passed a vote of confidence on Jonathan
for his transformation of the country.
At the meeting, which held at the State House, it was agreed that all the
aggrieved PDP governors and the presidency should sheathe their swords in a bid
to move the party forward.
According to a source at the meeting, “The national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga
Tukur, and all members of the NWC at the meeting pledged their loyalty to
President Jonathan and all the governors at the meeting also pledged to ensure
that bygones remain bygones.”
The source said that the meeting had “a renewed vigour to move the party
forward and was focused,” while the NWC was asked to discountenance the
controversial report of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
which declared that the election of eight members of the NWC was not acceptable
to the commission.
Source: Thisday
