*Tells
emissary: ‘He should look for re-election help elsewhere’
The moves launched by President Goodluck Jonathan to get northern leaders to
support him ahead of the 2015 presidential election appear to have failed,
Sunday Vanguard has learnt. One of the moves was the emissary sent to the
Northern Elders Forum (NEF) at a meeting in Abuja.
emissary: ‘He should look for re-election help elsewhere’
The moves launched by President Goodluck Jonathan to get northern leaders to
support him ahead of the 2015 presidential election appear to have failed,
Sunday Vanguard has learnt. One of the moves was the emissary sent to the
Northern Elders Forum (NEF) at a meeting in Abuja.
The northern
leaders were said to have told the emissary, a senior presidential aide,
point-blank, they would rather prod one of their own to stand against the
president in the next elections.
leaders were said to have told the emissary, a senior presidential aide,
point-blank, they would rather prod one of their own to stand against the
president in the next elections.
Jonathan, it was gathered, on Thursday, sent the senior aide to
persuade the influential northern group to back down on attacking him and to,
once again, support him to return in 2015.
persuade the influential northern group to back down on attacking him and to,
once again, support him to return in 2015.
The presidential aide, according to Sunday Vanguard sources, met
with an NEF delegation of three at a guest house in Jabi, Abuja and tried for
about two hours to extract assurance of support from the group.
with an NEF delegation of three at a guest house in Jabi, Abuja and tried for
about two hours to extract assurance of support from the group.
Two former ministers from the North and a former adviser to
erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly represented NEF at the meeting.
erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo allegedly represented NEF at the meeting.
The emissary
reportedly assured the NEF delegation that the Presidency would take urgent
steps to correct perceived imbalances in the polity, which the northerners were
complaining about, and the threat by ex-militant, Asari Dokubo, who recently
vowed to attack anyone who stood in the way of Jonathan’s re-election.
reportedly assured the NEF delegation that the Presidency would take urgent
steps to correct perceived imbalances in the polity, which the northerners were
complaining about, and the threat by ex-militant, Asari Dokubo, who recently
vowed to attack anyone who stood in the way of Jonathan’s re-election.
The northern leaders were said to have pointedly rejected any
appeasement from the Presidency, asking the aide to tell Jonathan that they
were not interested in working with him anymore.
appeasement from the Presidency, asking the aide to tell Jonathan that they
were not interested in working with him anymore.
“We met with a man sent to us by the president and we told him our
mind because we feel that there is no need to continue to deny the fact that we
are opposed to Jonathan running again in 2015,”one of the sources, present at
the meeting, said.
mind because we feel that there is no need to continue to deny the fact that we
are opposed to Jonathan running again in 2015,”one of the sources, present at
the meeting, said.
“We have seen enough of Jonathan in the last four years or so. We
do not believe that there is any more magic he will bring to salvage Nigeria.
do not believe that there is any more magic he will bring to salvage Nigeria.
“We made it clear to the emissary that if we continued to support
him beyond 2015, Nigeria would be thrown into more corruption, insecurity,
poverty and misery in the midst of rising oil revenue.
him beyond 2015, Nigeria would be thrown into more corruption, insecurity,
poverty and misery in the midst of rising oil revenue.
“We also told the man sent by the president that his actions and
utterances are pro-Ijaw and that he could seek new allies from other parts of
the country to actualise his political ambition in the next polls.”
utterances are pro-Ijaw and that he could seek new allies from other parts of
the country to actualise his political ambition in the next polls.”
Source: Vanguard
