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Tag: Jonathan

  • PDP’s reward for Jonathan

    Just like the experiences in the past regimes in Nigeria’s history, President Goodluck Jonathan is not only being asked to contest the 2015 Presidential election, but he has also been declared sole Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).,

    The PDP Governors’ Forum and the Board of Trustees (BoT), on Wednesday last week, followed by the National Executive Committee of the party on Thursday endorsed him as the sole presidential candidate of the party.

    Jonathan was said to have delayed declaring his ambition to run for re-election because he was busy brainstorming and marshaling out strategies to deliver his 2011 campaign promises to Nigerians.,

    The lingering security challenges, the abduction of the over 200 girls from Government Girls’ Secondary School Chibok in Borno State and the recent importation of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) into the country, among other issues, were said to have robbed the President the right atmosphere to declare his ambition before now.

    The Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, had, a year ago, challenged him to make his intentions known to Nigerians latest by October, last year.

    But now, almost a year after the call and few months to the February, 2015 election, Jonathan has accepted the sole candidacy offered him by the party.

    Before the President accepted the sole candidacy, many rallies have been held in several parts of the country pushing for his continuity in office.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC), and other stakeholders in Nigeria, have, however, consistently faulted the PDP rallies, which they said were against the provisions of the Electoral Act.

    The rallies, they claimed, were giving the ruling party undue advantage and preventing a level playing field for all prospective candidates of the various political parties.

    They had called on the ruling party to wait till the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gives the go-ahead for political campaigns to begin.

    The PDP had denied embarking on campaigns for the 2015 general elections as the rallies were said not to be selling specific candidates to Nigerians but only providing avenues to receive new members to the party.

    Many unions and organisations in the past one year, genuinely or out of eye-service or strategising for what they will get from the government, have also pledged their support for Jonathan’s continuity in 2015.

    Some groups in the North have, however, insisted over the years that Jonathan signed a bond to run for only one term which is expected to end next year.

    According to them, power should return to the North in 2015 in accordance with the bond.

    But the Presidency had denied the existence of any bond and maintained that Jonathan was entitled to run for a second term in office in line with the 1999 Constitution.

    At the BoT press conference in the Presidential Villa, which announced Jonathan as the party’s sole candidate, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu had claimed that the BoT’s action was a reward to Jonathan for his hard work and giant strides in transforming the country and properly steering the ship of state.

    He said: “You must remember that consensus building is also part of democracy. For us in the PDP, we believe that the BoT is the conscience of the party.

    “So, if the BoT has agreed to endorse Mr. President as the candidate of the party, what we are simply saying is that we are persuading every member of the party to accept that position.

    “So, we are not going to force any person, but we are making a strong statement; we are persuading our people strongly to accept this position for the reasons earlier mentioned. It is also important for us to know that we need to reward hard work, we need to reward commitment, we need to reward achievement and we need to reward performance.”

    Just as in the past, some registered political parties may soon toe the line of the ruling party by endorsing Jonathan as their sole candidate.

    Even with all these endorsements, the period leading to the PDP convention and primaries will show if all PDP members planning to run for the Presidency have shelved their plans, or will slug it out at the convention or quickly move to the opposition parties before the door is shut against them.

  • Competition to support Jonathan’s re-election

    The struggle to get onto President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election gravy train is getting more odious by the day. But the stranglers do not give a hoot. And can anybody blame them? At the last count, there were several hundreds of amorphous groups struggling to gain access to the re-election sauce pan, ensconced in the presidency and most likely hardly differentiated from our commonwealth; such that it became necessary to set up a bureaucracy to re-align the groups. To President Goodluck Jonathan’s goodluck, governors, past and present; statesmen, the real and the fake; legislators, former and present; women and youth organizations, the clergy, Imams, name it; every conceivable group and solidarity name have been coined in the match to support President Jonathan’s re-election at all cost.

    To my utmost surprise and I guess that of many Nigerians, it was announced last week that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members have contributed money towards the purchase of the re-election Form, for President Jonathan. Around the same time, the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) reportedly also endorsed the re-election project. The same last week, the Peoples Democratic Party Governor’s forum, the Board of Trustees, the National Executive Committee and the Legislative caucus all jointly and severally endorsed President Jonathan as the sole candidate. Even the Governor of Jigawa state, Mallam Sule Lamido, touted to be strategizing within the former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s sub-group, to contest for the PDP’s ticket with the incumbent, appears to have capitulated without even a single bout.

    In what seems to be an acceptance of the several offers to re-contest, even when the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) has not lifted the legal ban on re-election campaigns, President Jonathan finally showed up at the north-east zonal rally of the infamous re-election group, Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN). This group which has since lifted the ban on the president’s re-election campaign, regardless of the law, with the active support of the top members of President Jonathan’s administration, while INEC pretends that no laws are being broken; now has every reason to announce to their fellow competitors that the President has shown clearly that they are the first among the rest. With this endorsement, the alleged financier of the group, the wily Ifeanyi Ubah, now has every reason to prime his proboscis for a reactivation of his bruised business empire.

    To show how stiff the competition for the President’s recognition had been, the current governor of Anambra state, Willy Obiano, who fought for the governorship with Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah few months ago, has been struggling with his political mentor, Peter Obi (Okwute) for control of All Progressive Grand Alliance’s (APGA) brand for the President’s re-election, the Join Jonathan Journey (JJJ). With the chairman of the party Chief Victor Umeh, ditching his former comrade, Peter Obi, and pitching his political tent with the incumbent governor, it appears settled that the group is the authentic APGA’s contribution to the President’s campaign. The next challenge will now be whether the governor’s JJJ will be content with playing behind Ifeanyi Ubah’s TAN; after all, since the governor defeated Ubah at the polls, nobody can doubt between the two, who has more followership in the state. The other challenge will be what position the President will place his ardent supporter (maybe, now former) Peter Obi in all the shuffling for the leadership of his supporters in Anambra state.

    Knowing the business ingenuity of Mr. Ubah, it is just possible that he is already weighing his chances as to which Ministry is the juiciest, should his investment yield result, with a re-elected President Jonathan in power, after the 2015 elections. As a forward looking people, his business brothers particularly from Anambra state, may already be falling over themselves trying to position themselves for the inevitable juicy contracts that is sure to follow, when the leader of TAN is appropriately rewarded for his ingenuity and foresight, with a Ministerial appointment. If you are a doubter, then you need to remember that this ingenuity originally belonged to Princess Stella Oduah of the Neighbour to Neighbour campaign organization of the 2011 election fame, who became the Minister for Aviation.

    Another interesting challenge for the nation will be what to make of the organized partisanship bequeathed to the members of NYSC, by the president’s men. Now, with the group officially portrayed as canvassing for the re-election of President Jonathan, and even supporting the bid with cash, can they be trusted to further play the role of an umpire as ad hoc staff of the INEC during elections? Obviously those who organized the fund raising by the corps members in support of the re-election movement, failed to consider the effect of such show of partisanship on the role the NYSC has been playing since the birth of our current democracy, in 1999. So when President Jonathan’s opponents claim that the members of NYSC are biased in favour of the President, in any election dispute, the facts surrounding their financial support will form a supportive evidence of such bias.

    Now, with the PDP settling for endorsements by all relevant caucuses, prior to their presidential convention in December, the party will likely have a rancor free convention. Again with all relevant agencies and stakeholders cajoled into supporting the re-election bid of President Jonathan, the man seems certain to coast home to victory, with the question of his performance in office, becoming totally irrelevant. That perhaps explains the struggle by all and sundry to get on the gravy train; not to talk of the attraction to the bulging purse at the disposal of the campaigners. Indeed, the likelihood of President Jonathan’s return in 2015 is made more certain, as the All Progressive Congress (APC) struggles to choose its presidential candidate, with the potential rancor.

     

  • Jonathan to determine Sambo’s fate

    Jonathan to determine Sambo’s fate

    •PDP cedes power to pick running mate to President

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has given President Goodluck Jonathan the power to pick his running mate after his endorsement by all the party’s organs.

    Vice-President Namadi Sambo’s fate is hanging in the balance —going by this decision.

    The endorsement by the governors, the Board of Trustees (BoT) and the National Executive Committee (NEC), forecloses a Presidential Primary amid speculations about the fate of Vice President Namadi Sambo.

    There was no mention of the Vice President by the organs while endorsing Jonathan.

    But yesterday, the party said Jonathan is free to determine Sambo’s fate.

    National Publicity Secretary Olisa Metuh at a news conference in Abuja yesterday warned party members against what he described as “unhealthy speculations” regarding the choice of Jonathan’s running mate.

    Metuh said: “The President is yet to communicate his acceptance of the endorsement to the party and the nation.

    “We should wait for the President to announce his running mate instead of jumping the gun. I believe the incumbent Vice President enjoys the confidence of the President”.

    A number of prominent chieftains of the party, particularly some serving governors from the Northwest zone, are believed to be jostling to edge out  Sambo.

    The general perception within the party is that Sambo’s electoral value in his Kaduna State base has continued to diminish at an alarming rate, a situation which they believe could adversely affect the party’s electoral fortune in the zone.

    Also, the leadership of the party has given its members nationwide the go ahead to attend the plethora of pro Jonathan rallies, ostensibly being funded by volunteer groups.

    Only last week, the party banned its elected officials from attending such rallies, apparently to detach the leadership from the sponsored rallies.

    Metuh who announced the lifting on the ban also said the party would undertake a nationwide project tour, starting from today.

    According to him, the tour, which would also cover insurgent-ravaged Yobe and Borno States, is meant to showcase the achievements of the party at the local, state and federal levels.

    “Indeed, there is no state, local government or ward in Nigeria that has not been positively affected by projects executed by PDP governments at federal, state and local government levels.

    “Such projects abound in non-PDP states and many Nigerians erroneously give credit to the opposition, which they eagerly accept.

    “Also, in states formerly controlled by the PDP, such as Edo, Rivers, Nasarawa, Kano, Sokoto, Kwara, among others, the opposition parties, now in control are laying claims to our projects.

    “This tour will ‘recover’ our projects claimed by the opposition and return the credit to the PDP.

    “We therefore urge all Nigerians to be part of this laudable project as we catalogue our collective successes under the PDP-led administration.

    “In this regard, we wish to state that as we embark on our performance tours, we will no longer focus on answering to diatribes of the opposition.

    “Our answer to such is that we meet at the polls in 2015. All members of the party are by this directed to comply accordingly”, Metuh said.

     

  • Jonathan’s biography for launch

    Jonathan’s biography for launch

    A book titled “Moving Forward: A biography of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan”, which documents the life and time of the President from birth to his Presidency, is to be launched in America.

    It was written by an America-based Nigerian scholar and researcher, Dr. Matthew Uzukwu, an adjunct Professor of Operations Management at Bowen State University, United States of America.

    It will be launched in New York tomorrow.

     

  • Jonathan, Obama, Ki Moon, Cameron to meet at UN General Assembly

    Jonathan, Obama, Ki Moon, Cameron to meet at UN General Assembly

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday left Abuja en route to New York for the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

    According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, while in New York, the President would attend receptions hosted by President Barack Obama of the United States and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki Moon.

    He will address the United Nations Security Council High-Level Session on Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts and present Nigeria’s statement to the General Assembly on Wednesday.

    Jonathan is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Ki Moon and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron.

    The President will stop over in London for a brief private visit before proceeding to New York.

    He is expected back in Abuja on Thursday.

  • I’ll battle Jonathan for PDP ticket, says Balewa’s son

    I’ll battle Jonathan for PDP ticket, says Balewa’s son

    The son of Nigeria’s First Republic Prime Minister, Dr. Abdul-Jhalil Tafawa-Balewa, has said he will contest the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    Tafawa-Balewa condemned the plot by the national leadership of the party to demoralise other presidential aspirants by adopting President Goodluck Jonathan as PDP’s sole candidate.

    He was responding to the adoption of Dr Jonathan by the party’s National Executive Committee at its meeting in Abuja on Thursday.

    With the adoption, the party said it expected party members, including those nursing presidential ambition, to drop it and queue behind the President.

    But Tafawa-Balewa said he would not be intimidated with such decision.

    In a statement yesterday, the politician said the endorsement of Dr Jonathan was undemocratic.

    He said: “I’m not intimidated by the decision of the PDP governors and the party to support the second term aspiration of President Goodluck Jonathan. What type of democracy do we have?”

  • Jonathan visits Synagogue collapsed building site

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday visited the site of the collapsed building of the Synagogue Church of Nations and promised to ensure that the incident is properly investigated.

    During the condolence visit to the Church, he promised to collaborate with state governors to check incidents of collapse buildings in the country.

  • Jonathan under fire…over honours for for service chiefs

    Jonathan under fire…over honours for for service chiefs

    A cross section of  Nigerians yesterday deplored the decision of the Federal Government to honour the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, the  service chiefs and the acting Inspector General of Police with National Awards.

    ACM Badeh, Chief of Army Staff,Major General Kenneth Minimah,Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin,Chief of Air Staff,Air Vice Marshall Adesola Amosu and the Acting IGP,Mr.Sulaiman Abba are to be conferred with the nation’s second highest ranking award of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in Abuja on Monday.

    Also on the list of the awardees which was released on Thursday  are Justices of the Supreme  Court, Ministers, Governors and top civil servants, key players from the private sector and the President’s cook.

    Chairman of the  Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Professor Ango Abdullahi, evaluating  the list yesterday  queried  the inclusion of the names of Badeh and the service chiefs in the awardees list.

    He said the only  reason could be that they  are being rewarded for supporting Boko Haram.

    Kaduna  based human right activist, Comrade Shehu Sani, also  described the decision as  shameless in view of the massive security challenge in the country.

    Professor Abdullahi, a one time Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) and former Presidential Adviser on Agriculture, said sarcastically:”well, the service chiefs are doing very well for supporting Boko Haram. So why can’t they be given honours?”

    Asked whether their choice could have anything to do with their  efforts in ending the Boko Haram insurgency,he said: “I doubt so much if they have been trying to end the insurgency. If they had  been trying, the insurgency should have been over by now.

    “Already it has been revealed that there has been suspicion of complicity  on the part of the military. Mr. Davis said so and then what else do you want? Chief of Army Staff connected to Boko Haram; so if a Chief of Army Staff is connected, so who else out of the rest would be out of it.

    “We don’t know who is who now, we don’t know who is Boko Haram and who is Nigerian military. So, the award is uncalled for.”

    Shehu Sani was no less critical.

    Reacting on his Facebook wall, the human rights activist said the conferment  of national  awards at this time  is   uncalled for.

    “The nation bleeds, innocent people are being  killed daily, millions displaced, Chibok girls still in captivity, soldiers on the frontlines and the hearts of their families beats; yet some Nigerians will dress gorgeously, step into the glitz of the Banquet Hall in Abuja on Monday and without shame or sympathy receive ‘the national award” for their ‘service to Nigeria,”  he said.

    But is in a contrary view, former governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Abdullkadir Balarabe Musa  said the  decision to honour the service chiefs is  an attempt to spur them to do more to end the insurgency in the country.

    Balarabe Musa in a telephone interview  said, the award committee might have considered the personalities of the service chiefs, not minding their positions   occupy and the challenges therein.

    Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Chief Fred Agbaje, said the award does not inspire confidence. He said going by the list  it is obvious  that  government places no value on those who have contributed  to the socio-political development of the country.

    He said: “It is laughable, short of mentioning names; it is like those who compiled the list have not done their homework.

    “Some actors and actresses made the list but the professors who taught people like us, they don’t deserve it. No country develops under such atmosphere. The government did not do its home work. The list does not inspire confidence.”

    The Co-ordinator,  Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms (CODER), Chief Ayo Opadokun , described the list as absurd.

     “They (government)  have given the award to people who have served in government, who took over government violently and who are beneficiaries of coups. It is mostly the military and their surrogate sympathizers who are the greatest beneficiaries.”

     On the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in the last Osun State election, Chief Iyiola Omisore and the President’s chief cook  making the list, Opadokun said: “It is a manifest admission of the indecency that has taken over Nigeria.”

    A former Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abubakar Tsav, said the National Merit award has lost its meaning in Nigeria.

     He said: “It is worthless. They no longer give people who deserve it. It is not somebody who is working and is paid very well…Somebody is cooking food for the President and he is enjoying it, and because he is enjoying it, he should given a special honour.”

  • Re-election: Jonathan acknowledges donation from youth corps member

    Re-election: Jonathan acknowledges donation from youth corps member

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said that he will continue to count on the support, goodwill and prayers of patriotic Nigerians as he strives to give the best possible leadership towards positive transformation of the country.

    In a letter to a young Nigerian who sent a donation of N10,000 as a his contribution to the President’s re-election bid, President Jonathan said that he was deeply touched and encouraged by the immense support his administration continues to receive from young Nigerians from all parts of the country.

    Jonathan, according to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said: “Your gracious gesture is particularly gratifying, coming as it does from one of our nation’s vibrant and gifted youth who are our successor generation and for whom our administration is unequivocally committed to providing the requisite environment to optimally realise their tremendous creative and productive potential.

    “As I carry on with the task of positively transforming our country for its God-ordained greatness and prosperity, I will continue to count on the goodwill as well as the practical and prayerful support of committed patriots like you,” President Jonathan wrote to the young Nigerian, Ezemagu Sunday Nnamdi, who is currently serving in the National Youth Service Corps.

  • PDP NEC gives Jonathan 2015 ticket

    PDP NEC gives Jonathan 2015 ticket

    With the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) unanimously adopting him as the party’s sole candidate, the coast seems clear for President Goodluck Jonathan to run in the 2015 election.

    The decision, which was taken at the party’s NEC meeting in Abuja yesterday, is expected to be ratified at the national convention billed to hold on December 6. The NEC is the highest decision making organ of the party. Its stand makes the convention a mere formality.

    Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu set the ball rolling when he announced that governors elected on the platform of the party had decided to adopt Jonathan its sole candidate for the election.

    Aliyu said the governors unanimously took the decision without reservation, adding that it was informed by the need for the party to go into the 2015 elections with a united front.

    Aliyu created a mild drama when he beckoned on Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido to attest to and identify with the governors’ position. Lamido, with a broad smile, got up from his seat, nodded in agreement and gave Jonathan the thumps up.

    Until yesterday, Lamido had been the lone voice within the PDP challenging the President’s re-election bid. Judging by his disposition at the meeting, he appeared to have surrendered.

    Board of Trustees Vice Chairman Shuaib Oyedokun, who stood in for the chairman, spoke on behalf of the trustees. According to him, the BoT decided to adopt the President for the party’s stability.

    Senate President David Mark, who also conveyed the endorsement of the party’s National Assembly caucus, said the legislature preaches and believes in continuity.

    Mark said the lawmakers had met and decided the matter.

    “It’s a legacy we have decided to lay for the party. He is a siting and performing President; we should allow him to go ahead. We unanimously adopt him as our sole presidential candidate for the 2015 election,” Maku said.

    Mrs. Justina Eze spoke in a similar vein on behalf of the party’s women, saying they also decided in the interest of the party.

    Thereafter, a former Acting National chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Haliru Bello Mohammed, moved the motion for Jonathan’s adoption.

    He said there was no reason to change a winning formula, adding that the President had performed well enough to deserve a second term.

    A former governor of the old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, who seconded the motion, also said the Jonathan team had done well and deserved a second term. The motion received an overwhelming affirmative voice vote.

    Jonathan expressed appreciation for is adoption, saying he was overwhelmed by the party members’ support.

    “I am so overwhelmed that I lack the words to express my appreciation. For you to have that confidence in me, I will not disappoint you,” the President told the party chiefs.

    Jonathan then promised that terrorism, which he described as a secession plot, would be brought to an end by mid-October.

    “Things must change by the middle of October. We will bring terrorism to an end, no matter what it takes,” Jonathan said. He gave no reasons for the optimism.

    Jonathan justified the September 22 resumption date for primary and secondary schools.

    According to him, keeping the schools closed any further could send the wrong signal to the rest of the world that Nigeria is being ravaged by the Ebola virus. The country, he said, has contained the spread of the disease.

    “We must be able to tell the world that we have been able to contain Ebola. We are watchful and by God’s grace, we will not have another Patrick Sawyer in the country,” he said.

    PDP National Chairman Adamu Mu’azu announced that the party would be holding its fund raising dinner on October 15.

    According to him, the dinner is meant to raise enough funds to prosecute the 2015 elections and to complete the party’s permanent national secretariat.