Tag: Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan is testing the waters with four strategies ahead of his formal declaration for the 2015 presidential race, it was gathered yesterday.

He has decided to run with Vice-President Namadi Sambo, sources also said and shed light on why the President jettisoned the promise he allegedly made to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo that he would not go for a second term.

A Presidency source said that apart from such a promise being unknown to the 1999 Constitution, it is also untenable under the “principle of equitable estopel.”

The Namadi Sambo Committee set up by the President to work out modalities for his declaration is reported to have recommended three strategies to the President to test the waters before formally delaring his intention to seek re-election.

The President accepted all three and added one.

The strategies are: holding rallies in some states to receive defectors; zonal rallies to mobilise PDP members and gauge their feelings; and visitation to the Presidential Villa by governors/groups/ opinion leaders to persuade Jonathan to go for a second term.

The fourth strategy designed by the President’s kitchen cabinet is intermittent worship in some selected churches of different missions to “win their sympathy subtly ahead of 2015.”

A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “Going by the proposal of the Declaration Committee, the President may make his second term intention known during the third anniversary of his administration in May or early June.

“The committee has however set machinery in motion for Jonathan to test the waters in three ways ahead of the declaration. The strategies are defection rallies in some; proposed zonal rallies to mobilise PDP members; and visitations to the Presidential Villa.

“After the three strategies have been executed, the President will then come out to declare his intention to seek a second term mandate.

“And judging from the defection rallies, the journey to 2015 has started. Although PDP has not been campaigning, the body language of its leaders at the rally suggested that it has kicked off the race for 2015.”

On the fourth strategy, the source added: “It is a product of the kitchen cabinet of the President.”

Asked why the President will contest in 2015 in spite of a promise to ex-President Obasanjo that he would spend a term in office, the source added: “The 1999 Constitution guarantees the President’s right to contest for a second term in office. And a constitution is superior to any other promise or so-called agreement which no one has produced.

“The President will also be relying on the principle of equitable estopel to seek a second term. A promise is a shield but not a sword. What it means is that a promise is lesser in strength than a right. The President deserves the right to seek a second term; no promise can override it.”

It was learnt that the President is disposed to retaining Vice-President Namadi Sambo as his running mate in 2015, contrary to the initial push by some forces in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Prior to the decision of the President to retain Sambo, there were speculations that either Governor Ibrahim Shema or Governor Isa Yuguda might picked.

A presidency source said: “I think the President has decided to stick with Sambo as his running mate. This was why he appointed Sambo as the chairman of the Declaration Committee.

“In fact, Shema and Yuguda are members of the Declaration Committee, foreclosing the chances of the governors becoming the VP.

“The stable presidency which Jonathan has enjoyed with Sambo was a critical factor in guiding Jonathan to make up his mind.

“Instead of what obtained during Obasanjo’s presidency, Sambo has been trailing the shadows of his boss. He is not rocking the boat in any manner.

“The recent political gains in the North-West by Sambo also encouraged the President to give his deputy a second chance too.”

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for devoting his broadcast to the nation on Wednesday night to the centenary celebrations instead of the national tragedy involving the cold-blood murder murder of over 40 school children in Yobe state.

In a statement in Lagos yesterday yesterday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the President’s action sends a wrong signal to the world about the value which the Nigerian government places on the lives of the nation’s children.

It wondered what was so important about the centenary celebrations that it would be elevated over and above what in any nation would be considered a monumental tragedy, describing the President’s broadcast as insensitive, misplaced, and an embarrassment to the nation.

‘’Even as the nation is still counting the death toll from Monday night’s senseless and gruesome murder of our children, and the ceaseless killings of innocent civilians before that, the President has already switched into a celebratory mood, dwelling on the money-wasting centenary-celebrations instead of leading a clearly distraught nation in mourning.

‘’Nothing better illustrates the fact that the President showed more concern about the centenary celebrations than the calamity that befell the nation than the mention, in only about three paragraphs, of the tragedy in a speech that spanned over 40 paragraphs.

‘’This is very sad indeed, considering that President Jonathan is the head of a government that has failed woefully in ensuring the welfare and security of Nigerians, especially those of our children, which is the very reason for the existence of any government,’’ APC said.

The party said now that the President has goofed again, he should quickly make amends by visiting the scene of the tragedy to empathize with the families of the victims as well as the government and people of the state, which is what any leader worth his salt will do under the circumstance.

It said in case President Jonathan is still in doubt on whether or not to take a trip to Yobe, and indeed Borno where hundreds of innocent citizens have been dispatched to their early graves by rampaging insurgents in the past few weeks, he should take a cue from what other

Presidents do in times like this.

‘’In the US, for example, President Barack Obama was his country’s ‘consoler in chief’ as he visited scenes of the tragedies that have occurred in his country since he assumed office, whether it is the school massacre in Connecticut, the mass shooting in Fort Hood,Texas or the tornado in Joplin, Missouri.

‘’While the nation waits for the President to hit the road to Yobe and

Borno, we call on the federal government to massively scale down the centenary celebrations, if it does not want to cancel them. It is incongruous, unconscionable, unacceptable and an assault on our collective humanity to be celebrating, throwing fireworks and popping champagne cocks when the ashes of our children, who were slaughtered and burnt to death for no fault of theirs, are still so fresh.

‘’We should not do what will amount to dancing on the graves of the children whom we have collectively failed. Yes, we cannot bring those children back to life, but we can at least soothe the pains of their families through genuine empathy and soberness,’’ APC said.