JONATHAN MAY DECLARE FOR 2015 SOON • PDP govs, lawmakers resolve to back president’s re-election FRESH indications emerged yesterday that the uncertainty surrounding President Goodluck Jonathan’s intention to seek re-election in 2015 may end soon. He is now reportedly set to make public his intention to vie for the presidential polls. To make Jonathan’s re-election a reality, governors of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rose from its meeting in Abuja yesterday with a unanimous resolution to support him. The governors’ resolution is coming barely hours after the PDP House of Representatives Caucus in the National Assembly passed a vote of confidence and called on Jonathan to seek re-election. The two organs of the party held separate meetings with the President and the national leadership of the party led by its Chairman, Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu at the Presidential Banquet Hall, Aso Rock. Speaking to State House correspondents after the meeting, the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) and Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio said the vote of confidence on the President by the lawmakers was an endorsement of Jonathan’s leadership style which had impacted positively on Nigerians. He added that by asking him to continue beyond 2015, the lawmakers were making a loud statement that the President could be trusted to repair Nigeria. Rising from a closed door meeting! House Leader, Mulikat Adeola Akande flanked by the lawmakers told journalists that the PDP caucus of the House specifically asked the president to contest for a second term. She said: “We are PDP caucus of the House of Representatives. A meeting like this is not strange because we met with the President who is our leader. ‘‘We deliberated on issues affecting our party. The House caucus on our own decided to pass a vote of confidence on the President and also endorsed him for second term.” Asked if the PDP Governors’ Forum also followed the endorsement train spearheaded by the lawmakers, Akpabio said, “The Governors’ Forum members were present when the National Assembly Caucus did what they did, I do not want to pre-empt the action of PDP governors, but I can attest to their loyalty and their commitment to the success of the President in 2015. According to Akpabio: “We did an appraisal of the meeting that we held with the Caucus of the House of Representatives and it was a fantastic one and I think it is something that should be done regularly with the party leader, the President and members of the National Working Committee ( NWC) at the national level. “Of course you are aware that the National Assembly Caucus met earlier in the day and passed a vote of confidence on the President, the Vice President and the national leadership of the party and in turn, they also urged Mr. President to step forward and contest for the 2015 presidential election, in other words, they are urging him to go forward and re-contest for a second term in office. “We were witnesses when that resolution was taken and of course, they also pledged their unflinching support to the leadership of the President and then congratulated him for being able to pass through times despite the distractions as a result of the insecurity situation in some parts of the country.” Thereafter, he said governors moved into further meeting with the President and members of the NWC led by the National Chairman of the party to strategise on the way forward. “We want to deepen internal democracy and want to strategise on how best we can win the primaries and by implication also ensure that we bring out the best candidates, taking a cue from what had happened in Ekiti State that if we are able to carry out proper internal democracy and bring out the most popular candidates, then the main election will be less rancorous and of course the party will sail through with a view to getting up two-thirds of the states of the federation as it was when we started in 1999. “When I came in, there was a period that PDP had up to 29 governors. In 2011, we still had up to 25 governors and then of course some governors tried to decamp to other political parties which they are liberty to do, because this is democracy, but we are gaining more, now we have at least 19 governors with the coming of Ekiti State and we also have three deputy governors who are still with us. “That of Sokoto, Adamawa (before he resigned later yesterday) and also that of Nasarawa, that brings our number to about 22, so if we shoot to 28 it is not too bad in the 2015 elections, so it was an appraisal and for us to use that opportunity as PDP governors to congratulate the party leader on the very successful election that was held in Ekiti State, which was very free and fair and applauded by the international community and all Nigerians.” On what the President’s reaction was, he said though the President was elated at the endorsement by the lawmakers, he did not make any comment, because he believed it was not time yet to make political declaration. He said: “He (President) was obviously elated, but he did not answer anything but as you know INEC has not given the time table for election yet, we are still waiting for INEC to release the guidelines, so the President didn’t give anybody any answer, he did not say he would contest or he would not contest, but rather, he thanked them for the interest and confidence reposed in him. But I think from his body language, he is very mindful of the law and the need to wait for guidelines from INEC. That was what I noticed.” Source: Guardian
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 06:29:34 +0000
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