Endorsements for Jonathan’s re-election swell despite allegations of non-performance under: main story,The Lead Story | Author:Zebulon Agomuo Although President Goodluck Jonathan has yet to make public his much-talked about re-election ambition, in 2015, a gale of endorsements has continued to sweep through the land from various quarters. This is in spite of a barrage of allegations of non-performance and cluelessness that trail his government on a daily basis from the opposition camp. From the South-South to the neighbouring South-East; from the South West to the North Central, and from the North West to the North East, the refrain appears to be: “run Mr. President, run!” Jonathan and his party, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have for months now been embarking on zonal rallies which opponents allege is electioneering campaign by other means, and a violation of electoral law by beating the gun . The President received the heaviest bashing when in April he went ahead with the party’s rally in Kano, barely 48 hours after the Nyanya bomb blasts and the abduction of school girls in Chibok in Borno State. In the last two weeks, elaborate rallies had been held in the South East and South-West geopolitical zones of the country by a group known as Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN). At the well-attended events, the organisers said they were impressed by the achievements of the Jonathan-administration. Endorsements were given for him to declare his intention to contest and indeed contest the presidential election in February 2015. At the TAN’s rally in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State, politi-cal heavyweights across various political parties in the South-West geo-political zone endorsed Jona-than for a second term in office. A total of 1.8 million sig-natures collected from La-gos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti States, endorsing re-election ambition of Jonathan, were unveiled at the rally. Earlier, a similar rally had held in Awka, Anambra State, where the five South-East states of Anambra, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi and Enugu leaders, indigenes, monarchs and members of the clergy, urged Jonathan to run for the 2015 presidential election. TAN said that about 1.6 million people of the South East had appended their signatures in that regard. Only yesterday, the group held the South-South in Port Harcourt, Rivers State with a huge turnout. On several occasions, Tony Anenih, chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), a political heavyweight from Uzenema-Arue in Uromi, Edo State, a man who has been around, and who, according to pundits, knows the art and science of winning elections for his party, had severally insisted that Jonathan would contest the 2015 presidency on the PDP platform. At a zonal rally in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Anenih had told Adamu Mu’azu, national chairman of the party: “I want the national chairman to go home with a word from me that come 2015 Jonathan will run for presidency for a second term.” By the same token, all the party leaders from South-South, led by their governors, urged Jonathan to contest. A communiqué read on behalf of the party leaders after the zonal meeting by Chibudom Nwuche, a former deputy speaker House of Representatives, stated that the endorsement was as a result of sterling performance so far. “We acknowledge the giant strides of the president in the area of education, agriculture, health, tourism, re-invention of the railway, roads and other infrastructural development across the country. It is also notable that there is tremendous focus on economic empowerment of Nigeria. “In view of his (president) doggedness in pursuing his transformation agenda for Nigeria, the South-South is in full support of President Jonathan’s administration. We therefore endorse him for the forthcoming 2015 presidential election for him to continue his transformation agenda which transcends across all spheres of our lives,” the statement read. Ekpo Okon, former state chairman of the party in Cross River, said PDP remained the best option for the people of South-South zone. Okon, who was also the former commissioner of Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC), representing Cross River State, said: “In 2015, the position of the President will not be negotiable, and South-South will work tirelessly to make sure that Goodluck Jonathan is re-elected.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 03:53:18 +0000
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