Notwithstanding President Goodluck Jonathan's repeated promises that he would not take a decision on whether or not he would seek a second term in office until 2014, some stakeholders in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ministers are proceeding with behind-the-scenes preparations to make the president contest for the office again.
THISDAY gathered at the weekend that the president's aides and associates have set up a 21-member committee to advise Jonathan on the viability of his entry into the presidential contest in 2015.
It was not certain if the president was behind the idea, but THISDAY learnt that the sponsors of the committee might have got his support for the venture.
Although the membership of the committee, which is drawn from the six geo-political zones is still a top secret, it was learnt that the committee is primarily peopled by the president’s political associates and trusted members of the PDP.
Some stakeholders within the ruling party under the aegis of Concerned PDP Democrats have also started drumming up support for a second term for the president by calling on the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to transform last week’s vote of confidence on Jonathan to an affirmation vote.
They said if the party sincerely has confidence in the transformation agenda of the president as implied by the vote of confidence passed on him and the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, last week, Jonathan, by the affirmation vote, should automatically emerge the party’s candidate in the next presidential election.
THISDAY also gathered that the leadership crisis rocking the NWC and its feud with some PDP governors might have been resolved at a meeting last Wednesday where the president, PDP governors and the party leadership agreed to work for the unity of PDP.
Impeccable presidency sources told THISDAY that the president had set up the committee of his political associates to prepare grounds for his eventual declaration in 2014 to contest the presidential election the following year.
Pressed to declare whether or not he would seek a second term despite his statement in Ethiopia before the 2011 general election that he would be a one-term president, Jonathan had said during one of the presidential media chats that he would not disclose his decision on the issue until 2014.
According to him, doing so earlier would unduly heat up the polity and cause needless distractions for his administration.
However, despite his declaration, his associates and aides have embarked on subtle campaigns to give him an edge in the presidential race.
Giving some insight into the work of the committee, the source said: “The 21-member committee will collate all the achievements of President Jonathan’s transformation of the country. The committee will specifically list what the presidency under Jonathan has done and what it intends to do from 2015.
“This will be like preparing a blueprint for the 2015 presidential election. But this would be made public in 2014 when the president addresses the country. As part of the strategy, a publicity committee under the name of a group, ‘We the People of Nigeria’ has commenced a sensitisation campaign to soften the ground for the eventual declaration of President Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential election.
“The newspapers’ advertisements of ‘We the People of Nigeria’ has commenced running in some selected newspapers since Sunday (yesterday).”
The group, in a full-page advert in yesterday’s edition of THISDAY, said: “We the people of Nigeria uphold the right and constitutionality of President Goodluck Jonathan to seek a second term as the president of Nigeria if he so wishes. So help us God.
“Section 137(1) provides that a person shall not be qualified for election into the office of the president if such a person has been elected to such an office at any two previous elections.”
In another statement signed by the convener, Concerned Democrats of PDP, Max Gbanite, and national convener, Elvis Agukwe, the group commended the NWC of PDP for passing a vote of confidence on Jonathan and urged the party to take a step further by urging him to contest the presidential election and giving him the right of first refusal.
It said: “For giving President Goodluck Jonathan a vote of confidence shows that the party is alive with trends in modern democracies. You cannot pass a vote of confidence on the president and still allow the same president to undergo a rigorous presidential primary election.
“What is the essence of a presidential primary election, when you pass a vote of confidence on the president and still call for a presidential primary election?
“By a presidential primary, it means that there is no confidence on the president. But this is not the case.
“We, the members of Concerned PDP Democrats, hereby call on the NWC, the BoT and the national caucus to seize the momentum of the new peace in the party by urging our incumbent president to take the right of first refusal if he wishes to contest in 2015.
“This is not novel as it is the practice in advanced democracies. In two years, our president has managed to pilot the ship of the Nigerian state and he is on course.
“All the ambitious people in the party cannot be president at the same time. Since President Jonathan is doing his best, he must be encouraged to continue.
“We urge all our governors to show maturity by sinking their differences like the NWC and show solid support for the president. As a human being, the president has faults just like any of us.
“President Jonathan inherited a divided country where some people had vowed to make the country ungovernable yet he is doing his best.”
Also, the leadership crisis rocking the NWC as well as the face-off between the party and some governors may have been resolved following the truce reached at last Wednesday’s meeting attended by some PDP governors with NWC members and Jonathan in attendance.
The meeting came moments after the NWC passed a vote of confidence on Jonathan for his transformation of the country.
At the meeting, which held at the State House, it was agreed that all the aggrieved PDP governors and the presidency should sheathe their swords in a bid to move the party forward.
According to a source at the meeting, “The national chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, and all members of the NWC at the meeting pledged their loyalty to President Jonathan and all the governors at the meeting also pledged to ensure that bygones remain bygones.”
The source said that the meeting had “a renewed vigour to move the party forward and was focused,” while the NWC was asked to discountenance the controversial report of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which declared that the election of eight members of the NWC was not acceptable to the commission.
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