2015: Peace talks stuck as Jonathan won’t
drop bid
Posted by: Yusuf Alli, Abuja
in Featured, News 6 hours ago
President under pressure to reject
governors’ conditions
AMID its desperate search for peace, the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems to
have remained struck in the mud of trouble.
It suddenly put off yesterday a scheduled
peace meeting between its leaders and its
aggrieved governors.
It emerged last night that the refusal of
President Goodluck Jonathan to make any
commitment on his perceived 2015
ambition and alleged investigation of
governors by the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) led to the abrupt
postponement of the talks, which should
have been a follow-up to the Sunday
meeting at the Villa.
Besides, a group loyal to the President,
Media Network for Transformation (MNT),
yesterday asked the Presidency to
discontinue talks with the aggrieved PDP
governors.
In a statement by its Coordinator, Mr.
Goodluck Ebelo, MNT said only Nigerians can
determine the fate of Jonathan in 2015 and
not a group of governors.
According to a source in the Presidency,
who gave an insight into why the peace
talks were shifted, the aggrieved governors
were not happy that they could not extract
any commitment from the President on their
demands that Jonathan should not contest
in 2015 and the stoppage of investigation
of governors by EFCC.
The source said: “The aggrieved governors
of the PDP decided to seek a postponement
of the peace parley scheduled for Tuesday
as a result of President Jonathan’s rejection
of the suggestion that the government
should put an immediate stop to probe of
state governments’ accounts by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC).
“Some of the governors expressed
disappointment with the way President
Jonathan waved aside the request that he
should put an end to the probe of
governors by the EFCC.”
They were also uncomfortable, it was learnt,
that the President made no commitment on
his 2015 plan.
“This is purely a constitutional matter, not
subject to the dictate of any individual or
group. You cannot ask an individual to
forego his right,” the source said.
Unable to get any commitment, the
governors told the PDP leadership that they
needed further consultations before
attending the peace parley.
The pro-Jonathan group asked the President
to be courageous to discontinue
negotiations with the aggrieved governors.
The group, in a statement by Ebelo said to
demand that the President should deny
himself what the constitution affords him is
intolerable hubris.
The statement said: “The Media Network for
Transformation has observed with keen
interest recent happenings in the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party.
“Of particular interest is the walkout
masterminded by a former Vice President,
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and six governors
during the party’s Special National
Convention at the Eagle Square on Saturday.
“While we appreciate the right of any
person, including these feuding politicians,
to aspire to any political office in the land,
we denounce this glaring conspiracy to
make President Goodluck Jonathan a
hostage of their individual ambitions.
“ We wish to state that the premeditated
walk-out at the Eagle Square, last Saturday
and the demands of these politicians smack
of blackmail.
“We, therefore, call on Mr. President to be
resolute and resist this weather-beaten
gambit, a treachery and mischief, designed
to cow him. He should have zero-tolerance
to political hostage taking.
“It is not news that the key persona in the
last Saturday’s display of shame are a group
of politicians with smouldering ambition to
be President in 2015. Of itself, a legitimate
aspiration. But to demand that the President
should deny himself what the constitution
affords him is intolerable hubris.
“We, therefore, call on the President and all
leaders of the PDP, loyal and faithful to the
party to immediately discontinue the
ongoing negotiations with these men with
self serving, ill-disguised ambitions.. What
becomes of any ambition, including Mr.
President’s, is in the hands of Nigerians, not
a motley crowd of turncoats.
“While we welcome the wish of the feuding
politicians to remain in the PDP, we make
bold to say that intimidation, treachery and
blackmail would not derail the genuine
intentions of this President .
“It is common knowledge that a leader of
this group, once left the party and at the
end, neither the PDP nor its presidential
candidate (the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua),
who defeated him in the 2007 presidential
election, felt any pinch from his absence.
“We are of the opinion that the performance
of the Jonathan administration in the first
four years would give the opportunity to the
Nigerian people to decide whether or not to
give him a second term in office. It does not
lie in the mouth champions of sectionalism
to hijack that decision from Nigerians
“We urge the Nigerian citizenry to be more
observant as we move closer to 2015. We
cannot afford to allow political desperation
to derail democratic governance that caused
this country so much to achieve.”

It is very unfortunate that we don't know what we need. When we were being ruled by Dictators and assassins we complained as if heaven has forsaken us. God gave us an innocent gentleman and we are trying to eliminate him. No problem, maybe he has to go and restrategize to face the insatiable wicked Nigerians before he can socceed. Afta all OBJ froze some account of his opponents and chase some away with EFCC. I think GEJ should meet Paul Biya of Cameroon and president of Zimbabwe for them to teach him how to rule wicked black nations and last long, so that he can finish his two tenures and even demand more.