Abuja — The north yesterday warned Acting President Goodluck Jonathan against planning to contest the presidential election in 2011, saying there is no way such an idea will work.

It also lashed out at those plotting to remove the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Vincent Ogbulafor. It said the plot will fail and the plotters will risk the wrath of the region.

The body said attempts by some PDP members to impeach Ogbulafor and the present leadership of the party would be seen as a plot targeted at the north with the sole aim of stopping the geo- political region from completing its eight year term in the presidency.

Daily Champion learnt over the weekend from a reliable source that some key members of the party rooting for Jonathan to contest the 2011 election have been secretly plotting to remove Ogbulafor by next month and replace him with Chief Hope Uzodinma, a close associate of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

In a statement singed by the National President of Arewa Youth Forum (AYF), Gambo Ibrahim Gujunju, the group warned Jonathan to avoid those tempting him with the idea of working against the leadership of the party in order to run for 2011 presidency and urge him to be wary of bad advisers saying they were his real enemies and that of the Nigerian people.

While advising Jonathan to consult with the party's leadership in running the affairs of the nations, the north exonerating Ogbulafor of any corruption charges, saying that Ogbulafor's problem started with his proclamation that the party would maintain its zoning arrangement which allows power to remain in the north till 2015.

Gambo said: "Those who thought and went ahead to gossip that the Ogbulafor's statement on power staying in the north till 2015 was an affront to Jonathan missed the point as the courageous stand by Ogbulafor saved the PDP and by extension, Nigeria from implosion"

The group said Ogbulafor's statement brought stability to the nation, berating those they claimed to have taken advantage of the ill-health of President Umaru Yar'Adua to foment trouble by creating credibility problem for the PDP.

It commended Ogbulafor who through his mature style of leadership, navigated Nigeria out of the pit dug for it by those who toiled to see the disintegration of the country.

The group claimed that the current PDP leadership has proved that it is made up of men of honour with the highest sense of patriotism which history. It called on Jonathan to be wary of the present crop of latter-day advisers milling around him as they are indeed real enemies of the PDP and its leadership.

The AYF then implored the Acting President to continue to support the PDP and its leadership saying that as a good party man, it behooves him to provide leadership to the party and sustain it in all legitimate means.

It urged Ogbulafor to remain focused and continue to support the Presidency and the Acting President particularly at this time when doomsday prophets have been shamed, adding that he should not be distracted by disgruntled and reactionary elements plotting the disintegration of Nigeria.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201003230749.html

Interesting. I do have a problem with rotational presidencies. It should be man or woman with the best credential should get the job. What region you are from should not determine if you should become president.

They want a corpse to rule a nation of 140 million plus. Deadheads.

'Turn by turn presidency' is not in the constitution

this north people again

UcheUwadi_:

It should be man or woman with the best credential should get the job. What region you are from should not determine if you should become president.

This rotational thing is partly responsible for the situation Nigeria is in today. If not for the totation nonsense, how could Yar Adua have clinched the presidency among all those that competed for it within the PDP fold in 2007?

Well, this is for just pdp

In a statement singed by the National President of Arewa Youth Forum (AYF), Gambo Ibrahim Gujunju, the group warned Jonathan to avoid those tempting him with the idea of working against the leadership of the party in order to run for 2011 presidency and urge him to be wary of bad advisers saying they were his real enemies and that of the Nigerian people.

The people of Nigeria will decide at the ballot box in 2011 who their real enemies are.

montelik:

The people of Nigeria will decide at the ballot box in 2011 who their real enemies are.

You must be joking. You mean the PDP will decide at the ballot box?

Sky Blue:

'Turn by turn presidency' is not in the constitution

and it isn't. It's the rule of a private party and not the federal government of Nigeria.

Nigerians still have the choice of who they want as presidents. the question is will they enforce their choice.

I think wat we hv in ths country is a one party system and we cn neva progress wt ths coz PDP is our main problem and they are growing day by day unchallenge.

It also lashed out at those plotting to remove the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Vincent Ogbulafor. It said the plot will fail and the plotters will risk the wrath of the region.

As far as it's within PDP members, they can unleash the wrath and assassinate themselves. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

frosbel:

It also lashed out at those plotting to remove the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Vincent Ogbulafor. It said the plot will fail and the plotters will risk the wrath of the region.

It use to be wrath of the law. Now our Law has turned to region.

stillwater:

As far as it's within PDP members, they can unleash the wrath and assassinate themselves. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

God bless you on this comments.  I was going to say same thing.  The can start killing themselves as long as its within PDP, who cares?

Devonian:

If the Northerners hope to occupy the Presidency for another term, what is the essence of holding an election, wasting billions of Naira? This is definitely not a democracy but a NOMADICTOCRACY. CHIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Help me ask them oooooo

maybe Jonathan should tell the North to bleep off or shut up while he runs for election in 2011. or better yet how 'bout we send some of our crazy Tea Party activist over to Nigeria to handle the problems so they can shout 'shut up ni66er we're runnin' this joint right here' at the northerners.

Nigeria is not yet a nation and as such anything that will be done to keep it going (until we decide to break up) should be supported.

Many had complained in the past that the North held on to power for such a long time even though the bulk of the time it was the military that brought the heads of state to power.

The issue of rotational presidency was introduced to calm nerves and ensure that no single region will monopolize power and such an arrangement has thus far worked.

The PDP with all its faults remain the most organized party with nationwide spread and real political structure on ground. In reality, opinions on forums do not amount to anything on the election day and as long as the opposition only makes noise when an election is around the corner PDP will remain a formidable party.

Based on the above I agree with those that ask that the arrangement based on rotational presidency be respected because if it is not and for some reasons power returns to the North then it is possible to see another long period without any Southern presidency and any plan to change that using the law makers will most likely fail as the South will never get the required numbers to effect any changes.

Forget about the Christian North voting to support the South because when the chips are down they will still swim with the rest of the Northern region irrespective of the problems in Jos today.

While it may be fashionable to talk about dismissing rotational presidency today I hope we will not turn around to wonder what happened when the South begins to push for such in future because that may be the only guarantee to more representation at the highest level of governance.

Sorry to say but over the years with the outburst of Northern politicians on issues one can't fail to sat that most of the Northern Politicians are dimwits.

Afam:


Many had complained in the past that the North held on to power for such a long time even though the bulk of the time it was the military that brought the heads of state to power.

The issue of rotational presidency was introduced to calm nerves and ensure that no single region will monopolize power and such an arrangement has thus far worked.

Afam you took the words right off my mouth. Who are we debating with here? How can the South ever produce a president in an election considering the size and population of the North?
It's in the interest of Southerners to make zoning work else we can kiss bye bye to ever ruling Nigeria.

PEACE OUT!!!

Tippy Top:

Afam you took the words right off my mouth. Who are we debating with here? How can the South ever produce a president in an election considering the size and population of the North?
It's in the interest of Southerners to make zoning work else we can kiss bye bye to ever ruling Nigeria.

PEACE OUT!!!

you honestly think the population of geographical north is larger than the population of geographical south?

asha 80:

you honestly think the population of geographical north is larger than the population of geographical south?

I think your question should be directed to the National Census Board.
My figures would come from the National Census Board and its the only statistics used by both state and fed govt. The North is more populated than the South, stop depending on becomerich for research.


PEACE OUT!!!

asha 80:

you honestly think the population of geographical north is larger than the population of geographical south?

In my opinion I don't think so but as at today we have an official census result and the number of elected representatives at all levels goes a long way to give an idea how any thing that is put to a vote will pan out in real life.

There are urgent issues we need to tackle like census figures, including ethnicity in the census etc before attempting to grab power that once it goes back may never come back as long as these basic issues are left unresolved.

Anyone advising Jonathan to run for president in 2011 will be doing the South a great disservice and maybe when that time comes we will begin to blame every other person but ourselves.

Afam:

In my opinion I don't think so but as at today we have an official census result and the number of elected representatives at all levels goes a long way to give an idea how any thing that is put to a vote will pan out in real life.

There are urgent issues we need to tackle like census figures, including ethnicity in the census etc before attempting to grab power that once it goes back may never come back as long as these basic issues are left unresolved.

Anyone advising Jonathan to run for president in 2011 will be doing the South a great disservice and maybe when that time comes we will begin to blame every other person but ourselves.

Which is more important, abiding by the constitution of the land or dancing to the dictates of a party packed full with megalomaniacs, narcissists and demagogues ?

Please tell me.

Thanks,

Afam:

Nigeria is not yet a nation and as such anything that will be done to keep it going (until we decide to break up) should be supported.

Many had complained in the past that the North held on to power for such a long time even though the bulk of the time it was the military that brought the heads of state to power.

The issue of rotational presidency was introduced to calm nerves and ensure that no single region will monopolize power and such an arrangement has thus far worked.

The PDP with all its faults remain the most organized party with nationwide spread and real political structure on ground. In reality, opinions on forums do not amount to anything on the election day and as long as the opposition only makes noise when an election is around the corner PDP will remain a formidable party.

Based on the above I agree with those that ask that the arrangement based on rotational presidency be respected because if it is not and for some reasons power returns to the North then it is possible to see another long period without any Southern presidency and any plan to change that using the law makers will most likely fail as the South will never get the required numbers to effect any changes.

Forget about the Christian North voting to support the South because when the chips are down they will still swim with the rest of the Northern region irrespective of the problems in Jos today.

While it may be fashionable to talk about dismissing rotational presidency today I hope we will not turn around to wonder what happened when the South begins to push for such in future because that may be the only guarantee to more representation at the highest level of governance.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the bottomline of your post is rotational presidency should continue because it is the only way power would ever leave the north? I would politely disagree, I would say thesame effect can be obtained if the elections begin to shift from mere superficial noise making, to actual debates on the issues. How many people actually voted in the last gubernatorial elections in Anambra? Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the number in the few thousands? So we have an electoral process in which candidates don't debate or face the public, make vague promises like "i will give you light" without being challenged in an open debate, or any other forum that could actually test their convictions or the soundness of their strategy to move the nation forward; and on the other hand we have a populace that do not exercise their right to vote and then complain about the leaders selected when the process is all over, how on earth would that produce a more promising candidate? Rotation does not solve the problem which I assume most people at the end of the day really cares about (good governance that touches the life of citizens in every part of Nigeria). Rotation is a weak foundation and if it is to be done, why don't we do it properly and discard WAZOBIA politics? Why don't we rotate among the 250+ different ethnic groups? If the worst candidates seem to rise to the top every time, would it be illogical to propose revising the selection process?

Sky Blue:

Correct me if I am wrong, but the bottomline of your post is rotational presidency should continue because it is the only way power would ever leave the north? I would politely disagree, I would say thesame effect can be obtained if the elections begin to shift from mere superficial noise making, to actual debates on the issues. How many people actually voted in the last gubernatorial elections in Anambra? Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the number in the few thousands? So we have an electoral process in which candidates don't debate or face the public, make vague promises like "i will give you light" without being challenged in an open debate, or any other forum that could actually test their convictions or the soundness of their strategy to move the nation forward; and on the other hand we have a populace that do not exercise their right to vote and then complain about the leaders selected when the process is all over, how on earth would that produce a more promising candidate? Rotation does not solve the problem which I assume most people at the end of the day really cares about (good governance that touches the life of citizens in every part of Nigeria). Rotation is a weak foundation and if it is to be done, why don't we do it properly and discard WAZOBIA politics? Why don't we rotate among the 250+ different ethnic groups? If the worst candidates seem to rise to the top every time, would it be illogical to propose revising the selection process?

As a realist I will continue to advocate for rotational presidency for now until we put a few important things in place.

Have you ever wondered why a simple task like population census cannot be sorted out without complaints where a lot of people from different parts of the country disagree with the results?

I don't know about it being the only way out but for now I think it is the only one that guarantees that no region will monopolize power based on the official census result and make up of the legislative arm at the federal level (both house of Reps and the Senate).

Let us leave idealism out of this for now because even in the US people tend to be realistic. Obama just signed the health bill that people ordinarily thought would have been passed long ago.

Screw all the aboki's in nigeria they are in for a very big poo.This is not 1960 or 2009.
For there own interest they should let peace be if they know what is good for them.
Come 2011 they will not belive what will happen they are always screaming they have large population one thing they should remember is this that population they are screaming about can be wiped out of the face of the earth.
This is the 21st century anything is possible.
Everything is in there hand to loose.

The northerns feel that they butchers well let them understand that the Nigerian army could not stand the force of the niger delta fighters then imagin if the east,west and south combine forces  to face the north who will loose.

Aboki take time o make dem no wipe yeah family comot from the face of the planet.

Afam:

As a realist I will continue to advocate for rotational presidency for now until we put a few important things in place.

Have you ever wondered why a simple task like population census cannot be sorted out without complaints where a lot of people from different parts of the country disagree with the results?

I don't know about it being the only way out but for now I think it is the only one that guarantees that no region will monopolize power based on the official census result and make up of the legislative arm at the federal level (both house of Reps and the Senate).

Let us leave idealism out of this for now because even in the US people tend to be realistic. Obama just signed the health bill that people ordinarily thought would have been passed long ago.

It is not necessarily about blue eyed idealism. Things hardly get done in Nigeria because the people hardly push for things to get done (but that seems to be slowly changing). Obama found it difficult to pass a healthcare bill because the people were also in opposition to it. There were those in favour and also those in opposition, both groups also wanting the best for America. The key issue should not be which groups hold on to power the longest, but what candidate has the most to offer to Nigeria as a nation. Credible elections could actually be a means of getting an idea of the population distribution in the country.

Sky Blue:

Correct me if I am wrong, but the bottomline of your post is rotational presidency should continue because it is the only way power would ever leave the north? I would politely disagree, I would say thesame effect can be obtained if the elections begin to shift from mere superficial noise making, to actual debates on the issues. How many people actually voted in the last gubernatorial elections in Anambra? Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the number in the few thousands? So we have an electoral process in which candidates don't debate or face the public, make vague promises like "i will give you light" without being challenged in an open debate, or any other forum that could actually test their convictions or the soundness of their strategy to move the nation forward; and on the other hand we have a populace that do not exercise their right to vote and then complain about the leaders selected when the process is all over, how on earth would that produce a more promising candidate? Rotation does not solve the problem which I assume most people at the end of the day really cares about (good governance that touches the life of citizens in every part of Nigeria). Rotation is a weak foundation and if it is to be done, why don't we do it properly and discard WAZOBIA politics? Why don't we rotate among the 250+ different ethnic groups? If the worst candidates seem to rise to the top every time, would it be illogical to propose revising the selection process?

you know it would not be possible for every tribe to produce a candidate to run for the presidency.lets assume it happens and the north keep winning the election every now and then due to their population.is it then that the south will start pleading for rotation.imo,i think the six political region should be CONSTITUTIONAL recognised so that power can  effectively rotate among them.it is now left for each region to adopt a modus operandi to choose its presidential candidate afterall politics is all compromise.

~Bluetooth:

you know it would not be possible for every tribe to produce a candidate to run for the presidency.lets assume it happens and the north keep winning the election every now and then due to their population.is it then that the south will start pleading for rotation.imo,i think the six political region should be CONSTITUTIONAL recognised so that power can  effectively rotate among them.it is now left for each region to adopt a modus operandi to choose its presidential candidate afterall politics is all compromise.

I don't even know how to take the very first line of your post; what on earth has that got to do with good governance? Unless we do proper rotation among all 250+ ethnic groups, then spare the lecture please. At least be honest enough to admit the ethnic chauvinism you are indirectly supporting with rotation among "six political region". If you propose rotation then why not proper rotation? Or as some groups more important than others? Its quite amusing how some people can make such propositions and then express shock and horror when some people begin to say they want out of Nigeria.

Sky Blue:

I don't even know how to take the very first line of your post; what on earth has that got to do with good governance? Unless we do proper rotation among all 250+ ethnic groups, then spare the lecture please. At least be honest enough to admit the ethnic chauvinism you are indirectly supporting with rotation among "six political region". If you propose rotation then why not proper rotation? Or as some groups more important than others? Its quite amusing how some people can make such propositions and then express shock and horror when some people begin to say they want out of Nigeria.

you still didnt get it because you chose to ignore the remaining part of my first post.i said it would be left for each region to conduct its own internal arrangement to pick a candidate.there would be problem if the door is open for every one to contest the primaries and one particular tribe keeping winning at the primaries and possibly winning the elections.

~Bluetooth:

you still didnt get it because you chose to ignore the remaining part of my first post.i said it would be left for each region to conduct its own internal arrangement to pick a candidate.there would be problem if the door is open for every one to contest the primaries and one particular tribe keeping winning at the primaries and possibly winning the elections.

No need to repeat yourself, I got your point but I think you might be the one failing to see. Do you believe Nigerians would complain if we actually had a exceptional president and powers were decentralised so people could actually take greater control over their future? How many ethnic groups are in the middle belt and south south? What on earth do you mean by "it would be left for each region to conduct its own internal arrangement to pick a candidate"? How does dividing the problem by six actually change anything or become a lasting solution, if it does not even make things much worse? If we have to run a political system based on ethnicity, then why the opposition to do it properly? What is so difficult in rotating between 250+ ethnic groups? Na fear? That way we have peace and everybody gets a turn since we want to do it turn by turn. No half measures, or at least be bold enough to express openly the arrogance of the proposition if you want to do it half way.

Why must these newspapers quote this Arewa boys scout?