2015: Parties disagree over Jonathan’s ambition


* He’s free to contest –Agbakoba, Idigbe

Major political parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC and the All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, yesterday reacted to the declaration of President Goodluck Jonathan before an Abuja High Court that he was qualified to contest the 2015 presidential election.

ANPP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Emma Eneukwu, told our correspondent that the President would be rejected at the polls if he sought for a reelection, “having told Nigerians that he would not be seeking for a re-election.”

According to Eneukwu, “He has the right to contest in 2015, but he will fail because he made a promise that he would step down after one term. He will be taking Nigerians for a ride should he present himself again.

“President Jonathan has failed in all he promised Nigerians and he should not be talking of another term.”

For the constitutional stipulation that a President cannot be sworn in more than two terms, the ANPP spokesperson said that it was for the court to interpret that matter.

“When he was sworn in 2010, there were a lot of challenges in the nation as a result of the demise of the former President Umaru Yar’Adua. He was not elected at that time; his first election as the President was last year and it is expected that his first oathtaking was in May last year.

“But all the same, a man of honour should stand on his words and respect it. He should not be talking of reelection when he has done nothing with the power that was giving to him.”

But the CPC believes that the constitution clearly bars President Jonathan from standing for another election.

According to the CPC National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin, “What is clear is that PDP and Jonathan have done two terms and the constitution clearly states that no one can stay longer than eight years, either as a governor or as a President.

“Where do we situate or account for the one year he did between May 2010 and May 2011? It is unfortunate that the constitution did not contemplate that situation; it has to take a strong and virile judiciary to interpret the constitution and for them to be able to floor whatever argument the President and his advisers will come up with.

“We call on all Nigerians to be vigilant and work to safeguard the constitution from being hijacked by a few powerful Nigerians.

“We, as a party, are going to be vigilant and we will challenge every illegal step by the President and PDP to the last point.”

But the PDP thinks that it is not debatable over the President’s qualification to contest 2015 if he decides to do so.

The party claimed that the whole debate was another antic of the opposition to distract the President from pursuing its transformation agenda.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, told National Mirror yesterday that it was a great disservice for anyone to be talking about the qualification of President Jonathan to contest the 2015 election.

According to him: “The whole issue is a distraction to the government which has barely spent one year in office. We will not be drawn into the argument.

“Our concern now is to assist the President in his resolve to deliver the democracy dividends that he promised Nigerians when he was first elected into office last year.

“This whole thing is actually the plans of the opposition to distract the President and, therefore, we will not give them the latitude to succeed.”

Meanwhile, eminent lawyers yesterday warned Nigerian politicians to desist from playing politics with the development of the country.

They advised them to concentrate on providing the populace with the dividends of democracy.

The lawyers spoke while reacting to the controversy on whether President Jonathan was constitutionally empowered to contest for the presidency in 2015.

The lawyers, including the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba SAN; Anthony Idigbe SAN, and former NBA National Vice-President, Mr. Adekunle Ojo, agreed that nothing stopped President Jonathan from contesting in 2015. They also believed that it was too early to talk of elections when the President had not fulfilled the promises he made to Nigerians in the last elections.

Agbakoba said that constitutionally it was the President’s right to contest in 2015. “There are, however, other factors to be taken into consideration; factors such as the underlining Nigerian principle of rotation and the stability factor.”

The former NBA President said that the “Nigerian constitution is not like the American constitution that expressively provides for their presidents to take the oath of office only twice.”

However, Agbakoba said that the controversy is not necessary as it will distract the President from performing and fulfilling his campaign promises to Nigerians.

“Nigerians must learn to hold the public officers elected into offices accountable.”

Another lawyer, Idigbe (SAN) also agreed with Agbakoba on the constitution issue. He said that President Jonathan merely completed the tenure of the late President Yar’Adua, who died on May 5, 2010.

“The mere fact that he completed the tenure of someone else does not mean he is not constitutionally empowered to contest election when his own time comes,” he added.

Ojo said there was nothing in the 1999 Constitution preventing President Jonathan from running for presidency in 2015.

He said: “I am not one of those campaigning for President Jonathan to contest or not to contest the election in 2015. But as the things are, I personally don’t see anything under the constitution stopping him if he chooses to contest.”


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