President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday
acknowledged that the opposition was stronger
for him today than in 2011 because people who
defected from the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) gave the opposition the strength it
currently enjoys.
According to him, if the PDP elements were to
leave the opposition, they would crumble like a
pack of cards, even as he said he was confident,
however, that the PDP was still stronger and
would emerge victorious in the coming election.
Speaking when he appeared in an African
Independent Television (AIT) live programme,
Kaakaki in Abuja, President Jonathan also
declared the Secondary School girls abducted in
Chibok, Borno State who have spent close to a
year in Boko Haram captivity are still alive and
will be rescued soon.
Acknowledging that the opposition is stronger
now than in 2011, Jonathan said, “I agree with
you, it was easier (in 2011) but PDP is still the
dominant party. There is no polling unit in Nigeria
where you don’t have members of the PDP.
“Yes, for one reason or the other, within the
party people get angry and may even vote
against PDP but in terms of membership of the
PDP, there is no party that has that spread. So,
PDP still has the most formidable structure, PDP
has better chances of winning a national
election.”
“Even the opposition will tell you they are
realistic. Who has strengthened the opposition?
Are not the PDP elements? If you remove the
PDP election from the opposition, they will just
crumble like a pack of cards.
“Why are people aggressive towards the PDP to
the extent that even the presidential convoyed is
stoned? Why do you show that aggression? If you
are comfortable, you will not do that.”
Emphasizing on why this election may be more
difficult, the president said, “Globally, it is more
challenging for a president to secure a second
term than the first tenure,” because people get
disappointed when their expectations are not
quickly met by those they voted for.
He added that in spite of that, “PDP still has an
edge over the opposition.”
Giving reasons why he should be re-elected, the
president listed some of his administration’s
numerous achievements in the different sectors
including roads, power, transport, aviation, adding
that if given the chance, he would consolidate on
them in the next four years.
He said when he re-elected, he would make
deliberate effort to better communicate
government’s activities to the people to carry
them along in a better manner.
On the Chibok girls, Jonathan premised his
conviction that the school girls have not been
killed by the insurgents on the notion that if they
were dead, the blood thirsty terrorists would
have been to glad to display their corpses for the
purpose of showing off.
He noted that the terrorist activities of the
insurgents became intense because at first, the
federal government underestimated the group
which started as a non-violent sect which later
grew in capacity.
On why the military is now doing within a period
of six weeks what government could not do in
five years, the president explained that the
military now equipped up to 65 percent and has
the platform needed to prosecute the war
against the insurgents.
He added that with the level of success recorded
so far, the territories yet to be recovered from
the terrorists in Adamawa and Yobe states were
likely to be recaptured in the next few days.
Asked why the Chibok girls have not been found
in spite of the military successes, the president
said, “we still have reasonable territories in the
hands of Boko Haram. We promised that we
must get the girls.
“The good story is that they have not killed them
because the terrorists, when they kill, they
display. They use it to intimidate the whole
society. They girls are alive. We will get the
girls. Luckily, we are narrowing down the area of
their control. So, we will get them”.
He pointed out that why it appeared as if the
military had been reluctant to strike the sect
with full force was because government was
mindful of the fact that the terrorists are fond of
using captives as human shield, saying “that is
why the pace had to be slow.”
On why it took so long for military successes to
come against Boko Haram, the president said,
“Yes, agreed that at the beginning, probably we
did not really (correctly) estimate the capacity of
Boko Haram. It is obvious. Boko Haram started
as a non-violence group led by Yusuf, limited to
around Maiduguri area, Yobe. They did not even
get to Adamawa.
“Just like every group of youths or young people
is inclined to criminality, over the period, they
expanded their network and linked up with other
terrorist organizations like in the North Africa like
Al-Qaeda and other similar brands in the world.
“So, they continued to build their capacity and it
got to point to know that for you to tackle them
in the kind of environment they operate, you
need some specialized equipment to use and we
don’t manufacture these equipment now”.
Jonathan further noted that even though
government had challenges at the beginning in
acquiring the necessary weapons from other
countries, the story has changed with about 65
percent of the weapons now available to
prosecute the war.
The president remarked that efforts were
ongoing to mop up areas that have already been
liberated to ensure that Boko Haram did not
relaunch attacks on them in order to enable the
Internal Displaced People (IDPs) to return to
their homes.
He said he was happy that the mopping up
exercises have succeeded so far because there
were no new reports of terrorist seizing
territories, especially with the collaboration of
neighboring countries’ armies which has blocked
escape routes.
President Jonathan denied that the recent
reduction in fuel price reduction was politically
motivated even as he assured that the issues
responsible for he current fuel scarcity were
being addressed.
He said: “For the fuel scarcity, we are doing
everything humanly possible to ensure it is taken
care of. It is very temporary. Of course, there
issues of payment being addressed and we
believe that within one or two day, this will
completely go.
“Until we start refining our crude oil to get our
own products here within the country, we cannot
get out of some of these. It is even really the
policy of government. When you continue to
export raw materials, you are actually exporting
jobs.”
He assured that the nation’s refineries would
completely be privatized, even as government
would continue to encourage private sector as
according to him, they were better managers of
infrastructure.
He said, “It is not politically motivated. The way
people play politics with everything in Nigeria is
quite unfortunate. Pump prices are not constant
but are based on changes in the international
market.
“When I came as vice president in 2007, the
price of crude oil at the international market
dropped to about $40, there was a day it dropped
to $38 per barrel and we dropped the pump price
to N65 per litre. And we had to keep it up to N97
when the price went up to about $111 per barrel
at the international market.
“The cushioning gap was because the subsidy
became unbearable to government. So, we had
to push it up to N97 per litre. Now that the
international crude oil price has dropped back to
about $60 or so, it would not be fair for you to
still ask Nigerians to pay N97 except you want to
deregulate completely.”

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There is sense in every nonsense. Jona weldone! Meanwhile we demand change.

Not only will the election be tougher,you will be the first nigerian democratically elected president to loose a second term woefully.

You are a certified failure mr. President!

GEJ get my vote till 2019

MzJackBaueress:
Not only will the election be tougher,you will be the first nigerian democratically elected president to loose a second term woefully.

You are a certified failure mr. President!

This your dream sha!
You be Buhari's daughter? Cos Buhari na dis kain dream e dey dream since!

MzJackBaueress:
Not only will the election be tougher,you will be the first nigerian democratically elected president to loose a second term woefully.

You are a certified failure mr. President!

What is your problem with GEJ?
How did he fail? How??

I don't understand some people o