₦airaland Forum

Don’t contest 2011 Presidential polls, PDP NEC member tells Jonathan
National NewsMay 15, 2010
By Gabriel Enogholase


A MEMBER of the National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), from Edo state, Mr. Henry Idahagbon has advised President Goodluck Jonathan not to yield to the pressure being mounted on him by most Nigerians to contest the 2011 presidential election.
Besides, he called on him to consult with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party under which he became the Vice-President and now President in the choice of who becomes his Vice-President.

Speaking in an interview with Vanguard in Benin Saturday, Mr. Idahagbon said, “a lot of people are asking him to contest, but from the inner recesses of my mind, I believe he should take the General Abdulsalami Abubakar example. There is limit to his good luck. He has beanery lucky but he cannot continue to be lucky because he cannot continue to be lucky ad infinitum”

“He cannot. God has gone out of His Almighty way to endear him and to bless him from a very humble beginning, from deputy governor to governor, to Vice-President and now to President of the most populous black nation on earth”

“He should deliver on power; he should deliver on electoral reform and conduct a free and fair credible election and handle over to whoever wins even if that person is from APGA and go back to Otueke (his home town). He will remain a local statesman in Otueke, he will remain a statesman in Bayelsa, he will remain a national statesman for Nigeria, and he will remain a continental statesman for Africa and international statesman.”
Mr. Idahagbon noted that should he yield to the pressure to contest the 2011 presidential election, he would not be able to contest a free, fair and credible election and advised him to toe the examples of Ghanaian former president Kuffor and British former Minister Gordon Brown who handed over the reins of government to the opposition parties.

“I am of the opinion that the day democracy will take root in this country is the day a sitting President will conduct an election and loses and he will hand over power to the opposition like Kuffor and Gordon Brown did in Ghana and Britain respectively”, he said.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/05/15/dont-contest-2011-presidential-polls-pdp-nec-member-tells-jonathan/

selingel:
My brother, I tire oh!. This National Mosque is becoming a curse oh!. It is the same place where a whole Senator of a federal republic, got married to an alleged 13 year old. This mosque is becoming a criminal jungle!.

Well, it has nothing to do with the mosque, but FCT administration. Aliero really destroyed FCT with so much inactivity and too much involvement in Yar'Adua's health acrobatism (which was full of deceit).

I am really surprised the direction this man is taking this Jonathan's administration to. Why would OBJ want to be relevant in every administration? Cant any government just make this man shut up (even though Buhari and IBB should have forgotten about this unmerited missions of theirs)?

If half the same energy EFCC is putting in Ibori's case, is applied to Obasanjo, IBB, and even Mrs. Patience Jonathan's corrupt case, then, all the above listed would have been in jail, so what are they waiting for?

Now, he wants to build a new airport in Lagos.

Enjoyment1:
For what purpose then, because he just did same at Mile 12?.

What he did in Mile 12, was good for that place. He had to send those miscreants away.

Meanwhile, I know for sure, that nothing will happen to El-Rufai. They should stop this show of shame and concentrate on meaningful development. As for EFCC, they should even attempt investigating Mrs. Patience Jonathan, even though we know it is going to be a fruitless effort. Abi, she too get immunity?

violent:
Forgive my rude interruption, but who exactly, can one describe as an "independent person"?

Interruption forgiven, and I hope I am not dealing with two-in-one person here. This issue has been put behind us. Please lets not derail the thread. Address issues.

[quote author=@labiyemmy link=topic=441839.msg6002585#msg6002585 date=1273058199]independent person?[/quote]Anyway, lets not quarrel over it, lets address issues here. it baffles me why Jonathan has not come out to openly accept this allegations, or condemn it. Or better still, let the wife do so!.

[quote author=@labiyemmy link=topic=441839.msg6001248#msg6001248 date=1273035962]I wonder why you contributed yourself? my comment is pointless because i didnt agree with you, typical Nigerian.[/quote]Even an independent person will know you comment was meaningless.

jumobi1:
Can YOU listen to yourself?
If every Nigerian cleans his house, we'll have new born babies running for election.

I never meant to be rude, but if that is what will sanitise Nigeria, please let it be. Nigeria's case requires abnormal situation, as every normal situation has FAILED.

[quote author=@labiyemmy link=topic=441839.msg6000592#msg6000592 date=1273018049]^^^^

Thank you - sometimes I wonder why Nigerians are daft.[/quote]I wonder why you even contributed in the first place. Your comment is totally unnecessary, and pointless. Let Jonathan do the right thing! Clean his house first!.

jumobi1:
Why are people being daft? These are enemy of progress. Goodluck is doing a very good job. Why are they now asking him to undertake an near impossible task. Let him finish doing the good job he is doing then we ask the next person in power to go after his wife.

Can you listen to yourself? What is wrong in Jonathan cleaning his house first, before ordering same in another man's house? In a more civilised society, if the allegation is right, he might choose to resign, or let the wife face the full weight of the law. Besides, what makes you feel, Jonathan is doing too well? He is just better than his boss. They are all same of the same, as someone earlier said, in another thread.

I wonder why EFCC have not openly addressed this matter, and it has been on since the days of Ribadu. Drama and more drama, in this movie called, NIGERIA.

Goodluck guy!. I have seen a post like this before, but never knew what happened thereafter.

It is better now. Those days we used to fly Nigeria Airways, Okada Air, and Kabo Air, once the aircraft was taxing towards either take off or after landing, you will sight people farming very close to the runway. In fact, a particular day, some farmers had to wait for our aircraft to land, before they ran across the runway, heading towards their farmlands. That is how porous our airports security systems, are!.

selingel:
LAGOS—The Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, has again suffered a security breach, as a woman sneaked through a private terminal to board an Abuja-bound Aero Contractor flight without ticket.
It was learnt that the breach has compelled security agencies at the airport to stop most of the charter operators using the terminal from operating therefrom.

A source told Vanguard that the woman, who is currently being held by Air Force Police, was said to have walked by the new terminal of the airport (MMA2) last week, moved through the Air Force-guarded hangar housing the NAFIS Unit of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, and Kings Air, to gain access to the air side and MMA2 tarmac.

Having accessed the tarmac, the woman headed for the Abuja-bound plane and boarded.
It took the alertness of the airlines’ ground staff at the tarmac to apprehend the woman and her handed over to airport security personnel, who immediately alerted Nigerian Air Force personnel at the private terminal.

How long shall we continue with these breaches? As for Airforce personnel, I wonder whether it is lack of work for them nationwide, that is they are not focusing on their jobs, or airports be built only for airforce. They are not doing well at the nations airports at all. The other, it was in Calabar, and through airforce wing, and now Lagos, and through the same airforce wing.

Many will think I am crazy here, but the airport issue is just a mere ego boosting venture to the state. It is all about beaf between the state and Federal government.

I think it is better Ibori gives up on politics, and enjoy his loot. His trouble is too much for one man.

ReachRich:
Yaradua aint coming back to rule Nigeria QED.What do they (Yaradua and his kitchen cabinet) take us (Nigerians) for?A herd of sheep the shepherd can abandone at will?

Guy, in this script, it is written; and Yar'adua later recovered, and took over Aso Rock. Jonathan was incapacitated (was no longer given any serious role for not being loyal), and Ibori was later pardoned. El-Rufai and Ribadu later changed their minds and decided to stay abroad. Please keep watching the film, as we are heading towards the most interesting parts.

That is Nigerian journalism for you. They want to sell their papers, any how. Meanwhile, it is still advisable that Jonathan does not contest, so that, he is not shamed.

selingel:
In actual fact, the south is too divided, that is why the north always have upper hand, when it comes to "politricking". They might not have the certificates, but they have the one "voice" thing, which was exhibited in ANPP primaries in 2003, when all the northerners had to step down for Buhari, while the South East alone, had about 6 Presidential contestants in one party, and in the same election year, contesting for the same post!.

Are you saying the south east, is the source of political division in the south?

The money spent on this man alone, is enough to solve half the problem of Nigeria.

Yar’Adua undergoes voice therapy as Atiku visits
SUNDAY, 25 APRIL 2010 00:00 NIGERIAN COMPASS

A former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, “few weeks ago” visited ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua.


Sources told the Nigerian Compass that Abubakar met with the President at the Presidential Villa in company with some of his trusted and close aides.


Though the sources would not want to disclose the names of those who went with the former vice-president, they described them as “his trusted aides.”


Checks by the Nigerian Compass revealed that among Abubakar’s trusted aides are a former Governor of Kaduna State and the rallying point for the former vice-president’s supporters, Alhaji Lawal Kaita; and a former Minister for Health, later Women Affairs, Princess Funke Adedoyin.
It was learnt that when Abubakar visited, Yar’Adua was already walking.


The President reportedly walked downstairs to meet them, a source said.
It was learnt that he was still undergoing voice therapy, though.


As exclusively reported by the Nigerian Compass on Saturday a few weeks back, therapists from Germany are in charge of the voice training for the President who has been ill since November last year.


A source said, “The only issue the President is grappling with now from what those who saw him said was that he has not fully regained the use of his voice.


“But those who went saw those who are taking care of him in that regard.
“They are said to be Germans as you guys in the Nigerian Compass correctly reported.”


It was also learnt that those in charge of his security had been changed.
The source said this was because there were two failed attempts to poison the President.


The first was said to be in Nigeria shortly before he travelled on November 23 for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia while the second was while he was undergoing medical treatment.
In this regard, it was learnt that all his security details have been changed.


Sources said the only agency in charge of the President’s security is the Brigade of Guards.
One of the sources said, “All the civilians in the President’s security team have been removed.
“You only find men from the Brigade of Guards in the President’s section of the villa.”


Abubakar, it was learnt, visited Yar’Adua shortly before his recent rejoining of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Abubakar, whom sources said plans to address the press on Tuesday to offer explanations for his decision to return to the PDP, had said before the move that he would consult Yar’Adua before doing so.


The former vice-president, who flew the flag of the Action Congress (AC), for the 2007 presidential election, belong to the same political family with Yar’Adua.


They are both members of the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), a group founded by the late Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, who is Abubakar’s political mentor and Yar’Adua’s elder brother.


http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46760:yaradua-undergoes-voice-therapy-as-atiku-visits&catid=672:top-stories&Itemid=794.

I knew the north will never allow Jonathan to contest, so long Yar'adua did not finish his tenure (as if it is their birth right).

Don’t contest in 2011, Obasanjo tells Jonathan
SUNDAY, 25 APRIL 2010 00:00 OLUSOLA SANNI

•Settle for VP, Northern leaders tell Ag. President
•Odili, Nnamani, Tinubu, others lobby IBB for VP
From former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has come a word of advice for the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan: Do not contest for the presidency in 2011.


Sources said Obasanjo offered the advice based on reports that some close aides of the Acting President have been mounting pressure on him to be a part of the 2011 elections as a presidential candidate.


Added to this was the fact that Jonathan did not give a clear cut answer to whether he would contest or not when he was asked the question on a Cable News Network (CNN) programme anchored by Christiana Amanpour.


It was gathered that Obasanjo told Jonathan that rather than allow his candidacy to generate more tension, as it has been doing already, he should opt to be the running mate of any Northerner who emerges the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Based on an unwritten agreement, the PDP, on which platform Jonathan and President Umaru Yar’Adua were elected, has zoned the presidency to the North for eight years, beginning from 2007.


According to our source, Obasanjo was not specific in the choice of the candidate Jonathan should work with.
The source hinted that the new plan will make Jonathan continue as the vice-president till 2015 when the presidency will then return to the South, a time it is believed the Acting President should wait for.


Obasanjo reportedly told Jonathan in a telephone conversation that it is only then that the Acting President could be sure of a bloc vote from the North for his ambition.
But it could not be confirmed if Jonathan has agreed to the plan though he hinted in the CNN interview that he could continue as the vice-president in 2011.


Sources said this was also the position taken by some prominent political leaders from the North on the 2011 elections.
Sources told the Nigerian Compass that all prospective presidential candidates from the North have an unwritten agreement that once Jonathan indicates interest, he should be made the vice-presidential candidate for the election.


Among those said to have agreed to the agreement were former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd); former military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd); and the National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Gusau (rtd).
It was gathered that the thinking was that in the event that Yar’Aua could not continue in office as a result of his ill-health, any Northerner who wants to take over would do injustice to Jonathan by denying him a second term in office as the vice-president.


Though several politicians have been lobbying the Northern candidates, sources said the preference is still for Jonathan to emerge as the vice-president in order to be fair to him and also placate the people of the Niger Delta, especially those urging him to seek the office of the president.


It was learnt that some Northern leaders have already reached out to Jonathan on the need for him to accept the vice-presidency offer in 2011.
They were said to have told him that based on the unwritten agreement of the PDP as it relates to the presidency, Jonathan should settle for the position of the vice-president.
A source said, “There seems to be a twist in the crisis rocking the PDP.


“Obasanjo has told Jonathan to back down on his presidential ambition till 2015.
“The plan is to make Jonathan continue in office as the vice-president till 2015, when the presidency will be zoned back to the South.
“We do not know how Obasanjo came about this decision, whether he has some agreement with any Northern group or not.


“I cannot also tell whether Jonathan has agreed to the plan or not but the situation of things right now is that Obasanjo has told Jonathan to step down his presidential ambition.”
The source, who is a member of the PDP Reform Forum, which is rooting for Jonathan’s emergence as the PDP flag bearer in next year’s presidential election, further told the Nigerian Compass that there would be no let up in the campaign for the Acting President to contest.


The would-be Northern candidates, sources from two of the camps told the Nigerian Compass, have started building on this directive to have Jonathan as the vice-presidential candidate.


However, there are fears among those in the two camps that the in-fighting among politicians from the South-South could spell doom for anyone who opts for a candidate from that zone as vice-president.


A source said, “If for instance my boss should pick the Acting President, we still have to contend with the Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timi Sylva, with whom the Acting President has a rift.


“It is either the rift is settled or Sylva mobilises against the joint ticket Jonathan will be flying.
“The same thing goes for most states of the South-South.
“In Rivers, the governor is on the war path with his predecessor.


“In Edo, the governor is at loggerheads with the political heavyweights in the state.
“There is no South-South state where things are settled politically as we speak.


“So anyone looking in that direction has a lot of work to do in terms of settling issues among the stakeholders.”
Sources told the Nigerian Compass that owing to this development, the Northern candidates have started looking in the direction of the South-East and the South-West for possible running mates.


It was gathered that the Northern candidates are already considering a former president of the Senate from the South-East and two serving governors from the South-West.
Indeed, pressure is said to be more on Babangida as those angling for a shot at the vice-presidency from the South have been bombarding him with requests for the ticket.


Top on the list of those who have reached out to Babangida, most of the time subtly, are a former President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani; a former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili; Sylva; the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Bola Tinubu; and the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Barrister Godswill Akpabio.


The source said, “We have a deluge of serving and former state governors jostling to become the running mate to IBB (Babangida).


“They are mostly from the South-South.
“We are weighing our options on who we will pick as our running mate.
“And the consideration is to look for a candidate who will add tremendous electoral advantage to the ticket and not a political liability.”

http://www.compassnewspaper.com/NG/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46763:dont-contest-in-2011-obasanjo-tells-jonathan&catid=672:top-stories&Itemid=794

Things fall apart!. How on earth can such a thing happen in Nigeria and someone will not die as a result, or someone is divorced? Oyinbo dey craze sometimes.

It has even taken a new dimension, as they now waylay people on the express road. That is the current situation.

So long this news is from PUNCH Newspaper, it is fake. Ibori will never beg Jonathan. PUNCH is anti-Ibori, and that has been exhibited from the way they have been reporting Ibori's case. Let it be on at least 3 other newspapers, then I will believe.