After many months of keeping his re-election bid under wrap, President Goodluck
Jonathan today said he has the constitutional right to seek re-election in 2015.
He said this following reports which quoted the interim national chairman of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Bisi Akande, as asking him to forget his perceived
presidential ambition in 2015.
Jonathan who spoke through his media aide,Reuben Abati noted that he is currently
serving his first term, stressing that there is no law that forbids him from seeking a fresh
presidential term in the next general election.
Abati said, “President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has been elected into office on only
ONE previous occasion and he is therefore not statute-barred from running”.
He continued, “We have noted with dismay the continuation of efforts by leaders of the
opposition to promote themselves and their party through the irresponsible denigration
of President Goodluck Jonathan and the exalted Office of the President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. The interim national chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande sank
to a new low in this regard yesterday when he rudely and falsely described President
Jonathan as a “kindergarten” leader who treats national issues with levity.
Also, nothing else but gross ignorance and lack of consideration could have led Chief
Akande to refer to a President who, having served as deputy governor, governor, vice
president and president, has far more experience of governance at the highest level than
him and his preferred “candidates”, as a kindergarten leader. By his very unguarded and
intemperate outburst yesterday, Chief Akande exhibited not only an unbecoming lack
of respect for the person and office of the President of his country, but also a complete
disregard for the patriotic feelings of the millions of Nigerians who voted for President
Jonathan and who continue to appreciate his sincere efforts to positively transform
the nation. It is very sad and unfortunate that unbridled ambition for the office they
constantly impugn and denigrate has blinded Chief Akande and his
likes to the visible accomplishments of the Jonathan Presidency.
“Certainly, nothing else but a manic and unscrupulous quest for power could have led
them to make such accusations against a President who, who amongst other significant
achievements, has been praised for his handling of the insurgency in some parts of
Northern Nigeria where he has used a combination of diplomacy and targeted military
force to contain the security threat. Nothing else but the relentless pursuit of narrow
personal and sectional interests could lead them to make such claims about a President
under whose leadership Nigeria’s economy has been promoted from a low income
economy to a middle income economy by the World Bank and whose leadership has seen
the Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria increase at an annual rate of over 6% since he
took office.
“Finally, though President Jonathan has not indicated whether or not he is interested in
a second term, Chief Akande, who has taken stock of his party and seen that they have
no electable presidential material is already trying to be clever by half by claiming the
President is statute-barred from contesting in 2015 saying it will amount to a “third term”.
If this is the winning strategy of the APC, Chief Akande has every reason to panic
because the issue of eligibility for election into the office of the President has been
settled by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended which
provides as follows;
137. (1) A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if -(b) he
has been elected to such office at any two previous elections;
“It is clear that the APC is seeking to bait the Presidency to respond to it to achieve two
purposes. The first purpose is to get their name into the press and gain name recognition
for their party. How pathetic. The second and more important reason is to divert the
attention of the public from the festering feud between Muhammadu Buhari and Bola
Tinubu over the overriding ambition of the two men which is threatening to tear the new
contraption which is mistakenly referred to by the gullible as a party.
“To the discerning, it is only a matter of time before ambition sinks the APC boat. It is
only 2013 and already the big masquerades in the party are using undemocratic words
like “must”, “nobody can stop” and other military terms in discussing their presidential
ticket. Our advice to the APC is this: treat your party like a democratic association and
don’t mistake it for the Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) that someone used to force his
way to power.”
