President
Goodluck Jonathan has begged to be left alone to focus on delivering on
his political promises to Nigerians,instead of being drawn into alleged
2015 moves.
In a statement today, his spokesman, Dr. Reuben
Abati, refuted a newspaper report that a 21-member committee has been
set up towards Jonathan’s 2015 campaign, saying that Mr. Jonathan has
not yet taken a decision on whether or not he will seek re-election in
2015 and has therefore not mandated any individual, committee or
organisation to start working on his behalf for the 2015 elections.
“President
Jonathan’s stated wish to be left alone to focus on delivering on his
promise of good governance and national transformation without
unnecessary distractions should be respected,” the statement said.
“Political
jobbers and their collaborators in the media should stop heating up the
polity with baseless speculations and falsehoods revolving around
imaginary plans and schemes by the Presidency for the 2015 elections.”
It
will be recalled that at the presentation of the “PDP Women-In-Power
2013 Calendar” in Abuja on February 21, the PDP National Women’s Leader
and member of the National Working Committee (NWC), Mrs. Kema Chikwe,
openly said that Mr. Jonathan would return as President in 2015.
“We
are even more confident that when President Goodluck Jonathan returns
in 2015, women would be talking about 50 per cent and not 35 per cent,”
she said. “As we give him unequivocal, undiluted, unresolved and
unlimited support and as we march with him to 2015, PDP women will reach
the promised land,” she said.
Mr. Jonathan did not contradict that statement, and Abati did not issue a bloated refutal.
Today’s
statement by the Jonathan spokesman is the first time Mr. Jonathan has
referred to his electoral promises, which ran in the hundreds, since he
was elected. Political observers believe that his failure to address
those promises poses the biggest obstacle to any dreams Jonathan has
about being reelected, even if he were to run.
“Ambition don
begin jam reality,” commented an analyst when contacted by
SaharaReporters, “I mean, reality don begin jam ambition!”
Full text of the press statement by ReubenAbati:
“In
spite of clear and unambiguous pronouncements by President Goodluck
Jonathan that he remains fully focused on the implementation of his
Administration’s agenda for national transformation and not the politics
of future elections, the Presidency has noted with concern that some
individuals, groups, organisations and sections of the media have
continued to foster the myth of a President and Administration solely
concerned with jostling and self-positioning for the 2015 elections.
“On
Monday, April 15, 2013, ThisDay newspaper published a front page news
story titled “21-member C’ttee Empanelled for Jonathan’s Second Term
Bid” wherein it was stated, inter alia, that “the president’s aides and
associates have set up a 21-member committee to advise (President)
Jonathan on the viability of his entry into the presidential contest in
2015”. The impression is further created that a group known as “We, the
people” has its roots in the Presidency and that the 2015 campaign has
now become the main preoccupation of the Presidency.
“This is
totally untrue and without any basis in reality. As he has truthfully
declared on several occasions, President Jonathan has not yet taken a
decision on whether or not he will seek re-election in 2015 and has
therefore not mandated any individual, committee or organisation to
start working on his behalf for the 2015 elections.
“President
Jonathan’s stated wish to be left alone to focus on delivering on his
promise of good governance and national transformation without
unnecessary distractions should be respected. Political jobbers and
their collaborators in the media should stop heating up the polity with
baseless speculations and falsehoods revolving around imaginary plans
and schemes by the Presidency for the 2015 elections.
“The
Presidency has also observed what seems to be an emerging trend whereby
persons with their eyes fixated on political opportunities in future
elections are beginning to use President Goodluck Jonathan’s name to
promote themselves and their vaulting ambitions. It was clearly in this
regard that some unscrupulous persons began to print 2015 campaign
posters with President Jonathan’s photograph whereas the Independent
National Electoral Commission is yet to announce the commencement of
campaigns and political parties are yet to conduct any primaries for the
selection of candidates.
“Perhaps the most audacious
illustration of this trend and resort to mischief and opportunism is
represented by an advertorial which appeared at page 14 of the Saturday
Vanguard of April 13, 2013 signed by one OBITEX Industrial and
Investment Company Limited. The colour advert shows President Jonathan
purportedly raising the hand of Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo, under the
umbrella of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with the unmistakable
suggestion that the President has endorsed Nze Nwankpo as the PDP
Gubernatorial candidate for Anambra state. The advertiser claims as
follows: “As Mr. President, His Excellency Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan
has symbolically raise(sic) up your hand, so you have been chosen by the
God Almighty to be the Governor of Anambra State come 2014.” It is
instructive that the so-called raising of hand is represented through an
artist’s sketch, and not a photograph with verifiable, empirical value.
“For
the benefit of the unwary, the Presidency emphatically states that
President Jonathan has not endorsed any candidate for any position
whatsoever ahead of the 2015 general elections neither has he
commissioned persons to start campaigns for his own candidature.
“As
a leader who respects the rule of law, President Jonathan respects the
fact that there are laid down procedures, defined by INEC and the
political parties, for the selection of candidates for any election. As a
law abiding citizen, President Jonathan will not engage in any act,
symbolic or direct, that runs counter to laid-down procedures. As a
loyal party man, he will equally not do anything that will amount to the
usurpation of the party’s structures and powers to conduct primaries
and choose candidates for elections.
“We therefore disown the
claims and allegations of Presidential endorsements or the commencement
of 2015 campaigns. The general public and affected stakeholders are
advised to be wary of the kind of opportunism, misrepresentation and
mischief that usually arise ahead of elections in general.
“The
Presidency seizes this opportunity to warn all 2015 political office
seekers, and their sponsors, friends or collaborators, to desist from
unconscionable exploitation of President Jonathan’s name in the service
of jaded antics of self-aggrandisement, promotion and positioning
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