The coast looks clear for President Goodluck Jonathan to emerge as the sole candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the party’s presidential primary slated for December 6, 2014.
On Wednesday night, the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) endorsed Jonathan’s sole candidacy at its meeting held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.
Earlier in the day the PDP Governors’ Forum chaired by Godswil Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, had also endorsed the President as the party’s sole candidate ahead of the primary.
Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, a former Minister of Information, Prof Jerry Gana, who was flanked by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu and BoT Secretary, Walid Jibril, said the BoT also approved the guidelines and timetable for primaries as proposed by the National Working Committee (NWC).
According to Gana, it was a unanimous decision of the members present to endorse the President as sole candidate.
Gana said, Governor Akpabio briefed BoT members that PDP governors had agreed that none of them would present himself for 2015 presidential contest.
He spoke further, “Hence, BoT was so informed today about this and that decision by the governors was fully endorsed in a motion by the BoT on its own.
He spoke further, “Hence, BoT was so informed today about this and that decision by the governors was fully endorsed in a motion by the BoT on its own.
“Having received that news, the BoT also unanimously resolved that because of the excellent work which Mr. President has done, because of the mature way he has been leading Nigeria, because of the humble and dedicated and pathetic way he has been handling very sensitive issues, the Board of Trustees is delighted, the Board of Trustees is convinced, the Board of Trustees is overwhelmed by the fact that we have a very impressive candidate.
“And therefore, the BoT also unanimously resolved that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan be the sole candidate of the party in the forth coming election.
“And therefore, the BoT also unanimously resolved that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan be the sole candidate of the party in the forth coming election.
“That was unanimously resolved with a standing ovation and the BoT is excited. I will like to take this opportunity to also say the BoT thanked the governors for their wisdom, for their maturity, for their love of the party and I want to emphasize, we asked the governors and they said all the PDP governors signed the document which is going to be presented to the president in another session”.
On the position of Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido who si perceived to be nursing presidential ambition and absent at the governors meeting, Gana said the BoT asked Governor Akpkabio who confirmed that Lamido “phoned him during the meeting and directed the deputy governor of Jigawa who attended the meeting to sign the document.
“In other words, he authorized the deputy governor to sign on his behalf, and therefore the answer to your question is that he too endorsed that decision. We asked the same question and that is the answer we got”.
On the position of Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido who si perceived to be nursing presidential ambition and absent at the governors meeting, Gana said the BoT asked Governor Akpkabio who confirmed that Lamido “phoned him during the meeting and directed the deputy governor of Jigawa who attended the meeting to sign the document.
“In other words, he authorized the deputy governor to sign on his behalf, and therefore the answer to your question is that he too endorsed that decision. We asked the same question and that is the answer we got”.
When asked why the ruling party had to jettison internal democracy, Deputy Senate President Ekweremadu said, “The name of our party is the Peoples Democratic Party. So, Democracy is part of us and we are very conscious of the need to have internal democracy in our party.
“But you must remember that consensus building is also part of democracy. For us in the PDP, we believe that the BoT is the conscience of the party.
“So, if the BoT has agreed to endorse Mr. President as the candidate of the party, what we are simply saying is that we are persuading every member of the party to accept that position.
“So, if the BoT has agreed to endorse Mr. President as the candidate of the party, what we are simply saying is that we are persuading every member of the party to accept that position.
“So, we are not going to force any person, but we are making a strong statement, we are persuading our people strongly to accept this position for the reasons earlier mentioned.
“It is also important for us to know that we need to reward hard work, we need to reward commitment, we need to reward achievement, and we need to reward performance.
“We are borrowing from other democracy, including the United States of America where a sitting President who has done so well is expected to be rewarded by his party with a ticket.
“We are borrowing from other democracy, including the United States of America where a sitting President who has done so well is expected to be rewarded by his party with a ticket.
“So, we are building a tradition which we hope that those who will come after us will be able to imbibe.
“This is also within the tenet of democracy, not only in Nigeria but in other parts of the world,” Ekwerenmadu justified
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