FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Saturday, informed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South West Zone that President Goodluck Jonathan will emerge the party’s candidate in 2011, despite the opposition from entrenched quarters.

Sources at the South West Zonal leaders meeting, which took place at the famous parliament building in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, told Sunday Tribune that Obasanjo, who is also the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party did a good job, trying to draw the support of the governors and party delegates at the meeting.

It was also gathered that, having secured the support of all the governors for the Jonathan Project, Chief Obasanjo informed the gathering that with the political indices on ground, there was no way the president will not win the ticket of the party because, head or tail, Jonathan is the most favoured aspirant.

Chief Obasanjo’s support for Jonathan came less than 24 hours after a newspaper, not Sunday Tribune, reported that the former president had dumped Jonathan for another candidate.

At the South West Zonal meeting, which had in attendance Governors Gbenga Daniel, Adebayo Alao-Akala, Segun Oni, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former governor Olusegun Agagu and the zonal leadership of the party led by its chairman, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, the candidacy of President Goodluck Jonathan was unanimously endorsed by party delegates.

It was also gathered that when the motion for the adoption of Jonathan was moved, a party member had sought to know why the zone was in a hurry to endorse the president who was yet to declare his intention.

Sunday Tribune reliably gathered that the trio of Chief Obasanjo, Gbenga Daniel and Olagunsoye Oyinlola were on hand to inform the delegates of the president’s intention to contest the presidential election in 2011.

According to the source, one of the governors, who had been rumoured to have sympathy for former military president Ibrahim Babangida, publicly stated that it was true he has a long standing relationship with General Babangida, but as far as the Jonathan project was concerned, he would go the way of his people in the South West.

At the end of the closed door meeting, which lasted close to three hours, the zone, in a communique signed by all the state governors, speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, BoT chairman, Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, the South west zonal chairman, Tajudeen Oladipo and the zonal woman leader, Mrs Oluwole, and read by the zonal chairman, stated that “having listened and collated the views of leaders in the zone among PDP and non PDP members, and having carefully analysed the aspirants based on their antecedents and ability to move the nation forward, decided to support the aspiration of President Jonathan.”

Earlier in his welcome address, Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State, who set the agenda for the meeting, charged party members from the zone to realise that the zone has always dictated the pace anytime critical and knotty political issues confronted the nation and this has remained the pattern since the beginning of representative governance in Nigeria in 1957.

He stated further that “as members of the largest party in Nigeria and indeed Africa, our deliberation and resolutions on the 2011 election are likely to determine which side of the divide the pendulum will swing particularly as it affects the highest office in the land.  Our desire must flow from our age long tradition of political maturity and must be a quality capable of waxing this nation stronger.”

In his speech, the zonal chairman of the party, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo said “today in our nation as a party, the subject of who becomes the presidential candidate of the PDP has become an issue, because it is sure that whosoever becomes the candidate is coasting home to becoming the next president of the nation.”

He stated further that “it was because of this that we now have an array of presidential aspirants on the platform of our party. I enjoin you all to look at these candidates and take a critical look at them so that our zone can pitch our tent with the right candidate.”

The decision taken by the South West stakeholders forum of the PDP to give total support to the presidency of Dr Goodluck Jonathan in the 2011 election has been described as the best and the most popular decision taken so far in the political turf of the South West, the Goodluck Support Group (GSG) declared on Saturday.

According to the group, “the Yorubas have again proven to be the most vibrant, focused and united race taking their pride of place as the hub of political development in Nigeria.

This was contained in a release jointly signed by Mr Dare Adeleke and Alhaji Kehinde Olaosebikan, Coordinator and Secretary of the group respectively in Oyo State.

There was also a mild drama outside the venue, when the Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin was smuggled out of the venue of the meeting by security operatives.

Some PDP women had strategically positioned themselves at the rear entrance of the parliament building apparently awaiting the senate leader to throw some largesse at them, but when it was not forthcoming, the women decided to boo him, and call him unprintable names.

Sensing danger, security operatives attached to the senator had to shield him from the women and guarded him to his car before the way was cleared for him to zoom off.

Why South-West preferred Jonathan to IBB

Speaking with Sunday Tribune after the end of the meeting were some principal officers of the PDP South-West executive who said President Jonathan was unanimously adopted as the choice of the zone in deference to the wish of the majority of the party leadership.

“The present reality on ground is that the other 30 states outside the South-West are divided between Jonathan and IBB.  The permutation is that, presently, Jonathan has support in 18 states, while IBB has a base in the remaining 12 states in the other zones.

“To be honest with you, the two contenders are both capable and they have strong followership. 

However, the permutation is that since Jonathan already has a strong support in 18 states, it will not be a wise decision to go for IBB, who has only 12 states in his kitty.  

“Giving IBB the six states in the South-West would lead to a stalemate as they will be having 18:18.  We, therefore, decided to go with the majority.

“As you can see, the leadership of the party in the zone, at the ward, local, state and federal levels unanimously agreed at the meeting today to endorse President Jonathan as the party’s candidate for the 2011 presidential election.

“This was done to ensure policy continuation, for the sake of the Nigerian nation and its people to avoid a situation whereby some strong forces and organisations in the South-West would work against the interest of the party in 2011.

“As we all know, poltiically, the zone is the strong base of the opposition and the fiery human rights groups we have in this country.  Both the opposition and the human rights groups have been the greatest critics (rightly or wrongly) of IBB, particularly, when he was the military president.

“It is also a known fact that they are yet to forgive IBB for his deeds when he was in power.  Therefore, we the PDP leaders in the South-West would not want to put our chances in jeopardy by supporting IBB.  Rather, it would be politically wise to give Jonathan the maxium support because he is not yet in the bad books of the opposition and the human rights groups,” he said.

The Ibori factor in Jonathan’s battle with govs

Despite the nationwide endorsements being enjoyed by President Jonathan over his yet to be declared presidential ambition, he still has a major hurdle to cross before his ambition receives the full support of the PDP governors.

Sunday Tribune reliably gathered from sources that the refusal of Jonathan and his backers to step down on the political persecution of former Delta State governor, James Ibori, who was a staunch supporter of late President Umaru Yar’Adua, may deny him the support of some of the governors in 2011.

According to the source, who pleaded anonymity, “whether we believe it or not, Ibori is a major player in national politics and his current incarceration in Dubai by  government agents in collaboration with foreign agencies on alleged corruption is seen as a political persecution by the Federal Government, because of the role the former governor played under the late Yar’Adua administration.”

It was also gathered that “So long as Ibori remains outside the shores of this country, majority of the people in Delta State and the Niger Delta in general will not buy the idea of Jonathan’s presidency in 2011.  The state is one of the states in the Niger Delta, whose support for Jonathan’s ambition cannot be guaranteed.”

It was gathered that, some governors, who have sympathy for Ibori, spoke of how the former governor assisted them, while his sojourn in Aso Rock lasted, have listed the withdrawal charges against Ibori by the Federal Government as his  return to the country as one of their conditions before they declare their support for Jonathan.

Sunday Tribune also learnt that though the president is aware of the hide and seek game, some governors have been playing on his ambiton. He was said to have confided in one of the principal officers of the National Assembly, that he would  be comfortable if he could secure the support of at least 10 PDP governors, a desire that was said not to have gone down well with the lawmaker who told him to move swiftly to secure the support of at least 15 governors.

Sources told Sunday Tribune that “some of the anti-Jonathan governors are currently in Dubai, strategising towards the 2011 election, while unconfirmed report has it that they have voted N1 billion each to persecute the presidential election if Jonathan failed to acede to their demands on Ibori.

Christians give Jonathan conditions

Concerned about the hoopla over the 2011 presidential race, the National Prayer Movement (NPM), on Saturday, gave conditions to back President Goodluck Jonathan if he eventually decides to contest.  

The demand is coming barely a week after the standard bearer of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari held a closed-door meeting with some Christian leaders in Lagos.

According to a statement by the General Secretary of National Prayer Movement (NPM), Mr Oluwagbemiga Olakunle,  the current spending spree of the government has to stop as it casts  a serious slur on the administration.

In a veiled reference to the controversy over the policy of zoning in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the movement expressed its readiness to support Jonathan so that he could complete the 2007 joint ticket between the North and the South-South if his party, PDP, realised that ruling Nigeria is not its birth right.

Part of the conditions is that the president must unequivocally promise to guarantee a free and fair poll as well as pledge not to manipulate the system so that he could remain in office beyond 2015, if elected in 2011.

“We support an arrangement that can enable President Goodluck Jonathan complete the remainder of Yar’Adua/Jonathan joint-ticket provided he is able to win in a free and fair election where every vote will count.

“His continued stay in power for the next four or five years may also further pacify the aggrieved or the marginalized South-South people where he hails from. But for goodness sake, Mr. President should not allow some greedy politicians to becloud his good sense of political judgment so that he does not betray the confidence that has been reposed in him by his kinsmen and indeed Nigerian masses.”

However, the NPM was irked by what it described as the current profligacy and insensitivity of government and its top functionaries to mass poverty in the country.

Citing an instance, the NPM queried the timing of the planned purchase of three new presidential jets, saying there were more pressing national matters bothering on the welfare of Nigerians.

Jonathan battles moles, enemies within

Unknown to many, President Goodluck Jonathan has been battling some unlikely foes since his assumption to the office as the Vice President in 2007. Unlike the usual enemies, however, Jonathan’s main battles have been the preponderance of moles and enemies within his innermost camp.

Sources close to the working of the government told Sunday Tribune that the president is now having more headaches about his closest aides, ministers and heads of parastatals, whose loyalty to his opponents is being proven  by the day.

Some sources close to the administration said that though the reports of incompetence, disloyalty and double agents had inundated the president’s table since his days as the nation’s number two man, some of the affected officials had been exploiting Jonathan’s reluctance to sack anyone working for him to perpetrate more damages.

Sources said that a particular minister had been fingered as a clog in the wheel of the fight against corruption and that he had done everything within his powers to slow down the corruption war. The  minister was also said to be working for one of the men in the presidential race.

At the political front, sources confided in  Sunday Tribune that President Jonathan’s strategies had been faltering because of  what was described as a string of wrong appointments, which he refused to correct.

A source said that one of the factors currently being used to divide the president’s loyalists in the National Assembly was the appointment of Chief Mike Oghiadomhe as Chief of Staff.

Some of the analysts said that Jonathan happened to be the first president to appoint a Chief of Staff from his geo-political zone.

Oghiadomhe was Deputy Governor of Edo State between 1999 and 2003.

Those who criticised the decision said Oghiadomhe as Chief of Staff made the presidency look like a South-South enclave.

Some sources said that the Chief of Staff only concentrated on narrow issues, whereas somebody in that position is supposed to have a clear view of what the president should do and what he should not.

“A close watcher said recently that the president needs to get people who understand what they are doing in strategic positions,” said a source close to the administration.

It was also gathered that governors, under the aegis of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) found it demeaning to take instructions from Oghiadomhe as Chief of Staff, thus making the president to get saddled with too much politics.

A source who has monitored the situation said that governors were particularly conscious of their status and would not do anything to demean themselves, “So they find it difficult to engage the Chief of Staff in political engineering, something that would have relieved a lot of burden from the president.”

In fact, a source said that to underscore the way serving governors felt about deputy governors, one of the governors used to refer to Jonathan  even while he was the Vice President as just the deputy to a former colleague (Alamieyeseigha).

The president is actually viewed as having two major political liabilities. One in the area of central co-ordination, and the other in one of his spokesmen.

A source said that while the aide should have told the world that the president had not signed the Electoral Act because it was not on his table at the time the electoral body raised the alarm, the aide merely begged the issue in his responses and helped in piling pressure on the president.

In fact, a publisher was said to have complained bitterly to the president’s ears about a perceived shabby treatment meted out to him by the said  official when he was in Abuja, while some senior editors who also interacted with the president also came out with one tale or the other.

Sources said that the perceived liabilities had ensured that the President’s overwhelming goodwill at the inception of his presidency on May 6, was gradually being eroded through the media activities of loyalists of former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, both of whom had formidable media teams.

Sources, who have monitored the system for sometime, also confided in the Sunday Tribune that the failure of strategic coordination at the presidency apparently led to the poor management of the zoning debate, especially the failure of a central figure to coordinate thoughts and align the activities of PDP leadership with that of the governors’ forum to the president’s advantage.

Sunday Tribune further gathered that the presidency never lacked reports about activities of different categories of officials but that many of the reports might not get to the president’s table due to activities of some double face agents.

“President Jonathan is a very calculating man, but the way he is being portrayed right now is like a man whose actions are not backed by strategic thinking. The activities of those you can call moles or enemies within appear to be dwarfing all the good intentions and there are many leakages. The president needs to plug those liabilities as we move closer to party primaries and conventions,” a source said in Abuja on Friday.

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