AHEAD of 2015 Presidential election, the
Presidency said that President Goodluck Jonathan
who is the sole Presidential candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP was ready for keen contest
with whoever emerges as the presidential candidates
of the All Progressives Congress, APC and other
opposition political parties.
President Goodluck Jonathan speaking at the 54th
Independence
Anniversary Interdenominational Church Service at
the National Christian Center, Abuja
Speaking yesterday in Abuja, the Special Adviser to
the President on Political Matters, Professor Rufai
Ahmed Alkali who explained that the President has
been preparing well ahead of the 2015 Presidential
election, stressed that the endorsement of the
President by the organs of PDP was designed to
strengthen democracy, contrary to impression by the
opposition.
Alkali who was reacting to barrage of criticisms that
have trailed the President’s adoption last week by the
National Executive Committee, NEC; Board of
Trustees, BoT; the National Assembly and the
governors, said that the adoption has also not closed
the contest for the 2015 Presidential election by other
political parties, adding that what the PDP did was to
affirm its maturity in political game based on its rich
experience of being in power for the past 16 years
and had thus succeeded in obviating internal
wrangling that usually trail internal electioneering
among members.
The Political Adviser who explained that the option of
consensus has not been strange in the politics of
Nigeria, said that all political parties at critical times
deploy the option, most especially when the need
arises for them to stay afloat.
He said, “looking critically at the turn of events in
PDP, it is trite to conjecture that the Party,
considering all critical elements, has succeeded in
demonstrating strength, unity and determination to
make the difference this time around while staving
off untoward possibilities.
“We should not forget that PDP having been in power
since 1999 remains the most experienced,
dependable, consistent and strongest with spread in
all nooks and crannies of the country.
“If it deploys such experience in putting its house in
order so as to excel in the coming general election,
the rest of Nigeria should rather applaud its
approach and tactics in politics. Moreover, there has
not been any complaint in any quarter from within on
the good option the PDP had taken.
According to him, the PDP resolved to encourage
President Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential
election against the backdrop that as a good product
with sterling performances to attest for his
leadership in the past three and half years he has
been in the saddle, the party cannot do away with a
winning president.
Alkali who urged Nigerians to begin to move away
from adversarial politics, said that the country has
been wasting good leaders over the years for no just
reason.
He added that “if efforts by PDP to represent
Jonathan for the 2015 poll should be applauded, the
need to show-case him as a performing leader and
the need to entrench continuity in the polity as done
in other climes should come into reckoning.”