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Acting President Goodluck
Jonathan (left) and Benin Republic
President, Boni Yayi, at State House,
Abuja ... on Thursday.
Photo:Tunde Olaniyi.
The drum
beat is sounding louder for Acting
President Goodluck Jonathan to go the
whole hog and run for President next
year.
Former
President Olusegun Obasanjo raised the
ante on Thursday; arguing across the
Atlantic in Washington that the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) never zoned the
Presidency to any region.
“The
President can come from any part of the
country, and nothing in the
Constitution says he must come from a
certain part of the country,” he told
the Voice of America.
He
reiterated that Acting President
Goodluck Jonathan “says he wants to
focus on moving the country forward,”
and “I think Nigerians should support
him to do that. The decision to run or
not is his to make.
“He
should not be distracted from the huge
task he is faced with.”
Until
now, what was bandied about was the
agreement in the PDP, which is not in
the Nigerian Constitution, that the
Presidency and principal posts in the
National Assembly (NASS) should rotate
between the North and South.
Particularly, going by the deal, the
Presidency will rotate between the North
and South every eight years, on the back
of the two-tenure term Obasanjo, a
Southerner, served in the Villa from
1999 to 2007.
Umaru
Yar’Adua, from the North, took over as
President on May 27, 2007, but has since
November 23, 2009 got off the stage
through ill health, paving the way for
Jonathan to be in charge, albeit in an
acting capacity.
The
crisis in the PDP is expected, Obasanjo
clarified, because of the different
personalities of its officials and
members.
Obasanjo,
who visited Washington on a private
business, also credited himself with
“the democratic progress” made by
Nigeria since he left office.
“(Jonathan) is from a minority tribe
(from the South South) and the number
three citizen, the Senate President
(David Mark), is from a minority tribe
from the Middle Belt.
“Ordinarily these ethnic groups may not
have been able to produce such senior
elected officials if it were not for
the democratic decisions I took,” he
stressed.
To him,
insecurity, especially armed robbery,
kidnapping, and violence are not
peculiar to Nigeria.
“Other
countries have their own problems, the
killings in Jos is not religious or
ethnic, as people want the world to
believe. It is just borne out of
frustration because of poverty and
disagreement over land.”
Obasanjo
again defended picking ailing Yar’Adua
to succeed him, but admitted he may not
have done a thorough background check
on him when he was Katsina State
Governor.
“I saw
Umoru through the prism of his elder
brother, Shehu, who was a close friend
and loyal officer. If he had lived, he
would have been my Vice President
because we were very close.”
He said
Yar’Adua has the temperament and
vision to be President but that he had
no idea his health could not withstand
the rigors of the job.
“The job
of President is very rigorous,
especially in a country like Nigeria. I
received assurances from at least
three medical experts who said although
he has had dialysis, his health was
strong enough to perform his duties.”
Obasanjo
criticised those who said he actively
sought a third term while in office.
“I never
wanted a third term in office. As an
officer, I gave my word on two terms. I
handed over power to Shehu Shagari (in
1979), contrary to the advice of several
African Heads of State, so there was no
way I could have worked for a third
term.
“There is
still life after the Presidency.”
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