At the end of a series of meetings, some governors of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party , PDP resolved to endorse President  Goodluck  Jonathan . Twenty one of them resolved to support the president’s  2011 presidential ambition.But there was no mention in the communiqué that it was a consensus of the PDP governors.Atiku Abubakar is the main challenger  in the forthcoming primaries.

The governors’ communiqué said:``At the emergency meeting of PDP governors held Thursday December 16, 2010 and having extensively on democratic practices the world over observed as follows:

`` Democratic systems all over the world recognize the principles of incumbency and continuity
`` Entrenched democratic culture persistent in presidential system and our constitution entitles our president to go for a second term which the PDP governors support.

`` The governors also recognize the Yar’Adua/Jonathan ticket and therefore hereby support President Goodluck Jonathan (GCFR) to contest the 2011 election as the PDP presidential candidate for a period of four years only.”

Those  who signed the communiqué were Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, Babangida Mu’azu Aliyu of Niger State, Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, Mohammed Goje of Gombe State and Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State.

There also  were the signatures of  Muritala Nyako of Adamawa State, Timi Sylva of Bayelsa State, Jonah Jang of Plateau State, Akwe Doma of Nasarawa State, Sani Danladi (deputy) of Taraba State, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi, Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna, Shaibu Usman of Kebbi State, Ibrahim Idris of Kogi, Aliyu Shinkafi of Zamfara, Gbenga Daniel of Ogun, Ada Okwuonu (deputy, Imo State) and Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State.

Signatures of six governors were missing  namely  Bukola Saraki (Kwara), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Martins Elechi (Ebonyi), Aliyu Wamako (Sokoto), Theodore Orji (Abia) and Sullivan Chime (Enugu).

The endorsement obviously comes as a ray of hope for the embattled president .But celebrating too soon may counter productive as there is no guarantee yet that a deal has been done .In fact, everything looks likes the legendary chimera. It  was ,for instance  also said at the briefing yesterday that presidential primaries will still hold, thus leaving the endorsement rather nebulous and non-descript.

A critical look at the governors present  indicates that not all of those who signed the ‘endorsement ‘ are known to  be genuine believers in the Jonathan 2011 ambition; so it may be deceptive for the president to take  the endorsement hook, line and sinker.There have been reports that the governors just succumbed so that they would be left alone ;but deep within ,they have their hidden agenda.

Perhaps , the resolution at Thursday’s NEC  meeting that the governorship primaries may come before the presidential primaries may be an indication that the governors may have succeeded in dribbling  Jonathan into playing their game so that they will in the final analysis vote who they truly choose during the presidential  primaries.In the same vein, the governors extracted a commitment from the president to only serve one term that will end in 2015.

Even more, the fact still remains that  from the North  to the East, some governors within the ruling party share the view that zoning should be upheld .Despite the intensive lobby of South west delegates by Jonathan, the Atiku forces are also said to be on the ground working round the clock..Some stakeholders from the East see the year  2015  time for Igbo president as irrevocable, and that appears to be their basis for supporting any candidate .

There is a still some reasonable time between now and the party primaries.It is better for  either side not  to simply assume that victory is assured yet.

Perhaps it is in realisation of the deeper meaning of what transpired yesterday that the former Vice President and presidential aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar  commended the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC) for resolving the crisis in the party in a manner likely to guarantee a
level playing field for all.

Atiku said that the approved guidelines for the 2011 primaries will go a long way  to restore confidence in the members and save the party from further divisions.A statement by the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organization quoted the former Vice-President as acknowledging that the PDP NEC has done well by standing firm
on the side of democracy and rule of law.“The governors have acted in a most creative and patriotic manner. I am particularly proud of the initiatives of Governors and the NEC of our party to enthrone internal democracy and set standard for decent democratic practice,” he said.