Is President Goodluck Jonathan afraid of an election?
That was the question yesterday as one of his aides
spoke on the March 28 poll.
The poll, he said, is beyond the presidential
candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan
and the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
Speaking with reporters in Abuja, Senior Special
Assistant to President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, said the elections
are about the stability of the country.
Urging the North to wait for the 2019 Presidency, he
said when Jonathan completes his second term, the region would have what he
described as an “unequivocal” and “indisputable” opportunity to rule for eight
years.
According to him, the Yoruba are no longer causing
trouble because their son has been allowed to rule Nigeria for eight years.
“Why can we not concede this remaining four years?” he
queried.
He also said the North had always been the Nigeria's
political stabilising group.
Said Okupe: “The North, since independence, has been
the political stabilising group in this country. The North is far more advanced
than any section of this country in terms of politics and political leadership.
When MKO died and civilian politics was brought back for us to vote, the North
sat down and met and decided that because of the injustice done to the Yoruba
people, the Yoruba must present the next president at that time.”
“And they called this nation to accept and buy into a
national consensus to patronise Yoruba people. And that had a salutary effect
on the political stability of this country. That is the role the North has
always played in the politics of Nigeria.”
“The consideration and implication of the 2015 general
elections for this country go beyond Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari. It
is beyond both of them. It is about stability of this country. And both the
North and the South have always given concessionary consideration to each
other. When we went for independence, the North was not ready; the South
waited.”
“In 1958, the colonial masters had agreed to give
Nigeria independence, but the North said they were not ready. Nnamdi Azikwe,
Chief Obafemi Awolowo and other southern leadership conceded. They agreed and
said they would wait for their brothers.
So, we did not start the concession for peace just now.”
“We have always tried to balance the polity and
not create problems in this country. Now, Goodluck Jonathan comes from an area
that, in perpetuity, has always been the strongest ally of the North.”
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