The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) weekend made overtures to the Acting President Goodluck Jonathan after it had declared Jonathan could not contest next year's general election. At the end of the meeting of governors of the party in Abuja two weeks ago, chairman of the party Vincent Ogbulafor, announced that the party would not re-zone the presidential ticket from the north and declared that Jonathan would not be its candidate.
Sources disclosed that the statement jolted Jonathan because he was not informed as acting leader of the party in the absence of ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua. The announcement by Ogbulafor, though not ratified by the national executive committee of the party, was said to have been the result of coercing of the governors in an attempt to rattle and weaken Jonathan as acting president.
It was learnt that the leadership of the party realised the fundamental error and hurriedly arranged the meeting of the caucus of the party which met with Jonathan at the Presidential Villa last Thursday. It was learnt that the party leadership formally apologised to Jonathan for the error of coming out to announce that he would not run before consulting him.
At the meeting, according to sources, the party leadership agreed to throw open the race for the presidential race for candidates from the north and that unlike in 2007 when governors produced both the presidential candidate and running mate, the governors would not have automatic ride this time. A source said "any governor wanting to contest the presidential race will have to slug it out with other members from the three zones and no governor will be given any preferential treatment like it happened under Obasanjo".
The decision to sidetrack the governors was said not to have gone down well with the governors who have been permuting how their colleagues would emerge. A source said "the party will look for a credible and powerful candidate with commanding authority; we need a candidate that can whip members into line when it matters and who can look at the leaders on the face".
It was further learnt that what had further emboldened the acting president was the successful conduct of the rally organized by the Save Nigeria Group (SNG). It was learnt that a governor from the south south had organised a mob to disrupt the rally and cause confusion on the day of the rally but the plot was thwarted by the insistence and strategies put in place by the Inspector General of Police Ogbonnaya Onovo.
Source: 2011: PDP placates Jonathan (http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9250:2011-pdp-placates-jonathan&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18)