President Jonathan Set To Meet CAN, NSCIA Over State Of The Nation

[TGD]

[attachimg=1] President Goodluck Jonathan will, as part of his ongoing nationwide consultations with various interest groups, meet with leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Warri and Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in Kaduna this weekend.

While the National President of CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, will tomorrow lead top officials of CAN to play host to President Jonathan in Warri, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Sa'ad III, will lead the NSCIA to a parley with the President on Sunday in Kaduna.

Confident of heading a new government in May 29, the President had last weekend begun a nationwide consultation with various interest groups with a view to hitting the ground running as soon as he is sworn-in. In the last few days, the President has met with some interest groups, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and members of the Nigerian entertainment industry as well as Nollywood.

As part of the dialogue, which is coming after state-by-state campaign tour of the 36 states by the President, he met with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on Tuesday in Abuja.

He had on Monday met with the motorcycle riders, popularly known as Okada riders, under the aegis of Amalgamated Commercial Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria (ACOMORAN) in Lagos.

In all the meetings, President Jonathan received endorsements from the various groups across the country for the 2011 presidency.

In the weeks ahead, President Jonathan is expected to meet other interest groups such as the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), among many others.

Meanwhile, Senate President David Mark urged the people of Benue State to vote  for Jonathan because he represents the salvation of minority ethnic groups in the nation.

Mark also advised the people of Benue South Senatorial District not to be deceived into opposition politics because it would not be in their interest as minority ethnic groups.

Speaking at his campaign for re-election at Ado Local Council of Benue South, Mark stated that there was no reason for the Benue people to vote the ACN because the chieftains of the party had the opportunity of transforming Benue State in eight years, but failed to utilise the resources at their disposal.

He said that Governor Gabriel Suswam has proved his capacity to develop the Benue South senatorial District, hence there was the need to support him win a second term.

Besides, the 85,000-strong indigenes of Akwa-Ibom State resident in Ondo State have pledged their support for the emergence of Dr. Jonathan as the President in next months poll.

During a visit to the Jonathan/Sambo campaign office in Akure where the coordinators of the campaign in the 18 local councils were inaugurated yesterday, spokesman of the Ondo Chapter of Akwa-Ibom Peoples Forum (AKPF), Umoh Nkereuwem Frank, said his people have not been fully integrated into the socio-economic space of the state despite their contributions to its growth.

According to Umoh, who led a sizable number of AKPF members to the campaign office where they were welcomed by the duo of the State Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Tayo Dairo and the State Coordinator of the Jonathan/Sambo Campaign Organization, Taofik Olawale Abdusalaam, "no past administration in this state ever recognized our value.

"We have been neglected, sidelined and even treated differently when it comes to benefits and sharing of the dividend of democracy in this state without minding the notable point that we are all registered here as voters to vote in Ondo and not in Akwa-Ibom, our motherland.

"Having experienced all these, we the AKPF members resolved that we should come to you and register our interest and affiliate to the mainstream of the structure of the campaign organization of the President and his deputy to see how we can join hands to work together."

Dairo expressed happiness about the decision of AKPF members and urged other ethnic groupings in the state to do the same "by publicly identifying with the noble cause of the Jonathan/Sambo team to revive Nigeria."

Abdusalaam, a former Speaker of the State Assembly, said "the fact that people across all cultural divides are expressing support for the Jonathan/Sambo ticket has shown that the President is a candidate of the whole country.

"His performance in office so far and his experience which is unprecedented in the history of leadership in this country have also placed him as the best candidate to fix the myriads of problems facing Nigeria as a nation."

Source: Jonathan to meet CAN, NSCIA over state of the nation