Jonathan bans 2015 moves

[DT]

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday told politicians planning to stand for elections in 2015 to stop holding strategy meetings for now because their actions are distracting present office holders.  The President, who was speaking at the opening of the PDP national executive committee meeting in Abuja, warned that officials in his government would be fired if they are found to be involved in meetings to plan for the next general elections.

"Let me plead with us that....those who are interested in the general elections in 2015, I have noticed that some people have just started some meetings, it is too early to hold meetings. It is too early to hold meetings," he said

"INEC normally declares it open. The idea is that people who were elected into offices as governors and President be given sometime to work. In a situation whereby a governor has not even stayed for a year, the President has not stayed for a year, you started harassing people for 2015 is another way of saying everything is election. There must be time to work.

"At the federal level if you are holding a political office and I notice that you are involved in meetings for 2015 election, I will ask you to leave and go and hold your meetings, because that meeting is too early.

"Government must not be distracted. Nigerians are interested on what we put on ground for them, not how many elections we conduct and we win."

Ahead of the 2015 elections, there are politicians who are believed to have already started planning towards contesting for certain offices.

Some governors want to vie for president, while there are senators and ministers angling to be governors.

Jonathan himself is believed to be interested in standing for a second term even though he had made statements ahead of the 2011 elections to the effect that he was going for a single term only. At least one of the groups that campaigned for him in the previous election, Neighbour to Neighbour, is still very active, mobilising support for his policies especially petrol subsidy removal.

Yesterday's 58th emergency meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party's NEC was convened to ratify dates for the congresses and convention that would lead to the emergence of a new set of leadership for the ruling party.

The national convention to select national officers is scheduled for March 24, while the tenure of the present set of officers due to expire on March 8 has been extended to the end of the month.

PDP national publicity secretary Rufai Ahmed Alkali, who announced the NEC resolutions to journalists, said ward congresses would hold on March 3; local government area congresses on March 10; state congresses on March 17; and zonal congresses on March 21.

Processes of handover to new officers at all levels are to hold between March 26 and 31, while aggrieved aspirants at various congresses could appeal within 48 hours after each congress.

Alkali said earlier arrangements to hold the congresses this month were postponed because of the Supreme Court ruling on tenure of five governors and the consequent governorship elections in four of those states.

NEC mandated the National Working Committee of the party to constitute national convention and congresses planning committees to oversee the exercises.

A regular meeting of the national executive committee has been scheduled to hold on Wednesday next week.

Earlier, Jonathan said ahead of the congresses and convention, stakeholders "must insist that people are elected democratically" and should "begin to move away from the culture of imposition."

He urged party leadership to insist on discipline, saying "irrespective of our status in the society and for whatever offices we are holding, if the party doesn't have the courage to discipline its members, of course some people will begin to behave as if they contested elections as independent candidates."

"I plead that the unity of the party and the cooperation of all of us is paramount and we should not fight ourselves because it will not translate to dividend of democracy, because for PDP to be regarded as a party that has succeeded that means that the governors will perform, the President and the states will perform. What we want are roads, good roads, health facilities, power and so on, not people wearing boxing gloves and doing shadow boxing in different forms," he added.

DailyTrust

[emezico]

It is obvious that 95% of Nigerian politicians pay lip service to the nation. It is ridiculous that some politicians are already planning about 2015 general elections, when the nation is crisis.

Instead of conducting meeting that would solve Boko Haram  and other crisis facing the nation, they are thinking of their personal interests. It's a shame!