Jonathan considers May 29 for declaration

Barring all unforeseen circumstances, President Goodluck Jonathan will declare his second term ambition in his national broadcast to celebrate the Democracy Day on May 29 when he will officially be three years as elected president, LEADERSHIP can now authoritatively report. There has been a lot of pressure on the president from his supporters, kinsmen, aides and some powerful businessmen to declare, but he has been consistently telling them the time to do that has not come. During the zonal rallies organized in the south-east, most of the speakers there were literally pushing him to speak his mind on the 2015 presidential poll but the Senate president, David Mark, told them that the president would soon gladden their hearts at the appropriate time. Also during the last “Presidential Media Chat”, when one of the interviewers asked him when he would make his position known, Jonathan argued that the question should go to the All Progressives Congress (APC) that seeks to take power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But speaking with LEADERSHIP at the weekend, a source disclosed that Jonathan has made up his mind to seek the second term mandate from Nigerians and that this would be made known in his national broadcast on May 29. “President Jonathan has been consulting with many stakeholders in the last few months on the 2015 presidential poll, and the long and short of the story is, he will seek the second term mandate from Nigerians and this will be made known in his May 29 broadcast to the nation to commemorate the Democracy Day,” he said. “It is an open secret that some of the bombing and explosions you are hearing are distractions aimed at stopping the transformation agenda of the president but … President Jonathan and his team strongly believe that if, despite these distractions, the government could record landmarks in railway, road, airports, job creation, economic growth, health and international recognition of Nigeria in the comity of nations, then, the president should go ahead with his second term dream.” According to the timetable, the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled to hold on February 14, 2015, will precede elections into the state houses of Assembly as well as all but four of the 36 states of the federation. The Anambra State governorship elections was held on November 16, 2013, while the governorship elections for Ekiti and Osun tates have been slated to hold on June 21 and August 9, 2014, respectively.[LEADERSHIP]