Edwin Clark
By Chuks Okocha
In an apparent reaction to the statement credited to the former
Minister of Information and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) Sunday said the call for President Goodluck
Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential election is diversionary,
explaining that it is not an issue for discussion at least for now.
The party said discussion on 2015 was the handiwork of the opposition
political parties to distract the President from his agenda of
transformation.
But reacting Sunday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa
Metuh, said what preoccupies the mind of President Goodluck Jonathan and
the PDP was how to deliver dividends of democracy to the people of
Nigeria.
According to Metuh, what the opposition political parties want at the
moment is for PDP to concentrate its efforts on 2015 and then distract
the President, adding, ‘’2015 is diversionary, we are not interested in
2015 now, we are more focused and to ensure that we deliver on our
promises to the electorate.
“Nigerians do not have to live from election to election and the issue
of election at the moment is secondary to us, we are very busy with
governance and how to improve on the present situation.
The National Working Committee, NWC that is led by Alhaji Bamanga
Tukur, was supporting President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that
dividends of democracy were provided for the people of Nigeria. The
opposition parties want us to focus on election and who will win or not
instead of democracy,” Metu said.
Clark while marking his 85th Birthday, said former President Shehu
Shagari, contested the presidential election in 1979 and won and in
1983, he contest for the second term in office before he was ousted by
the military led former General Muhammadu Buhari.
He also said: “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo contested for the
presidential election in 1999 and won and later contested for the second
term in office in 2003 and won”, asking why the case should be
different for President Jonathan.
Accordingly, he said: “Jonathan is a Nigerian. Nigerians voted for him
beyond religious and cultural differences. What we should be asking is
that he should perform as President in office. If he performs well, the
same Nigerians should vote for him he has another term.”
Beyond that, Clark said section 137 of the 1999 constitution permits President Jonathan has the constitutional right to seek for a second term in office. I am not aware whether he made any commitment to contest for only one term to Nigerians which is irrelevant at the moment. Personal promises cannot override the constitution of Nigeria
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