Jonathan to declare for re-election Nov 11

Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s president, will formally declare his intention to contest the 2015 presidential election on Tuesday, November 11, 2014.

Dr. Haliru Bello, the chairman of the presidential declaration committee, made the announcement on Friday but said the venue of the declaration had still not been decided.

Jerry Gana, a professor and head of the campaign fundraising committee, will organise a fundraising dinner on the same date of the president’s declaration.

Bello, who spoke with journalists at the State House after the inaugural meeting of his committee at the Banquet Hall of the presidential villa, said his committee was saddled with the task of organising a platform for the president to meet Nigerians and announce his response to various calls for him to declare his interest in the presidential election.

“The president has not said anything yet, but it is like all Nigerians have called on him. It is our honest hope that he will come out and say yes to the demand of multitude of Nigerians,” he said.

“We expect he will say yes but we cannot say yes for him. We will wait for him to speak. The date that was fixed is Tuesday, November 11. On that day, there will be a forum for the president to meet Nigerians to announce his decision.

“If he says yes, it will be yes. If he says no, then it is negative. But you are aware that our party, the PDP in all its organs, from the caucus to the Board of Trustees, National Working Committee (NWC) had decided that President Jonathan should be given the first option of refusal with thePDP ticket.”

He explained that should the president decide to contest, PDP would give him preference, as it is satisfied with the president’s performance in office.

“It is only when he declines that we can look at any other contestant,” he said.

Some of the subcommittees created during the inaugural meeting were on venue and decoration, secretariat, media and publicity, security, protocol and mobilisation.

Governors present at the inaugural meeting representing zones were Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Theodore Orji (Abia), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo) and Ibrahim Shema (Katsina).