* Ahead of his declaration

By Jide Ajani, Deputy Editor

President Goodluck Jonathan appears to be winning the battle for the support of the majority of the state governors following what one of them called the president’s “reassessment of the basis of his engagement with the governors.”

The governors’ support is crucial in getting delegates’ votes during the presidential primaries and only a few days ago, the President appointed six of them as his zonal campaign co-ordinators ahead of his declaration later this month.

They are: Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State for North-West; Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State for North-East; Gabriel Suswan of Benue State for North Central; Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State for South-West; Liyel Imoke of Cross River for South-South and Martin Elechi of Ebonyi for South East.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that in the last few weeks, the President has had to work extra hard, sometimes sending emissaries to the geo-political zones to help in securing the necessary support.

One of the governors described the pressure on them as gargantuan.

“What people are seeing today as a possible paradigm shift on the part of the state governors did not just happen over night; it is the result of weeks of intense negotiations”, the governor said.

“People must understand that when the President, Commander-in-Chief of a country declares his interest in a matter, especially one that he is constitutionally empowered to so do, it would be foolhardy to attempt to stand in his way. You do not do that because apart from that action being termed as a sign of disrespect, it is also capable of creating problems in the polity. This is a very young democracy and we must all avoid acts that are capable of destroying what we are trying to build. It is about sacrifices”.

Asked why it had taken so long for President Jonathan to build the consensus that he appears to be enjoying now, the state governor chuckled and said: “as if you don’t know!

“It is about getting other people to buy into your vision. It came late but it has come”, he said, adding,
“things are much clearer and different now from what it was three, four weeks ago”.

The President, he added, was able to “re-assess the basis of his engagement with the state governors and it seems all is working well now”.

Sunday Vanguard was informed that four weeks ago, President Jonathan had sent emissaries out to the geo-political zones to help secure the royal blessings of respected royal fathers.

Particularly, just before the South West PDP endorsement of Jonathan, “a team had been charged with the responsibility of prevailing on some monarchs in the country to persuade leaders of thought in some of the zones who were then mandated to further prevail on their state governors to work with President Jonathan.

“Specifically in the South West, some of the obas were met by the delegation from President Jonathan”, ostensibly to prepare grounds for the South West rally.

Sunday Vanguard was told that all these coalesced to create the present paradigm shift, which is positive for Jonathan.

However, there are still some state governors who have just refused to shift with the paradigm.
One of the reasons given for this disposition, Sunday Vanguard was made to understand, is the image issue.

“Some of the governors who seem not to want to join the camp of President Jonathan have their reasons, some genuine while some are just manifestly petty.

Some of the governors, it was gathered, want President Jonathan to become “all-embracing in his world view lest he falls into the same type of problem late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua fell into with the so-called Katsina Mafia.

But a source in the Presidency said that “could just be a negative stereotype being slapped on President Jonathan”. The source however, acknowledged that some supporters were “being overzealous”.

On pettiness, Sunday Vanguard was told that “some of the governors are yet to come to terms with the fact that this same Jonathan that “they used to know as a deputy governor and then governor and who was not particularly regarded has suddenly become President, Commander-in-Chief”.