By Ishola Balogun and Ebun Sessou
The next general election is three years away but many are begining to draw inference on the line of argument of Mr President that he is still serving his first term. One Cyracus Njoku, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Abuja Municipal Area Council, had approached an Abuja High Court to stop Jonathan from contesting in 2015, alleging that he is running his second term in office.

Although the matter was adjourned till May 30, some powerful members of the party had waded in and are opting for an out of court settlement.  It is believed that his state of mind and by reading through his lips and watching the dance, the 2015 presidential election will be another history with Jonathan.

Saturday Vanguard sought the opinion of people on  whether Jonathan shouldrun in 2015 or not?

Some of those who responded to the question include the former head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, Senator Isa Kachako, Chekwas Okorie and Col Abubakar Umar amongst others.

The former head of state opined that despite the purported promise he made for a single term of office, the President has the right to contest if he decides to run for a second term.  He said: “He made a promise he was only going to do a single term but that was a long time ago. But things may change and he has the right to change his mind; and as the President who has to consider the interest of the country, he may choose to run again.”  He added that his decision to run again or not will also be influenced by public opinion and the feelings of Nigerians.

The former head of state however cautioned Nigerians against sectional interest, urging that they should eschew negative thinking and be more positive on issues affecting the country.

Gowon

Col Abubakar  Umar in his own submission said that since the issue of whether he is serving his first or second term of office is already before a court, we should wait till the court gives its ruling on that.  But he argued that the issue should not come to the front burner now because of the daunting security challenges facing the country at the moment.  “But for me, that is not the issue for now.  Right now, Nigeria is passing through a volatile period as a result of security challenges.  People are dying by the day.  So, why should we be concerned about the next president and who runs or not?”

He disagreed that the myraid of socio-political problems might not neccessarily be a leadership failure as some had reasoned.  He said that what is important now is to join hands together to find solution to the security challenges bedevilling the country where people are being killed on a daily basis.  “Instead of diverting the attention of government, all hands must be on deck to proffer solution to the security challenges in the country.”

On the agitation of a northern president in 2015, he stated that the president can come from any part of the country.  “What we need is a president that can deliver; he can come from any part of the country,” he said.

In his own opinion, Senator Kachako,  a third Republic senator and member of Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF and a PDP member from Kano State said whether the president decides to run or not, the stakeholders of the party have much influence on the party’s choice in the next election. “I believe it is the party’s stakeholders that will decide where and how the president will go.

Chekwas

When the time comes, the stakeholders will meet and agree on the candidate.  What kind of candidate are we looking for? Which area will he come from?  If they come to agree that he must come from the north, then which part of the north are we looking at? Is it Sokoto, Borno or Adamawa etc? If a decision is taken, then the party will then begin to campaign for him”

He noted that the agitation of one section of the country to produce the next president is selfish and sectional.  “What is happening now is the selfish and sectional interest of people calling for this or that.  If the stakeholders decide that Jonathan is the candidate, I don’t think any true party man will kick agaist it; and if the stakeholders say no, Jonathan should not contest, so be it.  It all rests on the shoulders of the party’s stakeholders,” he said.

He however suggested that opportunities should be given to every body who is eligible to contest.   “All the stakeholders must come together and agree to disagree on the way forward and how to save this nation.  Some people are desperately bidding for power and they are ready to forment trouble. So, it is not good to plunge the nation into trouble all because of one man’s presidential ambition.”

Chekwas Okorie did not mince words, he affirmed that the president has the right to contest for a second term and if he decides so, it is within his legitimate right to do so.  “The president feels it is his right as a Nigerian to contest for another term of office. I believe that he is serving his first term as President and if he decides to contest for the second term, he is entitled to that.”

On the purported agreement on one term of office, he said: “that does not concern somebody like me because I belong to the opposition. If  he is subjected to the primaries and he wins, nobody should begrudge him.  For us in the opposition, we will meet in the field.

“We have issues to present to Nigerians.  Whether he has done well or not to deserve another four years is a campaign issue.  For me, I won’t argue on what I believe clearly is his right,” he stated.

On the agitaion for a northern president, he said the South East is also agitating for the presidency, adding that it is the legitimate right of every zone to agitate for the plum job.

“It is their legitimate right to agitate. We in the South East are  also agitating.  The thing is that in ANPP and CPC, I don’t think anybody would expect less than northern presidential flagbearers, but for the PDP, because of its size and having been in government for a very long time, it becomes a different ball game.  You know they tried a consensus candidate against Jonathan and they failed woefully.  They can still go back to the drawing board and find out what they did not do correctly.”

Abubakar Umar

Okorie added that inspite of the agitation for a  president from the South East, it might not come under the platform of the PDP. He reasoned that the stakeholders of the party in the zone have not shown their readiness and capability to pick the party’s presidential ticket.

“In the South East here, the PDP big wigs  have not shown they are capable of winning the presidential ticket of PDP; they do not have the requisite number, they have also not built the trust across board to be able to win at the presidential primaries.  I don’t think that will come their way on  the PDP platform.”

According to him, “that does not rule out the prospect of an Igbo President from emerging in 2015. But certainly, the platform will not be PDP, the reason being that they will not even have the nomination let alone contesting,” he said.