BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN— Defender of Democracy Group, DDG, a group in the Niger Delta, has said rather than attempting to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from running for a second term, Northern leaders should seek for a level-playing ground for all those interested in the 2015 Presidency.

President Goodluck Jonathan

In a statement in Benin, Edo State, yesterday, by its Director-General, Mr. Ejoor Umukoro, the group said: “The issue of the President’s acclaimed agreement to do only one term is also laughable and spurious.

“Even former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, was once accused of reaching an agreement with some Northern elements not to seek re-election in 2003, which was why he had to persuade the then Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, sitting governors to support his re-election.

“I think Mr. President needs to learn how to nego-tiate on his terms, even if it means stooping low for now.
“But nobody must intimidate or harass him from exercising his fundamental human right.”

On the letter written to the President by Obasanjo, DDG said: “We smell a gang up against the President.

“Let Nigerians live. Let all be given equal treatment regardless of place of birth, or geographical origin.

“No particular ethnic group, North or South, is CEO of the nation. No particular person should decide who should be elected President or from which geographical region the President should come from.”