By Ise-Oluwa Ige

ABUJA—A serving member of the House of Representatives, Hon Bassey Etim, yesterday, begged President Jonathan Goodluck to contest the impending 2011 presidential election in the country, saying the pressure being mounted on him to respect the zoning policy of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and stay off the poll was unconstitutional.

Etim is representing Uyo, Nsit Atai, Uruan and Ibesikpo Asutan Federal Constituency at the lower chambers of the National Assembly.

He said a lot of things had gone wrong in the polity and that the zoning policy of the ruling PDP which has the capacity to bar, from the poll, eminently qualified Nigerians with in-depth understanding of the nation’s problems, would not help the nation.
He, however, warned yesterday that should President Jonathan Goodluck cave in to the pressures being mounted on him to stay off the presidential election, he said he (Jonathan) would not only have disappointed many Nigerians but that more Nigerians would find it difficult to forgive him for letting them down.

condemns zoning

His words: “I have read and listened carefully to the arguments for and against the need for President Jonathan Goodluck not to contest the impending 2011 presidential election in the country on the account that the zoning policy of the ruling PDP had given the presidential slot in the party to the North.
“I have also sat down to ruminate on the said arguments but I must confess that even though I am a staunch member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, I see no merit in the arguments of those citing zoning policy owing to the fact that the argument is alien to provisions of the nation’s constitution.
“Section 131 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) specifically provides: “a person shall be qualified for election to the office of the president if he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth; if he has attained the age of 40 years and if he has been educated up to at least school certificate level or its equivalent.
“President Jonathan Goodluck is not only eminently qualified to seek for the PDP’s sponsorship for the plum job of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria but also possessed additional qualifications like maturity and intellectual depth to handle the country.
“I know as a fact that the 1999 constitution did not provide that persons aspiring to become President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall emerge via zoning arrangement and I know that if there is any internal arrangement or policy by any of the registered political parties contrary to the provisions of the constitution, that arrangement shall be null and void, ab initio, to the extent of its inconsistency.

“I will want to conclude therefore that it is the constitutional right of President Jonathan to contest. If he contests, he has the capacity to win.”