Indicating his preference for a coalition federal government, Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, on Wednesday held a consultative meeting with the leaders of major political parties in Nigeria, enlisting their support towards the implementation of his government’s transformation agenda. President Jonathan said during the opening remarks at the meeting, held at the Banquet Hall of Presidential Villa in Abuja, the Nigerian capital city, that despite their political differences, Nigerians expected that they worked together to ensure the delivery of the dividends of democracy. He told the political leaders: ‘I am not going to play politics of discrimination. Lets cooperate for the interest of our people. Our interests are the same.’
President Jonathan told the meeting that the successful conduct of the April general elections had placed more responsibilities on Nigeria both on the continental and international levels, especially the quest of Africa to occupy a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), noting that “if we have a stable polity, our leadership role will increase and our citizens status will increase. The party of Mr. President cannot do it alone.”
He thanked the political leaders for the various roles they played in the democratic process, saying that “those of us who won elections wouldn’t have won without you leaders. You gave us the positions. You are the King makers.”
According to the President, ‘no matter who is the President, no matter who is the governor what Nigerians are interested in is to have food on the table, there should be infrastructure, there should be security and there should be good governance. And I know that the ruling party alone cannot make this possible.
‘For me to succeed to give Nigerians what they want, we must run a stable government. It needs the cooperation of all the political parties, all the leaders.
‘That is why I called you to assure you that I will run a Nigerian government. I am not going to play politics of discrimination. I want to plead with you that I will not want to run a government of opposition party or main party. I want us to collectively run a Nigerian government. A government that will take the interest of the country at heart and work towards solving our problems, the problems that are dear to our people.
‘As your members of parliament will be inaugurated next week Monday or Tuesday, I want you to impress it on them that they are coming to work for Nigeria, not necessarily for Goodluck Jonathan. Let us cooperate and work for the interest of this country.
‘Along the line, there will be differences but the President is not God and I believe we can always be able to resolve our differences without acrimony, without rancour. And I believe that is the best way we can run the country.
‘We are now talking about two countries representing Africa on the UN Security Council and people are looking forward to Nigeria because of the political crisis in Egypt.”
At the end of the meeting, Chief Bola Tinubu, leader of the ACN, told journalists that the parties would cooperate with President Jonathan as “opposition is not all about axe, cutlasses and dane guns. We did not come here to eliminate opposition. And I am speaking for my own party and not for any other party.
‘If the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria invites you, then what he really wants is a constructive opposition. However, that does not stop you from opposing any bad government.”
The meeting was attended by leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The only major political party absent at the parley was the Congress for Progress Change (CPC) as their seats remained vacant throughout the duration of the meeting. Their candidate in the presidential election, retired General Muhammadu Buhari, has said he will challenge Jonathan’s victory in court.
Shortly after Jonathan’s victory, youths, believed to be Buhari’s supporters, went on rampage across the northern states, killing people and causing extensive damages.