President Goodluck Jonathan will breach the power rotation arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to contest for the office of President in 2011, his Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters Dr. Cairo Ojougboh said yesterday.
The PDP power rotation formula had provided that the South retains the presidency in 1999-2007 while it moves to the North for another 8 years.
With the president’s death, Ojougboh said Jonathan is not bound to respect any zoning agreement. He said, “Mr. President is a PDP President and he is member of PDP, and Mr. President will run under the PDP. It will not be the first time issues like this will happen. In America you will all recall when Richard Nixon left office and his Vice President took over and he eventually contested. Also when John F. Kennedy died, his Vice President took over and he equally contested.”
The President’s aide said Jonathan will not only contest but will win the 2011 presidential. He said, “Jonathan contesting and winning the election, in fact what I will call it is a renewal of mandate. It will deepen the peace in the Niger Delta. It will also serve to deepen our democracy.”
On the PDP zoning arrangement, Ojougboh said, “That is an internal matter within the PDP. PDP is a party, the party is an organ for the quest of power and in the organ there are many branches. There are some organs in the party so the party at the correct time will come together and resolve such issues. Let me tell you zoning or no zoning there is no moral justification for anybody to ask Jonathan not to run. That is one thing that is paramount in the mind of everybody.
“What offence has he committed that you will ask him not to run? What is the reason? Because of zoning? In any case the party will resolve that and I can assure you that it will be resolved in his interest.”
He said a popular consensus is building across the country for Jonathan to contest the presidency, saying “If you look generally, people across the South and the North of the country have been contributing freely on the issue and the general consensus is that he should contest. In fact the Constitution also allows him to contest.
However, later yesterday, Ojuogboh issued a statement saying he was misquoted. The statement reads: “Further to my interview earlier this morning, let me state that at no time did I say that Mr. President mandated me to say he will run in 2011. For the avoidance of doubt, I said the President can run if he so decides and that it will be unfair to ask him not to run. If he decides to run I will vote for him. All what I said is my personal belief as a private citizen with the right to freedom of expression.”
Jonathan’s spokesman Ima Niboro told Reuters yesterday that Ojuogboh was in no position to make any declaration on the president’s plans.