Second Term Declaration: Obasanjo, IBB Shun Jonathan

President Jonathan and Vice President Sambo at the declaration.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, shunned President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration to contest in the forthcoming 2015 presidential election.

President Jonathan had on Tuesday, November 11, officially declared his intent to run for the 2015 presidential elections on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

Obasanjo and former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida were absent at the event, though both are members of the PDP.

Babaginda was one the presidential aspirants contesting alongside Jonathan in 2011 on the platform of the PDP but he lost to Jonathan.

Obasanjo was a former chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, who later resigned his position over some disagreements with the way he said the party was being handled.

There have been speculations that Obasanjo was not in support of Jonathan’s second term bid because of an alleged agreement between Jonathan and the leadership of PDP in 2011, that he would serve only one term.

In February, Obasanjo had said Jonathan promised not to serve beyond a single term during the 2011 election campaigns. However, the PDP had debunked his claims, stressing that President Goodluck Jonathan did not sign any agreement to serve for a single term in office.

Meanwhile, Jonathan’s self assessment at his declaration has been trailed with mixed reactions. A former President of the University of Port Harcourt Alumni Association, Mr. Peter Nwabuzor in his assessment of the current administration, said Jonathan had performed credibly well in spite of all the challenges facing the nation.

A former chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani,   said Nigerians could not be carried away by the list of achievements reeled out by the President.

“Nigerians are already used to this road; the road of leaders coming out to tell Nigerians about their achievements that are not seen. Leaders at state and local government levels during the period of elections come out to say a lot of things. We are used to it but we are not carried away by their claims,” he said.

Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, Mr.Eze Onyekwere rated the performance of the economy under Jonathan low.

“I will assess him as a student who want to get let my people go, which is about 40 per cent. We can afford to do more than two times as better as we are doing now in terms of uplifting the standards of living.

“He promised refineries he has not done that. We are still importing fuel and spending about a trillion naira in importing fuel and the electricity he promised is not there yet,” Onyekwere said.

In reaction to Jonathan’s declaration, the All Progressives Congress, APC had described it as insensitive.

Their criticism may be unconnected with the fact that Jonathan’s announcement was made just a day after Yobe bombing, which claimed nearly 50 lives of students.