There are strong indications that some loyalists of President Goodluck Jonathan have commenced strategic moves aimed at ensuring that the president does well in the South-West zone if he decides to contest the 2015 election.
Investigations by Sunday Tribune confirmed that the moves afoot are multifaceted as they involve both loyalists of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
It was gathered that while some PDP chieftains are seeking to formalise the arrangement struck with the main opposition party in the zone, ACN, ahead of the 2011 election, which was believed to have facilitated Jonathan’s victory in the zone, some loyalists of the ACN are also said to be in favour of an agreement with Jonathan so long as it could “guarantee certain things.”
The development is said to be threatening the ongoing alliance talks between the ACN and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), led by General Muhammadu Buhari.
A source said that one of the targets of the agreement being sought by the ACN loyalists is to ensure that the government does not use its weight against them in any form.
A delegation of the loyalists of the ACN was said to have reached out to the president during a visit to France earlier in the year.
Findings by Sunday Tribune showed that leaders of the CPC are developing cold feet due to persisting reports that the ACN might revive its 2011 alliance with president Jonathan which accounted for the victory of the PDP at the presidential polls across the South-West.
While both sides had consistently denied existence of such alliance in the last elections, Sunday Tribune was told that ahead of the 2015 polls, the possibility of both sides reviving the unconfirmed alliance is high, due to realignment of forces within the PDP.
It was learnt that the South-West wing of the PDP is not happy with President Jonathan, due to alleged marginalisation of the zone in the distribution of public offices. This complaint has now been compounded by alleged rift between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Jonathan.
It was learnt that part of the complaints of South-West PDP is that the chapter is receiving no assistance from the centre to combat the ruling ACN, a posture some South-West leaders attributed to the fallouts of the alleged 2011 pact.
As the South-West PDP was reportedly grumbling over the alleged pact, the opposition partners are said to be even more worried as there are unconfirmed reports that the forces behind the 2011 alliance have been recalled to revive it.
According to reports available to Sunday Tribune, some strategists within the Presidency have concluded that Jonathan may not win the Presidency without massive votes from the South-West, a permutation said to have necessitated consideration of many options to address the challenge.
Those strategists are said to be reasoning that bloc votes from the three Southern zones with majority holding in the North-Central and a fraction from North-East and North-West would deliver second term Presidency to Jonathan. That prospect is believed to be impossible, if the CPC succeeds in forging merger arrangement with the ACN which controls the South-West.
It was gathered that a major strategy is to deny the opposition political forces in the North of South-West votes, a goal many of the strategists believe cannot be achieved without getting political lords of the South-West behind the Jonathan re-election ambition.
Findings showed that some president’s men believed the South-West PDP is already weakened and cannot deliver Yoruba votes for the president.
The rumour of a possible re-emergence of the alliance has reportedly filtered into the ears of Northern partners of the ACN who, while dismissing the reports as PDP propaganda, are also silently worrying about their fate in the political chess game of their South-West partners.
Checks among opposition leaders within the CPC showed that while there is a resolve to forge ahead with the merger talks, there are increasing suspicion as to the real intention of the ACN in relation to its alleged working relationship with President Jonathan.
Meanwhile, reports indicated that old allies of the president who have been in the sideline since 2011 are now being re-mobilised as the ruling party prepares for the 2015 race.
Reports indicated that this is a major assignment for the PDP chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
Sunday Tribune was told that many old associates of the president who were not compensated for their roles in the making of the Jonathan Presidency are now being enlisted with many of them likely to secure prominent positions in government before the end of the year.
It was learnt that those old allies being mobilised include about four former governors who were said to be very close to the president in the run up to the 2011 general election, some former ministers who reportedly then belonged to the Jonathan inner caucus and many former lawmakers who played strategic roles in the making of the Jonathan Presidency.
A top political leader in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, confessed to Sunday Tribune that unless the president is able to get these old allies on board and heal the wound of alleged breach of trust, “2015 may be a herculean task, an almost impossible task.
“Many strong old allies of the president are outside the system now. You cannot develop new network when you have old allies who are bitter. So, what we are doing is to ensure that the president’s men regroup long before the battle commences.”
It was gathered that an old network of allies who were the strength of the Jonathan push in 2011 have been left in the cold since the last election. President’s strategists are reportedly working hard to reverse the situation.
Findings showed that professionals among such allies are to be placed in first grade boards and parastatals, both as a compensation and a way of remobilising them for the 2015 general election.
Meanwhile, a number of ministers believed to have governorship ambition in 2015 are said to have been gripped by panic, following revelations that the Presidency had uncovered their subterranean moves and kickstarted thorough checks of their performance ratings.
Investigations by Sunday Tribune revealed that many of the panic-stricken ministers made frantic moves to confirm the position of the president on the issue, following a report in our sister publication, the Nigerian Tribune, last Thursday.
Sources close to the Presidency confirmed that reports of activities of a number of ministers have been dusted up in the last one week, with particular reference to service delivery and political machinations.
A Presidency source said the belief in the government is that if some ministers holding key sectors of the economy are devoted and perform optimally, the nation would be better off by 2013 and that a situation where office holders would abandon their duties and face full politics cannot augur well for the president’s vision.
It was gathered that many agencies of government, including security systems and other monitoring agencies on the economy, had turned in reports on no fewer than 20 ministers who are eyeing governorship seats.
A source said that despite the open book on their activities which is before the government, a number of the ministers had started making contacts with the Presidency to deny their involvement in the 2015 race and reaffirm their belief in the president’s postulations that it is still early to discuss the next general election.
It was also gathered that besides the performance contract signed by the ministers, President Goodluck Jonathan has set up some performance indicators which were already being assessed even before the signing of the performance contract.
“I can assure you that any minister who falls short of expectations will automatically fall by the wayside. The president expects certain degree of commitment from his appointees, but he has been receiving reports that ministers are behind the bickering within the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in many of the states because of their strategic posturing for 2015,” the source stated.
According to another source, of the 20 members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) involved in the race, the South-West has three ministers; North-Central, three; and North-West, four.
Others include North-East three; South-South, three; and South-East four. While some are senior ministers, others are ministers of state.
It was gathered that besides studying the performance indicators of the ministries in line with the submission of an assessment teams raised early in the year, the ministers’ involvement in the 2015 race is providing further avenues for the president to X-ray them along the line of financial integrity.There are strong in
dications that some loyalists of President Goodluck Jonathan have commenced strategic moves aimed at ensuring that the president does well in the South-West zone if he decides to contest the 2015 election.
dications that some loyalists of President Goodluck Jonathan have commenced strategic moves aimed at ensuring that the president does well in the South-West zone if he decides to contest the 2015 election.
Investigations by Sunday Tribune confirmed that the moves afoot are multifaceted as they involve both loyalists of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
It was gathered that while some PDP chieftains are seeking to formalise the arrangement struck with the main opposition party in the zone, ACN, ahead of the 2011 election, which was believed to have facilitated Jonathan’s victory in the zone, some loyalists of the ACN are also said to be in favour of an agreement with Jonathan so long as it could “guarantee certain things.”
The development is said to be threatening the ongoing alliance talks between the ACN and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), led by General Muhammadu Buhari.
A source said that one of the targets of the agreement being sought by the ACN loyalists is to ensure that the government does not use its weight against them in any form.
A delegation of the loyalists of the ACN was said to have reached out to the president during a visit to France earlier in the year.
Findings by Sunday Tribune showed that leaders of the CPC are developing cold feet due to persisting reports that the ACN might revive its 2011 alliance with president Jonathan which accounted for the victory of the PDP at the presidential polls across the South-West.
While both sides had consistently denied existence of such alliance in the last elections, Sunday Tribune was told that ahead of the 2015 polls, the possibility of both sides reviving the unconfirmed alliance is high, due to realignment of forces within the PDP.
It was learnt that the South-West wing of the PDP is not happy with President Jonathan, due to alleged marginalisation of the zone in the distribution of public offices. This complaint has now been compounded by alleged rift between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and President Jonathan.
It was learnt that part of the complaints of South-West PDP is that the chapter is receiving no assistance from the centre to combat the ruling ACN, a posture some South-West leaders attributed to the fallouts of the alleged 2011 pact.
As the South-West PDP was reportedly grumbling over the alleged pact, the opposition partners are said to be even more worried as there are unconfirmed reports that the forces behind the 2011 alliance have been recalled to revive it.
According to reports available to Sunday Tribune, some strategists within the Presidency have concluded that Jonathan may not win the Presidency without massive votes from the South-West, a permutation said to have necessitated consideration of many options to address the challenge.
Those strategists are said to be reasoning that bloc votes from the three Southern zones with majority holding in the North-Central and a fraction from North-East and North-West would deliver second term Presidency to Jonathan. That prospect is believed to be impossible, if the CPC succeeds in forging merger arrangement with the ACN which controls the South-West.
It was gathered that a major strategy is to deny the opposition political forces in the North of South-West votes, a goal many of the strategists believe cannot be achieved without getting political lords of the South-West behind the Jonathan re-election ambition.
Findings showed that some president’s men believed the South-West PDP is already weakened and cannot deliver Yoruba votes for the president.
The rumour of a possible re-emergence of the alliance has reportedly filtered into the ears of Northern partners of the ACN who, while dismissing the reports as
The rumour of a possible re-emergence of the alliance has reportedly filtered into the ears of Northern partners of the ACN who, while dismissing the reports as
PDP propaganda, are also silently worrying about their fate in the political chess game of their South-West partners.
Checks among opposition leaders within the CPC showed that while there is a resolve to forge ahead with the merger talks, there are increasing suspicion as to the real intention of the ACN in relation to its alleged working relationship with President Jonathan.
Meanwhile, reports indicated that old allies of the president who have been in the sideline since 2011 are now being re-mobilised as the ruling party prepares for the 2015 race.
Reports indicated that this is a major assignment for the PDP chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
Sunday Tribune was told that many old associates of the president who were not compensated for their roles in the making of the Jonathan Presidency are now being enlisted with many of them likely to secure prominent positions in government before the end of the year.
It was learnt that those old allies being mobilised include about four former governors who were said to be very close to the president in the run up to the 2011 general election, some former ministers who reportedly then belonged to the Jonathan inner caucus and many former lawmakers who played strategic roles in the making of the Jonathan Presidency.
A top political leader in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, confessed to Sunday Tribune that unless the president is able to get these old allies on board and heal the wound of alleged breach of trust, “2015 may be a herculean task, an almost impossible task.
“Many strong old allies of the president are outside the system now. You cannot develop new network when you have old allies who are bitter. So, what we are doing is to ensure that the president’s men regroup long before the battle commences.”
It was gathered that an old network of allies who were the strength of the Jonathan push in 2011 have been left in the cold since the last election. President’s strategists are reportedly working hard to reverse the situation.
Findings showed that professionals among such allies are to be placed in first grade boards and parastatals, both as a compensation and a way of remobilising them for the 2015 general election.
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