2015: Jonathan ready for contest in Aso Rock race — Presidency

Ahead of 2015 Presidential election, the Presidency said that President Goodluck Jonathan who is the sole Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was ready for keen contest with whoever emerges as the presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress, APC and other opposition political parties.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja, the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali who explained that the President has been preparing well ahead of the 2015 Presidential election, stressed that the endorsement of the President by the organs of PDP was designed to strengthen democracy, contrary to impression by the opposition.

Alkali who was reacting to barrage of criticisms that have trailed the President's adoption last week by the National Executive Committee, NEC; Board of Trustees, BoT; the National Assembly and the governors, said that the adoption has also not closed the contest for the 2015 Presidential election by other political parties, adding that what the PDP did was to affirm its maturity in political game based on its rich experience of being in power for the past 16 years and had thus succeeded in obviating internal wrangling that usually trail internal electioneering among members.

The Political Adviser who explained that the option of consensus has not been strange in the politics of Nigeria, said that all political parties at critical times deploy the option, most especially when the need arises for them to stay afloat.

He said, 'looking critically at the turn of events in PDP, it is trite to conjecture that the Party, considering all critical elements, has succeeded in demonstrating strength, unity and determination to make the difference this time around while staving off untoward possibilities.

'We should not forget that PDP having been in power since 1999 remains the most experienced, dependable, consistent and strongest with spread in all nooks and crannies of the country.

'If it deploys such experience in putting its house in order so as to excel in the coming general election, the rest of Nigeria should rather applaud its approach and tactics in politics. Moreover, there has not been any complaint in any quarter from within on the good option the PDP had taken.

According to him, the PDP resolved to encourage President Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential election against the backdrop that as a good product with sterling performances to attest for his leadership in the past three and half years he has been in the saddle, the party cannot do away with a winning president.

Alkali who urged Nigerians to begin to move away from adversarial politics, said that the country has been wasting good leaders over the years for no just reason.

He added that 'if efforts by PDP to represent Jonathan for the 2015 poll should be applauded, the need to show-case him as a performing leader and the need to entrench continuity in the polity as done in other climes should come into reckoning.' - Vanguard.