2011: Govs will build pro-Jonathan coalition -Uduaghan
Delta state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan ha said that the governors of the South South are working towards the emergence of an inter-party coalition that would ensure victory for President Goodluck Jonathan in the April election.
Governor Uduaghan, who spoke in Abuja said that the recent meeting of the governors of the South South and South East was the first step in that direction, adding that apart from the All Progressives grand Alliance(APGA), other political parties are soon to adopt President Jonathan as their candidate.
The governor, who stated that promoters of the President are stopping at nothing to woo his opponents also said that the governors would soon reach out to the Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF) and other similar bodies across Nigeria to sell Jonathan to them.
He stated that Dr. Jonathan remains the best candidate who can hold the country together at this time and ensure its progress.
He said of the adoption of Jonathan by APGA: “It is not a merger, it is an understanding. They don't have a presidential candidate, we have but they will come and support us to deliver our presidential candidate. That is why I said that it is an understanding.”
He said that the governors and other stakeholders in the party have a duty to deliver the president at the polls, adding that anyone who cannot contribute positively to the success of the President should stay away from the campaign.
He further said: “Now, what we are doing; let me put that in proper perspective. President Jonathan has emerged as a PDP candidate but the presidential primary election is just a part of the process of making him the President beyond May 29, 2011.
“The real process is the main election in April and we as governors we don't just want to say that he has emerged in the primary and sit down, we need to prepare for the April election. So that meeting really was our first move in trying to prepare for the April elections.
“The PDP governors of the South-South, South-East and APG Governor came together to appraise what happened at the primary and to map out strategies on how to win the poll.
In the next few days, we are also going to make other moves; we are going to develop on that relationship beyond the two regions. We are moving into other regions.
“Politics is a game of numbers; it is about lobbying, consultations.
The governor also declared that the governors' coalition would reach out to the ACf to soften their hearts towards the President.
He said: “My attitude is that they have made their point but we will go to them or we should go to them and discuss with them and try to soften them. This is politics; we must try and win their hearts. It is not a politics of saying that they have made that statement, we must counter the statement.
“And we should not ask them why they made that statement or don't you know it is wrong to make that kind of statement or telling them that don't you know it is our turn or it must be our turn.
“That is not politics. The North is very, very significant and very important to the 2011 poll. So, it is left for us to also go to them and say look you have said this but for XYZ reasons, can you not just look at what we are saying, consider it and support President Jonathan. Those are the kind of things we will discuss with them.
“I also want to appeal to our people that they should not react to such statement with another hot statement; it does not help matters at all. We should just examine what they have said and try to soften them.