CPC: South-South support for Jonathan's re-election is Hypocrisy

The party said the call on President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 election is odious and utterly irresponsible.The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has, in very unflattering language, condemned leaders of the South-South who have supported the

call on President Goodluck Jonathan to contest the 2015 election, describing the endorsement as ill-timed and self-centred.

A statement by CPC National Publicity Secretary, Rotimi Fashakin, decried the use of sectional meetings to cause disharmony in the polity, saying: 'It is odious and utterly irresponsible for such meetings to be used for overheating the polity.'

While alluding to the usefulness of regional interaction, the CPC said: 'It is utterly inconceivable that the endorsement of Jonathan for the 2015 election was on agenda in a 2012 meeting. It was ill-advised, flattering and inflammatory. 'The drum beats of America's presidential election scheduled for November started just a few months ago. Are they saying that Nigeria exists for only elections? We had elections just last year. The performance of the Jonathan administration has not been satisfactory. What cogent, tangible or positive change has he brought?'

At a meeting in Delta State last week, a group under the aegis of South-South People's Assembly threw its weight behind Jonathan to contest the next election.

But the CPC said the call on Jonathan to contest the next election might have been borne out of hypocrisy. 'Where were they when leaders of other geo-political zones moved to ensure that Jonathan was made acting president?' the statement questioned

  History Will Vindicate Jonathan - Doyin Okupe
However,Dr. Doyin Okupe, recently appointed Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs likes to be in the news for all the wrong reasons. After dragging the Benue State Government to court, claiming damages amounting to a whopping N358, 762,934.90 for breach of contract, Okupe has angered many when he came out firing on all cylinders to defend President Jonathan.

Despite the scathing criticism of Jonathan's administration, Okupe scored the administration high, saying Jonathan has delivered on his electoral promises and history will vindicate him. Speaking at the weekend in Abuja, Okupe said that all the promises Jonathan made to the electorate in 2011 were being fulfilled and stressed that posterity would vindicate him. He said one of the promises made was electoral reform and that Nigeria should thumb its chest on the issue because the elections that had been conducted under this administration so far, had been adjudged free and fair.

'President Goodluck Jonathan has delivered on his electoral promises. He promised electoral reforms and he offered himself as an example by conducting the freest election in the history of this country. He told his party that no one should be involved in election malpractice and that he was prepared to pack his things and go home if he lost the election. He repeatedly told everybody that it was not a do or die affair.

'The general elections conducted in the country in 2011 were the best in the history of Nigeria and you can attest that subsequent elections have also been free and fair. The People's Democratic Party has lost some elections and the president told people not to make issues of it because he is a true democrat. It has been one man, one vote', Okupe said. He also mentioned power supply as another area where the Jonathan administration has recorded a success. 'When this administration came on board, power generation was between 1,900 megawatts and 2,000 megawatts and about 10 National Independent Power Projects (NIPP) were moribund. He caused the hydro power stations to increase their output and raised the contribution from the NIPP projects, taking the level of generation to about 4,400 megawatts and efforts are still on to increase by it 1,000 megawatts before December, this year. This shows that the president is delivering