EKITI GROUP HAILS SOUTHWEST GOVERNORS’ ENDORSEMENT OF JONATHAN

The Ekiti State chapter of the Goodluck Support Group (GSG) has hailed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors and other leaders of the party in the South west zone of Nigeria for throwing their weight behind the presidential aspirant of President Goodluck Jonathan, saying; “with the adoption of President Jonathan by the southwest governors, the coast is now clear for the president's total victory in the southwest.”

Reacting to the news of the endorsement of the president, Ekiti State Coordinator of the GSG, Rt. Hon. Femi Akinyemi, in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti, today said PDP leaders in the southwest have demonstrated that they hold sacrosanct the unity of Nigeria, calling on other zones in the country to follow suit.

Akinyemi, a former speaker of the old Ondo State House of Assembly, who described the President Jonathan's ambition to contest the 2011 presidential election as “God's Project” noted that; “emergence of President Jonathan as Nigeria's helmsman was divine. It was an arrangement made by God himself just to correct some of the major imbalances in the Nigeria's power structure and reposition the country for a greater future.

“In 1999, the southwest got the presidency as a compensation for the injustice of the past, especially the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election belief to have been won by late Chief M.K.O.

Abiola, who also died in detention after long incarceration.

“This time around, by God divine arrangement, someone from the South-south region is now our president. And it can be seen that since he took over power, the Niger Delta crisis, which had threatened the economic and political existence of the country has subsided.

“It is therefore important that we should look beyond selfish political agenda and consider the corporate existence of Nigeria as a country by reinforcing the confidence of the South-south people in the oneness of the country with overwhelming support for President Jonathan's presidential ambition.

“On Saturday, our great party, the PDP in the Southwest demonstrated its understanding of this dynamism by throwing its weight behind the presidential aspirant of President Goodluck Jonathan. It is believed that other zones will emulate the Southwest and declare their support for the president soon.”

Speaking further, Akinyemi listed some of the president's achievements since he assumed office to include demonstration of continuous commitment to electoral reform as exemplified by the accelerated request and its accelerated approval by the National Assembly of the INEC budget for the preparation of the 2011 general elections, continuous improvement of the economy as attested by a stable exchange rate and the increase in the country's external reserves, huge respect Nigeria now commands in the international comity of nations due to the massive influence President Jonathan impacts at international fora and continued improvement of the supply of electricity in the country.