WAKU NOT A DEMOCRAT - PRESIDENCY

For questioning the process that produced President Goodluck Jonathan as the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the forthcoming general elections, Senator Kennedy Waku has been described as a man not familiar with democratic process.

A top Presidency source while reacting to Waku's interview in Saturday Sun, With the headline 'Jonathan manipulated PDP to get ticket,' said for a man who once called for military intervention during the Obasanjo administration to query the PDP presidential primaries hailed by all as transparent, showed that he was yet to imbibe democratic principles.

The source, who pleaded for anonymity, said Waku could not have been

speaking for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar who ran against Jonathan, adding that Waku's comment was insulting to delegates' intelligence.

Waku had alleged that Jonathan stole the mandate describing him as 'somebody who is absolutely corrupt', adding it was for that reason Atiku was encouraged not to congratulate the President.

'Indeed, we warned him (Atiku) not to congratulate Jonathan because he did not win the primaries. It was full of corruption. How can a president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria induce people? This is the worst presidential nomination that took place in my entire lifetime. This is the worst. Did you see any jubilation in Jonathan's camp? There was none. They knew what they did. It is a shame; it is murder of democracy and it is embarrassing. PDP is a corrupt organisation that can never be better until we work hard to rectify it,' he had said.

But the source said Waku was wrong because he made wild allegations which he did not substantiate. His words: 'At some point, it was alleged that the President bribed delegates and at another it was said governors arm twisted the delegates. What do we believe? It just goes to show that some people are very uncomfortable with the President's stance on free, fair and credible elections which he demonstrated with the PDP presidential primaries, that the era of nomination instead of election is over and so questioning a transparent process that has been hailed the world over as corrupt is not surprising coming from certain quarters'.

The source said the President would not be detered by such Allegations, adding that Nigerians, going by their interest in the ongoing voter's registration have demonstrated their stance for positive change through the ballot box. He expressed hope that the 2011 polls would be free, fair and credible to sustain the democratic process.