President Goodluck Jonathan

By John Shiklam  

The secretary of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees, Senator Walid  Jibrin,  has described speculations  about  President Goodluck Jonathan’s second term ambition in 2015 as divisionary and calculated to heat up the polity.

In a statement in Kaduna, Jibrin said it was too early to start discussing who would become Nigeria’s president in 2015, stressing that the president must be given all encouragement to enable him carry on with his development agenda.

The PDP scribe also decried what he called the manner in which the opposition parties were cashing in on the recent comments by the National Security Adviser, General Patrick Azazi, on the security challenges facing the country to cause panic among Nigerians.

He said PDP was capable of handling its internal problems, regretting that several groups and individuals had interpreted the NSA’s statement differently in an attempt to discredit PDP.

According to him, “PDP is part of the Nigerian society and, therefore, cannot be singled out as a promoter of any bad act.”
Jibrin, however, and advised the federal government to resume the stalled dialogue with the Boko  Haram sect.

The NSA had, at a recent economic summit organised by the South- south Governors Forum, attributed the security challenges in the country to political rivalry within PDP.
Jibrin said PDP was “aware of the NSA’s role professionally and politically with his handicaps and the implication of his political statement, but we urge all Nigerians, especially, our party members to remain calm and steadfast as the party is handling the matter appropriately.”

He reiterated the commitment of the Jonathan government and PDP to solving the problems of insecurity in the country.

Jibrin stressed that PDP does not sanction its members without giving them fair hearing, as a principle of natural justice.