The National Assembly has a strong supporter in ex-President Goodluck
Jonathan on its decision re-ordering the sequence of the 2019 elections.
Jonathan
said the new arrangement was in order and would go a long way in
ensuring that more quality people are elected at all levels.
Majority
of the members of the two chambers of the National Assembly want
election into the Senate and the House of Representatives to come first
next year and the presidential election last.
“Holding
presidential election first will affect the quality of persons that will
emerge in other polls because of the bandwagon effect,” Jonathan said
yesterday when he granted audience to the National Chairman of the
Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, and members of the
party’s National Working Committee (NWC) at the Jonathan Foundation in
Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
He said the decision of the Assembly will help in the election of quality persons into various positions.
A
statement by the PDP National Chairman’s spokesman, Mr. Ike Abonyi,
quoted the former President as advising the ruling All Progressives
Congress(APC) to abide by the decision of the National Assembly.
Jonathan
asked the APC to see the proposed order of elections “from national
and patriotic interests since laws are not meant for persons in power at
a particular time.”
He said he is even looking forward to a time
when presidential election in Nigeria will be conducted differently
from the others.
He was optimistic that the PDP will return to
power in 2019, saying: “I believe that the PDP will return to power in
2019, if we continue to build confidence, especially as the ruling party
has failed to meet up their promises and give hope to the people.
“Propaganda may help you win election, but it can’t help you govern and that is what the APC has seen in the last 32 months.
The
PDP National Chairman, Prince Secondus, had earlier briefed the
former President on the activities of the NWC since December when they
were elected into office.
Secondus said the new leadership is
currently engaged in a number of activities aimed at rebranding and
repositioning the party with a view to regaining power in 2019.
He pleaded for Jonathan’s support and that of other leaders of the party.
The
PDP boss said the focus of the party is on youths and women, pointing
out that the leadership will soon come up with a new programme on
Generational Next.
At a separate forum, the PDP National Chairman said that the party has no anointed candidate for any elective positions.
Speaking
at a special banquet hosted for the party leadership by Governor Henry
Seriake Dickson in Yenagoa, Secondus said unlike other parties where
leaders lord it over to the rest, the PDP derives its power direct from
the people who really own the party.
“In this party under my
watch, there would be no preferred aspirant for any position, in the
spirit of our rebranding to rebuild, reposition and regain power. We
cannot afford not to present our best eleven in the contest,” he said.
Secondus also said the party remains open to all Nigerians because it belongs to them, not to any group or individual.
He
said the doors of the party remain open to members from all corners to
come in because “all hands are needed to chase the APC out of our
political life.
“We welcome people returning to the party with
open arms because the party belongs to them and we need all to be on
board for the huge task of chasing away evil regime in our life.
“We must unite to rescue this country from the APC who has come with vengeance against the people of Nigeria.”
He
said that given the damage done to Nigerians by the APC administration
in the past 32 months, what awaits the party in 2019 would be a
“Tsunami”.
While commending the PDP governors for their
exceptional performance in office, Secondus particularly singled out
Governor Dickson for his innovations in office that had led to the
transformation of the state in the last six years.
Secondus
revealed that the party was initiating a deliberate programme called
Generational Next aimed at re-integrating the youths in the activities
of the party with a view to transferring power.
