The President of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Alhaji Mujarhedeen Asari-Dokubo, yesterday said that the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan for the second term in 2015 hung in the balance. He said the President had abused and ruined the goodwill of Nigerians that would have placed him in good stead to seek a second mandate in 2015.
The NDPVF leader lamented that Jonathan had lost the sympathy and support of well-meaning Nigerians. He was, however, quick to add that hopes were not lost for Jonathan if he could mend fences with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and regain the confidence of Nigerians, who voted overwhelmingly for him in 2011.
Asari-Dokubo also said that President Jonathan should urgently deliver on his electioneering promises to Nigerians. He said the performance of the President presently was less than satisfactory, a development he blamed on the presence of some selfseeking and selfish aides. Asari-Dokubo said that the Presidency lied about its relationship with Obasanjo, adding that the seat of power was dishonest and economical with the truth in its claim that the relationship between President Jonathan and Obasanjo was cordial. The former militant leader described the reaction of the Presidency to his widely publicised interview in which he asserted that President Jonathan enjoyed frosty relationship with Obasanjo as “baseless and dishonest.”
Asari-Dokubo said the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, who reacted to his interview on behalf of his boss, was “largely uninformed”, adding that Abati’s reaction was “ arrant nonsense and rubbish.” He added that Abati was “childish.” “I don’t want to reply Abati, the famous author of crab theory, who was desperate to defend his boss just because he wants to justify his wages. What does Abati know? Am I struggling to be President in 2015? What is the correlation between why is the East/West Road not being constructed and the poor performance of the Presidency, including the inability of President Jonathan to curb corruption in his administration and the crab theory by Abati?
“Abati is just childish; his arguments were baseless, just struggling and managing to salvage the dwindling fortunes and sagging image of the Presidency.” Asari-Dokubo said the Presidency lied when it claimed that there was no rift between Jonathan and Obasanjo, stating that, “everybody knows that there is a quarrel. Has Obasanjo not been openly criticising Jonathan? Has Obasanjo not said that he was not prepared to keep quiet if things are wrong? Do you need to be told that there is a rift when Obasanjo, who took his position as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as between life and death suddenly gave up the job just like that?
“Was it not reported that Obasanjo has threatened that Jonathan would not be president in 2015 and that he (Obasanjo) vowed to continue to criticise him (Jonathan)?”
Although Asari-Dokubo added that he was still ready to “help” Jonathan to clinch the highest political office in 2015, he regretted that the Presidency was not focused, adding that some political gladiators in the North could cash in on the pervasive deficiencies and inadequacies of Jonathan administration to return to power in 2015. His words: “I am ready and willing to help him in 2015 but there is something wrong with him (Jonathan), he has been hijacked by some people and he is not doing anything to remove them.
Jonathan is not on course at all. Jonathan is destroying his presidency.
“For instance, he got to power majorly by the support of the social media that is the vehicle in which he was brought to power but as I am talking to you today, he has lost all his Facebook fans. He (Jonathan) is going down every day.” He said Jonathan had failed to deliver on his mandate. “How can he (Jonathan) deliver when everybody around him are sabotaging him? The people around Jonathan are vicious but somebody like me will not keep quiet to allow Jonathan to lead us to avoidable bloodshed.” Asked if he was ready for a truce with the Presidency, Asari-Dokubo stated, “I am not ready to be called by anybody because I went to him (Jonathan) many times to intimate him that his conduct would bring disgrace to us.
I told him that my brother, you are not doing well. My conscience is very important to me, I cannot keep quiet at all, it makes me sick. “But I am and will continue to fight for him (Jonathan), for the Ijaw nation, the South/South and the deprived people, who stood by him (Jonathan). What Jonathan represents is greater than him. The Presidency does not need to reach out to me. Jonathan is not representing himself, Presidency is not the personal property of Jonathan; it is the property of those who died throughout the country to make him the president of Nigeria in 2011.” Specifically, he described the association of a former BoT Chairman of PDP, Chief Tony Anenih with Jonathan as “a liability to the Presidency.”
He said it was unfortunate that Jonathan continued to associate with Anenih despite his “credibility baggage.” “For me as a person, I believe in the sayings that ‘show me your friend, I will tell you who you are.’ For Goodluck Jonathan to continue to associate with Tony Anennih despite series of allegations against him is unfortunate. “But there is a remedy for him (Jonathan) because he has two years more, ending on May 29, 2015, if he can make amends. Let him genuinely reconcile with Obasanjo, his benefactor, listen to and align with Nigerians, who elected him in 2011.Let him severe and cut off the people around him, who never wished Nigeria and Nigerians well and redeem the battered image of his administration by delivering on his electioneering promises to Nigerians.
“Jonathan should be prepared to fight injustice and corruption in the remaining two years and remove the deadwoods in his government and move the nation forward. All hopes are not lost if he can make amends but his chances of re-election in 2015 are slim and narrow if the present trends of inactivity by his administration continue,” Asari-Dokubo warned.
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