AS uncertainty pervades the nation's polity over which of the geopolitical zones - North and South - should produce the presidential candidate of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011, indications have emerged that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has commenced the search for credible link men in the South-West region, ahead of the presidential election.
Curiously, the acting president is not restricting his scouts to the PDP as he is said to have extended it to civil society groups as well as the organised private sector in the zone, in what a source called "an inter-spectrum approach."
To firm up the search, a select team of the acting president's men is billed to undertake a working tour of the South-West in June to assess the level of acceptability of Jonathan in the region.
The development, however, could not be taken as a response to the inroad made into the PDP in the South-West region by former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, also believed to be nursing presidential ambition in 2011.
Lately, Babangida's profile among the leadership of the PDP in the region has risen even as no fewer than four chapters of the party in the South-West reportedly were in support of the ambition of the former military ruler, who annulled the June 12, 1993 presidential election believed to have been won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola.
In Lagos, IBB's campaign is being reportedly led by former communications minister, General Tajudeen Olarenwaju, with a sizeable number of followers of the jailed former Nigerian Ports Authority chairman, Chief Olabode George, supporting the bid.
One-time military administrator of Lagos and current governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, is believed to be the anchor of Babangida's ambition. Oyinlola has the entire party structure in his pockets in Osun State.
In Ogun State, the presidential ambition of IBB has further widened the gulf between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the state governor, Chief Gbenga Daniel, as the latter, alongside a faction of the party in the state, has reportedly backed the gap-toothed general.
In Ondo State chapter of the PDP, a majority of the leadership is already contemplating working for Babangida.
The PDP Reform Group, led by former secretary to the state government, Honourable Duerimini Kekemeke, Colonel Samuel Awodeyi, Tayo Alasoadura and Chief Ayo Ifayefunmi, are said to be already in contact with the former military president. The Ondo PDP Reform Group appears to be the most formidable faction within the PDP in the state.
Spokesman for the group, Kekemeke, told the Nigerian Tribune that the PDP in the state was poised to work with any credible Nigerian who had what it took to fix Nigeria in the coming years. He was, however, evasive on the IBB project.
"We are politicians and we work with the interest of the people at heart; all I can say now is that anybody who is qualified and who has what it takes to lead the nation and fix it in the coming years is likely to have the support of the PDP in Ondo; I am an Ijaw man; I don't work with sentiments. If in the next few months, the acting president does not prove to Nigerians that he has what it takes to lead the nation, I will not support him; on the issue of IBB you just raised, the response is simple, as a politician, you don't go all out to lobby someone to contest. He who offers himself to you remains the only one on whom your assessment is based but that is not to say that IBB has reached us, far from the truth."
Two of the three senators representing Ondo State are equally backing the former military president.
Although the source was evasive whether or not Jonathan's move was a direct reaction to the supposed in-road, he told our correspondent that the acting president's contact men are billed to visit the six states of the zone with a view to identifying credible individuals and who would ensure the marketing of the Jonathan presidency.
He said: "We are aware of the developments; but like the acting president himself said in the US during the CNN interview, the issue of whether he would contest or not remains entirely the business of Nigerians.
"Remember he said he had less than 10 months to deliver on the basic foundation for a new nation devoid of suspicion; he has power and energy issues to contend with. There is the nagging issue of electoral reform; what about the issue of security, especially in the Niger Delta?
"All these need very effective foundation before he can think of any other thing, including the next presidential election. But then, every politician has so many options available to him at a time; nothing stops Jonathan from gunning for the Senate, or even as a vice-president when the time comes. Everything depends on what happens when the whistle is blown but he does not intend to put all his eggs in a single basket.
"He is a PDP man, but if you look at the way he was made acting president, no one can overlook the strength of the South-West, especially the civil society groups and the professionals who stood on the side of truth to ensure that he became the acting president.
"When the time comes, that is if he has to contest, he will not be taken by surprise. So an inter-spectrum approach, whereby not only those in the PDP are effectively mobilised for him to contest, will emerge.
"When the time comes, all those you have just mentioned that are holding the ace in their respective states would have been reached to ensure that the best happens to us a nation in 2011.
"I think by June the real identification of credible South-West politicians for the purpose will commence," he said, craving anonymity.
| Posted: at | |
solkings
Bazemaster
agabs
chudy1800
TRENDING GISTS 
I Didn’t Start Governing Fully Until This February Says Rivers Gov. Fubara
Rapper Rylo Huncho Accidentally Shoots Himself Dead While Filming Music Video (VIDEO)
Teacher In Ekiti Sentenced To 15 Years In Prison For Raping His Neighbor’s 8-year-old Daughter
PICS: Fashion Entrepreneur Olarslim Shares Sad Story Of How She Lost Her Newborn Baby At Birth
Man Blasts Governor Seyi Makinde as His Daughter Graduated from American University
9Yr Old Girl Blamed After Been Recorded While Using Bathroom By Airlines Flight Attendant