Only recently, Oba-sanjo was quoted to have told President Jonathan that he must contest the next election without any hesitations, saying “ you must contest, don’t tell me you’re thinking about it.”
Impeccable sources close to the corridors of power told me that as a first step to realize the objective of a Jonathan Presidency in 2011, Obasanjo might have begun a diplomatic globe-trotting to win support of key political leaders in the Western world for President Jonathan.
His main campaign instrument, it was learnt, is to sell Jonathan to them on the premise of stability and the need for continuity in governance at this crucial time in Nigeria.
The frequent presence of Obasanjo in the Villa and his more visible presence at every spot where the President is having one thing or the other to do is said to be part of the plot to ensure close marking on him not to have a change of heart on the matter.
Another aspect of the campaign strategy is to have the president himself visit some countries in Europe and the Americas to meet with the leaders one-on-one, while he will also visit strategic states in the country to show to the outside world that he is a popular choice in the country.
As a matter of fact, the President’s visit to some states in parts of the country and his recent visits to the United States and France were said to be part of the agenda.
Only on Thursday, the President paid a one-day visit to Oyo State, having paid similar visits to Zamfara, Rivers, Bauchi and Bayelsa States.
Political pundits obser-ved that the visits were strategically picked to be widespread across the country and to tell the watching members of the international community that he has a large following in the country.
The President, it was also learnt, will set aside time to receive foreign leaders as his guests.
There have been various groups rooting for President Jonathan to contest the next election, describing the ruling Peoples Democratic Party’s zoning arrange-ment as a mere working paper in the party with no constitutional backing.
Some groups and individuals loyal to former military President, Gen-eral Ibrahim Babangida and Alhaji Atiku Abuba-kar have been calling on the PDP to respect the zoning arrangement by allowing a northerner to carry the party’s flag for the next election.
However, Senator Jubril Aminu and some others have opposed the move, insisting that Jonathan has the right to contest.
Indications have started emerging now that the 2011 general elections in Nigeria would be conducted with technical assistance and other logistics support to be offered by the international community.
Meanwhile, indications to this effect emerged during the week following the declaration of interest in the elections by the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), and the Chinese government, with the intent of supporting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in ensuring free and fair conduct of the elections.
Even at that, the date for the start of elections is not certain yet, INEC, having earlier given tentative dates of January and April for commencement, based on the conclusion of on-going amendment of Nigeria's electoral law.
The Acting Chairman of INEC, Chief Solomon Adedeji Shoyebi, had earlier raised an alarm on the time frame for the election in relations to the situations within the commission, stating that INEC should start immediate preparations.
The world bodies are specifically keen in ensuring that INEC should produce a credible national voters' register for each of its 120,000 polling units across the federation, a factor considered as critical to the transparency of the election.
To this effect, the UN and EU have been holding talks with the Federal Government, civil society groups and political parties on the need to strengthen INEC to perform the task of conducting free and fair elections in 2011, as they continue to offer promises on assisting the commission in doing so with technical support.
In a correspondence between the world bodies and political parties in Nigeria, the EU, UN, and the Chinese government had acquiesced to the proposal for training Nigerians, most especially INEC officials in the art of preparing credible voters' register, and the counting of election results after every election.
They had also stressed the need for the government of Nigeria to consider meting out punishments to electoral offenders as a key factor in preventing irregularities during elections, much as they laid emphasis on the need to reduce executive interference with programmes of INEC for the coming elections.
A week earlier, the United States had similarly signified interest in supporting the electoral programmes by Nigeria for 2011, and had taken a step further by holding meetings with President Goodluck Jonathan, state governors, INEC top officials and representatives of civil society groups.
Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, United States, Maria Otero, who led the US delegation to Nigeria on the issue, had indicated that her country was more prepared to offer the logistics for Nigeria on civic and voters' education, as well as offer technical support for the Nigerian media, political parties and INEC.
Otero also indicated that the US would be willing to train some permanent staff of INEC on conduct of elections, adding, “Nigeria will submit a list of permanent staff of relevant agencies to build on existing training. The United States will provide technical assistance to these agencies."
The Under Secretary stressed the importance of free, fair and credible elections as critical factors capable of improving structure of governance in Nigeria, noting that the factors are vital to the overall progress and prosperity of the country.
The US officials had brainstormed on the issues at stake with the Solicitor-General of the Federation, Abdullahi Ahmed Yola on the aegis of Good Governance, Transparency and Integrity Working Group, focusing on ways and means of ensuring free, fair and credible elections in 2011.
The group, after series of brainstorming sessions, agreed that the anticipated free and fair election in 2011 will depend on the ability of Nigeria to maintain a fully independent INEC to collaborate with civil society in providing voter registration education to Nigerians through mass media, and to ensure transparent counting of votes at polling stations.
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