•Settle for VP, Northern leaders tell Ag. President
•Odili, Nnamani, Tinubu, others lobby IBB for VP
From former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has come a word of advice for the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan: Do not contest for the presidency in 2011.
Sources said Obasanjo offered the advice based on reports that some close aides of the Acting President have been mounting pressure on him to be a part of the 2011 elections as a presidential candidate..
Added to this was the fact that Jonathan did not give a clear cut answer to whether he would contest or not when he was asked the question on a Cable News Network (CNN) programme anchored by Christiana Amanpour.
It was gathered that Obasanjo told Jonathan that rather than allow his candidacy to generate more tension, as it has been doing already, he should opt to be the running mate of any Northerner who emerges the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Based on an unwritten agreement, the PDP, on which platform Jonathan and President Umaru Yar’Adua were elected, has zoned the presidency to the North for eight years, beginning from 2007.
According to our source, Obasanjo was not specific in the choice of the candidate Jonathan should work with.
The source hinted that the new plan will make Jonathan continue as the vice-president till 2015 when the presidency will then return to the South, a time it is believed the Acting President should wait for.
Obasanjo reportedly told Jonathan in a telephone conversation that it is only then that the Acting President could be sure of a bloc vote from the North for his ambition.
But it could not be confirmed if Jonathan has agreed to the plan though he hinted in the CNN interview that he could continue as the vice-president in 2011.
Sources said this was also the position taken by some prominent political leaders from the North on the 2011 elections.
Sources told the Nigerian Compass that all prospective presidential candidates from the North have an unwritten agreement that once Jonathan indicates interest, he should be made the vice-presidential candidate for the election.
Among those said to have agreed to the agreement were former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar; former military President, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd); former military Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd); and the National Security Adviser, General Aliyu Gusau (rtd).
It was gathered that the thinking was that in the event that Yar’Aua could not continue in office as a result of his ill-health, any Northerner who wants to take over would do injustice to Jonathan by denying him a second term in office as the vice-president.
Though several politicians have been lobbying the Northern candidates, sources said the preference is still for Jonathan to emerge as the vice-president in order to be fair to him and also placate the people of the Niger Delta, especially those urging him to seek the office of the president.
It was learnt that some Northern leaders have already reached out to Jonathan on the need for him to accept the vice-presidency offer in 2011.
They were said to have told him that based on the unwritten agreement of the PDP as it relates to the presidency, Jonathan should settle for the position of the vice-president.
A source said, “There seems to be a twist in the crisis rocking the PDP.
“Obasanjo has told Jonathan to back down on his presidential ambition till 2015.
“The plan is to make Jonathan continue in office as the vice-president till 2015, when the presidency will be zoned back to the South.
“We do not know how Obasanjo came about this decision, whether he has some agreement with any Northern group or not.
“I cannot also tell whether Jonathan has agreed to the plan or not but the situation of things right now is that Obasanjo has told Jonathan to step down his presidential ambition.”
The source, who is a member of the PDP Reform Forum, which is rooting for Jonathan’s emergence as the PDP flag bearer in next year’s presidential election, further told the Nigerian Compass that there would be no let up in the campaign for the Acting President to contest.
The would-be Northern candidates, sources from two of the camps told the Nigerian Compass, have started building on this directive to have Jonathan as the vice-presidential candidate.
However, there are fears among those in the two camps that the in-fighting among politicians from the South-South could spell doom for anyone who opts for a candidate from that zone as vice-president.
A source said, “If for instance my boss should pick the Acting President, we still have to contend with the Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timi Sylva, with whom the Acting President has a rift.
“It is either the rift is settled or Sylva mobilises against the joint ticket Jonathan will be flying.
“The same thing goes for most states of the South-South.
“In Rivers, the governor is on the war path with his predecessor.
“In Edo, the governor is at loggerheads with the political heavyweights in the state.
“There is no South-South state where things are settled politically as we speak.
“So anyone looking in that direction has a lot of work to do in terms of settling issues among the stakeholders.”
Sources told the Nigerian Compass that owing to this development, the Northern candidates have started looking in the direction of the South-East and the South-West for possible running mates.
It was gathered that the Northern candidates are already considering a former president of the Senate from the South-East and two serving governors from the South-West.
Indeed, pressure is said to be more on Babangida as those angling for a shot at the vice-presidency from the South have been bombarding him with requests for the ticket.
Top on the list of those who have reached out to Babangida, most of the time subtly, are a former President of the Senate, Chief Ken Nnamani; a former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili; Sylva; the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; former Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Bola Tinubu; and the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Barrister Godswill Akpabio.
The source said, “We have a deluge of serving and former state governors jostling to become the running mate to IBB (Babangida).
“They are mostly from the South-South.
“We are weighing our options on who we will pick as our running mate.
“And the consideration is to look for a candidate who will add tremendous electoral advantage to the ticket and not a political liability.”
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