Jonathan, Buhari may hold fence-mending meeting

The Peoples Democratic Party
Presidential candidate, Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan and his All
Progressives Congress counterpart,
Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)
may meet before the March 28
presidential elections.
The PUNCH gathered on Sunday
that the meeting which might hold
outside the country was to
establish rapport between the two
contenders before the election.
A source close to the Presidency
said, “We are trying to broker a
meeting between the two leaders.
“The way the presidential
electioneering is going may create
serious divisions among Nigerians.
We need to stop this.
“Apart from this, I think there is
serious apprehension in the camp
of the President that if Buhari wins,
he’s going to jail a lot of President
Jonathan’s supporters for alleged
corruption.
“This is one of the issues that is
causing serious tension in the camp
of the President and we also need
to make sure that in whatever we
do, there must be peace in the
country.”
It was learnt that the claim by
former President Olusegun
Obasanjo that Jonathan was afraid
that Buhari could jail him was real
after all.
A top member of the ruling PDP,
who also spoke with our
correspondent on the condition of
anonymity said, this fact could not
be denied by the party and the
Presidency.
He said, “You have listened to the
press conference by our campaign
office and we didn’t deny that
aspect. But we dealt with other
issues.
“That statement by former
President Obasanjo is real. It is true
and we all know that. But we know
that very soon, the meeting which
we are hearing is being
coordinated by some concerned
leaders, might address that.”
Obasanjo had on Saturday said, ‘‘I
believe the President’s fear is
particularly motivated by whom he
sees as his likely successor, that is,
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. I believe
people would have been telling
him that Buhari is a hard man; he
will fight corruption and he
(Jonathan) may end up in jail if not
in the grave. I think people would
have told him that sort of thing and
he is not the only one afraid of
Buhari.’’
Meanwhile, the PDP has called on
all political parties and other
stakeholders in the electoral
process to join hands with the
Independent National Electoral
Commission to make the 2015
general elections a success.
The PDP National Publicity
Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, in a
statement in Abuja on Sunday, said
all parties must come together in
the interest of the nation and
ensure that measures that create
the environment for credible, free
and fair elections were firmly put in
place.
He said, “The responsibility of
building a united, strong and
prosperous nation anchored on
democratic principles lies on all of
us collectively.
“We therefore charge all political
parties, other relevant groups and
all stakeholders in the electoral
process to jettison all personal/
group interests and put that of our
nation and its people ahead of all.
“The future of our nation is
determined by what we do or say
at this point in time. We must
therefore resolve to work together
as patriotic citizens and join hands
with INEC and relevant institutions
of government to ensure credible,
free and fair elections devoid of
rancour and disagreements.
“At this point, what should be
paramount is the well-being of our
people and the survival of our dear
nation and its democracy.
“We must therefore close ranks as
brothers and sisters and resist the
machinations of enemies of our
country who do not wish us well.”
Metuh called on the political
parties to redirect their energy to
issues that promote national
development, reinforce unity
among Nigerians and engender
mutual understanding and peaceful
co-existence.
Metuh said, “Nigeria is a great
nation. We must appreciate the
resilience of our people and their
resolve to succeed.
“Indeed, we cannot afford to fail
our citizens at this time of our
national life. We must work hard to
continue to ensure that the
environment that contributed to
the successes we have recorded is
adequately maintained and
enhanced”.
He also called on INEC to gird it
loins and appreciate the fact that it
was “saddled with an enormous
responsibility and that “Nigerians
expect nothing less than a
transparent electoral process”.
Metuh said the commission should
understand that “observations by
stakeholders are not intended to
castigate, weaken or destroy the
electoral process but to assist in
deepening democracy so that at
the end of the day, Nigerians will
be the ultimate winners”.
Also on Sunday, the National
Auditor of the PDP, Adewole
Adeyanju, advised INEC to allow
eligible voters to use their
Temporary Voter Cards during the
elections.
Adeyanju advised INEC to
commence the use of the
Permanent Voter ‘ Cards during
the bye elections that might arise
from the March 28 and April 11 polls
to test its card readers.