Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom state has hailed the endorsement, by all stakeholders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), of President Goodluck Jonathan, for the 2015 Presidential election but said such endorsement of any candidate in his state is not desirable.
Governor Akpabio who answered reporters’ questions after a close-door meeting with President Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today said that the endorsement of Jonathan makes the 2015 contest easier for the PDP and also makes the political calculation in Nigeria totally free and devoid of violence and unnecessary acrimony.
Akpabio said that for Akwa Ibo state, it is very difficult to talk about endorsement because of the large number of aspirants, saying: “if you have a large number of aspirants, it is good to allow all of them to go to the field and test their popularity.”
The governor turned again, on Jonathan that the endorsement would bring harmony within the body polity of the entire nation.
“Note also that it deepens democracy. I was asked this question by members of the congressional black caucus in the United States two weeks ago and we explained that here is a President (Jonathan) that in spite of distractions, has remained focussed in trying to transform the Nigerian economy, and today even under the present circumstances, Nigeria is running the biggest economy in Africa. That is from the World bank and international agencies, and we have been rated now as the 24th largest economy in the world.
“What we need to do now is to work to translate that into job creation for our children and to bring in more industries to Nigeria and of course attract more investments, but we can’t rest on our oars. We must work harder to improve the power sector and to provide the impetus in the agricultural sector.” Governor Akpabio stressed that endorsement of President Jonathan will deepen democracy in all sense of the word and would signal the fact that Nigerian has arrived in terms of democratization.
Accordign to him, PDP is modelled after the Democratic Party of America with almost similar practice.
“When they see a performing president in America, they don’t allow that president to go for unnecessary primaries. That was what happened with Obama. Obama did not pass through any primaries in the Democratic Party, and so the governors of Nigeria took cognizance of the best practices in democracy worldwide when that endorsement came and it was ratified by the Board of Trustees and the National Executive Committee of our great party. It is the first such has happened since 1960 and we want to congratulate all Nigerians and all the stakeholders who took part in that endorsement.
“I assure you it will allow the president to focus on the main elections and the business of governance of the country.
Governor Akpabio however said, on applying similar endorsement in Akwa Ibom state that it will be very difficult because of the large number of aspirants.
“I am a product of good primaries. We were 57 in number in 2006; we were the highest in the country. I contested against 57 people; in total, we were about 58. So, I defeated 57 people to become the governor of Akwa Ibom state. So, at the state level once you have a lot of people showing interest in the governorship, it is good to allow a level playing field and give opportunity to all. It also helps democracy because it helps people to go out, propagate the ideas of the party and talk about what they would like to do for the electorate, sell themselves and the manifestos and from there the electorate would have the opportunity to pick the best out of the lot.
“But the presidential election that is coming up in the PDP is different. We have not seen any other person coming out to challenge Mr. President because of his credibility and what he has been able to put on ground.
“Everybody says ‘oh, the transformation agenda of the president is on course and what else would they come to do than to allow him to continue? Why can’t we give a chance to the man who has initiated the transformation to conclude the transformation?’
“That is why it is different in the presidency, and that is why it is a novel; it has never been done before since 1960.
“But at the state level, I would want to urge all my colleagues, the governors and stakeholders of the PDP to allow a level playing field so that all candidates can go out there. There is a lot of joy when people are canvassing and going round. It keeps even the voters excited, you know, and also helps to spread some largesse around because in the course of consultation something is dropping from party faithful here and there and then people are drinking. I mean, this thing should be joy.”
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