By Okechukwu Jombo
As speculations remain rife that former President Goodluck Jonathan would vie for the presidency on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), a chieftain of one of the support groups rooting for his emergence, Hon Moses Essien has declared that the former president is the only man that can collapse the two major political parties, APC and PDP into one party
According to Essien, who is a member of the support group, Bring Back Jonathan Initiative said if the former President declares today, the two leading political parties in the country would massively vote for him.
Former President Jonathan, despite the speculations, is yet to make a categorical statement on his political future.
Essien who made this known yesterday while speaking exclusively to Nigerian Pilot added that “Former President Jonathan is the best candidate for the position. Nigeria stands to gain enormously from his presidency.”
His words: “Jonathan is one leader who has so much goodwill and leaders with such goodwill are like catalysts to bounce back the economy of the country, by virtue of his global goodwill, investors will come back to the country. He will also bring back unity amongst Nigeria’s various ethnic groups.”
“The nationalities that make up the country have confidence in him. From East or West, North or South everybody knows that Jonathan is a man to be trusted. Politics has a lot to do with perception and image.
“His perception of peace and unity is what the country needs most now. These and many other attributes are what he has more than many others that have shown interest in the presidency of this country.
“Nigeria at the moment is polarized. Look at what is happening in the North-East and South-east, even the North Central insecurity everywhere. Jonathan was able within the period he was president to stem the tide of insecurity in the Niger-Delta and held an election that was adjudged to be peaceful even within the North East
“To a large extent, Jonathan has the capacity to end insecurity everywhere in the country. He has demonstrated it before and can do it again. Jonathan has the listening ear and knows how to end it all. So, Jonathan has the answer to both economic and political problems of Nigeria. The country will benefit from this capability. Nigeria will benefit in terms of equal distribution of political offices. He will give everyone a sense of belonging.
“There will be no more injustice and Nigerians will be happy because most insecurity stems from injustice”, he stated.
Speaking further, he said “we are not asking for him to be given the right of first refusal, but there is no sensible political party in Nigeria that will not give Jonathan the right of first refusal. It’s left for the party of his choice to decide what to do in that regard but if Jonathan runs on a zero party for the presidency he will win and if any political party wants to win or retain power in Nigeria Jonathan is the man in terms of popularity and capacity.”
