DESPITE the presidency’s silence over the 2015 presidential race, the core North is reportedly rattled by the increasing possibility of President Goodluck Jonathan seeking second term in office at a time the North is at its weakest point.
Investigations and checks across the North-East and the North-West geopolitical zones in the last four days revealed a region largely helpless with the president’s rumoured ambition throwing the political elite into political confusion and further division.
Some northern leaders belonging to the ruling party, at the time of filing this report, were said to be deeply confused as to how to tackle the president due to what insiders described as two main attributes the president has demonstrated since assuming the leadership of the country.
A situational analysis meeting reportedly held in Kaduna last week in response to the outcome of the PDP convention was said to have concluded that the president has mastered the art of political brinksmanship and that the North should prepare for the worst in 2015.
Investigations and checks across the North-East and the North-West geopolitical zones in the last four days revealed a region largely helpless with the president’s rumoured ambition throwing the political elite into political confusion and further division.
Some northern leaders belonging to the ruling party, at the time of filing this report, were said to be deeply confused as to how to tackle the president due to what insiders described as two main attributes the president has demonstrated since assuming the leadership of the country.
A situational analysis meeting reportedly held in Kaduna last week in response to the outcome of the PDP convention was said to have concluded that the president has mastered the art of political brinksmanship and that the North should prepare for the worst in 2015.
A top Arewa strategist who attended the meeting noted that “the perception out there in the North is that you are dealing with a president who is dangerous in two ways. One, Jonathan is a student of brinkmanship. He took the nation to the cliff-edge in 2011 and got the presidency. In spite of several pledges, his body language suggests that he will try the brinkmanship again in 2015.
“Two, from their experience of him, most northern leaders hold the opinion that you cannot hold Jonathan to his words, which means that what you believe about him is what he does, not what he says he will do. For the North itself, it is not in doubt that as a political entity, the region is in disarray, if not in a mess,” the strategist, who craved anonymity, noted.
The region was reportedly jolted by the outcome of the PDP convention, during which the president and former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, succeeded in installing their loyalists, despite fierce opposition by other forces within the party.
It was learnt that the core northern political leaders believed that the outcome of the convention had placed the party structure in the hands of Arewa politicians sympathetic to the president, a development interpreted to mean easy grab of the PDP presidential ticket if the president eventually decided to run for presidency in 2015.
Aside the above, the situation was said to have become more complicated for the North, as the number of core Arewa politicians ready to do the bidding of the president was on the increase, with another insider who attended the Kaduna meeting confessing that “there are thousands of northerners out there who are waiting to work for the president due to the harsh economic situation in the region.”
Findings also revealed that opinions were divided in the zone as to how to tackle the president with the elders comprising the likes of Adamu Ciroma, Atiku Abubakar, Umaru Shinkafi and others reportedly holding back from direct criticism of the president, while younger elements were allegedly clamouring for a more militant reactions from the region.
Further checks showed that many northern elders did not consent to recent threats of break-up of Nigeria issued by Alhaji Lawal Kaita, who, they believed, had sided with the younger elements who were pushing for radical actions in resolving the quagmire the region now found itself.
While Arewa elders and elite were reportedly divided, it was learnt that some northern youth groups were already emerging with a view to adopting the June 12 strategies, which included beating into line alleged treacherous politicians from the region.
Nigerian Tribune investigations showed that the younger politicians were blaming the northern elders for entering into wrong agreements, such as powershift and the off-shore revenue concessions.
Nigerian Tribune was, however, told that despite the shaky fate of the North as far as 2015 was concerned, the region was banking on three factors to stop the president in case he decided to seek new term in office.
First, according to the conclusions of the Kaduna meeting, was the issue of performance of the president in office, with the meeting noting that: “If he continues going the way he is, this government is not electable for a further term of four years in 2015.”
The second factor reportedly included what the source called northern re-awakening going on in several fronts right now and the third being the planned grand coalition among several opposition parties.
“Two, from their experience of him, most northern leaders hold the opinion that you cannot hold Jonathan to his words, which means that what you believe about him is what he does, not what he says he will do. For the North itself, it is not in doubt that as a political entity, the region is in disarray, if not in a mess,” the strategist, who craved anonymity, noted.
The region was reportedly jolted by the outcome of the PDP convention, during which the president and former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, succeeded in installing their loyalists, despite fierce opposition by other forces within the party.
It was learnt that the core northern political leaders believed that the outcome of the convention had placed the party structure in the hands of Arewa politicians sympathetic to the president, a development interpreted to mean easy grab of the PDP presidential ticket if the president eventually decided to run for presidency in 2015.
Aside the above, the situation was said to have become more complicated for the North, as the number of core Arewa politicians ready to do the bidding of the president was on the increase, with another insider who attended the Kaduna meeting confessing that “there are thousands of northerners out there who are waiting to work for the president due to the harsh economic situation in the region.”
Findings also revealed that opinions were divided in the zone as to how to tackle the president with the elders comprising the likes of Adamu Ciroma, Atiku Abubakar, Umaru Shinkafi and others reportedly holding back from direct criticism of the president, while younger elements were allegedly clamouring for a more militant reactions from the region.
Further checks showed that many northern elders did not consent to recent threats of break-up of Nigeria issued by Alhaji Lawal Kaita, who, they believed, had sided with the younger elements who were pushing for radical actions in resolving the quagmire the region now found itself.
While Arewa elders and elite were reportedly divided, it was learnt that some northern youth groups were already emerging with a view to adopting the June 12 strategies, which included beating into line alleged treacherous politicians from the region.
Nigerian Tribune investigations showed that the younger politicians were blaming the northern elders for entering into wrong agreements, such as powershift and the off-shore revenue concessions.
Nigerian Tribune was, however, told that despite the shaky fate of the North as far as 2015 was concerned, the region was banking on three factors to stop the president in case he decided to seek new term in office.
First, according to the conclusions of the Kaduna meeting, was the issue of performance of the president in office, with the meeting noting that: “If he continues going the way he is, this government is not electable for a further term of four years in 2015.”
The second factor reportedly included what the source called northern re-awakening going on in several fronts right now and the third being the planned grand coalition among several opposition parties.
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