2015: Fears Mount in the South South Over Chances of Buhari Defeating Jonathan

Political leaders and clerics from the  South-south geo-political zone  have expressed concern that President Goodluck Jonathan could suffer defeat in the 2015 presidential election due to the seemingly intractable crises that have rocked the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the zone.

They are afraid that if the current situation does not change, the presidential election will be won by General Muhammadu Buhari  (rtd) of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In their view, all is not well with the PDP as fifth columnists in the party are  working for Jonathan to fail.
They fear that the fifth columnists  had been at work since the Rivers State crisis that saw Governor Rotimi Amaechi decamping to the APC, the emergence of Aminu Tambuwal as Speaker House of Representatives against the choice of the party and now their fingers are everywhere in the just concluded PDP primaries that is sullied with crisis in the South-south and few other places in South-east.

They alleged that this powerful group is working in connivance with some South-south governors to perfect the plan hence the desperate effort by them to install everybody by all means thereby weeding out the president’s men systematically ahead of 2015.

Only recently, Ameachi said Jonathan will lose 2015 due to crisis in the PDP South-south states.

Speaking on the current crisis bedeviling the PDP in the South-south against the backdrop of Amaechi’s comments, one of the political leaders in Cross River State and legal practitioner, Chief Utum Eteng, said: “The presidency should be weary of the crisis in his zone whereas other zones in the country are calm and intact. The plot is to ensure he loses or votes are split significantly in his zone by the opposition party that is poised to sweep other zones. Jonathan should stamp his feet on the ground and shine his eyes on who the party finally submits to fly the party flag in the 2015 state and national assemblies and the governorship elections. The governors may disappoint him.”

Continuing, Eteng said: “The governors in the South-south are the ones who are engineering the entire crisis in the South-south. It has never been so. The crisis in PDP is unprecedented. I have said it loud and clear that from what the governors are doing it seems to me that some of them are agents APC trying to distort and disorganise the South-south so that APC can coast on some of the areas otherwise they will not be operating as if they are emperors treating PDP members with hard fist just because the party structures are in their hands.

“I want to say that it is correct that some persons are paid to destabilise the PDP in the South-south. For instance if the president had 500,000 votes in 2011, there is no magic that will bring him near that with the crisis in PDP now except he is able to call an in-house meeting of the governors and stakeholders and they speak sincerely. I believe up till now the governors of the South-south are not sincere to the president no matter how they pretend outwardly, they are not.

“Some of these governors were part of the formation of the APC and I have never pretended about that. I say it without any fear of contradiction. Under this circumstance the president should show that he is in charge. Why are the governors interested in determining everybody’s fate in the party from the state assembly to the presidency? The president has not in anywhere shown that he is in charge of anything. He has to show that those who stake their lives for him are protected. The governors are not ready to protect such persons, so how do we expect those people to stake their neck and their political ambition in protecting him?”

Eteng tasked the president “to act as the leader of the party and the Commander-in-Chief if he wants to check exodus of popular top PDP members to opposition parties. If he does not, I can still say painfully that Buhari will win him.”

Recently, an outstanding religious leader in Cross River State, Olumba Olumba Obu, warned that the PDP in the country may lose 2015 general election if it does not restrain itself from politics of imposition and arrogance.

Obu in a divine service in Calabar said: “It is possible for another party to displace the ruling party from the presidency of Nigeria if the

PDP and its governors do not also restrain themselves from wanton abuse of political processes and imposition of candidates.”

Though the religious leader who has teeming followership in Africa, America and Europe did not mention the  party that will win, he  said: “God hates arrogance, pride and suppression which are noticeable traits of PDP the party. It is possible for another party to clinch the presidency in Nigeria if the PDP does not stop to abuse political processes. It is not a birthright”.

Obu had  warned governors and other political stakeholders to conduct themselves properly with the fear of God otherwise many of them would be disgraced if they did not restrain from their negative behaviours and conducts.

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