As
2015 presidential election is approaching, the stakeholders in Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, Adamawa, said on August 22, 2013, Wednesday, that
only the Supreme Court can determine whether or not President Goodluck
Jonathan has the right to post his candidature.
According
to the PDP politicians, if President Jonathan contests for another term
of four years in 2015 and gets the position, he will have then
succeeded himself in office as President for a cumulative period of nine
years 23 days, against the constitutional provision of eight years.
The
PDP stakeholders warned that PDP has to be careful not to play into the
hands of the opposition, the All Progressives Congress, APC, Peoples
Democratic Movement, PDM and others. They also stressed that those
currently pushing for Jonathan’s Presidency come 2015 on the basis of
ethnicity or religion as a yardstick for their support for him, were not
doing him or the polity any good.
Dr.
Umar Ardo, the former governorship aspirant, signed the appropriate
statement in which the stakeholders declared the following: “It has the
tendency of alienating other ethnic and religious groups against the
President. How then does that help the cause of the PDP and the
President, seeing that the alienated groups are by far in the majority?
“The
President needs the majority, and not the minority, to win his
elections. With all due apologies to the Governors Forum, let it be
always remembered that elections are won with higher votes, and not with
lower votes.
“But
I want to emphasize one most important thing here though, ultimately
only the Supreme Court can determine whether or not President Jonathan
can even contest the 2015 presidential elections.
“As
I said some time ago, if the President contests for another term of
four years in 2015, he would have self-succeeded himself in office as
President for a cumulative period of nine years 23 days. This is beyond
the eight years maximum period prescribed by the constitution and
vicariously interpreted by the Supreme Court.
“Most
people may not see it, but this issue is a very serious constitutional
barricade standing against the candidacy of the President in 2015.
Neither the President’s supporters nor his opponents, nor even the
President himself can determine this matter.
“Only
the Supreme Court can do so; certainly not even the pronouncement of a
High Court can suffice. To take it as given that the president can
contest in 2015 is a grave error of judgment. I am making this press
release against the backdrop of the current agitations for and against
President Jonathan’s candidacy in 2015 that have lately been tearing,
especially the peoples of the core North and the Middle Belt, apart.” 
