Date Published: 01/07/10

Acting President Brouhaha: Governors reject Jonathan

…We Don’t Trust Him----Northern Governors

…He Has Not Reached Out To Us, Say South-South Governors

…He Won’t Fall For Their Games, VP’s men insist

Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan

Sequel to calls from well meaning Nigerians that the constitution is respected and Vice President Gooduck Jonathan be sworn-in as acting President, pointblankews.com can now reveal that a formidable force within the People Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to block any move to actualize that dream. The bloc is made up of some Governors from the south-south and the northern zones, some ministers, and few members of President Yar’Adua’s kitchen cabinet.

In the last four weeks there have been calls and litigations from various groups including a group of 56 eminent Nigerians and lawyers that the Vice-President be sworn-in as acting President.

But loyalist of the ailing Nigeria President have continued to make surreptitious moves aimed at thwarting the constitutional emergence of the Vice President as acting President, claiming the President is responding to treatment at the Saudi hospital and would be returning to Nigeria soon.

Sources within the Governors forum informed Pointblanknews.com that Governors from the North do not only see the Vice-President,as someone they cannot trust, but also view him as a weak leader. As for the South-South Governors, they are angry with him for not reaching out and informing them where his interest lies, so have decided to adopt the ‘siddon look ‘ attitude.

The South-West and Sout-East Governors are said to be on the fence.

The Governors after a closed door meeting had visited Jonathan in what was described as a “solidarity meeting,” but a source at the Governors Forum meeting held under the chairmanship of Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, hinted Pointblanknews.com that the visit was a mere “photo trick.”

The source who would not want to be named said the visit to Jonathan was “a mere photo trick because what was discussed at the Governors meeting was different from what people now know.”

According to the source, one major issue that came up at the meeting was whether to ask President Yar’Adua to formally write to the National Assembly so that Jonathan can take over as acting President but the idea was killed immediately by the Northern Governors because they claim they don’t trust Jonathan.”

“And you know because Jonathan has not reached out to the South-South Governors on his position since the issue of vacuum began, no one seem to know where his interest lies and we won’t take a position such as heavy as that and have him turn us down at the end of the day and you know this is politics, we all have interest,” the source said.

The source maintained that with the formidable force put up by the South-South Governors in preventing the Petroleum Institute from being moved from its present location in Effurun, Delta State to Kaduna, “Jonathan would have received the letter and would have started acting by now but he refused a formidable force.”

However, a very close ally of the Vice-President who would not want his name in print told Pointblanknews.com that all the game play being orchestrated by the Governors, aides of President Yar’Adua and some of his allies to paint Jonathan as disloyal, would fall flat.

According to him, “Jonathan that I know very well would not fall for all those traps. He believes that Yar’Adua is his boss and under no circumstances would he be seen taking any action against him. He would not do it.”

The source who stated that while Jonathan cannot be reduced to a sectional leader, “there is no way he would want to have a meeting with the South-South Governors to ask for their support to become acting president or President because as far as he is concerned, his constituency is Nigeria.”

According to the source, “if you look at it very well, some Governors in the South-South like Timpre Sylva of Bayelsa State, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, Liyel Imoke of Cross River State are not in good terms with Jonathan. He only has Emmanuel Uduaghan and Godswill Akpabio as friends while Adams Oshiomhole of Edo is AC, so what do you expect would come out if he ever summons such meeting?’’

The source maintained that besides the Governors who have been working to blackmail the Vice-President and make him fall into a trap, President Yar’Adua’s aides such as Tanimu Kurfi, Economic Adviser to the president, David Edevbie, Principal Secretary to the President, Minister for Agriculture, Dr. Abba Ruma who are all afraid of losing their jobs have deviced all manner of tricks to ensure the Vice-President is not empowered to act as President.

“You know all these people don’t want to lose their jobs. They have lied about everything including claiming that the President spoke with Jonathan and you know Jonathan cannot come out to say he did not, so while they keep playing the game, the Vice-President is watching and playing along with them because he remains loyal regardless,” the source said.

“If they like let them go ahead and write a letter claiming that Yar’Adua wrote it for Jonathan to take over, Jonathan would not fall for that. If they can forge the president’s signature on the Supplementary budget, what else can’t they do,"? the source asked.