He also stressed that his being a candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would not have a negative effect on his determination to ensure that the exercise was free and fair.
The President who spoke Tuesday night also announced that he was prepared to stake his reputation to ensure a drastic change in the way things are done in Nigeria within a short time starting with the conduct of a free and fair election whose outcome, he was confident, would be generally acceptable.
He told the Nigerian community in Turkey at the beginning of his three-day state visit of his Administration’s commitment to giving the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) all necessary support to guarantee that it delivers very credible elections in April.
However, the PDP has been warned “not to gloat over the truncated” alliance between the ACN and the CPC.
In a statement in Ilorin, Kwara State yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) said “with or without the alliance,” the leading opposition party would dislodge the PDP in April’s general elections.
The ACN wondered why the PDP “took it upon itself to celebrate the failure of the alliance, which ordinarily should not be its business.”
‘’It is a mark of the idleness of the folks in charge of the PDP that they will resort to issuing a statement over the problems with the alliance between two opposition parties, when they should be busy strategising on how to save their party from an imminent doom,’’ ACN said.
Jonathan also said that one of the reasons he wants to contest the election was to prove that an incumbent President of Nigeria could preside over the conduct of a free and fair election.
He remarked: “I remember in those early days some people came to me and said Jonathan, ‘we think you mean well for this country, but if you become a candidate we are not too sure the elections will be free and fair. The best thing is for you not to contest. If you don’t contest we believe in you. But if you contest there could be issues along the line. But If I don’t contest, some people will say it is because the President did not participate that is why the elections were free and fair. But our constitution gives the president the privilege to stand for election. I want to be a sitting president that will contest election and ensure that the election is free and fair, such that people will have no excuse.
“To me, the presidential election, whether it goes to the left or to the right, I have made a name. If at the end of the day the elections are free and fair and I lose, I will make a name as a sitting African President that contested election and lost gallantly. But if I win the election I will also be commended for winning the election. So I have nothing to lose.”
Responding to questions and comments by Nigerians in Turkey, Jonathan said that his Administration was effectively tackling challenges in the Niger Delta and that restiveness in the region will soon be a thing of the past.
The President said that the remarkable increases in the country’s daily oil production capacity were a clear indication of the effectiveness of his Administration’s efforts to address the problems of the Niger Delta.
ACN said while it did not owe the PDP any explanation on its failed alliance with the CPC, it would “like to explain the reasons for the failure to Nigerians - who are the ones actually rooting for it because they believe it will help in dislodging the do-nothing PDP and save the country from the kind of crisis sweeping across North Africa.”
The party said the main reason the alliance failed was the “recalcitrance and unbending attitude of the CPC, led by its presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.”
It added: ‘’For purely patriotic reasons and in the national interest, we made a lot of concessions to make the alliance work, but the CPC simply stuck to a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, behaving all through the talks as if it was the senior partner in the alliance
‘’We invited Buhari to run for the presidency on the platform of our party. That means we were willing to even sacrifice our own candidate for the good of all. But the CPC insisted that not only must the alliance field Buhari, he must run on the platform of the CPC.”
‘’We thought this demand was quite unreasonable, considering the pedigree of the ACN. Yes, CPC may be a popular party but it is largely untested. On the other hand, ACN is not only popular but it is well tested. We have four state governors, many Senators and House of Representatives members, huge number in the state houses of assembly and many council chairmen.
‘’Going into April’s election, we have a Plus 3 Advantage, in that three of our governors will not contest and two will remain in office till 2014!
‘’But the people in the CPC want us to not only concede the presidency, but also to lose our identity, when they bring little to the table. Of course we rejected that demand, which will be akin to committing political suicide. It was difficult enough having to explain to our members why we are offering to sacrifice our own presidential candidate for Buhari.
‘’To even assure Buhari, who is apparently smarting from the backstabbing he suffered from his former party, ANPP, we said if and when he wins the presidency, we can go to congress and change the name, logo and other identities of the ACN to reflect the new reality brought forth by the alliance. Again the CPC refused. We were left wondering whether indeed the people in the CPC believe in their candidate and want him to become President.”
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