Nigerian President eyes second term

ABUJA. — Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan told supporters at a rally in Abuja that he will run for a second term at the general election scheduled in February 2015.

Jonathan, after reeling off his achievements in the last three-and-a-half years as president of the West African country, said he decided to run for a second term in office to acknowledge the yearnings of his teeming supporters.

“I, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, have accepted to re-present myself, on the platform of The Peoples Democratic Party, for re-election as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the 2015 general elections,” he said, promising to do more in enhancing the ongoing transformation agenda in Africa’s most populous country.

Noting democracy is a collective action, energized by individual responsibility, Jonathan appealed to the people to bestow on him a mandate that will inspire in him the strength to complete the work he started as elected president in 2011.

“Again, I say: My ambition to serve you is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. I remain committed to this principle of non-violence,” he added.

Traffic in the Nigerian capital Abuja was literally brought to a standstill as all roads led to the Eagles Square, venue of the presidential declaration ceremony.

“The venue was jam-packed, with supporters of the national ruling party, governors and senior state and party officials in attendance. Ahead of his formal declaration on Tuesday, Jonathan had on October 30 picked up the presidential nomination form of the ruling party which qualifies him as the political group’s standard bearer for next year’s election in Nigeria.

Two months ago, leaders of the PDP had endorsed Jonathan as the party’s sole candidate for the 2015 presidential election, attributing the unanimous decision to “the president’s laudable transformation agenda”. Political analysts in Nigeria said the president’s second term ambition might, however, meet a serious challenge as the African nation’s biggest opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), has vowed to wrest power from the ruling PDP at next year’s elections.

Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, has fixed February 14, 2015 for presidential elections in the country. — Xinhua.