Why northern PDP govs worked against Jonathan in 2015 – Aliyu
Former governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, has revealed the sole reason why northern governors under the Peoples Democratic Party worked against the re-election bid of former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.
Aliyu stated the northern governors worked against Jonathan’s re-election ambition because he defaulted on an earlier agreement not to run for a second term.
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The revelation was contained in a statement signed by the former governor titled ‘Why We Opposed Jonathan’s Second Term Bid –Babangida Aliyu.’
Aliyu was reacting to his suspension by the PDP in Chachanga Local Government Area of Niger State over alleged anti-party activities, which includes working against Jonathan in 2015.
Recall that Jonathan lost out to Muhammadu Buhari of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the 2015 election.
The former chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum and a former leader of a PDP faction, disclosed the North stood disadvantaged by Yar’Adua’s death and the insistence that Jonathan should run for the office of president in 2015.
He said, “All the governors in the North under the PDP supported the then Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to complete the remaining years of Yar’Adua’s tenure and to contest the next presidential election as a sole candidate of our great party.
“However, midway, President Goodluck Jonathan insisted to run for the office in 2015 against the grain of our earlier agreement.
“Since this was against the grain of our earlier agreement in the party, and which we, the governors in the North felt the North would have been short-changed if Jonathan had succeeded, we rose stoutly to insist on the agreement we all had.
“On that premise, we opposed Jonathan. But all along, Goodluck Jonathan had enjoyed every support from the governors in the north and the entire region.”
He said, “We acted in good spirit and argued our points based on principle and on the subsisting agreement we had with Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. That agreement was written and accepted by all.
“We didn’t oppose Jonathan but we were opposed to his insistence on a second term in office because the North would have lost out completely.”
“It is, therefore, wrong for anyone to erroneously say that I, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, had opposed Goodluck Jonathan,” he added.
