2027: Northern Group urges Jonathan to contest for Presidency

By Samuel Luka, Bauchi

A Northern Nigeria group under the platform of Arewa Consensus For Jonathan (AC-Jonathan) has called on former President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to contest for the seat of the President come 2027.

The National Coordinator of the group, Manniru Musa Yisin who made the call at a press conference in Bauchi on Sunday, explained that only Goodluck Jonathan can bring Nigeria out of its current economic hardship, insecurity and other life threatening challenges bedeviling the citizens.

According to him, Arewa Consensus for Jonathan is a coalition of patriotic groups and individuals across the length and breadth of Northern Nigeria who are out to ensure that Nigerians are saved from the current socio-economic peril.

“It is in line with this goal that we gather here today to call on former president of the federal republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, to, as a matter of urgency, declare himself as interested to run for the seat of the president again comes 2027 general election in Nigeria”, the group said.

Yisin who also enjoined all well-meaning Nigerians, home and abroad, to join them in their efforts to drag the former President who he described as “tested and trusted gentleman” back into the ring, called for their support to enable him get reelected back to the Aso Rock in the next presidential election.

Yisin who pointed out that the project represents a moral duty for all Nigerian citizens, said the group’s preference for Jonathan is informed by his track record of outstanding leadership qualities and power of character as demonstrated during his reign as the President of Nigeria.

The Arewa Consensus for Jonathan further explained that, between 2011 and 2015, President Jonathan operated a people-centered government and recorded great achievements.

The Coordinator said Jonathan succeeded in rebasing the Nigerian economy, stabilizing the naira, cemented the unity of the country, improved the citizens’ standard of living.

“In a spirit of patriotism and sportsmanship, exited the State House in an unforgettable grand style. As Nigerians of northern extractions, we really felt particularly privileged under Jonathan’s administration especially when he came up with a tailored human development program that was aimed at checking the challenges of human capital deficits in the northern region”, Yisin disclosed.

The National Coordinator further noted that the former president really appreciated the importance of education for personal and community development as well as nation building, as such, the group felt deeply indebted to him for initiating and actualizing many education programs including the need-based Almajiri Education Initiative with a view to giving the helpless northern muslim children an opportunity to live a decent life.

The group however, regretted that the various initiatives of former president Jonathan was instantly killed after the 2015 elections.

Yisin said that the North to been a region that is plagued with high-level of unemployment and deteriorating insecurity, agriculture remains the only lifeline for the northern economy.

“It is for this reason once again that we can’t thank His Excellency the former president Jonathan enough for giving farmers all over the nation the opportunity to access at least two (2) bags of fertilizer at a negligible cost of N5, 000 without knowing anybody”, the Coordinator said.

He recalled with gratitude, the glorious e-wallet fertilizer distribution program which did not only succeeded in putting food on the tables of Nigerians, but also gave rural farmers the opportunities to save some money for education, healthcare and other basics needs of their families during Goodluck Jonathan.

The group observed that having come from the southern part of Nigeria that is expected to lead the country for eight years beginning from 2023 and his unequalled leadership qualities, the former president stand a better chance to receive overwhelming support of Nigerians in 2027.

“It is our humble believe that safeguarding the unwritten rules of power rotation between the two regions of north and south is very important for the unity and harmonious coexistence of the multicultural Nigeria”, the group said.

It regretted that nearly a decade after Jonathan left as President, Nigerians helplessly watch what is supposed to be their government being consistently taken further and further away from them.