2015 election: the hurdles before president Goodluck Jonathan

With the retinue of endorsements and adoption that have so far heralded President Goodluck Jonathan’s  second term ambition within and outside the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hierarchy, many believe the coast is clear for the President to ride on unhindered having being adopted as the sole candidate of the party in the 2015 presidential election.  The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) finally cleared its elected officials to participate in events organized in support of President Goodluck Jonathan’s candidacy ahead of the 2015 presidential election. This comes 48 hours to the grand finale of the mega rally by the Transformation Agenda of Nigeria’s (TAN) scheduled to hold in Abuja. Before the sole endorsement of President Jonathan by the PDP National Executive Committee (NEC), the National Working Committee (NWC) had barred its elected officials from participating in any group activity that endorsed the president. But a statement by the PDP national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh, yesterday read: Further to the endorsement of Dr Goodluck Jonathan by NEC as PDP’s sole presidential candidate, the NWC has cleared all elected party officials at all levels to attend and fully participate in any event organised in support of his candidacy. By this, all elected party officials and party members are at liberty to fully be involved in events and activities organised by groups or individuals supporting President Jonathan for the 2015 general elections. The PDP presidential primaries, which has Jonathan as the sole candidate, is scheduled to hold on December 6.  Certain developments since the rash of endorsements and adoption have shown that the coast is yet to be clear for President Jonathan and his party following the recent suits filed in court against them by some aggrieved members of the party. While Jonathan’s re-election bid is on, political pundits have said the President should brace himself for tough times ahead, as there are several hurdles to cross as he approaches the poll. This paper seeks to identify and discuss these hurdles. To achieve this objective, following the introduction is the theoretical perspective. The next segment addresses the hurdles before the president. The third section explores the ways forward. The final section concludes the paper.