Deputy Speaker, Ministers lead Jonathan’s campaign in Gombe

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Usman Babayero Nafada, Ministers of Federal Capital Territory, Bala Mohammed; Tourism, Abubakar Sadiq, led Senators and members of House of Representatives from different states in the North-East, party supporters, including a board of trustee member, Kaulaha Aliyu, to a rally and commissioning of office organized by the Jonathan/Namadi Movement for 2011, which held in Gombe yesterday.

Speaking at the rally, the Deputy Speaker said, the crowd that came out en mass to witness the occasion indicated that Jonathan had got the necessary support for the actualization of his bid to contest the forth coming general elections.

He added that Jonathan should be allowed to complete the two terms they had started with the late President Umaru Yar’adua, arguing that if the late President were alive, he would have been given the chance to run for a second time, maintaining that it’s only natural that such grace is extended to Goodluck Jonathan.

Nafada opined that with the new electoral law in place Nigerians should expect to have a credible election that would be generally accepted as free and fair in 2011 general elections, noting that the time for rigging election and imposition of candidates was over.

In their separate speeches, the two ministers appealed to northerners to give them the benefit of the doubt by trusting their verdicts on Jonathan and giving him a chance to run for the presidency in 2011.

They said they were assuring the people of the north that they would not live to regret their action.

They added that Jonathan was a child of destiny, therefore, his ambition to contest for the number one office was also considered to be a journey of destiny. Based on that they were calling on all the northerners to come on board and join them toward actualizing this dream.

Host of the rally and State coordinator of Jonathan/Namadi Movement 2011, Alhaji Abubakar Mu’azu Hassan, told Sunday Trust that for the short period of time Jonathan had been in power, he had exhibited a sense of commitment and patriotism in piloting the affairs of the country.

“I am a northerner, I am proud of the region and I love the region but it is in the best interest of the north that a south-south person in the person of Jonathan is supported because since the independence of Nigeria in 1960, the south-south has been a natural ally of the north, they have always supported us even during the Biafran war, they didn’t join in fighting the north.

Not only that, they have always trusted the north and joined forces with us in politics. Should we go against them now that their son is gunning for the presidency which they never had? We should support Jonathan in 2011 as the second doctrine of necessity, just like how the Senate passed resolution to make him acting president during the crises on the late Yar’adua’s health,” he said.

The rally recorded a high turnout of supporters clamouring for Jonathan.