ABUJA: Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday declared his bid for re-election, vowing to finally defeat Boko Haram whose rise in strength during his first term has threatened the country’s sovereignty.
The 56-year-old made the announcement to tens of thousands of supporters in the red, white and green of his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at a carefully orchestrated ceremony including patriotic music, dancing, prayers and speeches.
Africa’s most populous nation goes to the polls to elect a new president on February 14, with Jonathan effectively given a free run at a second term after the PDP endorsed him as its only candidate.
Jonathan, in his trademark black fedora hat and with a PDP scarf draped around his neck, called for four more years to build on his first term in office.
“It is now time to look to the future. With your tremendous support, we have collectively done so much in the last three and half years but to take our country to the next level, there is still more to be done,” he said.
He added: “I, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, have accepted to re-present myself, on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, for re-election.”
The party festival in Abuja, dubbed “the mother of all rallies” by his supporters, came just a day after nearly 50 schoolchildren were killed in a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomb attack.
Violence linked to the five-year Islamist insurgency — and Jonathan’s inability to stop it — has been a feature of his presidency and a key point of criticism for his opponents.
On his watch, Boko Haram violence and the military’s response to it has killed more than 10,000 people and left hundreds of thousands more homeless while the Islamists now reportedly control more than two dozen northeast towns.
AFP
