Governors demand Nigerian president to seek only one term

A group of governors from Nigeria's ruling party on Thursday called on President Goodluck Jonathan to seek only one more term in office as the party tries to quell divisions ahead of April elections.

Following a meeting of high-ranking members of the Peoples Democratic Party, 18 governors and two deputy governors issued a statement saying they backed Jonathan for one more term.

"The governors... support and endorse President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to contest the 2011 election as the PDP presidential candidate for a period of four years only," it said.

The governors had also convened their own "emergency" meeting.

Some two-thirds of the country's 36 state governorships are currently held by PDP members. Governors hold considerable power in the country, including the allocation of oil revenue distributed to their states.

The statement comes as the party tries to unite behind a candidate ahead of April 9 presidential elections.

While the pledge of support from the governors would be a major benefit to Jonathan in the hard-fought campaign, the one-term reference was a signal of negotiations that had likely occurred behind the scenes.

Jonathan's bid for the ruling party's nomination has set off a dispute over whether the party should abandon him in favour of a northern candidate. Ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar, who is from the north, is challenging him for the nomination.

The dispute stems from an agreement within the party that its presidential candidate should be rotated between the north and south every two terms. The agreement is intended to smooth over ethnic and religious divisions in Africa's most populous nation.

Jonathan, who is from the south, took over as president in May following the death of Umaru Yar'Adua, a northerner. Because Yar'Adua did not finish out his first term, some argue another northerner should be the PDP's candidate.

The governors said in their statement on Thursday that "our constitution entitles our president to run for a second term, which the PDP governors support."

Presidents are limited to two terms under Nigerian law. Local media have reported in recent days that negotiations were underway in the party with some in the north pushing for Jonathan to commit that would not run again in 2015.

The PDP has won every presidential election since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999. It is expected to hold primaries in the first two weeks of January.

The Governors are either stupid or too blind out of their own greed not to see the fault line in their offer.

Be that as it may,I felt it is wiser for Jonathan to accept the deal,after all any one can achieve much during this term,if he so wish.Besides all the Governors should also consider dropping their second term ambitions and agendas.