2015: I’ll Return To Otuoke If I Lose -Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan, has said he will graciously bow out if he loses the March 28 Presidential election to his major opponent, the All Progressives Congress Presidential candidate Maj Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, adding that Nigeria was not his father’s estate.
In an interview with the cable TV, Al Jazeera, on Monday in Lagos, President Jonathan, who repeatedly told his interviewer that he would win the March 28 election, said if he lost the election, he would return to Otuoke, his country home in Bayelsa State.
“If by default somebody wins the election, of course, I will go back to my `village. The country is not my father’s estate. I’ll not lose the election,” Jonathan said.
Speaking on the speculation that he had made plans to remove the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the President stated he would only sack him if he had done something wrong.
“I have no plans to sack the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, except somebody is insinuating that the chairman has done something wrong. You cannot change an officer, except the person has done something wrong. The government, whether at the federal or state level, (be it) the president or governor, does not wake up and change somebody, especially somebody like the INEC chairman, except that person has done something wrong.
“INEC is a very sensitive body. For me to change INEC chairman, people –both Nigerians and non-Nigerians – will ask questions. So, one cannot wake up and change INEC chairman. I have never discussed this with any human being on earth about changing INEC chairman,” Jonathan said.
The president, while commending the Nigerian troops for the recent successes recorded in the fight against Boko Haram, claimed that some people were using the insurgents to disrupt the general elections.
He said, “I don’t think the elections will be postponed again. I think the elections will be conducted as scheduled by the INEC –that is the presidential election slated for March 28. I don’t see why we should postpone the election again because I’m quite impressed with the successes of the military operations going on in the North.
The president said, “there is a misunderstanding about the postponement of the general elections. In 2011, when the general elections were conducted, we had Boko Haram. The fact is that within that period, somehow, the level of Boko Haram was quite serious and from all indications, and from the signals the security agencies got, people are using Boko Haram to disrupt the elections.”
According to him, “In 2011, there were no such signals and if the elections are disrupted in a number of states, especially for the presidential elections, it will affect the declaration of results. So, the security services don’t want to take any chances. They did not tell Nigerians that they must rout Boko Haram 100 per cent before the elections could be conducted.
“But they want to degrade Boko Haram to the extent that they would no longer have the kind of strength to come out and disrupt the elections. That is the key thing.
“In terms of taking over our territories, yes we will take over all our territories –yes, we will take over all of our territories and very soon there will be no part of Nigeria where they will erect a flag and say, ‘This is a Boko Haram territory.’ That we’ll do”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated President Goodluck Jonathan over yesterday’s  ruling of the Court of Appeal, which upheld his eligibility to contest the 2015 Presidential election.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement said the court ruling represents a positive step towards President Jonathan’s impending overwhelming victory at the polls come March 28, 2015.
The party described the verdict as “victory for democracy and the rule of law especially in protecting the inalienable rights of eligible citizens to freely participate in the electoral process without any form of hindrance”, adding that the development has helped to enrich the judiciary and further deepened the nation’s democratic evolution.
The PDP also applauded President Jonathan for always remaining focused and upholding democratic principles, which enable Nigerians to operate in an environment that allows for full expression of fundamental rights.
Commending the judiciary for its stabilizing role in the polity, the PDP urged its members and supporters across the country to close ranks and stand on the platform of this judicial victory to intensify efforts for eventual electoral victory for the president and other candidates of the party in the general elections.

A collaped one-storey building owned by Redemeed Christain Church of God, Rivers Province 2, Amazing Grace Area, located at Iboloji Estate, Ozuoba in Obio/Akpor Local Government area of Rivers State..
Photo: Nwiveh Donatus Ken