Barring last minute adjustments, the forthcoming Presidential and National Assembly elections are to hold on January 8, 2011, THISDAY can reveal.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also fixed January 15, 2011 for the governorship and state house of assembly polls.
But the dates are tentative, according to INEC sources who said last night in Abuja that the commission’s lawyers were still looking through the draft timetable in order to come up with the guidelines.
However, it is assumed that since President Goodluck Jonathan has signed into law the new Electoral Act, which derived some of its provisions from the amended constitution, it means the new constitution has become operational.
THISDAY also gathered that the electoral body has fixed September 11 to October 30 this year as the date for all the political parties to conduct their congresses and conventions to pick candidates for all elective offices.
All campaigns, according to the commission, are expected to commence by October 10 this year.
In the meantime, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors who met on Tuesday night in Abuja remain divided over the 2011 presidential poll and President Jonathan’s reported ambition.
But Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke told some journalists last night in Calabar, the state capital, that the state chief executives in the South-south remain united behind the President’s aspiration.
He said at the Abuja meeting, the PDP governors expressed their support for the Jonathan administration and wanted the President to unfold his plan for 2011 before they declare their stand.
President Jonathan, THISDAY learnt, is expected to meet state governors in Lagos today in continuation of his consultations on his political future.
He is expected to use his visit to Lagos where he would announce his roadmap for the power sector to confer with the governors on strategic issues regarding the future of Nigeria.
The meeting by PDP governors failed to adopt a common position on who to support for the party’s presidential primaries as there was no consensus among them.
This came as the party’s National Chairman Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo held an all-night meeting with PDP chairmen in all the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Other members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party were unaware of the all-night meeting.
At the meeting of the PDP governors held at the Kwara State Governor’s Lodge and presided over by Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki and Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum commenced at about 10 pm.
THISDAY gathered that the meeting discussed the outcome of their meeting with President Jonathan earlier on Tuesday at about 5 pm, where the President intimated them of his desire to seek nomination as the presidential candidate of PDP.
After the meeting, the PDP governors retired to another meeting at the Kwara State Governor’s lodge to take a position.
According to a source at the meeting, all the South-south governors spoke in favour of President Jonathan contesting.
Also, the South-west governors spoke solidly in favour of the President contesting the 2011 presidential election.
The only opposition, THISDAY gathered, was from some Northern governors, as the ten governors that had earlier insisted that zoning should be retained, maintained their position.
At a point at the meeting, the PDP governors asked Saraki to tell them whether he has an interest in contesting at the presidential primaries of the party.
But it was gathered that the Kwara state governor was non-committal in his response.
A source said the governors decided to ask Saraki to state his position because of his opposition to the presidential aspiration of President Jonathan.
The governors of Kebbi, Zamfara, Bauchi and Katsina it was gathered were at the forefront of those opposing the aspiration of President Jonathan.
According to a source, “this is understandable, because they were the same group that insisted on zoning when we met to take a position on the same matter in Kaduna last month.”
After the meeting, which came to an end at about 1.15 am, some of the governors who belong to an inner caucus went for another meeting that lasted over thirty minutes.
This time around, members of the inner caucus of the PDP governors’ forum that went for an extra meeting included governors of Delta, Bauchi, Kebbi, Kwara and Katsina.
THISDAY learnt that Governors Jonah Jang and Gabriel Suswam of Plateau and Benue states strongly championed the cause of Jonathan for the presidency in 2011.
It was as a result of the strong division among the PDP governors that they were unable to issue a communiqué of the meeting as used to be the case whenever they met.
Governors in attendance at the meeting included those of Delta, Ekiti, Oyo, Ebonyi, Cross Rivers, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Baylesa, Nasarawa, Benue, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Enugu, Imo, Bauchi, Kwara and Plateau.
Deputy Governors of Niger, Jigawa and Taraba states also attended the meeting.
But as the PDP governors were meeting, Nwodo was holding a crucial meeting with all the states’ and FCT chairmen.
At the meeting, which started at about 11pm, Nwodo led the party chairmen into the details of the party’s guidelines for the nomination of all candidates for the 2011 general election.
According to one of the state chairmen who spoke to THISDAY, “the national chairman took us into confidence of his plans on what he is doing. Recall that we were not consulted when the party went for the e-registration. This time, he promised to carry us along in whatever the national secretariat is doing.
“He also briefed us on the guidelines of the party for the primary election. He urged us to be impartial and ensure that there is a level playing ground for all the aspirants. He also urged us to ensure that the best eleven of the party represents the party at the general election.”
Also, Nwodo charged the PDP state chairmen in the North-west and North-east zones to respond to claims of the opposition political parties especially the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) to the areas as their strongholds.
According to a source who spoke on the outcome of the meeting, Nwodo challenged the chairmen from the two zones to sit up to the challenges posed by these opposition parties, because they give the picture that PDP is not on ground.
“It is your duty to see that Nigerians get the true picture of what is on ground. Respond to their challenges. This is election time,” Nwodo told the chairmen.
Speaking when he granted audience to journalists in Calabar, Imoke said as chairman of the South-south Governors’ Forum, he owes the region a duty to project President Jonathan to the country and work for his success at all times.
Imoke said though PDP has agreed to retain zoning, the party has also agreed to allow Jonathan to contest and as such the governors of the region will do everything humanly possible to support the President.
He said it is wrong for Nigerians to assume that the governors have become too powerful now, explaining that the alleged influence of the governors played a stabilising factor for the country during the illness of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the subsequent emergence of Jonathan as acting president in February this year.
“Our influence did not start today. It was not by accident. If you look at what happened in 2003 and 2007, the governors were very visible in political activities of the country. In fact in 2007, governors emerged both as president and vice president. So if you consider the crucial role we play in the sustenance of this democracy, you won’t say we are too powerful.”
On the debate on whether the President should sign the amended constitution before it becomes operational or not, Imoke urged Nigerians to savour the joy of achieving a huge feat by the amendment process, saying the country should not dissipate energy on technicalities that may later overcome the success recorded.
