2015: Why PDP Picked Jonathan As Sole Candidate

Fresh facts have emerged on why the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) decided President Goodluck Jonathan should be their sole candidate in the forthcoming 2015 presidential election.

Speaking with The Nation today, a PDP who chief who crave anonymity said with the opposition, All Progressive Congress (APC), the last thing PDP needed was a competitive primary which could lead to rancor in the party.
According to the source, the PDP stakeholders after analyzing the political situation critically were of the opinion that the already existing North-South divide in the party would aggravate if other candidates were allowed to contest against the President in a primary election.

“We are in an era of strong political opposition and we cannot afford internal rancour ahead of the 2015.

“We discovered that with the APC on board, having a competitive primary will further divide the party and place PDP on the path of losing the Presidency,” he said.


He explained that they had to woo members of the party nursing presidential ambition in the party to support Jonathan, while adding that the PDP is now united and better prepared to face the APC.

READ ALSO: 2015: PDP Announces Dates For Primaries

He stated that the APC would likely have internal rift after its presidential primaries as a number of its political gladiators like former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar, former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the Governor Kwankwaso were all jostling for the same Presidential ticket.

The source said: “There are many political gladiators in APC who are not willing to make sacrifices and take decision on consensus like the PDP.

“None of these can step down for another and we know APC will soon be thrown into crisis because of these presidential ambitions.”

The news that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) endorsed the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan to become their sole candidate for February 14 elections broke yesterday, September 18.

Reacting to the news, President Jonathan said he was humbled and overwhelmed by the decision, promising not to disappoint the PDP governors, the leaders, stakeholders and members of the party.