As Nigerians get ready to cast their votes on Saturday, March 28, the Presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ambassador Mani Ahmed has stepped down for President Goodluck Jonathan, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) candidate.
This was disclosed by the National Chairman of the party, Chief Ralphs Okey Nwosu in Abuja, yesterday, March 23, Vanguard reports.
According to him, said the party’s Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate, Dr. Obianuju Uzohue, took the decision to enable Jonathan to continue his transformation agenda.
He debunked reports that the ADC had pledged allegiance to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Nwosu said: “Why Jonathan, Goodluck is an authentic leader struggling with challenges of nation building. Nigeria needs a president who does not have high need for power, an authentic personality who like all of us is struggling to make good with all the vulnerability and vagaries of our time. We need a man at the centre who can stay out of the way and allow the full architecture of governance come alive and take root across the country.
“Making our local government areas play their roles as vibrant, functional and productive entities in this country will help our nation achieve greatness. We are convinced that President Jonathan has the humanity to ensure this.
“ADC remains a stabilizing force the country’s unity, national transformation, and Nigeria’s democratic enterprise. Building an egalitarian Nigeria society is a collective exercise; we must not shirk this responsibility.
“We believe we are beginning to get nation building right by encouraging inclusivity especially at the top of government. For the first time in the history of the country, we elected a very ordinary young man , a minority from the Niger Delta to be our president.”
He added that the party would mobilize its supporters to vote for President Jonathan and advised him to build a large coalition that is all inclusive after his victory.
As the 2015 general elections fast approaches, political alignments and re-alignments seem to be the order of the day. Some of the minority parties have been dropping their candidates and adopting presidential candidates of majority parties like the PDP and APC.
About 4 days ago, the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) had adopted the presidential candidate of the APC, Muhammadu Buhari, as its presidential candidate for the March 28 elections. The obviously confused DPP had initially endorsed the incumbent President Jonathan as its presidential candidate, before suddenly making a u-turn and adopting Buhari.
The Alliance for Democracy (AD) had also dropped its candidate, Dr Rafiu Salau, for President Jonathan.
