Jonathan Changes Tactics, Plans To Mop Up Permanent Voters Cards

 

Having pressured INEC to postpone Nigeria’s general elections by six weeks, President Goodluck Jonathan and his inner circle of political operatives are focusing on new strategies to counter the groundswell of opposition to the incumbent president and to snatch the elections, a few high-profile sources have disclosed. One such strategy is to use huge funds put aside by Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison Madueke as well as donations from refined fuel importers and private operators of power distribution companies to buy up permanent voter cards in the states where Mr. Jonathan and the ruling PDP are most unpopular.

One of the sources stated that increasing public backlash and fear of the unknown had pushed Mr. Jonathan to accept that Nigerians are determined to have elections. Consequently, said the source, the incumbent president has abandoned original plans to scuttle elections altogether in order to form a so-called government of national unity presided over by him. “He [Jonathan] knows that there is no option now than to allow elections to hold,” said the source. He added that the president would assure Nigerians of his preparedness for election at a choreographed media parley scheduled for later today in Abuja.

Other sources revealed that Mr. Jonathan and his handlers would focus on healing rifts within the ruling party in order to present a united front that would make rigging more possible. For example, the president’s associates are expected to push to resolve the internal crises bedeviling the PDP in Adamawa and Taraba States. In addition, the president is planning to reach out to the governors of Enugu and Bayelsa to mend fences with them.

One source said the six-week postponement of elections has helped Mr. Jonathan to “soften the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega.” He said the president’s team now feels confident that they can have their way with some INEC officials, including Mr. Jega, as the PDP fine tunes its rigging strategy in some key states. 

One INEC source said that, despite postponing the elections to serve Mr. Jonathan’s wishes, Mr. Jega had so far received little or no cooperation from the military high command. “They [the military] are not giving Professor Attahiru Jega the necessary assurance of security support to hold the election. We think that the powers-that-be have ordered the military to withhold the support until much later,” the source said.

 

...SaharaReporters