‘ No one can cajole Jonathan not to contest 2015 election’

Presidential adviser Ahmed Gulak said
yesterday that President Goodluck
Jonathan cannot be stopped from
contesting in 2015 – if he decides to
run.
He told State House reporters that the
President ’s right to re-contest is
guaranteed by the constitution .
The decision to contest or not to
contest, he said, is solely for him to
take .
The Political Affairs Adviser said: “I have
said it before , that 2015 , national
chairman , EFCC , these are the three
demands and we have to be guided by
the Constitution. The Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 , as
amended, gives Mr. President the right
to offer himself for second term , if he
so chooses and nobody , either
individual or group, can abridge his
constitutional right.
“ If he decides not to contest let it be on
his own volition , not because he is
intimidated or cajoled into doing that.”
On EFCC and the call for the sacking of
Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) National
Chairman Bamanga Tukur, Gulak said :
“ Secondly, about EFCC , I have said it
before and will say it again, Mr.
President will never ask such an
independent body not to carry out their
job or statutory function . The third is
about national chairman and I have said
he emerged through the process of
election and his removal is also guided
by constitutional provisions .
“ The national chairman has no problem ,
he was elected and I always say that as
there are processes for election , there
are processes for removal or
resignation . So nobody can cajole
anybody to say the national chairman
will not survive. Nobody is against the
national chairman .”
On the allegation that the treasurer of
the New PDP was forced to resign , Gulak
said : “ I have never said there is a
faction, I have always said they are
aggrieved members. There was even no
national treasurer as far as we are
concerned. The National Treasurer of
the party is Bala Buhari , that is the man
we elected at the Eagle Square on
August 31.”