2015: GREEN WHITE GREEN VANGUARD ENDORSES JONATHAN FOR RE-ELECTION … Urges Politicians To Shun Political Rascality

By Our Correspondents

IMPRESSED by the remarkable achievements of President Goodluck Jonathan, a social-economic and political advocacy group based in Lagos, The Green White Green Vanguard has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for re-election in 2015.

The endorsement of President Jonathan was contained in a Press Statement signed by the group President, Dr Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe, after the strategic National Executive Council meeting held recently in Lagos.

Dr Latimore said the achievements of President Jonathan within two years and eight months in office had been remarkable and heartwarming.

According to him, the President Jonathan led administration has recorded huge success in national network routes, railway transportation, national crisis and security management, sincere and genuine drive for national economic and political re-birth, sustained economic growth, giant strides in agricultural sector, massive transformation in the aviation sector visible in the infrastructural development, reconstruction and modernization of airport and navigation facilities,  monumental achievements in the power sector which has produced ten new power plants , transparent privatization of the power sector, youth empowerment programmes through Sure-P and other vocational programmes, enhanced roles of Nigerian women in governance and national development, appointment of Nigerian youths to head sensitive sectors of the Nigerian economy as well as visible commitment towards transparent, free and fair elections like never before in the history of our nation’s electioneering processes.

The aforementioned achievements, he said, formed the group’s decision for endorsing President Jonathan for re-election in 2015.

The group observed that President Jonathan’s administration has made visible progress in road construction and rehabilitation than any other administration in the past, particularly the concrete efforts exhibited so far towards the completion of the Lagos-Ibadan Road, Shagamu-Benin Road, Aba-Port Harcourt Road and other strategic roads in the Northern parts of the country currently under rehabilitation and re-construction.

Dr. Latimore said that state governments and Governors  who initially condemned the partial removal of oil subsidy are now beneficiaries of SEEDS funds which they now inject into various laudable developmental programmes in their respective states, pointing out that, it is better to remove the subsidy funds from the hands of Nigerian billionaires and their foreign associates and use same for other developmental programmes that would benefit the ordinary citizens, which is why, the group is calling for the total removal of fuel subsidy, saying that the subsidy fraud was designed many years ago and sustained by past administrations to settle supporters of government anti-people policies, campaign sponsors, party loyalists, relatives and friends of top class politicians as revealed during the fuel subsidy probe conducted by the leadership of the Federal House of Representatives of the National Assembly.

The non-governmental organization condemned the crisis in Rivers State and call on the stakeholders to refrain from using poor and jobless Nigerian youths to settle their political differences.  The group helmsman posited that Rivers State being a potential PDP controlled State is likely to experience some measure of political instability because of the Governor’s defection to the APC. He said PDP leadership as it were, will not seat down and watch defected Governor Amaechi to move their loyal and massive party supporters to his new found love (APC).

He said politics is principality about the struggle and retention of political power but advised the two major stakeholders (PDP and APC) to achieve their ambition of political control and relevance by playing the game by the rules, urging Governor Amaechi and the State PDP loyalists to refrain from exhibiting political rascality, inflammatory political statements and use of illegal and unauthorized force in the struggle for obtaining political control of the State.

The group commended Governor Godswill Akpabio of Rivers State, Governor Fashola of Lagos State, for their enviable sense of humour and responsible political postulations which has helped tremendously in sustaining peace, socio-economic and political advancement of Akwa Ibom and Lagos States, respectively.

Dr. Latimore said that the NEC of the Green White Green Vanguard, passed a vote of confidence on Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State, Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State as well as the leadership of the Senate at the National Assembly for their responsible and constructive criticism and leadership styles in addressing and resolving the nation’s political and economic problems.

The group congratulated President Goodluck Jonathan, for the transparent strategies he has employed and applied in the executive administration of the affairs of Nigeria since he took over the mantle of leadership, particularly his uncommon wisdom, humility and genuine patriotic passion for the transformation of all sectors of the nation’s development and advancement.

He said that the group will liaise with the office of the Special Adviser on Political Matters to the President, the office of the National Coordinator of the Goodluck Support Group and other transformation electioneering groups across the country to mobilize for the re-election of the President comes 2015 general election.