Politics
Nigeria: Split in the People’s Democratic Party threatens President Jonathan re-election hopes
Others are the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) and Independent Democrats (ID).
Jonathan’s first term in office was initially marred by the poor security situation in the north east due to disturbances by the al-Qaeda-linked Boko Haram Islamist group.
This led to some senior officials within his party to challenging his eligibility to stand for another term, arguing his eligibility would have to be determined by the Supreme Court.
His critics say Jonathan, who was Vice President before succeeding the late Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010, had broken his party’s north-south rotation of the presidency.
Jonathan, a southerner, won a presidential election in April the following year.
Yar’Adua, who was from the north, died only a year away from the end of his first term in office.
PDP leaders from Adamawa State say if Jonathan contests “for another term of four years in 2015, he would have self-succeeded himself in office as president for a cumulative period of nine years 23 days”.
Source: The Africa Report
