Prior to this moment, all was set for the president to declare his re-election bid as the tempo was gathering momentum even as many groups had been formed with the aim of selling his candidature to Nigerians.
According to feelers, the president was supposed to make his intention known this month, after he had deliberately kept his cards close to his chest for months.
However, following the current security challenges coupled with the mood of the nation on the abduction of over 200 school girls from Chibok, Borno State, the president’s declaration, which was planned to be an elaborate ceremony, has being put on hold as his supporters believe doing so now will be a huge political mistake.
The sacking of the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Ahmed Gulak, was also said to have come to the leadership and members of the Goodluck Support Group, GSG, being headed by the ex-presidential aide as a shock.
Gulak, who was said to receive his sack with annoyance, also resigned his position as the national coordinator of the GSG, which is the engine room of all political campaigns geared towards getting Jonathan re-elected come 2015.
His deputy, Dr. Eddy Awofeso, who is acting as the national coordinator of the group, however, said Gulak’s resignation would not affect the workings of the group.
Awofeso, who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH in Abuja, defended the refusal of the president to make his intention to run for a second term public now, saying the security situation in the country was paramount on his agenda.
He said, “There are about 3,000 groups working for the re-election of the President and they are all members of the Goodluck Support Group. We are still working together.
“Yes, we didn’t expect the resignation of the national co-ordinator when it came, but I’m acting now.
“However, we may need to appoint someone else in the position for the purpose of balancing.
“Concerning the declaration of the president, it will come but not now. The security challenge facing the country needs his total attention and that is what he is doing now. We all need to cooperate with him in this war against terrorism”.
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