The outcome of the recent meeting of the governors of the South-South and stakeholders has further brightened the chances of President Goodluck to pick the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party for the 2011 presidential election.



At the meeting, which was held in Port Harcourt, the governors from the zone, except that of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomohle, endorsed the presidential ambition of Jonathan.



Apart from this, the governors from the five states of Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers, also asked the president to declare his interest immediately.



Political observers are of the opinion that since Edo State is being governed by a rival political party, which is the Action Congress, it would therefore be difficult to expect the state to throw its weight behind the president through the state governor.



Without Edo, it means that Jonathan can count on total support of five other states from the zone at the party’s primaries.



Even in Edo, it is expected that a former Minister of Works, who is a prominent member of the party, Chief Tony Anenih, will help to mobilise party members to vote for Jonathan.



The former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP had said that there was no zoning in the party and that Jonathan should be allowed to contest the party’s presidential primaries.



The Tuesday’s meeting of the 19 northern states where the governors openly disagreed over the adoption of the zoning formula of the party could as well be beneficial to the president.



The outcome of the meeting, which was held in Kaduna, where 10 states voted for zoning and seven states voted against it, also indicated that the President would still win the party’s primaries.



The states that voted for zoning were, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Gombe, Jigawa, Niger, Kwara, Borno and Kano.



Two out of these states, Borno and Kano, are being ruled by the All Nigerian Peoples Party and are therefore expected to queue behind their party.



This leaves the states that voted for zoning, which are being controlled by the PDP to eight.



Out of this figure, the Deputy Governor of Sokoto State who is also a former Minister of Water Resources is behind Jonathan. In fact, he is a member of the Prof. Jerry Gana’s group, which is neck-deep in the Jonathan aspiration.



However, seven states voted against zoning, stressing that it was the only way to move the country forward. The states are Benue, Kogi, Plateau, Kaduna, Adamawa, Taraba and Nasarawa.



Yobe State, which reportedly abstained from voting, is being controlled by the ANPP, while Bauchi State was not represented due to the death of the Emir of Bauchi. All the same, the position of the Bauchi State Governor, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, is well known as has openly canvassed for the dumping of zoning.



In the case of South-West, though two state governors are known to be allies of a former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida(rtd), it will be difficult for them to openly canvass for his candidature in their states.



The governors are Otunba Gbenga Daniel and Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola of Ogun and Osun States respectively. Like the governors of Oyo and Ekiti States, they will therefore be compelled to vote for Jonathan by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose view is still well-respected by the PDP governors.



In the South-East, where the governors have declared that they would make sure that none of them aspires for the office of the president, it is also expected that they would use their influence to canvass for Jonathan.



The zone has five states, which are Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu, Anambra and Imo.



Thus, from all indications, Jonathan is likely to get support at the party’s primaries from more states than his opponents.



Meanwhile, members of the Congress for Democratic Change on Saturday endorsed Jonathan as their presidential candidate.



Speaking at its national convention, which was held in Abuja, the newly elected chairman of the party, Chief Edozien Madu said the conduct and performance of Jonathan since his days as the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State was remarkable.


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