Rivers Elders and Leaders Council (RELEC) has endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for re-election because according to council, voting for Jonathan will sustain Niger Delta’s right as a responsible political, economic, cultural, etc. group within the comity of Nigerian ethnic nationalities.
Chairman of the council, Chief Albert Horsfall while addressing journalists in Port Harcourt said “Our interest is to uphold at any given moment the interest of Rivers people and our state so that its integrity and the integrity of its people as a component and integral part of this nation will be respected, acknowledged and recognised.
“If we have made our judgment on the basis of how good he has performed or what we have gained as Rivers people today from his administration, our judgment will obviously be negative.
“But I would advise all of us, Rivers men and women and youths not to put our sentiments or judgment on what Jonathan has done or not done for Rivers State, or whether or not he has offended or negated our expectations and aspirations. But we must base our judgment on the political developments that had taken place since 1934 and had evolved on the emergence of Jonathan, a son of the Niger Delta, as Nigeria’s president.
“The total contribution which our people have made in the construction and development of the Nigerian nation state and our persistent demand that we are given a deserved place of recognition and participation in the leadership of this country, we will find the reasons why we must vote Jonathan not for Jonathan’s sake at all but to ensure that the seat which we finally deservedly attained in the board room of the governance of Nigeria is not lost in midstream to the various peoples of the Niger Delta region including of course the Rivers people.
“We must not allow our tenure as chairman of that board of governance of the Nigerian state be truncated midstream because of allegations of one nature or another against President Jonathan and his administration. We must not be deceived to vote against the Niger Delta project! We must take it that we are voting for the objectives which prompted our people to fight for their right within this great country, Nigeria, and ensure that our place at the headship of that board room is not terminated prematurely or passed over accidentally or out of miscalculation on our part to some other persons from areas who have dominated governance of this country over the years.
“We must therefore vote for Jonathan, the only Niger Delta presidential candidate at the forth-coming elections in order to sustain the aspirations of our forefathers.
We are therefore not voting for Goodluck Jonathan per se; we are voting to sustain and maintain our deserved right as a responsible political, economic, cultural, etc. group within the comity of Nigerian ethnic nationalities.”
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