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             Nigeria Leader 'Lacks Moral Right' to Seek Re-Election

   by Peter Clottey

   Nigeria's main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) party said
   President Goodluck Jonathan lacks the moral right to seek a second full
   year term in office following what the group says has been the
   deteriorating security situation in the country.

   Alhaji Lai Mohammed spokesman for the APC said Jonathan so far has been
   unable to carry out his fundamental constitutional mandate to protect
   life and property since the country's faces increasing violence often
   carried out by Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram.

   "A man who has failed to discharge the core responsibility of a
   president, which is the protection of life and property, has no moral
   right to seek for re-election," said Mohammed.

   "In the last five years this government has spent over $ 32 billion on
   security and what do we have for it? We have lost thousands of lives to
   Boko Haram insurgency ... yet the president insists he must run for a
   second term," he said.

   Mohammed said the administration in Abuja has yet to implement
   comprehensive security policies to combat and defeat Boko Haram.

   His comments came Friday after Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo
   officially presented Jonathan's presidential election nomination form
   to the chairman of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the
   capital, Abuja. Jonathan has declared he will seek re-election in next
   year's presidential vote.

   Supporters of the president say the opposition party's accusations are
   fraught with inaccuracies and political calculations aimed at making
   Jonathan unpopular in the run-up to next year's vote.

   They contend that terrorism is a global phenomenon requiring
   international cooperation to defeat.

   Mohammed denied the APC has politicized the current security
   challenges.

   "If only the president had addressed the Boko Haram insurgency with
   assiduity, probably we would not have the kind of mess we have on our
   hands today. On the contrary, the response of the president to the Boko
   Haram insurgency has been characterized by denial and incompetence,"
   said Mohammed.

   Some PDP supporters say senior members of the opposition party are
   either financiers or sympathizers of the terrorist group. They argue
   that the APC was against efforts by the government to designate Boko
   Haram as a terrorist organization and to seek international help.

   Mohammed disagreed, saying the accusations are without merit.

   "It is illogical to think that way," said Mohammed. "These people who
   have been talking about the APC being behind Boko Haram fail to accept
   the fact that Boko Haram is 10 years old, the APC is less than two
   years old. So how do you link APC with Boko Haram? When the government
   is incompetent, what it does is to shift blame," said Mohammed.

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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/niegria-leader-lacks-moral-right-to-s
   eek-re-election/2521085.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/niegria-leader-lacks-moral-right-to-seek-re-election/2521085.html