REVEALED: New plans to postpone General Elections again

President Goodluck Jonathan and his inner circle
have begun new moves to jettison elections altogether, hoping that
members of the National Assembly will agree to postpone polls once again
and instead settle for a so-called interim national government,
according to information received from several sources, one of them
embedded in the Presidency in Abuja.

The sources told SaharaReporters that Mr. Jonathan, Petroleum Minister
Diezani Alison-Madueke, the chairman of the PDP’s board of trustees,
Tony Anenih, Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko and Ijaw political
figure, Edwin Clark, were the main players in the new scheme. They are
reportedly determined to sell their new plan to a small nucleus of key
legislators at the National Assembly to discuss how best to recruit
supporters, sources knowledgeable about the astonishing plot revealed.
The team pushing this new idea, one source said, is operating on the
premise that it would be “dangerous to hand over power to Muhammadu
Buhari.” Ms. Alison-Madueke was reported to be a hawkish pusher of the
idea, with one of our sources adding that the Petroleum Minister was
extremely anxious about the prospect of a Buhari Presidency exposing her
numerous shady deals in the oil sector through which she and a few
players selected by her have drained billions of dollars of oil revenues
into their private holdings.
Ms. Alison-Madueke has assured the group that some officials of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as well as several
big-time beneficiaries of oil sector deals, including importers of
refined fuel, were committed to the plan and willing to provide slush
funds to pay a bribe of $2 million dollars to each senator and $1
million to key members of the House of Representatives to persuade them
to endorse the plot to derail elections permanently and install an
interim national government. The president is working through officials
of the NNPC to fund the massive bribe scheme.
Mr. Jonathan’s henchmen have begun discussions with some members of
the National Assembly as the legislative body prepares to resume another
legislative session in Abuja next week. It would be the first time the
legislature would sit after the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) announced last week that polls, which were scheduled
for February 14, 2015, had been postponed for six weeks.
According to those who briefed SaharaReporters on the latest scheme
by the Presidency, Mr. Jonathan plans to sell to key legislators the
argument that, since Nigeria is at war at the moment, the government
would need another six months at least to fight off Boko Haram
insurgents in the northeast of Nigeria before elections can take place.
A source close to a former military head of state, Abdulsalam
Abubakar, told SaharaReporters that Mr. Jonathan had approached the
retired officer and pleaded with him to consider heading an interim
national government that would be put in place on May 29, 2015 if Mr.
Jonathan’s plan prevails. “General Abubakar promptly declined the offer
and immediately informed some ex-heads of state about the offer,” the
source disclosed.
Mr. Jonathan and Ms. Madueke have revived the scheme to avoid
elections after a sobering meeting the president held last Thursday
night with PDP governors and top party figures. The participants at the
meeting were candid in conceding that the forthcoming presidential
elections would not favor President Jonathan despite its postponement
for six weeks.
A source close to former President Olusegun Obasanjo told
SaharaReporters that the incumbent president’s machination to thwart
elections was the provocation for a recent intensification of verbal
warfare between Mr. Jonathan and ex-President Obasanjo. The latter has
publicly accused Mr. Jonathan of plotting to stymie election now
scheduled for March 28, the same way former President Laurent Gbagbo of
Cote d’Ivoire caused a political crisis in his country after loosing an
election, bringing his country close to a civil war.
The latest plan by Mr. Jonathan, several sources said, is driven by
Ms. Alison-Madueke’s desperation. The Petroleum Minister is reportedly
worried that she would not be able to avoid prosecution for several
questionable deals in the oil sector that have catapulted her and her
minions to billionaires. Her fear is reportedly heightened by the fact
that she does not see the prospect of being granted asylum in any
European or North American nation should she decide to flee abroad if
Mr. Jonathan loses.
A source close to Mr. Jonathan revealed that First Lady
Patience Jonathan has occasionally fumed and blamed Ms. Alison-Madueke
of causing her husband’s popular unpopularity.