The son of Nigeria’s first Republic Prime Minister, Dr. Abdul-Jhalil Tafawa-Balewa and ally of President Goodluck Jonathan, has said he will contest the 2015 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Tafawa-Balewa condemned the plot by the national leadership of the party to shut the door against other presidential aspirants by adopting President Goodluck Jonathan as the sole presidential candidate of the party.
The medical doctor turned politician was reacting to the adoption of Jonathan by the party’s National Executive Committee at its meeting in Abuja on Thursday.
With the adoption, the party said it expected all members of the party including those nursing presidential ambitions, to drop it and support President Jonathan.
But Tafawa-Balewa said he would not be intimidated with such decision.
In a statement on Sunday, he said that such endorsement was undemocratic.
He said, “I’m not intimidated by the decision of the PDP governors and the party to support the second term aspiration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
“What type of democracy do we have? Is the PDP a communist party? Where is the place of internal democracy?”
According to him, the greater majority of Nigerians had been yearning for a leadership capable of fulfilling their high expectations and aspirations.
He asked Nigerians to listen to facts and that they should not be carried away with the party’s decision.
“What Nigerians need and where they want the country to be in future are paramount issues. We need to put our ideas before the people and allow them to decide”, he added.
Promising to make Nigeria an industrialized country, Tafawa-Balewa said his administration would ensure zero unemployment, better education, maximum security and increased power supply.
“Nigeria needs to move from Third World to First world”, he said.
On the financial implication of running for the presidency, Tafawa-Balewa insisted that good Nigerians would support him fully.
Well for me President GEJ is doing very well, if the party leadership are endorsing him its not a bad ideal. Dr.Tafawa Balewa thinks he has good visions for Nigeria, if he’s sincere enough as a member of the rulling party why don’t him join President GEJ and share his ideals with him for the betterment of all Nigerains