Goodluck Jonathan was this afternoon at the Eagle Square Abuja sworn in as Nigeria's president.
Goodluck Jonathan was this afternoon at the Eagle Square Abuja sworn in as Nigeria's president.
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He will enjoy a full four-year term in addition to the nearly one and a half he has had first as Acting President, and as full President following the death last year of Umaru Yar’Adua.
Today’s inauguration was attended by some 20 African Heads of State, ambassadors, religious and traditional leaders and politicians across Nigeria. Jonathan took an oath administered by the Chief Justice of the Federation. He later read a speech in which he said that he owes the people of Nigeria "good governance".
In an unprecedented move aimed at boosting security, mobile phone companies were compelled to switch off their transmitters in Abuja and its environs, apparently to forestall any attacks that might be attempted by means of mobile phones to detonate explosive devices at the venue.
A military parade and calisthenics spelling "Goodluck" were part of the activities at the swearing-in today.
State governors across Nigeria also took their oath of office today. The governors of Imo and Ogun States, Mr. Ikedi Ohakim and Mr. Olugbenga Justin Daniel, did not attend the swearing-in ceremonies in their states having fled days before.
In Oyo State, the outgoing governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, did not attend the swearing in ceremony of his successor in Ibadan, but reportedly made a surprise appearance in Ogbomosho, his home town, for a thanksgiving church service.
Jonathan said during his campaign he would only spend one four-year term in office, partly to heal the wounds in his party concerning its zoning mechanism caused by his decision to run for president after Yar’Adua’s death, but following a comments he made last Thursday that four years is not enough for meaningful development, a deep subterranean campaign has already commenced by political opportunists for him to spend an illegal seven-year tenure, contrary to the provisions of the constitution. A former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Emeka Anyaoku, has also weighed in asking for a six-year tenure for Jonathan.
It would be recalled that in 2006, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo tried a series of moves, including bribing federal legislators, to extend his presidency by an extra term. Speaking in Abuja in an interactive session with National Assembly (NASS) members-elect of the Action Congress of Nigeria three weeks ago, two members of the Assembly, Senator Lawal Shuabu and Representative Abike Dabiri-Erewa confirmed that Obasanjo tried to bribe members of NASS with a whopping sum of N50m each.
In an Assembly of 409 members, that meant Obasanjo budgeted—or paid out— at least N23.45bn in his desperate attempt to remain in office. The effort was defeated in the end, and Nigerians danced in the streets in celebration.
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