President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia said he would not seek another term in 2015 should he be elected as President in the April elections.
Jonathan made the declaration during an interactive session with the Nigerian community in Addis Ababa, a group comprising mostly diplomats. Jonathan spoke in response to the wish of members of the community to vote in the April elections.
Admitting that the wish was unrealistic at the moment, Jonathan said, “I would have loved that the Diaspora will vote this year. But to be frank with you, that is going to be difficult for now. For the Diaspora to vote you have to be resident first.
“It was not planned and presently the law does not allow for voting outside Nigeria. This year, Nigerians in the Diaspora will not vote inside Nigeria but I will work towards in 2015, even though I will not be running for office.”
He went ahead to note that if the Diaspora were to vote in the April elections, he was certain to get more than 50 per cent of their votes.
“I would have been happy for the Diaspora to vote because whenever I travel out, there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm among Nigerians in the Diaspora; unless they are like politicians who say, ‘we are loyal’ but they are not. If they (Diaspora) vote, I will be sure to get more than 50 per cent of the vote.”
Jonathan also informed Nigerians in the Diaspora that new universities approved by his administration in the country would only focus on research and development studies, adding that they would admit only 500 students each session. He promised that out of the five universities, the vice-chancellors of at least three would be selected from Nigerians in the Diaspora.
“The new universities will focus primarily on research and development; they will not admit more than 500 students each year. This about a total of 2500 for five of them,” he said.
Commenting on the security situation in the country, which some members of the Diaspora said had made them afraid to return home, Jonathan said Nigeria, like other countries, was not immune from terrorism. Describing the security situation as ‘worrisome,’ he assured that his administration was doing it best to stem the tide.
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