Jonathan Commemorates Five Years as President

Congratulates Gnassingbe on his re-election

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday commemorated five years of piloting the affairs of the country as substantive president.

Jonathan was sworn in on May 6, 2010, by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, after the death of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

At the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting yesterday, the president took his cabinet members by surprise when he suddenly announced that he was marking his birthday because he was sworn in on May 6, 2010, as president.

After the National Anthem and National Pledge, Jonathan threw a poser at the ministers, informing them that one of them was marking his birthday, asking them who the person was? But they could not provide the answer.

Jonathan eventually reminded them that May 6, 2015 marked his fifth year anniversary as a substantive president.

Jonathan said: “Today, we will not say the national prayer. Somebody is celebrating his birthday so we will offer special prayers for him. Two very Godly people will pray, Nebo and Yuguda. Do you know the person?”

When they could not answer, he said: “On May 6, exactly five years today, I was sworn in as a substantive president.”

Consequently, the Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo, said the Christian prayer while the Minister of State for Finance, Bashir Yuguda, said the Muslim prayer to mark the president’s fifth year in office.

Meanwhile, Jonathan has congratulated President Faure Gnassingbé of Togo on his victory in the recent presidential election.

Gnassingbe’s victory at the polls was confirmed by Togo’s constitutional court.

Jonathan, in a statement by his spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, called on all the people of Togo to accept the election results in good faith and give maximum support and cooperation to their re-elected leader for peace, stability and progress in their country.

He commended the people of Togo on the successful conduct of the presidential elections and urged any persons who may still have issues with its outcome to comport themselves as true democrats and law-abiding citizens by seeking redress only through recognised legal means.

Jonathan said he believed that the growing culture of free, fair and credible elections in Africa as witnessed in recent polls in Nigeria, Benin Republic, Togo and other countries was the needed tonic for political stability and faster development on the continent.

He urged all African leaders and political actors to continue to do their best to further entrench true democracy and good governance in their countries.