North-East's vote of confidence for President Jonathan

The loyalty of the North East geo-political zone to President Goodluck Jonathan was amply demonstrated in the block votes that the region delivered

and the five governors that were re-elected in the 2011 general elections.

The fact that the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) snatched two states – Yobe and Borno, in the governorship elections, could be explained by the peculiar pre-election challenges.

This began with the contentious issue of zoning the presidency in the spirit of the Peoples Democratic Party’s agreement. There were strong demands by the north that a northern president must emerge in April 2011 – a position the north east governors resisted.

At the presidential primaries, the governors stood behind President Jonathan and insisted on giving him the mandate. They were vilified for that act and promised a trouncing at the polls.

As it turned out, pro-zoning groups could not muster enough votes to stop the re-election of the governors and the president.

It is not surprising therefore that the zone is in the race to produce either the next Senate President or the Speaker of the House of Representatives.