He made the call in Lagos at a media presentation of a book entitled Sure and Steady Transformation, which documents the numerous achievements of his administration in the first one year in office.
The president, who spoke through his Senior Special Adviser on Research, Documentation and Strategy, Mr Oronto Douglas, said the call had become necessary given the preponderance of reports and comments on the 2015 elections in national newspapers and other media channels.
He argued that in politics, 24 hours was a long time, and wondered why politicians were already talking about 2015 that is three whole years away.
Said he: “There seems to be too much politics in Nigeria than governance. In other democracies, politics stops at the end of an election and governance starts. But in Nigeria, it is the opposite.
“Politics will not put food on the table of the people. It is governance that will. Let us focus on governance.”
He advised Nigerians not to allow politicians to distract them with talk about 2015 elections, and focus on sincere assessment of his administration's 'Transformation Agenda', whose achievements in the last one year are documented in the book, and a website, www.sureandsteadytransformation.gov.ng.
Douglas, and the President's Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, who was also at the media briefing, highlighted Jonathan's numerous achievements, as highlighted in the 155-page book.
In his comments, Dr Okupe said the Jonathan administration was one of the most performing governments Nigeria had ever had since independence, adding that the president was a very serious and straight forward person.
Arguing that the president kept his promises, Dr Okupe said the Jonathan administration was transforming all the sectors of the nation, especially the agriculture and power sectors.
He said even though most Nigerians had acknowledged a noticeable improvement in power supply, with many areas reporting about 12 hours of uninterrupted supply, this would most likely increase to 16 hours by the end of the year, when power generation is expected to reach 7,000 megawatts.
Said he: “In a very short time, the agriculture sector will be providing about 25 per cent in terms of revenue of what oil is currently providing us.”
He described as pedestrian many of the arguments on the state of security in the country, saying that classified information available to him personally, but could not be made public was reassuring. “The slow down in these terror attacks is not a fluke. It is because more and more efforts are being made, using technology, to nip in the bud the activities of these terror agents,” he said.
The 155-page book has 32 sections, with highlights of the achievements of 30 ministries. It also contains the president's inaugural address, and a section on 'Building Strong Institutions.'
Reviewing the book, Dr Otive Igbuzor, a human rights activist, said that the book was a major effort at documenting government’s achievements within the first year in office, adding that what was next is for the ministries to sustain the tempo and double their efforts on service delivery.
Meanwhile, Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa State has spoken on the speculation linking him to the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 elections, saying that he is flattered to have been named in the race.
Reports had emerged recently suggesting that former President Olusegun Obasanjo was backing the governor for the ticket, as well as his Rivers State counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi, as his running mate, even when the PDP was striving to prevent its members from engaging in politics of 2015 at this time.
In an exclusive chat with the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja, Governor Lamido stated that he felt honoured to have been mentioned in the race because it was an indication that people were now taking notice of him.
However, he was quick to add that he had nothing to do with the speculation as people were merely expressing their feeling or opinions, even though he was not bothered about what they said but thankful to God that he was being mentioned out of a population of 167 million people.
According to him, “I feel highly flattered. You see, in a country of 167 million people, if your name is mentioned, you should be flattered. You should thank God.
“People are free to speculate, to make whatever comments they like. That is their own business. But certainly, to me, I am not bothered when people are expressing their opinion or feeling. I just feel flattered. You know. So, it is true that people can now see me?”
The Jigawa State governor also remarked that it was premature for people to start discussing politics of 2015, more so as President Jonathan is healthy and doing well in the business of governing the country.
Asked whether it was not too early to talk about 2015 presidential election, he said: “You see, if I was the one saying all that and you ask me, I will say yes. But what I am saying is that it is something that I am hearing just as you are hearing it. So, what I can say is I don’t know whether it is fortune or misfortune of being fingered.
“But frankly speaking, I don’t think we should waste our time and energy talking about 2015 now. The man there is very healthy, he is doing very well as far as I am concerned and power comes from God.”
It will be recalled that a source close to Chief Obasanjo had revealed to the Nigerian Tribune that the former president is now drumming up support for a power shift to the North, on the grounds that the region deserved the development.
The source, which sought anonymity, in view of the sensitive nature of the subject, had added that Lamido and Amaechi would battle for the PDP presidential ticket with President Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo if Jonathan decides to contest the 2015 poll.
Nigerian Tribune had recently reported that this development was coming just as various groups believed to be loyalists of former President Obasanjo, as well as the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), were said to be clandestinely canvassing for the candidature of the governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Lamido and the current NGF chairman, Amaechi, as president and vice-president of Nigeria in 2015 on the ticket of the PDP.
This was reported to have rattled the leadership of the PDP.
Governor Lamido served under Obasanjo’s administration as Foreign Affairs Minister.
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