THE POWER OF NIGERIA FIRST LADY.

•Demand assurances President’s wife won’t determine their successors THERE are indications that President Goodluck Jonathan and governors of the on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are at war over what sources close to the party describe as “unwarranted interference in political affairs” by the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan. It was gathered that most leaders of the party were not happy at the meddlesomeness of the First Lady in clear party affairs. A highly respected PDP stalwart said President Jonathan risked protest votes from party members to save the country from further embarrassment by the First Lady. The source who craved anonymity told our reporter, “I have spoken to many elders in the party and they said they would not vote for President Jonathan because of his wife. Even myself will not vote for PDP. “It is not because we hate the president but we can no longer cope with the overbearing influence of his wife. So, expect among other things protest votes against Jonathan by even PDP members.” The source added that at a recent meeting with the president, some of the governors tabled the issue of the president’s wife’s overbearing influence in political affairs. According to the source, the governors sought to extract commitment from President Jonathan that his wife should not impose candidates on their states in 2015. Buttering the argument, the source referred to the scenario in Rivers State where Patience Jonathan is leading a campaign to make former Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike Governor. The source added, “The party elders are watching with shame the macabre dance in Rivers State by the First Lady. Recently, the First Lady visited Nyesom Wike in his house in Port Harcourt. “In that televised visit, she held Wike’s hand and placed it in the hand of Dr. Peter Odili. It is an endorsement and it has never happened before. That singular act is unbecoming of a First Lady. With what she is doing in Rivers, we won’t be surprised if PDP loses that state to APC”. The source added that in the history of Presidency in Nigeria, no First Lady was allowed by her husband to desecrate the office of the President the way Dame Patience had done. “This is the first time a wife of the President would be allowed by her husband to be this powerful. It is shameful that Dame Patience has the liberty to summon service chiefs, ministers and top members of our party at will. “Remember her meddlesomeness in the Chibok girls’ saga how she called meetings of service chiefs and parents of the girls and was shouting at them, insulting them on national television. “Where has it happened before? It was one embarrassment too many for Nigeria. The First Lady has brought the country to ridicule and party leaders are not happy with her excesses”, the source observed. The source further accused the First Lady of acting without seeking the permission of her husband adding that she had made President Jonathan look like a weakling. “Nigerians are amused that she has no regard for her husband. Imagine her recent resignation as a Permanent Secretary in Bayelsa State Civil Service. Before the appointment, she begged for it and even her husband appealed for it. “It was the appointment that even the last Governor of the state, Mr. Timipre Sylva, refused to give her. But when she resigned because of her problem with Governor Seriake Dickson, she did not tell her husband. “She has been boasting to her aides and other governors that she would ensure that Dickson does not return and that there is nothing even her husband will do about it. The President must call his wife to order to stand a chance,” the source said, adding “What we don’t understand is why the President is allowing her to carry on the way she is doing. I think there is something the First Lady is using as a secret weapon against the President that we don’t know. No President has allowed his wife to be this power drunk. What is happening is not normal.” Mrs. Jonathan had in April this year paid a solidarity visit to Wike in his Abuja residence, saying her visit was to give him her blessings, noting that the governorship aspirant proved himself as a member of the federal executive council. She said, “I am giving you the blessing of a mother. The blessing a mother gives to a beloved son. Go and you will conquer. He is a Minister that delivered while he served in the cabinet. Wike proved himself and is ready to serve in a higher capacity”. The first lady further described the former minister as a listening and respectful politician, who heeded her counsel to drop his senatorial aspiration in 2011. “You listened to me and dropped your senatorial aspiration. I pray God to protect you, lead you and please go on with your aspiration. “I have hand you (Wike) over to our father, Dr. Peter Odili and the people of Rivers State. You are going to Rivers State for the betterment of all of us and to wipe our tears,” she stated. Responding, Wike assured the first lady that the PDP would emerge victorious in all elections in Rivers come 2015.