President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience appear to be at each others nerves over an alleged refusal of the outgoing president to accept the position of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees position allegedly offered him by the party.
Sources close to the outgoing first family hinted New Mail correspondent in Abuja at the weekend that the decision of President Jonathan to reject the offer did not go down well with the First Lady, who saw the offer as a compensation for the loss of the exalted presidential seat.
“Honestly, the First Lady didn’t like the rejection at all, because, to her, half a bread is better than none, but there is nothing we can do about it, since the president himself had rejected it, we have to respect his position,” the source added.
A top notch in the party said at the weekend that shortly after the presidential election, a team comprising the members of the National Working Committee (NWC), national caucus, BoT members, National Executive Committee (NEC) and some elders of the party visited President Jonathan at the Villa and impressed it upon him to take the chairmanship of the party’s BoT as a mark of honour for him.
The sources said that though the president thanked members of the delegation for their concern, he, however, declined the offer.
The president was said to have told the audience that he wanted to rest for a year before he would probably return into active politics.
“A delegation was actually sent to the president by the party. We wanted him to become the chairman of the BoT after his tenure, but he turned down the offer.
“The decision to offer the seat to President Jonathan was meant to honour him, based on his contributions to the growth of the party and the good governance he offered to the nation under the platform of the party,” a BoT member said.
“We can’t force him against his wish, similar thing happened in the past. After the tenure of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, he assumed the chairmanship of the party’s BoT, before he later relinquished it, the position which was exclusively meant for former presidents,” the source added.
Presently, a chieftain of the party from Edo State, Tony Anenih is the current chairman of the BOT of the party.
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