Jonathan goes on 7-day retreat at Obudu

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will today embark on a seven-day working retreat to the Obudu Resort in Cross River State.

A statement released by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Ima Niboro, in Abuja, on Thursday, said that he would be accompanied by some senior government officials and his aides but was silent on the exact nature of the president’s engagement.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party (LP) has presented to the president a blueprint of the issues it considers important for the president to focus on when starting his new administration next month.

The party’s leadership, led by its national chairman, Dan Nwanyanwu, was at the Presidential Villa on Thursday, where Nwanyanwu also explained the rationale behind LP’s decision to endorse Jonathan for the presidential election.

According to him, “the Labour Party is a very serious political party. We are from a very strong background. We consider Nigeria and Nigerians; we look at things that will benefit the greatest number of people and we are always talking about common goals. So, we have submitted those documents to him and he assured us that he would look into them and we are going to send another one next week.”

The party leader, who described the endorsement of LP as very significant, said the party did not just endorse Jonathan, but “we met with him, we put our manifesto on the table, critical issues the Labour Party felt must be addressed and he had no problems with those issues.”

He added: “Those issues have to do with tackling unemployment both for the educated and the uneducated of this country, building infrastructure, education, power, Niger Delta, the Nigerian worker and industrialisation of the country.

“So, these were the issues. Before the elections, we took up with the president in the course of our interaction with him. These are the critical issues he must tackle as he resumes office next month.”

Source : tribune.com.ng