Jonathan's Campaign Richer by $10million thanks to Ghana's Mahama

On the ground, the momentum may clearly be on the side of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their candidate General Muhammadu Buhari (GMB) with packed to capacity stadiums for their rallies, major endorsements from persons of influence across the country and continuing defections from the PDP into their camp. Even the former President and chairman of the Peoples' Democratic Party's (PDP) Board of trustees, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo has thrown his weight behind the opposition's candidate and APC's fourth time contestant.

What the APC has so far failed to threaten, is the financial might of the PDP and President Goodluck Jonathan's war chest. The incumbent President received a major boost in the past few weeks with a donation of $10million dollars from Ghana's President, John Dramani Mahama, who over the past few years has developed an almost unbreakable bond with Jonathan, having all been elected President after the demise of elected Presidents, under who they served as Vice-Presidents.

The donation, according to PDP insiders who spoke to The Herald, is to consecrate the friendship between the two leaders while also serving as a payback, for the huge financial support Jonathan is said to have extended the Ghanaian leader in the bitterly contested 2012 Ghanaian elections where Mahama, was handed the candidacy of Ghana's ruling National Democratic Congress, with barely 4 months to the election.

"Money has a huge role to play in deciding all elections more so in Africa and we will be a bunch of ungrateful souls if we fail to help our brother who is seeking to secure a second term", said a top NDC and government official at the Presidency who spoke to this paper on the condition not to be named and until recently worked within the highest diplomatic circles between Ghana and Nigeria.

"Whatever amount we can amass for him to reciprocate his kind gesture in our time of need and ensure he secures his second term, we will do. Mind you, his Excellency President Mahama will also be seeking a second term and like they say, the left hand washes the right and the right washes the left", he continued

For message managers of the PDP, the donation from the Ghanaian leader, who doubles as Chairman of the ECOWAS, West Africa's Regional body, only serves to highlight one of the many reasons why Jonathan should be reelected, as he has solid inter-personal relationships with most of West Africa's leaders and is therefore best placed to steer Nigeria on the path of establishing its reputation as West Africa's preeminent Nation and only superpower.

The Herald further gathered from some leading officials of the Jonathan campaign, that the Ghanaian leader not only handed the Campaign's war chest a much needed boost, but has also promised to aid the Nigerian leader in a number of much needed ways to ensure success, with the Campaign already in home stretch.

In the lead up to the Nigerian elections which has been rescheduled from February 14th to March 28th, Ghana has been the host to several PDP high powered delegations and meetings with some prominent PDP leaders seen being picked from the Kotoka International Airport by State Protocol Department cars to notable plush hotels in Accra and beyond. Some of the meetings have also been taking place between senior NDC party wigs and the PDP reps orchestrating how to ensure that PDP obtains the votes of the over 1 million Igbo traders domiciled in Ghana as our source reveled. To this extent, the NDC is taking responsibility to fund the movement of these igbo and other south eastern Nigerian traders to Nigeria to vote and back to Ghana afterwards.

Among others, confidantes of the PDP leader confirm that Ghana's leader has committed to using the structures of Ghana's ruling Party, the National Democratic Congress, to mobilize a substantial number of the over a million and a half Nigerian students aged over 18 and qualified to vote , to go home and vote for the incumbent and his party.

Observers believe the upcoming election will be the most competitive elections yet in that country since its return to party democracy in 1999. With the incumbent now described as government in opposition, having lost its majority in the house due to mass defections to the newly emerged party that was created from the merger of the major oppositions parties.

With the current state of insecurity and threat of the Boko Haram sect coupled with the mismanagement of the economy, it is widely thought that the incumbent, President Jonathan is on his way out. His campaign handlers have tried all the smear tricks in the book to place dirt on the APC candidate but they seem not be sticking mainly because they had been used in the past against him and the people have now seen through the lies. They are simply fed up.

Until the recent postponement of the elections, there were talks within the PDP to use the law courts to stop Buhari and the entire elections using the certificate issues they levelled against him seeing that they were heading for an embarrassing defeat. Sources spoken to by The Herald in the Nigerian security suggested that though President Jonathan was preparing to hand over on May 29th, the plan was for him to hand over to the Chief of Defense Staff Alex Badeh who has reached the mandatory 35 years retirement service limit to form an interim government that will oversee the running of an election after 6 months from the handing over date.

Even with the latest postponement, the tension in Nigeria very noticeable .With about six weeks to the polls of Africa's largest democracy, observers have been worried by the seemingly increased activities of the terror group, 'Boko Haram'.