Jonathan Formally Declares For 2015...Abuja residents bear brunt.

President Goodluck Jonathan announced today  that he would seek a second term in the upcoming February 2015 election and vowed to defeat Boko Haram's more than five-year-old insurgency.

"After seeking the face of God, and in the quiet of my family, and after listening to the clarion call of Nigerians, I have accepted to present myself to serve a second term," Jonathan told cheering supporters at a rally in Abuja.click for more.

His widely expected announcement was a formality after he had already picked up nomination papers from his ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) last month, signalling the intent to run.

Jonathan is still seen as a strong incumbent despite several multi-billion-dollar oil scandals and his government's inability so far to end the insurgency.

The insurgents latest gory attack, involving a suicide bombing that killed over 48 young boys at a school in Potiskum in Yobe state, shared the spotlight in most major dailies as the President's paid adverts - which most people found in bad taste, insensitive and ill-timed -  announcing his declaration.

Before speaking at the rally, Jonathan asked for a minute's silence in memory of the students killed on Monday. Even this did not assuage the anger of many, especially in the face of the fact that the President did not allow the full minute to run before getting on with his campaign.

Referring to Boko Haram, Jonathan said: "This has cast a dark cloud over our nation, but we will surely win the war on terror."

The declaration was preceded by an announcement from the FCT Police Command notifying citizens of Abuja, the nation's capital that several routes within the city and especially around the venue of the event were going to be shut down. In addition, extra security measures were placed at entry points, especially the Nyanya-Mararaba axis which had seen two bomb blasts earlier in the year.

The resultant traffic gridlock reportedly caused several workers to abandon the trip to their offices while some parents had no option but to take their children back home as there was no hope of them getting to their schools.

The almost total commandeering of most of the urban mass transit buses, (popularly called El-Rufai buses) by the various support groups worsened the situation. A government directive had banned smaller buses from entering within the city limits and reserved the route for the high capacity buses.

As a result of their nonavailability, commuters in their thousands were forced to hike rides or take more expensive taxis. Many had to trek long distances.

President Jonathan will be standing against one of either former Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari; former vice president Atiku Abubakar; Kano state governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso; Imo state governor, Rochas Okorocha or hard-biting critic and newspaper publisher, Sam Nda-Isaiah in the the elections. In the widely criticised 2011 elections, Jonathan had beaten Buhari (running on the platform of his CPC party) by 24 million votes to 12 million. His capacity to pull votes makes him a leading contender for the APC's ticket.

Though his campaign had unofficially being kick started by the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria - a campaign organisation which has been accused of being funded by several money bags interested in the continuity of the current government for personal gains - Tuesday's ceremony is supposed to see greater impetus being put into the fray.

His fallout with his erstwhile political godfather, President Olusegun Obasanjo and how he manages it in the next couple of months, is expected to play a deciding role in whether or not he will be the first incumbent president in the country's history to lose an election.

Photo credit .naij.com and scannews