We’ll liberate Gwoza by Friday, says Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday
expressed the confidence that Nigerian troops will
liberate Gwoza from members of the Boko Haram
sect latest on Friday.

Once that feat is achieved, he said it would not take
the nation more than one week to clean up.
Jonathan spoke while granting audience to a group of
international election monitors who paid him a visit
at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

"We believe by tomorrow (Thursday) or latest Friday,
we will be able to take over Gwoza. If we take over
Gwoza it will not take us more than one week to clean
up. Now Boko Haram is not in position to come out
and disrupt elections," Jonathan told his guests.

He recalled that when security operatives advised
that elections be rescheduled for security reasons, a
number of people thought it was just because of the
terror attacks in some parts of the North.

He however admitted that that was a major factor too
because the Boko Haram set was in three states:
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa at that time.

"They were holding territories, some local
governments were completely under their control
and invariably there were no government in those
places.

"And of course, some states like Gombe and Bauchi
were also not free. In fact, it would have been difficult
to conduct elections in five states of the federation.

"If we had conducted elections on that February 14,
they would have come up to disrupt elections in
these five states and that would have made the
presidential elections in these five states
inconclusive.

"This is because whoever emerged a winner though
we are 14 candidates but the PDP and the APC
candidates are the two that are well known.

"It would have been difficult because probably the
vote difference of any of these candidates, if you
aggregate the remaining five states that elections
would have been disrupted, it would have been
difficult to declare a winner."

Jonathan added that Gombe State was attacked on
the same day the presidential election was earlier
scheduled to hold. He said the aim of the insurgents
was to disrupt the elections but they were repelled.

The President assured his guests that elections would
be conducted on the Saturday across the country and
there would be no reason for inclusive results.