Patience Jonathan to Step Down as President of African First Ladies Peace Mission

Patience Jonathan with fellow members of the African First Ladies Peace Mission

As President Goodluck Jonathan is preparing to hand over power to his successor, First Lady Patience Jonathan is preparing to step down as president of African First Ladies Peace Mission.

According to Punch, she is resigning two months before her tenure is supposed to end.

The mission comprises wives of presidents of all African countries, and they work together to promote peace.

Mama Peace was elected as the mission’s president in July 2012, and her tenure is supposed to end in July 2015. However, because she will cease to be Nigeria’s First Lady from May 29th, when her husband will hand over power to the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, she has decided to resign.

According to reports, she has sent an invitation to mission members for an emergency meeting to elect her successor. The invitation reads in part:

Your Excellency may recall that Nigeria was re-elected President of the AFLPM at the 7th Summit in Abuja in July 2012. With the recent election in my country and a new government coming on board from May 29, 2015, it has become necessary to convene an emergency summit of the AFLPM to facilitate a smooth and formal hand over to the new Executive Committee that will pilot the affairs of the Peace Mission for the next two years.

The Emergency Summit is proposed for Friday, May 15, 2015 at the Interim Secretariat of the African First Ladies Peace Mission, Abuja by 2pm. The Summit will, however, be preceded by the 4th meeting of the Executive Bureau by 9am, on May 15 at the same venue. The Bureau Meeting is for members of the Executive Bureau, comprising South Africa, Sudan, Cameroon, Libya and Congo Brazzaville.

…In the light of the above, may I appeal to Your Excellency to give utmost consideration to attending the Emergency Summit in order to ensure that our organisation maintains its current momentum.

We will deeply appreciate your kind early response to help us in planning the Summit, in view of limited time available to us.