Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan formally declared his bid for the 2011 presidential poll yesterday, three days after launching it on his Facebook page, ending months of doubts over his ambition.

“I, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan have decided to humbly offer myself as a candidate in the presidential primaries of our great party, .. in order to stand for the 2011 presidential elections,” Jonathan said at a rally in Abuja.

Speaking before a mammoth crowd of supporters, he vowed to unite Nigerians and urged voters to cast their ballots for him.

“I have come to say to all of you that Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan is the man you need to put Nigeria right,” he said.

“I have come to launch a campaign of ideas, not one of calumny. I have come to preach love, not hate. I have come to break you away from divisive tendencies of the past which have slowed our drive to true nationhood,” he said. The president had used his Facebook page on Wednesday to declare his intention to run in January amid a row in his ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on whether to support him or a northern candidate.

A host of state governors, ministers and lawmakers attended the carnival-like rally in the nation’s capital as banner-carrying youth and cultural groups drummed and sang to eulogise the president.

The 52-year-old southern Christian from Bayelsa State in the oil-rich Niger Delta succeeded president Umaru Yar’Adua after his death in May. He had been deputy president since 2007.

Jonathan promised to ensure free and fair elections despite being a candidate in the vote.

“I pledge once again to all the people of this nation that they will have a free and fair election, even as I stand to be a candidate,” the president assured.