Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will seek re-election next year and to show that he means business, he will pick the party’s nomination form next week. And this will be on his return from a short pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

He will run unchallenged as he already has the party’s endorsement as its sole candidate.

President Goodluck Jonathan: ready to run

Jonathan on Thursday met with top officials from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and thanked them for their unanimous endorsement as the party’s presidential candidate, the source said.

“The president told them he has accepted the offer and assured them that he would pick the nomination form before the deadline expired next week,” said the source.

Jonathan’s formal re-election announcement will be made at a public event between November 7 and November 15, reported the AFP, quoting a presidential aide.

Jonathan’s job performance has been widely criticised, especially over his handling of the brutal Boko Haram uprising.

Analysts also say he has not done nearly enough to curb galloping corruption, including in Nigeria’s oil sector, which is the largest in Africa.

Jonathan will face an emboldened opposition under the banner of a new party, the All Progressives Congress, a coalition which groups all of Nigeria’s leading opposition groups.

But experts say the president’s strongest asset on election day could be his status as the incumbent in a country where the ruling party has a track record of using vast public resources for political aims.