Abuja - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has told state governors in the ruling partyhe intends to stand in elections next January, one of the governors who attended the meeting said on Wednesday.

Imo State Governor Ikedi Okahim, a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), told reporters Jonathan had made his intentions known at a meeting with PDP governors in the presidential villa late on Tuesday.

Okahim returned to meet Jonathan again on Wednesday with members of his state parliament and other officials.

Jonathan has so far declined to publicly say whether he will run and his office has said that until he makes a public declaration either way any other comment is speculation.

He replaced the heads of the armed services and police force on Wednesday, further asserting his authority by removing senior officers ppointed under his predecessor Umaru Yar'Adua.

A bid by Jonathan, who is from the southern Niger Delta, could be divisive due to an agreement in the ruling party that power rotates between the Muslim north and Christian south every two terms, meaning the next president should be a northerner.

The PDP has said Jonathan has the right to run, because he was previously vice president on a joint ticket with Yar'Adua, a northerner who died midway through his first term this year.