…Accepts Presidential Nomination Forms From Fulani Group
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has allegedly decided to run for President in 2023, barely 48 hours after disowning a nomination form procured for him by a Northern group.
Jonathan had rejected the presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, procured for him by a Fulani group.
He later visited the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, a shuttle his aides said was to distance himself from the purchase.
But citing a credible source in Jonathan’s camp, state-run newswire, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the former President has finally made up his mind to vie for the top post he lost to the incumbent in 2015.
The source, pleading anonymity, told NAN that the former President has also joined the APC formally, having registered at his Otuoke Ward in Bayelsa State.
Meanwhile, the former President is expected to submit the duly filled forms bought on his behalf on Thursday, according to the source.
The source further disclosed that Jonathan has secured the support of the required number of APC delegates from across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
He said, “Several bigwigs of the party have also been calling Jonathan to pledge their loyalty and support to the former president.”
The source told NAN late on Wednesday that some influential African leaders had also called Jonathan earlier on Monday to advise him “to contest the election in the interest of Nigeria.”
He enthused, “At least three top African leaders called the former President on the matter. They all urged him to run.
“One of them specifically told him that it didn’t make sense travelling all over Africa settling disputes only to shy away from leadership responsibility in his home country.
“Another reminded him of the implication of failing to put the experiences he garnered as a former Nigerian president and as a continental statesman to good use.”
Without mentioning the names of the African leaders who have advised the former President to run, the source cited some of the African leaders as telling Jonathan that Nigeria was passing through challenging times and “needed a unifier like Jonathan at this time.’’
Jonathan, who lost power to incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 was until his purported Defection to the APC a member of the opposition Propels Democratic Party, on whose platform he became the President.
