Despite the cloudy political season, Bashir Ahmad, Presidential spokesman, Monday night, confirmed that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
Ahmad, who is Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on the New Media had at about 8:35 p.m, on his verified Twitter handle tweeted “So, Goodluck Jonathan has dumped the opposition PDP and now member of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
This came shortly after Miyetti Allah Cattle Rearers Association (MAGBAN) had purchased N100 million APC nomination form and expression of interest to Jonathan to run as Nigeria’s President in the 2023 general elections.
Jonathan who sought re-election under the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 was defeated by President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling APC.
Read also: 2023: Nigeria’s ex-President Jonathan Joins APC Presidential race
However, Ahmad, speaking in a telephone chat in Abuja, explained that all circumstances point to the fact that the former President would be seeking to return to office on the platform of the party that removed him from office more than seven years ago.
According to Ahmad, a political party will sell nomination and expression of interest forms to only its registered member, adding that nobody will pay so much as N100 million for a cause he is not willing to pursue.
“No one will give out N100 million to buy Presidential forms from a party he’s not a member of. The primary criterium for parties to sell their forms to you is that you must first be a registered member,” Ahmad said.
Jonathan meets APC National Chairman
Amidst attempt by loyalists of ex-president to stop him from running on the APC ticket, Jonathan, has formally met with the National Chairman of the ruling party in Abuja, apparently to clarify some gray areas regarding his candidacy.
Jonathan, who was reported to have rejected a N100 million nomination form procured for him by some Fulani pastoralists, later met behind closed doors with the APC National Chairman in Abdullahi Adamu’s house.
A source close to the former president said that the meeting, whose details were not made public, lasted between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. in a bid to sort out some grey issues regarding Jonathan’s bid to fly the party’s presidential flag in next year’s poll.
It was learnt that the confusion that trailed the purchase of the form for Jonathan arose because of the spirited efforts by his core loyalists in the People Democratic Party to dissuade him from joining the APC and running on its platform, saying that such would be detrimental to opposition party and belittling of his image.
The ex-President, according to a reliable source, has concluded plans to accept the nomination form and meet with the APC leadership since Sunday morning but was strongly prevailed upon by those seen as his ‘inner caucus friends’ to shelve the move and remain in the PDP even without being active in the party.
