Nigeria’s former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has met with the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Abdullahi Adamu, in Abuja.
The meeting took place a few hours after a Fulani group, under the aegis of the Nomadic Pastoralists and the Almajiri Communities, purchased the ruling party’s nomination and expression of interest forms, for Jonathan.’ urging him to contest for president under the APC in 2023.
The sale of forms for elective positions in APC closes Tuesday, with 25 aspirants in the race for the presidential ticket in the party’s primary election slated for May 30, 2023.
The meeting between Jonathan and Adamu was held at a secret location in Abuja and lasted about an hour. At the end of it, the former president and the national chairman came out smiling, it was learnt.
Although the agenda of the meeting was not disclosed, it further strengthened speculation about the former president’s likely defection to the APC which has been a topic of discussion in political circles in the last two years.
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Jonathan, in a statement by his media adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, said he was not aware of the purchase of forms and did not authorise it.
The statement read:
It has come to the notice of His Excellency Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, that a group has purportedly purchased Presidential Nomination and Expression of Interest forms, of the APC in his name.
We wish to categorically state that Dr. Jonathan was not aware of this bid and did not authorise it. While we appreciate the overwhelming request by a cross-section of Nigerians, for Dr. Jonathan to make himself available for the 2023 presidential election, we wish to state, that he has not in anyway, committed himself to this request.
We thank the general public for their concern, as we continue to encourage citizens’ participation in the affairs of the country.
There had been speculations that Jonathan wanted to take another shot at the presidency but on the platform of APC, the party that defeated him in 2015. The former president recently hinted that he was still consulting on whether to join the race or not in 2023.
The leader of the Fulani group that purchased the form for Jonathan, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said a lot of interest groups had been coming out to urge Jonathan to contest, adding that they needed to purchase the form to beat the deadline.
He said Jonathan had a comprehensive policy while in government to reform and integrate the Almajarai into the educational system of Nigeria.
