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EKO HOT BLOG understands that the reported moves by some powerful forces to make former president Goodluck Jonathan the consensus candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has provoked feelings of “absurdity” and “ridicule” in the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
This was as President Muhammadu Buhari has embargoed the release of pictures of any meetings between him and his predecessor to the public at this time until further notice in order for such images not to be used to confer any modicum of support to the plot to get Jonathan into the 2023 presidential race.
There have been speculative media reports claiming that the APC has granted Jonathan waiver to join the presidential race even though he is not known to have properly fulfilled membership requirements.
After supporters besieged his Abuja residence last month to ask him to contest the 2023 presidential election, Jonathan did not give a definite response, saying, “You are calling me to come and declare for the next election. I cannot tell you I’m declaring. The political process is ongoing. Just watch out.”
Days after, a northern coalition bought the APC presidential expression of interest and nomination forms for Jonathan, but the former president had denied approving the purchase.
Over the weekend, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and chieftain of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Olu Falae said Aso Rock cabal wants to draft Jonathan into the 2023 election in order for power to quickly return to the North.
His words, “The man you threw away from government, Goodluck Jonathan was “a problem man, an incompetent man, he was an idiot, an imbecile.” There was no name they didn’t call him. Now you are going back to ask him to come back to rule.“And there is only one reason for that. The only reason they are asking Goodluck to come back is because he has spent one term as president.
“They don’t want the presidency to be in the South for more than four years. They want it quickly back in the North. So they want to use Goodluck to achieve that objective against his own people.
As the ruling party begins the screening of its presidential hopefuls today, Jonathan’s name was conspicuously missing from the list of presidential aspirants expected to be screened by the APC as President Buhari has reportedly distanced himself from plots to draft Jonathan into the APC presidential primaries.
While a few APC bigwigs including a northern governor are behind the push to draft Jonathan into the party’s presidential primary, there are also concerns in the Presidential Villa that Jonathan’s aides are involved in actively keeping the “plot alive in the media by releasing photos of his visits to the APC Chairman and Alhaji Mamman Daura, in order to insinuate that these two gentlemen are in support of the plot.”
This is according to a report published by Daily Sun which added that Jonathan is not being precluded from visiting the Villa at this time in line with protocol expectations being a former President in good standing and due to his international assignments for which he has to regularly brief President Buhari.
Although the President has not indicated who he is backing for the APC presidential primaries, an informed Presidency source told the newspaper that “former president Jonathan is certainly not in the picture at all and the mentioning of his name has been invoking feelings of absurdity and ridicule in the Villa.”
The source recalled that “when during a public interview earlier this year, a journalist asked the president to use one word to describe the PDP, he instantly said “failure,” how then would the same person who feels that way and feels that way strongly would then be contemplating supporting the same PDP candidate he roundly defeated?”, the source asked.
It was also disclosed that neither the APC Chairman Senator Abdullahi Adamu nor Mamman Daura are behind the plot to draft Jonathan as it is being suggested.
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While disclosing that “it’s only the aides of the former president that are going to town to create such an impression”, the source added that “all of these plots would be over in a matter of days as the APC presidential primaries are now irretrievably set and the President’s choice would be known.”
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