Nigeria’s former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has rejected the N100 million All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms bought for him to contest the 2023 presidential election by nomadic Fulani pastoralists and Almajiri communities, according to Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, Media Adviser to Dr. Jonathan.
A statement issued on Monday by Eze said that it was an insult for the community to buy the forms for him without his consent.
The report by local newspaper, the Punch on Tuesday said that the statement was a reaction to the earlier purchase of the forms for the former president to contest the party’s ticket with other aspirants for the 2023 presidential election.
“It has come to our notice that a group has purportedly purchased Presidential Expression of Interest and Nomination forms of the APC in the name of former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
“We wish to categorically state that Dr Jonathan was not aware of this bid and did not authorise it.
“We want to state that if the former president wanted to contest an election, he would make his intentions clear to the public and will not enter through the back door,” Eze said.
The newspaper also said that hours after former president Goodluck Jonathan publicly rejected the APC’s presidential expression of interest and nomination forms, the Secretary of the Fulani Group, Usman Mohammed, has vowed that Jonathan won’t leave the country without accepting it.
The group, which is an extraction of the nomadic Fulani and the Almajiri communities, stormed the International Conference Centre in Abuja on Monday evening to procure the forms.
It added the news of Jonathan purchasing APC presidential forms on Monday got Nigerians pondering if he was truly considering a return to Aso Rock on the platform of the ruling party.
Reacting swiftly to the report, the former president dissociated himself from the purported APC presidential form, which he described as an insult.
Meanwhile, following the controversial procurement of presidential forms for former president Goodluck Jonathan by a Fulani group, it’s been reported that the form was bought by a governor of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to another local newspaper, the Daily Trust, the N100m presidential form bought for Jonathan was paid for by a serving northern governor.
The report recalled that two influential governors from the northern Nigeria were allegedly plotting Jonathan’s return.
It stated that the two governors are known to be playing key roles in the affairs of the APC in the last few years.
The report explained that Dr. Jonathan served under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but has been distancing himself from the party, while hobnobbing with President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.
GIK/APA