There is a storm in the polity over subterranean plots by some political hawks in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to woo ex-President Goodluck Jonathan to the party and get him fielded as the party’s 2023 presidential standard-bearer.

The move is facing stiff resistance from some presidential aspirants of the party, who described it as insensitive to the feelings of those who had been labouring to make APC a household name.

Their position nonetheless, the Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi, described the move as ironic and self-indicting, saying it is an admission of failure by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

According to Professor Abdullahi, it is ironic that those who drove out Jonathan in 2015 will now turn back to beg him to join them.

“What an irony! These are people, who kicked out a president for various reasons and here they are now admitting that they have failed and that they were wrong in kicking Jonathan out of office in 2015 and so, they are now asking him to come and help them.

“Isn’t that the irony of the whole thing? Here I am saying, ‘you have failed and I kicked you out,’ and then after some time I say, ‘I beg you, come back and take over, I am sorry for kicking you out in the first place.’ That is the meaning of the whole thing,” he stated.

The plot also drew cautious reactions from Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, leaders, including Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, former Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, and former National Chairman of the PDP and Kaduna State Governor, Senator Ahmed Makarfi.

They spoke as details of how some APC stakeholders convinced President Buhari to buy into the Jonathan project emerged last night.

Sources said if the plan sails through, Jonathan will serve for one term and hand over to his vice, a northerner from the North-East geopolitical zone.

Presidential aspirants, others kick

One of the presidential aspirants of the party from Benue State, Chief Moses Ayom, advised the former president not to bow to the pressure to join APC and seek its presidential ticket.

According to him, those putting pressure on Jonathan to do so are heartless and insensitive to the plight of others.

“I advise him not to cave into the pressure of the wicked, who are heartless and insensitive to people’s plight,” he stated.

Another presidential aspirant, Ihechukwu Dallas Chima, said the APC was on its way to extinction.

“I see the APC is on the pathway to extinction and as such, little effort can be made to call the leaders of the party to order.

“If after seven years of APC’s existence as a party, persons who don’t mean well for the party will decide to bring a former president that Nigerians rejected at the polls to come back after seven years to fly the party’s flag, then this is really a negative development.

“As an APC chieftain and presidential aspirant for the 2023 presidential election, I use this opportunity to tell the leaders of our party to rescind that negative step,” he cautioned.

Tinubu Support Group weighs in

On its part, the Tinubu Support Group, TSG, said everyone was welcome to the race because the more the merrier, but noted that it is not enough to drop the name of the president in order to win the ticket.

Head of Media of TSG, Tosin Adeyanju, said the APC could not afford to pick a candidate who is not popular.

Asked to respond to Jonathan’s planned move to the APC, Adeyanju said: “The more the merrier. We welcome everyone to the race. Alhaji Ahmed Bola Tinubu is a democrat, who believes in a democratic contest.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/04/storm-over-plot-to-draft-jonathan-as-apc-flag-bearer/