The All Progressives Congress (APC) is said to be facing more crises over alleged plans to adopt former President Goodluck Jonathan as the party’s consensus candidate in the coming 2023 presidential election.
According to a source in the party, the ongoing secret move was the major reason the former president met with the APC chairman, Abdullahi Adamu on Monday night.
Meanwhile, two northern governors who had been rooting for the former president had reached out to members of the National Working Committee to ensure the adoption of Jonathan as the consensus candidate.
The moves, it was gathered, had led to serious disagreement in the party, as some leaders of the party who didn’t buy the idea vowed to work against it.
According to the report, the former President is seeking an open endorsement of his presidential ambition by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Jonathan is also insisting that he should be saved the rigour of facing founding APC members including the national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo; former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha and the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, during the party’s presidential primaries.
A source who was privy to the meeting between Adamu and Goodluck said, “He fears the backlash and the opposition he will meet from members who are already in the race. He is still insisting on consensus so that he will not face the rigour of indirect primaries.
“Already, his backers, including the national chairman, have started working on the consensus arrangement. They have reached out to the few presidential aspirants from the North who will readily step down for Jonathan.”
Another source said, “Jonathan’s meeting with the APC chairman went well. He sought the party leadership’s support for his candidacy and also demanded assurances that he would be exempted from the mandatory screening and other stringent conditions in the form.
“He would not be available for the screening because he won’t be in the country for two weeks as he is going to Dakar, Senegal for the ‘Dialogue on sustaining democratic principles in the ECOWAS sub-region organised by the West African Elders Forum.”
Recall that a group, the Nomadic Herders and Almajiris, had on Monday obtained the APC N100 million nomination form for the ex-president.
Jonathan had turned down the gesture because he was not carried along.
However, following meetings with his supporters in the APC, especially from the North region, the former president is said to have decided to run if the ruling party’s leadership assures him of securing the APC ticket.
