2023: Impose Jonathan lose power, protest rocks APC N’secretariat

Ahead of the primary election for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), a group under the aegis of APC North-South Patriotic Coalition (ANSPAC) has taken protest to the national secretariat of the party, warning against losing if the party impose former President Goodluck Jonathan as presidential candidate.

The protest which temporarily affected vehicular movement in and around the Buhari House, had several of the protesters carrying anti-Jonathan’s placards.

There have been media reports that former President was perfecting plans to join the ruling party and vie for its presidential ticket.

But reading a letter addressed to the APC national chairman to newsmen during the protest Thursday in Abuja, the spokesman of the group, Alhaji Toyin Rahim, said the rumour has been around for some time that former President Goodiuck Jonathan of the PDP was being wooed by some power players within the APC to join the party and fly its presidential ticket for the 2023 election.

Alhaji Rahim said the Jonathan project cannot fly because it cannot help party, warning against “falling victim of ill-advised and action that can push the party out of power.

“One of the most telling negative implications of such an action is that the APC does not have anyone of electoral value who can win election for us except we smuggle in a former president we defeated seven years ago for his glaring incompetence as president.

“In APC today there are presidential aspirants with credible pedigrees and humongous electoral value and CBPaCity. It is not only unnecessary to smuggle Jonathan into our great party, it is also self-indicting and meaning that our party’s performance in office has been worse than an administration that Nigerians thoroughly rejected and voted APC in 2015.

“It will also be an indictment against His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari by making Nigerians believe that we lied to them when we said Jonathan performed woefully and that our dear President Muhammadu Buhari would do better. Are we now saying we lied to Nigerians and that we have now discovered that Jonathan was much better and that he should return to continue his good works that nobody can see?”

While demanding a categorical statement from Adamu led NWC, the group said: “Those who are masterminding this project do not have the interest of the party at heart and certainly do not love Nigeria.

“What sense is in anyone bringing back someone we announced to the whole world that he was a failure and rejected by the overwhelming numbers of Nigerians and then we go back to start romancing him and make him our presidential flag bearer? That’s self-inflicted disaster.

“We demand immediate categorical statement from the party’s leadership that such project to import and impose former president Goodluck Jonathan as APC’s presidential candidate is not being contemplated. This demand represents overwhelming majority of opinions in the party across board nationwide.”