The consultation between former
President Goodluck Jonathan and some leaders of the All Progressives Congress
for Jonathan to emerge as the presidential candidate has been rejected by
support groups working for some presidential aspirants of the party.
Groups loyal to presidential
aspirants of the party, including the APC National leader and former Lagos
State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Vice-President Yemi
Osinbajo; in separate interviews, dismissed the consensus plot for the
ex-President.
It was also gathered
that those who were behind the plot and some members of the National Working
Committee of the party feared that it might not sail through.
It was learnt that although the
plan had been announced, opposition to it was already swelling among members.
Besides Tinubu,
Osinbajo, other members of the party in the presidential race include the Kogi
State Governor, Yahaya Bello; the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi
and the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi.
Jonathan had informed some APC
leaders that he would only join the presidential race if he was directly
endorsed by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
The information was
revealed to The PUNCH shortly after Jonathan’s posters flooded the national
secretariat of the APC and some youth groups stormed Jonathan’s office in the
Maitama area of Abuja, calling on him to join the Presidential race.
In his response, the
former President had told protesters that he could not say for sure if he would
declare or not but only advised his supporters to “watch out.”
It was subsequently
learnt from top sources in the APC that there was a plan by some leaders in the
APC and some elements in the Presidency to accede to Jonathan’s request.
A member of the APC
National Executive Committee, who confided in one of our correspondents, said
all presidential aspirants were aware of the plan to bring Jonathan in as the
consensus candidate.
According to him,
members of the Presidency cabal who were working on the plan were confused as
they did not know if it would succeed.
He stated that they
started working on the plan more than a year ago but when they ran into some
challenges, they tried to adopt the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,
Godwin Emefiele.
The NEC member added that when they
realised that Emefiele’s option might not work, they went back to the Jonathan
arrangement.
The party chieftain
stated, “I can tell you they are facing a tough task as far as Jonathan is
concerned. Although from his body language, one can see that Jonathan is
interested. However, his backers in the APC are confused about how to launder
the public image of Jonathan whom they painted incompetent and clueless in 2015.
“Another tough task the
party may face is how it will convince other aspirants like Tinubu, Osinbajo,
Amaechi, Umahi and Bello to step down. Many members are not happy with the plot
and are ready to shoot it down.”
When contacted for the
party’s reaction, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, neither
replied to a text message sent to his mobile phone nor responded to calls made
by one of our correspondents.
It was learnt that the presidential
aspirants were waiting for Jonathan’s backers to unveil their plan, which they
vowed to resist.
Osinbajo
group rejects Jonathan, optimistic VP will emerge consensus candidate
The Leader, Osinbajo
Grassroots Organisation, Ekiti State, Femi Adeleye, said on Sunday that the
party could not give Jonathan a waiver to contest the presidential election as
a consensus candidate when there were competent and capable aspirants already.
Adeleye who said the
presidential aspirants were already preparing for an indirect primary, however,
said the party would adopt Osinbajo in case it considered a consensus
arrangement.
He stated, “Even at
that, if all the contestants agree within themselves and decide to step down
for one of them, I am very comfortable that our principal, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo,
will be the one they will step down for. I am very comfortable with that.
“If some people are
rooting for Jonathan, the party must accept him first. And for him to contest,
he must have spent a year in the party and our primary will hold in the one
month’s time. It will be very difficult for the party to say they want to give
him a waiver and pick him as consensus candidate when there are competent hands
already on the ground.”
Aspirants
looking for consensus are lazy, nobody will impose candidate – Tinubu campaign
group
Also in a chat with The
PUNCH, the South West Agenda for Asiwaju 2023 known as SWAGA 2023, said that
there was no possibility of a consensus presidential candidate in the upcoming
primary election.
The Chairman of SWAGA 2023, Senator
Dayo Adeyeye, explained this to The PUNCH during a telephone interview on
Sunday, adding that the presidential aspirants would await the results of the
primaries.
He said, “The candidates
for the presidential election await the primaries and the people will have to
earn it. Don’t forget that under the new electoral law, you can only have
consensus when all the candidates or aspirants have agreed in writing and I
don’t see that happening. Those who are looking for consensus are the lazy ones
who have not done any work.
“We are working and
hoping to have free and fair primaries which I know that by the grace of the
almighty God, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will easily win. So, the issue of
consensus candidacy should be forgotten completely. Nobody will impose the
president on Nigeria, the party members will choose their candidates by
themselves at the convention and the Nigerian people will be given the
opportunity to elect the candidates of their choice in February next year.”
Adeyeye said the
Presidential primary would not be like the national convention of March 26
because the primary is more complicated as it would involve a wider electorate.
The leader of the
Grassroot Network for Asiwaju Tinubu group, Mr Abiodun Mafe, also told The
PUNCH that Jonathan was not known to be a member of the APC hence he could not
be the presidential candidate of the party.
“Jonathan has never been
a member of the APC, so how will it be possible for anyone to say that he will
be made a consensus candidate? Until he now proves to the whole world that he
is a card-carrying member of the APC, it can’t be. Even at that, there is a
process. Constitutionally, anybody who is a member of the APC has the right to
contest but as far as I am concerned Jonathan is not a part,” Mafe stated.
Yahaya Bello will defeat Jonathan
if he joins the presidential race – Campaign Council
But the spokesman for
the Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Council, Yemi Kolapo, in an interview
with The PUNCH, said the Kogi State Governor would defeat Jonathan if he joined
the APC presidential race.
She said, “What I will
say is that whether Jonathan declares or not, whether he joins APC or not is
not a threat. Yahaya Bello will get the ticket. Everybody has the right to vie
for any position.
“So, whether he
(Jonathan) wants to do that in APC or his PDP, it is his choice. That will not
deter anybody. No matter what they do, no matter the number of people who come
into the race at this time, Yahaya Bello will be on the ballot.”
Attempts to get a
response from Jonathan’s Spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, proved abortive as he did
not respond to a text message on Sunday. (Excerpted from a PUNCH report)
