Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, who met with Fulani leaders and members of the community who procured the N100 million presidential nomination forms for him, is considering running on the All Progressives Congress ticket.
By 1 on Tuesday, President Goodluck Jonathan met with Fulani pastoralists to discuss their purchase of presidential nomination forms without his permission, which he vehemently rejected and slammed those involved.
A spokesperson for Jonathan, Ikechukwu Eze, said in a statement that the doctor was unaware of the bid and had not authorized it.
Dr. Ibrahim Abdullahi, who led the team that procured the form for him, apologized and pleaded with the former president at a meeting with the Fulani community in Abuja, where they met, to accept the offer to run.
As a token of their gratitude for the N60 billion he invested in Almajiris schools and investment opportunities during his tenure, pastoralists are said to have told Jonathan that they purchased the form for him.
It was reported that Jonathan reluctantly agreed to run for the APC ticket after hearing the plea of the Fulani community and promised to give them feedback in the shortest amount of time possible, but did not give a specific date.
In light of his position in Nigeria and the international community, the former president also asked the Fulani community to never undertake any political assignment on his behalf without first clearing with him.
On the Fulani delegation’s behalf, Jonathan is said to have expressed his displeasure at hearing that anyone could have purchased a nomination form for him. This was an action he found disrespectful to his status as a former president of the country.
Former president’s supporters who had previously vehemently opposed him running on the APC platform had gradually withdrawn their opposition to the idea and given him the go-ahead to do so, according to a source.
To meet the party’s return deadline in Abuja, some of Jonathan’s key loyalists are said to have joined the Fulani community in completing the APC presidential nomination form for Jonathan.
Many of Jonathan’s supporters are from both parties, so I can tell you that he has a wide support base. For this reason, one reliable source says, some of them are helping to complete President Obama’s nomination paperwork.
Fulani Group of 10 led by Dr. Ibrahim Abdullahi said they purchased the form out of joy and gratitude to former President Jonathan for being kind to them while he was in office.
According to the source, “The Fulani community recalled that Jonathan built hundreds of Almajiri schools and also allocated the pastoralists’ cattle seed funds during his tenure.
Recall that on Monday, Jonathan turned down a nomination form from the Fulani community and chastised them for disrespecting him.
After meeting with Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the APC National Chairman, he was seen as accepting the party’s offer to run for its ticket if given the opportunity.
There were mixed feelings about former President Jonathan’s announcements on the eve of the APC’s screening of presidential aspirants on Friday, even though the party had raised N2.63 billion from the sale of nomination forms.
There is no way to stop former President Jonathan from joining another political party, according to the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF).
“Nigerians know what former Goodluck was, therefore, the ACF cannot stop him from moving from one party to another,” Shuaibu Lili, the ACF’s information and Protocol officer, told Vanguard. Politicians have done this before, and he has every right to make his own decision.”
But the purported APC defection of former President Jonathan was described as unfortunate by the Middle Belt Forum, MBF.
As a result of this, Nigerians will lose their trust in Jonathan, who is seen as a model of good governance in the country.
“Unfortunately, he is joining the people who have destroyed the legacies that he left for Nigerians as President of the country,” MBF National Treasurer Ben Akaakar said. With the APC’s lackluster performance, he should know that defecting to the APC would make him a non-reference point for good governance in the country.
It is, therefore, a disappointment for Nigerians who have been expressing their displeasure with APC’s mismanagement and demanding that the party return the country to the pre-2015 era.”
The governor of Ebonyi State has said that the APC may have difficulty campaigning with Jonathan as its presidential candidate.
In addition, Governor Umahi speculated that those who obtained the former president’s APC forms might be malicious individuals out to make him look bad.
President Jonathan and his wife, Dame Patience Jonathan, were instrumental in Umahi’s rise to power as governor of Ebonyi State in 2015, according to Umahi.
A “Thank you” letter from South-East leaders was presented to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa in Abuja by Governor Umahi, who told State House reporters that President Jonathan running for the APC’s presidential ticket would be “another wonder of the world.”
Despite denials, he said that if the former president joins the APC it would be worthy of inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records.
APC’s policies and promises were compared to those of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under which President Jonathan was in office.
Why? Because if you look at the APC campaign programs and then ask President Jonathan to run, I don’t know what our campaign promises and the stories we’ll be telling Nigerians will be. I don’t know what our promises will be.”
He was unaware of the forms, and I want to believe that mischievous people would have purchased the forms to embarrass him. However, based on what I’ve read, he appears to have quickly distanced himself from that If that is not the case, then the Guinness Book of Records has not yet been filled.
“Jonathan is my father and God used him and his wife to make me governor of Ebonyi State and so, anyone who has done anything for me, I’ve always remained very grateful to such person and I will continue to be very grateful to him, and the wife, for being available and being my destiny helper, to achieve that feat,” he continued.
