A new group in the cabal of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked former President Goodluck Jonathan to contest for President in 2023.
The APC cabal move that will bury the presidential ambition of former Lagos State governor and APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu, SaharaReporters reports.
According to SaharaReporters, the new APC group prefers former President Jonathan to be the party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election, which will also see the presidential ambition of the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, be buried altogether.
It learnt that a former Minister of Defence, Gen. T.Y. Danjuma (retd.), was one of those who met with Buhari to oppose Emefiele’s presidential ambition.
“A new group in the APC cabals has ruined Emefiele’s plans as they asked ex-president Jonathan to contest and that he will be selected by consensus. They are assuring that there would not even be primaries.
“The plan is meant to finally put Bola Tinubu’s ambition to rest,” a top source privy to the developments revealed.
In January 2022, this online platform had reported that against the widespread belief that President Buhari was preparing to hand over power to Tinubu or Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in May 2023, he might be looking in another direction.
Buhari was reported to have reached out to Jonathan on taking over power from him and was already working with some of his most trusted lieutenants to actualise this plan.
A trusted source around the President had gathered that the idea had already received the backing of some prominent politicians from the North, including state governors as the arrangement would enable power to return to the region in 2027 when Jonathan would have served out his single four-year term after previously occupying the same position from 2011 to 2015.
President Buhari and Jonathan had met a week earlier before that time and according to the source, modalities of this new arrangement were discussed at length with further meetings to take place in the coming weeks to cement plans to help achieve the target.
“Pressure came from two Northern governors for President Buhari to allow Jonathan to complete his term and return power to the North for another eight years beginning from 2027,” the source had revealed.
“It is for this reason that Buhari had requested Jonathan to see him last Thursday following the conclusion of discussion with the two governors, one of whom is Mai Mala Buni of Yobe and APC Caretaker Committee Chairman.
“This same Buni worked against Tinubu’s interest in the electoral act to ensure Buhari did not sign it. Tinubu had hoped to ward off the challenge from Osinbajo, Rotimi Amaechi and others to get the APC presidential ticket through direct primaries.
“Buni is also working to organise a national convention to create substantive national executives, all a ploy to ensure a Jonathan candidacy. He’s masterminding a likely micro-zoning to the South-South to ensure Jonathan is the sole aspirant during the primary.
“Following the successful meeting on Thursday with Buhari, Jonathan has also moved swiftly to hold a strategic meeting with South-South ministers and will hold a national ministers’ meeting under his government afterwards as a prequel to a formal declaration.
“The meeting which held under the South-South 2023 Presidency group headed by Jonathan’s associate, Mr Dikivie Ikiogha, took place at Mrs Patience Jonathan’s Aridolf Hotels and Spars.
“If the plan goes well, Jonathan will choose a serving Northern governor as running mate. The most likely candidate for that will be Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State,” the source had revealed further.
