Jonathan finally speaks on N100 million APC presidential forms obtained for him by Fulani group

Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has rejected the N100 million presidential form of the All Progressives Congress purchased for him on Monday by a group of Fulani from the north.

NEWSFLASH NIGERIA had earlier reported on Monday evening that the Fulani group had purchased the N100 million Presidential form of the ruling APC for former President Goodluck Jonathan.

The Fulani group, Nomadic Pastoralists and Almajarai Community led by Ibrahim Abdullahi stormed the International Conference Centre, Abuja to purchase the form for him.

The group sporting fez caps with the inscription ‘run Jonathan run’,  said Jonathan is the most qualified to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.

The northern group said they believed in the capacity of Dr Jonathan because of his pan Nigerian outlook while in office.

Abdullahi and his group recalled what he called the “comprehensive policy of the Goodluck Jonathan administration of reformation and integration of the Almajarai into the educational system of Nigeria.

“It was the dream and the vision of President Jonathan to produce doctors, lawyers and engineers from Almajarai but unfortunately that laudable vision was abandoned once he left office.

 “Another group that he tried to develop was the Fulani Pastoralists. I believe if this government has continued with its vision, Nigeria would have become Denmark, the Holland of entire Africa, in terms of livestock production, in terms of milk, beef and so on.

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“Looking at this situation, the problems Nigeria today is facing, we need a leader with that kind of patriotism, a leader with that kind of fairness, a leader who can give all Nigerians a sense of belonging is who we need.

“That person is Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. We are ready not only to purchase this form for President Jonathan but I want to assure you that our Community, the Nomadic Pastoralists, has a voting population of about 9 million youths, who can also produce about 5 million! So, we have about 14 million voters. We have other Nigerians who can give us 2million votes and we are home and dry.”

But on Monday night, the former president rejected the presidential form and consider the move by the Fulani group insulting.

Dr Jonathan’s Media Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, said in a statement hours after the news that the group had bought the form for him broke that the former did not authorise the purchase and considered the move by the group ‘an insult’.

“We wish to categorically state that Dr Jonathan was not aware of this bid and did not authorise it,” the statement read in part.

“We want to state that if the former President wanted to contest an election, he would make his intentions clear to the public and will not enter through the back door.”

“While we appreciate the overwhelming request by a cross-section of Nigerians, for Dr Jonathan to make himself available for the 2023 Presidential election, we wish to state, that he has not in any way, committed himself to this request.

“Buying a presidential aspiration form in the name Dr Jonathan without his consent, knowing the position he had held in this country, is considered an insult to his person.

“The general public is therefore advised to disregard it,” Mr Jonathan’s spokesman Ikechukwu Eze said in a statement.

In recent months, there have been increased speculations about whether the former President will run for his old post in the 2023 general elections and there have been calls for him to do so.

Although he is not a member of the APC, speculations have intensified in recent weeks that he is set to switch from the Peoples Democratic Party to contest for President in 2023.

Mr Jonathan, who joined the now-opposition Peoples Democratic Party in 1998 and went on to be elected deputy governor, governor, vice-president and president on the party’s platform, has yet to formally announce his membership of the ruling party, although recent activities suggest he has been nursing that ambition.

But the former President has yet to state whether he would contest or not, and neither has he spoken about the possibility of switching parties.

Jonathan meets APC chair Adamu

Meanwhile, Goodluck Jonathan met with the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu.

NEWSFLASH NIGERIA reports that the meeting which was held behind closed doors occurred on Monday night.

The development had since sparked curiosity as Nigerians are left in the dark on Jonathan’s untold defection to APC.

The rejection of the so-called nomination forms by an unknown group of northern origin was dominated talks when Mr Jonathan met APC chairman Abdullahi Adamu in Abuja on Monday night.

Mr Jonathan told Mr Adamu he was not involved in buying the forms, according to a source familiar with the meeting.

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