A body under the umbrella of North-South Patriotic Coalition (ANSPAC) has on Thursday staged a protest at the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The protesters warned that the decision by some power brokers within the party to drag former President Goodluck Jonathan into the presidential race was a recipe for disaster for the party. They stressed that those who are masterminding the project do not have the interest of the party at heart and certainly do not love Nigeria.
They questioned the rationale behind bringing back someone APC had projected to the whole world as a failure and rejected by the overwhelming number of Nigerians.
The group, in a letter titled, “The Destructive Potentials of a Goodluck Jonathan Presidential Candidacy for the APC”, addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and submitted by its Chairman, Mr. Toyin Rahim to the party, insisted that Jonathan’s project will not fly.
The group affirmed that the rumour has been around for some time now that the former President was being wooed by some power players within the APC to join the party and fly its presidential ticket for the 2023 election, saying that what began as a mere rumour seems to be gathering momentum so close to the presidential primary of the party.
The group emphasised that it would also be an indictment against President Muhammadu Buhari for making Nigerians believe that APC lied to them when it said Jonathan performed woefully and that Buhari would do better.
The group, therefore, demanded an immediate categorical statement from the party’s leadership that such a project to import and impose Jonathan as APC’s presidential candidate was not being contemplated.
The letter reads “This Jonathan project cannot fly simply because it cannot help our party and we want to do our best to ensure that our Party does not fall victim to ill-advised action that can push the party out of power.
“It is certain that any attempt to give Jonathan a free presidential ticket of the APC will see the mass exodus of critical stakeholders from the Party and make the party lose power.”
“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?
“One thing our party leaders must know is that if for any tragic reason the mistake is made to impose Jonathan on APC and the goodwill of our party and that of Mr. President make him win and he becomes president again, the likelihood of him switching loyalty to PDP is high.”
