Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday joined the race for 2023 presidency.
Jonathan picked the expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress(APC).
A northern group picked the forms on behalf of Jonathan at the International Conference Centre (ICC) in Abuja.
Jonathan was yet to announce his defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC as of the time of this reporting, but sources claimed all is set for his grand official defection to APC.
Some protesters had in April stormed the Abuja private office of Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, urging him to declare for 2023 presidential race.
The group made up of men, women and youngsters stormed the office with posters and leaflets demanding that the former President joins the race.
Responding to them, Jonathan asked Nigerian youths to show greater interest in the nation’s political process.
The former President said it was time for youths to take advantage of the Not Too Young To Run Act to participate actively in the electoral process.
He said he was aware that they were “here to ask me to declare,” but he said, “I cannot declare because some process are still ongoing.”
“Yes you are calling me to come and declare for the next election, I cannot tell I’m declaring. The political process is ongoing just watch out. The key role you must play is that Nigeria must get somebody that will carry young people along.”
Meanwhile, Lagos Lawyer, Mr Femi Falana SAN recently argued that former President Goodluck Jonathan is not eligible to contest for the presidency of Nigeria again having spent five years as president between 2010 and 2015.
Falana premised his argument on a 2018 constitutional amendment which purportedly bars Jonathan from contesting because if he (Jonathan) becomes the president of Nigeria in 2023, he will spend a cumulative nine years as president whereas the amended constitutional provision on which Falana relied on limits the occupant of the position to two terms of eight years.
