By The battle for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general elections appears to be getting more intriguing, with the entry of former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan into the race.
A coalition of Northern groups visited the APC national secretariat to purchase its presidential expression of interest and nomination forms for Jonathan, on Monday.
The payment for both forms, totalling N100m, was captured in two different letters signed by the Abuja Regional Head of Heritage Bank, one Daniel Oniko. Both letters addressed to the APC National Organising Secretary to notify the office of the transaction.
With this development, the former President, though a stalwar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has switched camps and officially joined the long list of APC members contesting to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.
Jonathan, whose bid to return to Aso Rock, has been rumoured for several months, will be contesting for the APC presidential ticket alongside other aspirants, such as former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello; his Ekiti and Cross River States counterparts, Kayode Fayemi and Ben Ayade; among others.
It would be recalled that the ex-president had been a subject of speculations following his flirtation with some bigwigs of the ruling party, causing eyebrows to raise as to whether he is truly interested in becoming Nigeria’s president for a second time.
More recently, a group of Nigerian youths stormed Jonathan’s Abuja residence, urging him to join the 2023 presidential race. In response, he had said he wasn’t ready yet. Whether the ECOWAS Special Envoy would accept to run remains unclear.
