Drama as Jonathan’s APC Membership Raises Dust in Bayelsa Over 2023 Presidential Ambition
- The uncertainties surrounding ex-President Goodluck Jonathan's party identity is becoming intriguing
- Information from some quarters have revealed that former president has dumped his parent political party PDP for the APC
- Meanwhile, the APC has vehemently denied such claims stating that Jonathan is not a member of the ruling party
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An emerging report from Bayelsa state over the membership of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan in APC is breeding conflicting answers over his status.
It has been confirmed that Jonathan who publicly declined the presidential forms of the APC has made a U-turn to contest for the Aso Rock seat he once sat on.
Source: Twitter
According to the Tribune newspaper, the APC ward 13 of Ogbia local government area confirmed that Jonathan is now a bonafide member of the ruling party.
Legit.ng gathered that the ward chairman in Ogbia, Igori Freeman made this disclosure on Thursday, May 12 via a telephone conversation with the newspaper.
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Igori who made the disclosure did not however divulge in detail how the entire process happened or when it happened. He however stated that the state chairman of the party, Dennis Otiotio is in a pole position to explain better.
Jonathan not our member - Bayelsa APC boss
Contrastingly, when Otiotio was contacted, he debunked the claims that Jonathan was already a member of the ruling party.
According to PUNCH, Otiotio disclosed that the ex-President will only be a member of the party on the premise that gets a waiver by the national chairman of the party, Adamu Abdullahi.
He said:
“I think the person you people should be asking the question is the national chairman of the party. He should be the one to grant him (Jonathan) a waiver.
“As of now, he has not officially joined our party. Ask the national chairman if he has granted him a waiver.”
He however likened Jonathan to a big fish and described him as an elder statesman stating that it will be a plus to the party if the ex-President decides to join.
Northern coalition purchases APC presidential forms for ex-president Jonathan
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that a coalition of Northern groups purchased the APC presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for Jonathan.
Sporting fez caps with the inscription ‘run Jonathan run’, members of the coalition on Monday, May 9, said Jonathan is the most qualified to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
If elected as President again, Jonathan can only serve for one term of four years, according to the constitution. He was first elected in 2011 after completing the tenure of his former boss, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
2023: PDP NEC finally gives last say on zoning, open ticket, consensus
Meanwhile, after days of what some political observers called indecision, the opposition party PDP on Wednesday, May 11, reached some milestone agreements ahead of its primaries for the 2023 elections.
The PDP's National Executive Committee and Board of Trustees (BoT) during a meeting in Benue state on Wednesday, agreed to drop the idea of zoning after considering the left to prepare for the polls.
The NEC and BoT also approved that the party's presidential ticket be thrown open to all aspirants.
Added to this, both power blocs in the PDP advised and urged its leadership to accept the consensus option.
Source: Legit.ng
