Protesters under the Youth Wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) storming the national secretariat of the party in Abuja on Thursday, May 5, 2022, have asked the ruling party not to go with its alleged plan to present former President, Goodluck Jonathan as a consensus presidential candidate.

Arriving at the party’s headquarters in the earlier hours, the protesters under the aegis of APC North-South Patriotic Coalition (ANSPAC), said imposing former president Goodluck Jonathan as the APC’s presidential candidate would ultimately kill the party.

Addressing journalists, the convener of the group, Alhaji Toyin Rahim, wondered how the party would justify bringing someone the APC had called corrupt and incompetent back to power.

Rahim said, “The rumour has been around for some time now that former President Jonathan of the was being wooed by some power players within the APC to join the Party and fly its presidential ticket for the 2023 election.

“What began as a mere rumour seems to be gathering momentum so close to the presidential primary of our great party. 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.

“One of the most telling negative implications of such an action is that the APC does not have anyone of electoral value who can win the election for us except we smuggle in a former president we defeated seven years ago for his glaring incompetence as president.

“In APC today there are presidential aspirants with credible pedigrees and humongous electoral value and capacity. It is not only unnecessary to smuggle Jonathan into our great party, but it is also self-indicting and means that our Party’s performance in office has been worse than an administration that Nigerians thoroughly rejected and voted APC in 2015.”

Rahim maintained that the move was an indictment against President Muhammadu Buhari by making Nigerians believe that the APC lied about the true performance of Jonathan’s administration.

“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’s 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.

“Already, not a few members of the Party are complaining that the APC leadership has been taken over by the PDP decampees, now you want to give them the presidency too? That’s a recipe for a disastrous end of our and we shall not accept it.

“We shall do whatever needs to be done to ensure that the Jonathan project does not happen because it will sink our party. 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.

“What becomes of those who have been party members from inception who have laboured to build the APC? What becomes of real APC members who have purchased the presidential nomination Form at a whopping N100 million each? What becomes of those who will still declare their presidential ambition and buy the Form? It is on good authority that former President Jonathan has declared that the only condition that would make him join the APC is if he is assured to get the presidential ticket of APC automatically. This is not going to happen,” he said.

Jonathan cannot run for the presidency in 2023 – Femi Falana

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, said former President Goodluck Jonathan cannot contest the 2023 presidential election, citing constitutional provisions barring the ex-president from seeking re-election.

“Dr Jonathan is disqualified from contesting the 2023 presidential election. The reason is that if he wins the election he will spend an additional term of four years.

“It means that he would spend a cumulative period of nine years as President of Nigeria in utter breach of Section 137 of the Constitution which provides for a maximum two terms of eight years,” Falana said.