Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, PACAC, Prof. Itse Sagay, has raised the alarm that conspiracy steam for the emergence of former President Goodluck Jonathan as APC candidate for the 2023 presidential election.
According to him, the game is to make Jonathan president and governor of Yobe state and chairman of the APC Caretaker Extra-Ordinary Convention Planning Committee, CECPC, Mai Mala Buni his vice.
Sagay, on Sunday however warned former President Goodluck Jonathan to respect himself and not to accept the offer that is laced with deception.
Speaking on Sunday to Independent Newspaper, Sagay said the plan was to ensure power returns to the north after just four years, advising the former president not to denigrate himself with such an offer.
“Now we are hearing from the sides, former president, Goodluck Jonathan wants to join APC. Why would a man who had been president before denigrating himself to that level?
“I hear that the conspiracy is to bring in Jonathan as APC presidential candidate and Buni as the vice-presidential candidate.
“If APC wins, Jonathan will go away after four years and Buni becomes the president. That is the rumor I’m hearing now.”
In a related development, a chieftain of the PDP and former Aviation Minister, Osita Chidoka, has urged patience, stating that Jonathan will speak at the appropriate time on his rumoured presidential aspiration.
According to Chidoka, nobody should lure the former president to join the race.
Speaking in an interview on Arise TV on Saturday, Chidoka said, “As for President Goodluck Jonathan, I have not discussed #GEJiscoming with him. In the last conversation I had with him, he wasn’t indicating interest to run for any public office. He is in a good place because he represents something that every part of the country can relate to. He has learnt his lessons from his time in office. He is in that position that he is the leading light of the PDP as he came into power from Deputy Governor to President in the PDP. I believe his political future would be determined by making public choices.
“I don’t think former President Jonathan would be in that position where he is being called to come and be president. If he wants to be president, he would come out boldly and say, ‘I want to be president of Nigeria again because I have the experience and have the capacity to bring back peace in Nigeria and to restore capacity in Nigeria. He can make that case for himself. There is no need to lure him to the race. [The] President Jonathan I know, if he has made up his mind to run, would indicate so, and I am sure he will if he makes up his mind to run.”
Observers Times