The All Progressives Congress (APC) is reportedly considering giving a joint ticket to former President Goodluck Jonathan and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for the 2023 presidential election.
This was contained in an exclusive report by SaharaReporters.
Top sources within the party told SaharaReporters that Jonathan is being considered as a strong voice in the southern region, while El-Rufai is being packaged to represent northern interests and later become the president when the presidency is again zoned to the North.
One of the sources confirmed to SaharaReporters that there are plans already to pair El-Rufai with Jonathan for 2023 as both forces are believed to be strong and have goodwill in their regions.
It was learnt that there had been pressure on Jonathan, to defect to the All Progressives Congress and run for president in 2023 on the ruling party’s platform.
Some APC chieftains, including governors, had reportedly visited Jonathan at his Abuja residence last November on his 63rd birthday.
The APC team’s visit was led by the Chairman Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee, who is also the acting national chairman of the party, Governor Mai Mala Buni.
Other members of the delegation include David Umahi, Ebonyi State governor, who recently defected from the PDP to the APC; Atiku Bagudu, Kebbi State governor, who is also the chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum; Abubakar Badaru, Jigawa State governor; Chief Ken Nnamani, a former Senate President; and Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, ex-presidential liaison office to the National Assembly.
SaharaReporters further report that the visit was a continuation of the APC scheme to woo Jonathan to the party by a caucus in the party that feels more comfortable to have the ex-President in power than the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu.
It was learnt that some APC cabal had also been impressed that despite the Buhari government’s glaring failure, Jonathan had not openly criticised his successor or his administration, much unlike ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
SaharaReporters learnt from sources that the establishment of almajiri schools by Jonathan to reduce a large number of out-of-school children in the North also scored the former president good points in the eyes of the northern cabal in the APC, especially with most of it now rotting away even under a northerner as president.
SaharaReporters gathered that Jonathan was considered a better option than Tinubu because of the latter’s “unpredictability”.
A source reportedly said, “Even among Yoruba people, Tinubu has enemies. Many people want to reduce his power and influence in the South-West; many do not like him in the North. They cannot predict Tinubu the way they can predict Jonathan. With the presidency, Tinubu will become very powerful and no one can predict what he will do with such powers.
“That is why the strategy being employed by those in support of Tinubu is to first unite people, particularly in the South-West, behind him. They know the challenge before him and understand that it will be much harder to convince other regions to support him without his region solidly behind him.
“As for Jonathan, he has been there before, so it is easy to know the kind of presidency he will produce. Jonathan cannot also spend more than four years in power since he has spent four years already, a fact that is also not lost on those scheming to have him run for the APC.”