Information is flying around that suggests that a North East Governor who served under Goodluck Jonathan is canvasing for a Jonathan presidency in 2023.
A source told Vanguard that the Northerners wouldn’t want to vote for an Igbo president so in order to rebuild Nigerian unity after Buhari, Goodluck Jonathan would be the best man for the job. The source said Jonathan is the best because Igbos wouldn’t reject him as they see him as one of their own .
Read his words below:
“My brother, you know there is no way the North will support the agitation of the Southeast for the presidency, but we all know that if Jonathan comes out that the Southeast will not oppose him,” a source who is not directly involved but privy to the plot disclosed. It was gathered that the proponents of the move believe that with Jonathan as president that Northern interests will not be harmed as they recall his pro North policies including appointments and the establishment of Almajari schools in several Northern states.
However, the clincher for the Northern establishment in seeing a return of Jonathan in the villa, is the add-on that a second Jonathan presidency would automatically put the North in contention to win power again in 2027.
The source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the mobilization for Jonathan was presently not a political partisan affair as it was not limited to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the party under which the former Bayelsa State deputy governor rode on to become vice-president and later Acting President and substantive president of the country.
The northern operatives, it was gathered, were also targeting some reliable Jonathan sympathisers in the South for the project, the major ally being Governor Nyesom Wike.
Wike is close to a Northern governor with eye on the presidency who it is being mentioned could serve as a possible running mate in a possible contest. Last January, when mention was made of the former president contesting the 2023 presidency his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze had dismissed it saying:
“There was nothing like that. The former President has not made any comments nor spoken to anyone on the coming elections. “He is busy concentrating on his foundation, The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF), and its work of promoting peace, sustainable democracy and youth empowerment in Africa.
“If you check online, you will discover that a story with similar headline had been published in the past by few shady online sources. “The last time this same story circulated online was before the 2019 Presidential elections. It has now come up again.”Mr. Eze could not be reached yesterday as his phone was switched off.
