A governor of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) bought the nomination and expression of interest forms for former President Goodluck Jonathan, according to sources.
A group called ‘Nomadic Pastoralists and the Almajiri Communities’, led by one Ibrahim Abdullahi picked up the forms on Jonathans behalf on Monday, claiming they paid for them.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after picking the forms, Abdullahi said they decided to purchase the forms for Jonathan to enable him to stage a comeback and continue with the good work he had started.
However, hours after the news went viral, Jonathans Media Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze, said his principal did not authorise the purchase of the forms, but thanked the donors for their concern. He also said Jonathan was not in the presidential race of the ruling party.
It was gathered from sources that a serving northern governor credited the APC Collection Account domiciled with Heritage Bank, with N100m.
The bank had also, in a letter dated May 9, 2022, told the APC that it received the amount. The letter was titled: Notification of credit into account: All Progressives Congress (APC) Collections Account: 5600007616.
It had earlier been reported how two influential governors from the northern part of the country are plotting the return bid of Jonathan. Multiple sources who are in the know said the two governors, who are allegedly close to President Buhari, have secured the buy-in of a section of the presidency to actualise their agenda of drafting the former president into the presidential race.
While one of the governors is from the North-West, the other is from the North-East geo-political zone. The two governors have been playing key roles in the affairs of the APC in the last few years.
Pundits say the purchase of presidential forms for Jonathan could change the whole discussion around the 2023 presidency.
