Coalition of South East Youth Leaders warns Goodluck not to accept APC presidential ticket

FORMER president Dr Goodluck Jonathan has been warned by the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (Coseyl) to shelve his 2023 presidential plans amid talk that he has now formally joined the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Earlier this week, several northern campaign groups got to getter and bother an APC presidential application form for Dr Jonathan at a cost of N100m. This was despite the fact that the former president was not even a party member but this morning, one of President Muhammadu Buhari's aides, Bashir Ahmaad, confirmed that Dr Jonathan had joined the APC.

Responding to the development, Coseyl president Goodluck Ibem, asked his namesake to support the call for a southeastern president. He lamented why Dr Jonathan would be nursing any ambitions to return to Ask Rock when the southeasterners who had supported him in previous times are in a battle to secure the presidency.

Mr Ibem said: “We are really surprised that despite the unalloyed support of the people of southeast to Dr Jonathan, he is aspiring to be Nigerian president when the current mood of the nation is for an Igbo man to become president in 2023. The first person we expect to support and champion the course of Igbo presidency is Dr Goodluck Jonathan having benefited immensely from the unalloyed support of the people of southeast.”

“Now is the time for Dr Goodluck Jonathan to reciprocate the good gestures of the people of southeast by coming out openly to support the people of the region to produce Nigerian president come 2023. Several Igbos were killed while others lost their properties while they were supporting the former president."

On Monday, Dr Jonathan denied knowledge of the form but that same evening, he paid a visit to the APC national chairman, former Nasarawa State governor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, at his residence in Abuja. Sources confirmed that Dr Jonathan was at Senator Adamu’s residence to seek assurances before leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling party APC.

Apparently, although the APC chairman welcomed the former president to the ruling party, there was absolutely no assurance that he could be handed the party’s presidential ticket. Dr Jonathan will consequently have to slug it out against other candidates including vice president Yemi Osinbajo, several ministers and the former Lagos State governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.