According to the BBC, former Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is seeking to return to office in next year’s election after switching political parties.
After five years in power, Mr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has joined the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), that defeated him in 2015.
On Monday, a supporters’ group purchased the nomination form on his behalf, continuing the tradition of aspirants purchasing the form through proxies.
Many Nigerians, particularly those in his former party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), were surprised by his decision to run for president with the APC.
Rumours about his secret defection to the ruling party had been circulating for months, but neither Mr Jonathan nor his friends had responded.
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Nigeria’s major political parties are scheduled to hold primaries later this month in order to fulfill the election commission’s June 3 deadline for submitting candidates for the February 2023 poll.
The APC’s nomination form cost 100 million naira (which is about $240,000; £195,000).
Former Lagos state governor and APC leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, and Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi are among the candidates who have already purchased the party’s nomination form.
Mr Jonathan’s decision to switch parties is unclear, but there have been rumors that he was disgruntled following his loss in 2015, when he was reportedly betrayed by senior party associates.
If he wins next year, he will only be eligible for one term, which might mean power returning to northern Nigeria in an unwritten, controversial arrangement that alternates power between north and south. Mr Jonathan is from southern Nigeria. .
Whoever receives the APC’s election nomination may face a tough fight from the PDP.
Its aspiring candidates, such as Peter Obi, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, and Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike, are extremely popular, especially in the south.
Source: BBC Africa.
