Some members of the Progressives Governors Forum have reportedly ganged up against the move to field former President Goodluck Jonathan as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress in 2023.
The APC Governors who have met in recent times have been unable to agree on the presidential aspirant to put forward for President Muhammadu Buhari to consider.
Four governors under the forum, Yahaya Bello (Kogi), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) and Ben Ayade (Cross River) are in the race to take over from President Buhari at the end of his tenure.
The decision to field Jonathan as the candidate of the party has hindered the party from raising its presidential screening committee, screening presidential aspirants and holding the presidential primaries.
This saw the party and some others pressure the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to extend by six days the June 3, 2022 deadline for parties to conclude their primaries.
An ally of one of the APC Governors who spoke with Vanguard said, “Of course, you know that the four governors who are in the race are unyielding to any consideration regarding Jonathan’s ambition. Apart from it being a serious campaign dilemma for the party, that is, having to wash up all the dirt it threw on Jonathan in 2015, it is also an indictment of the quality of contestants in the APC.
“The governors had made that position known to the president before and I believe it will still form part of the talking points whenever they meet him again before the presidential primary.
“To them, if the president cannot support any of the governors to emerge as the standard-bearer of the party, then he should just stay aloof and allow the process play out naturally without endorsing anybody outside the fold. This is not to say that you don’t have those who are canvassing for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. So, as it is, the governors are divided by their various interests. All they can ask for now is just a level playing field.”
