Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s reasons for not declaring his candidacy for president have been disclosed.
Some fans of the former Nigerian leader invaded his Abuja office, demanding that he declare for the presidency in 2023.
Jonathan told the protestors that the political process is still in progress and that he can’t say if he would run for president in 2023 or not.
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However, there have been mixed reactions to reports that the former president is intending to run for president in 2023 on the banner of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Jonathan is alleged to have postponed his decision to run for president due to the South East’s desire to produce the next president and the region’s overwhelming support for him in the 2011 and 2015 elections.
According to This Day, a source close to Jonathan claimed he is delaying his presidential announcement since the APC has a significant number of South East hopefuls.
Some northern leaders, notably emirs and APC chieftains, have been pressuring the former president to declare his presidential ambitions, according to the source.
He went on to say that certain APC chieftains sent emissaries to him in Rivers State over the weekend, where he attended the funeral of one of his security team’s officers.
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Even if Jonathan emerges as the APC’s consensus candidate, the source noted, it would be immoral for him to run against the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate from the South East.
He said: “Jonathan is under intense pressure by some northern leaders and emirs who have insisted that he is the only one that can stabilise the country at this point.
“But two issues are delaying his decision. One, he is not comfortable with the large number of people that have purchased the presidential forms in APC.
“He believes that a large number of aspirants will make it difficult for the party to reach a consensus and he doesn’t want to come out and be ridiculed. He wants to be the consensus candidate. Again, he is concerned about the popular demand for the Southeast presidency.
“Jonathan doesn’t want to contest against the South-east because of the massive support the region gave him in his previous aspirations.
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“He believes that even if he emerges as the consensus candidate of APC, it will be morally wrong for him to contest against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate if the party’s candidate emerges from the South-east.”
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