APC Plans To Give Jonathan and El-Rufai joint Presidency tickets

By Oluchi Ihediuche

The All Progressives Congress is considering giving a joint ticket to former President Goodluck Jonathan and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for the 2023 presidential election.

Top sources within the party told SaharaReporters that Jonathan is being considered as a strong voice in the southern region, while El-Rufai is being packaged to represent northern interests and later become the president when the presidency is again zoned to the North.

“There are plans already to pair El-Rufai with Jonathan for 2023. We believe both forces are strong and have goodwill in their regions and are good for the party,” one of the sources confirmed

It was learnt that there had been pressure on Jonathan, to defect to the All Progressives Congress and run for president in 2023 on the ruling party’s platform.

The APC leadership visit to Jonathan had generated speculations, which have confirmed to be more than a friendly visit or a courtesy call on a former president.

It was learnt that the visit was a continuation of the APC scheme to woo Jonathan to the party by a caucus in the party that feels more comfortable to have the ex-President in power than the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu.

Sources, however, said Jonathan had surprised the northern elite and the APC northern cabals by his disposition to the Muhammadu Buhari presidency despite all the dirt and campaign of calumny thrown at him and the PDP before the 2015 presidential election, which gave Buhari an unprecedented victory over an incumbent.

It was learnt that some APC cabal had also been impressed that despite the Buhari government’s glaring failure, Jonathan had not openly criticised his successor or his administration, much unlike ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.

As the APC mull over the Jonathan-Elrufai ticket, there are concerns on the position of the All Progressives Congress national leader and a former governor of State, Bola Tinubu, who is reportedly eyeing the presidency.

It was gathered that Jonathan was considered a better option than Tinubu because of the latter’s “unpredictability”.

A source said, “Even among Yoruba people, Tinubu has enemies. Many people want to reduce his power and influence in the South-West; many do not like him in the North. They cannot predict Tinubu the way they can predict Jonathan. With the presidency, Tinubu will become very powerful and no one can predict what he will do with such powers.

“That is why the strategy being employed by those in support of Tinubu is to first unite people, particularly in the South-West, behind him. They know the challenge before him and understand that it will be much harder to convince other regions to support him without his region solidly behind him.

“As for Jonathan, he has been there before, so it is easy to know the kind of presidency he will produce. Jonathan cannot also spend more than four years in power since he has spent four years already, a fact that is also not lost on those scheming to have him run for the APC.”

Oluchi Ihediuche