BY SEGUN ADEBAYO, ABUJA – The All Progressives Congress (APC), Bayelsa State chapter has declared that former President Goodluck Jonathan is not yet a member of the party.
The State chairman of the APC, Dr. Dennis Otiotio, who stated the position of the Party in a telephone chat with our correspondent, however said that Dr. Jonathan is at liberty to join the party any time he so desire.
Otiotio, who was reacting to moves by some support groups particularly from the North to draft the former President into the 2023 presidential race, explained that the APC in Bayelsa was not aware ofJonathan’s membership of the Party in Beyelsa state.
Otiotio, who is a known loyalist of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, pointedly said that former President Jonathan is not yet a card carrying member of the APC, adding however that he is free to join any party of his choice.
According to him; “We are open and willing to receive him into our fold, as a political party desirous of winning elections, the only way to go is by admitting people into the party,” he said.
A Northern support group on Monday in Abuja, purchased the APC presidential nomination and Expression of Interest forms for former President Jonathan to contest the 2023 elections on the platform of the APC.
This was as Dr. Jonathan through his Media Adviser, Ikechukwu Eze denied knowledge of the group and urged members of the public to discountenance it.
Eze pointedly said that the former President did not authorize the purchase of the forms, stressing that he would not enter the presidential race through the back door.
He also said that Jonathan was not consulted before the purchase of the forms.
