A visit by a team of All Progressives Congress chieftains to the Abuja residence of former President Goodluck Jonathan late on Friday has raised the stakes in permutations for the 2023 general elections.
It was gathered that the visit by former Senate President, Ken Nnamani; former Presidential Liaison Officer to the National Assembly, Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, and some unnamed governors has sparked debate in political cycles.
The party chieftains were at the Ex-President’s residence to facilitate with him on his 63rd birthday. They, however, had a closed-door meeting details of which are still being kept under wraps.
A top-ranking member of the Peoples Democratic Party who pleaded anonymity for fear of retribution said, “There is more to that meeting than meets the eye because President Jonathan was neither at our last caucus meeting on Thursday nor was he at the National Executive Council meeting even though he is a member of both. Whatever it is, it will soon come out in the open.
Another a top-ranking member of the APC who equally spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media said, “It’s just that in our country, every visit by our party leaders to any leader who is not in our party is given a political meaning.
“It will however not be out of place if political discussions held.”
A report by an online newspaper, TheCable, had reported that APC governors and some APC chieftains met with the former President.
It recalled that Jonathan had played host to the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, Abubakar Bagudu, and the Jigawa State Governor, Mohammed Badaru, at his country home in Otuoke, in Bayelsa State, 2019, after the state governorship election.
They had visited Jonathan to thank him for his support in the victory of David Lyon, the APC candidate in the 2019 governorship election in Bayelsa.
Lyon was eventually sacked by the Supreme Court while Douye Diri of the PDP was declared winner of the election.
Jonathan was elected president in 2011 and lost to Buhari in 2015, his concession call to Buhari which was first of its kind endeared him to many within and outside Nigeria.
Analysts have argued that he is still eligible to run for another single term of four years in office.
