Protesters have besieged the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja to express their displeasure over alleged plans by the party to impose a presidential candidate on them.
The protesters, under the aegis of the Youth Wing of the APC, numbering over 100 stormed the party’s headquarters about 8 am and impeded vehicular activities.
The protesters brandished banners and placards, saying imposing former President Goodluck Jonathan as the APC presidential candidate would spell doom for the party.
Addressing journalists, the convener of the group, Alhaji Toyin Rahim, said that Jonathan’s planned emergence as the candidate in next year’s presidential election will not see the light of the day as it is not in the best interest of the party.
He wondered how the party would justify bringing someone they had called corrupt and incompetent back to power.
He advised the leadership of the party “not to fall victim to ill-advised action that can push the party out of power”.
He said, “The rumour has been around for some time now that former President Jonathan of the was being wooed by some power players within the APC to join the Party and fly its presidential ticket for the 2023 election.
“What began as a mere rumour seems to be gathering momentum so close to the presidential primary of our great party. This Jonathan project cannot fly simply because it cannot help our party and we want to do our best to ensure that our Party does not fall victim to ill-advised action that can push the party out of power.
“One of the most telling negative implications of such an action is that the APC does not have anyone of electoral value who can win an election for us except we smuggle in a former president we defeated seven years ago for his glaring incompetence as president.
“In APC today there are presidential aspirants with credible pedigrees and humongous electoral value and capacity. It is not only unnecessary to smuggle Jonathan into our great party, but it is also self-indicting and means that our Party’s performance in office has been worse than an administration that Nigerians thoroughly rejected and voted APC in 2015.”
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