Presidency says President Muhammadu Buhari not part of plot to draft Goodluck Jonathan into APC Presidential race.

The Presidency has distanced President Muhammadu Buhari from a plot to foist ex-President Goodluck Jonathan as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.

Presidency sources said at the weekend that President Buhari, who described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as a failure in a recent television interview, could not be supporting any move to draft the one-time leader of a party he defeated roundly twice to come to power on the platform of the ruling party.

The source blamed the aides of the former President for putting Jonathan on the front burner and initiating the plot with photos of visits to the President and with persons close to President Buhari.

Although the President has not indicated who he is backing for the APC presidential primaries, an informed Presidency source explained that Former President Jonathan is certainly not in the picture at all.

Also a member of the APC National Working Committee (NWC) said Jonathan was not qualified to be the ruling party’s standard-bearer in the 2023 election.

While speculative reports have claimed the APC has granted Jonathan a waiver to join the presidential race even though he is not known to have properly fulfilled membership requirements, there has not been any formal confirmation that he submitted the presidential nomination forms or whether he would be included in the screening expected to happen this week, according to Villa sources.

The sources added that the former President is not being precluded from visiting the Villa at this time in line with protocol expectations, being a former President in good standing and due to his international assignments for which he has to regularly brief President Buhari.

Seun Fakorede