A founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in south-south, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze has described the alleged plan to return ex-President, Goodluck Jonathan to Aso Rock in 2023 on the platform of the ruling party as deceitful.
Eze said the plan is a conspiracy against the southern region of the country by some northern political leaders.
In a statement in Port Harcourt on Friday, September 17, 2021, the politician said the plot by some northern leaders is to return Jonathan as President till 2027 to deny the southern part of the country a complete term of eight years.
He added that the schemers knew that after President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in 2023, the South, in all honesty and fairness, would produce the next President.
He said, “This plot is an unacceptable insult on both Jonathan and the entire southern political class as if we lack credible political leaders from the South that can turn the fortunes of this country around.
“It is imperative to commend Dr. Jonathan for reading through the deceit of these leaders, trashing their dishonest entreaty and ensuring that his political feats and present status as a great promoter of democracy is not ruined, tarnished but kept intact by keeping these undemocratic elements at bay.
“I am very glad that Dr. Jonathan has done his best to keep these undemocratic forces at bay, who are hell-bent to deny the South the chance to preside over the affairs of this country according to the terms of power rotation between the North and the South, not minding that the northerners have through the military and democratic dispensations governed this country to their heart contents.
“Funny and sad enough, same leaders who ensured that Dr. Jonathan was not reelected in 2015 are the same crop of leaders that are doing everything to lure him back to finish whatever that is left of him politically.
“As much as I am not a supporter or sympathiser of Dr. Jonathan and his type of politics, as I was one of those who ensured he was not reelected, I will not sit and allow his haters drain the little integrity left of him.
“Luring him to contest the 2023 does not in any way wash him off the sins and reasons behind why he was not reelected in 2015, but a careful ploy to portray the Southerners as lacking better and credible leaders to improve on the fortunes of the country.”
Eze however, urged all Nigerians to speak up and condemn the plot saying it might plunge the nation into unprecedented chaos.
Meanwhile, the ruling party has announced that Jonathan would not be handed an automatic ticket to contest in 2023 if he joins the party.
The party said all aspirants must undergo the party’s usual nomination processes ahead of the 2023 general elections.
