2023 presidential election, between Omerta and Gagoponi

Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has announced that he will not run in the 2023 presidential election. But within the political class, everyone is preparing for the primary exams, which begin at the end of May.

In Nigeria, political parties are not ready for the end of Muhammad Buhari’s second and final term. Moreover, it worries his own party, the Progressive Congress (APC), that its new leader, Abdullahi Adam, is seeking consensus around the party’s candidate’s territory for the February 2023 election.

In particular, the foundations of the APC were heavily mobilized to field former President Goodluck Jonathan, although he belonged to the opposition, especially the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). A way for the APC to build an invincible front in 2023. The PDP and APC dominate both chambers of parliament, counting all the governors of the country in their ranks.

But the surprise: the former president – defeated in 2015 – Goodluck Jonathan announced through his spokesman Ikechukwu Eze that he was not running for president.. However, APC’s fighters have purchased nomination forms for $ 300,000, which were directly or indirectly required during the primary elections.

Is Peter OP an opposition candidate?

In his announcement, Jonathan assures that “no party” has the authority to proceed with the purchase of the forms. Thin indirect references to the funding of the “Fulani elite of the North” for this costly move, in other words, the pressure groups that supported Muhammad Buhari.

Many Internet users are wondering if this controversy surrounding Jonathan’s candidacy is, in the end, a distraction from the newly created. According to opposition media, senior APC brass are seeking to divert attention from the candidacy of popular governor Peter Oby, a PDP candidate from the south of the country.

However, registrations for the primary records of the APC and PDP will close next Tuesday and Thursday, respectively. And for now, if the PDP’s fighters seem to agree with Peter OP’s candidacy, it’s too complicated within the party in power.

Electrical Primats of APC

In fact, many of the APC’s heavyweights will field themselves in the presidential election. Among them were Vice President Yemi Ozinbajo and his mentor, former Governor of Lagos Bola Dinubu. Other tall figures in Buhari’s party prepare their forces. Among them, Oil Minister Timbery Silva, but also Central Bank Governor Godwin Emifile. Four potential candidates have already announced their candidatures, with the exception of Osinbajo, who continued to purchase nominations.

Those closest to state President Mohammed Buhari, who is trying to win the post of Supreme Magistrate in February 2023, The president’s refusal to announce his second term is understandable.

However, Buhari has done a great job of mobilizing regional APC representatives around himself. The presidential party faced a self-destructive crisis in 2020, before Bukhari dropped opposition from several governors – especially from the north – and joined the APC.

Prior to that, in 2019, the APC recorded its first victory in the Assembly elections in its history, although by a very narrow margin compared to the PDP.

Read: Nigeria: How Buhari wins politically

Then, at the candidate level, the racial and religious affiliation of the candidates has already begun to weigh within the APC. If the candidatures of Bukhari (Muslim) and Osinbajo (evangelist) had guaranteed peace during Buhari’s second term, activists would also be interested to know the support of the four candidates running in the presidential election.

Before Nigeria can move forward, it must stop supporting tribal and religious political candidates.

– Your Fav Lawyer (jagganiyu) October 21, 2020