The All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that it will not give Goodluck Jonathan its presidential ticket in 2027.
The party said this while reacting to the emergence of campaign posters promoting the former president’s candidacy in Kano, distributed by a group known as Team New Nigeria (TNN), a splinter group of the APC.
The posters, spotted in key areas of Kano like Gyadi-Gyadi/Zoo Road and Kofar Nasarawa, carried messages revealing Jonathan is the leader Nigeria needs for 2027.
But the party firmly stated that TNN is not affiliated with the APC and that its activities, including printing campaign materials for Jonathan, do not reflect the party’s position.
According to Deputy National Organising Secretary of the party, Nze Chidi Duru, Jonathan is not a registered member of the party, which disqualifies him from any endorsement or ticket considerations.
“I will not venture into any conjecture. It is a group I consider to be amorphous that is not known to the APC. If they were genuine members of the APC, it would have been clear to them that former President Goodluck Jonathan was not a member of the party.
“Even when a group purchased a form for him within the APC in the last election, they were immediately discountenanced and Jonathan was not given the ticket. Until he is a card-carrying member of the APC, it is only then we can give him that recognition.
“But following or having an understanding with a non-member of the APC again validates the position that these (splinter group) are not members of our party. If they are members of the party and want to form a different initiative within the APC, they are more than welcome. It is the beauty of democracy.
“In so far as this has not been done and they are now working within the ambit of the APC, they cannot be considered to be members or have any link whatsoever with the APC,” Duru told Punch.
