The Presidency has accused Goodluck Jonathan’s aides and individuals close to Aso Villa of pushing reports and releasing photos insinuating President Muhammadu Buhari is backing the former leader to succeed him in 2023.
Sources have stated that President Buhari, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adamu Abdullahi, and Alhaji Mamman Daura are not backing a Jonathan presidency.
The sources wondered how Buhari who recently described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration as a failure could now be backing the head of that government to succeed him.
An informed Presidency source told The Nation: “Former President Jonathan is certainly not in the picture at all.
The mentioning of his name has been invoking feelings of absurdity and ridicule in the Villa.”
Naija News understands that two northern governors and some close aides of the president were fingered in a plot to make Jonathan the consensus candidate of the ruling party.
It was gathered that the presidency have now put measures in place to prevent Buhari from being linked to a Jonathan presidency.
Such measures include the banning of photos of meetings between the former President and the incumbent from being released to the public at this time.
“The plot alive in the media by releasing photos of his visits to the APC Chairman and Alhaji Mamman Daura to insinuate that these two gentlemen are in support of the plot,” a source said.
However, Villa sources stated that Jonathan will not be stopped from visiting Buhari because he is in good standing with the president and due to his international assignments for which he has to regularly brief Buhari.
The source recalled: “When, during a public interview earlier this year, a journalist asked the president to use one word to describe the PDP, he instantly said ‘failure’.
“How then would the same person who feels that way strongly then be contemplating supporting the same PDP candidate he roundly defeated?”
According to the source, “it’s the aides of the former president that are going to town to create such an impression.”
The source added: “All of these plots would be over in a matter of days as the APC presidential primaries are now irretrievably set and the President’s choice would be known.”